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980 or wait for 20nm?

Tags:
  • Gtx
  • Nvidia
  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 30, 2014 1:27:13 PM

I am considering purchasing a gtx 980 in about a month, but I have been seeing roumors about the 20nm cards that are supposedly going to be released in 1H 2015. My question is, would it be better to go ahead and get the 980, or wait for the revised/new line of cards to be released? What are the reasonable expectations for the 20nm versions over the 28nm? (I am in no big hurry to get a new card, but I could still use a new one)

More about : 980 wait 20nm

a b Î Nvidia
a b U Graphics card
September 30, 2014 1:36:54 PM

I don't see the point of waiting for new cards when the GTX 980 is a great card.
You can also get a GTX 970,which has a better price for performance,the 980 is only about ~10% stronger,but it's an astonishing $200 more expensive!
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September 30, 2014 1:48:51 PM

LukaBoki said:
I don't see the point of waiting for new cards when the GTX 980 is a great card.
You can also get a GTX 970,which has a better price for performance,the 980 is only about ~10% stronger,but it's an astonishing $200 more expensive!


I usually just buy whatever I need at the time, but that is another reason that I was considering waiting. Because AMD has not released their new line, the 9XX series is somewhat overpriced... And I dont want to get the 980 and then the 20nm versions come out and be like %30 or so better.
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Best solution

a b Î Nvidia
a c 158 U Graphics card
September 30, 2014 1:50:43 PM

A shrink in manufacturing node means smaller chip sizes and less power.
It means they can make the same chip cheaper and with less heat to deal with.

It isn't clear what they have planned, but at this stage a 20nm node seems unlikely:
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-s...

The 16nm node won't be available to ship until this time next year:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/tsmc-apple-nvidia-denv...

What I would take away from this is the Nvidia will likely fill out the GTX 900 series with 28nm Maxwell parts over the next 12 months, and release a new series of graphics cards on 16nm late next year.

Over the next year what is likely to happen is that AMD will bring their own product to market. If it can match the GTX 980 at a cheaper price, the price on the GTX 980 will come down. We may even see a faster card released from Nvidia (e.g. GTX 980 Ti), although the die size is already huge. Maybe the GPU in the GTX 980 is partially disabled or maybe they can get higher frequencies out of it (like GHz edition cards).
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