Report: Nvidia Prepping Maxwell-based 750 Ti for February

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By Jane McEntegart
published

Could we see our first Maxwell card in just a few weeks?

It seems like only last month, Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang was talking to us about the company's desktop GPU roadmap and Maxwell from the stage at GTC. Huang revealed that Maxwell would offer UVM, or unified virtual memory, which allows the CPU and GPU to share the same memory. If you can believe it, that was nearly a year ago. Since then, Nvidia has been keeping pretty quiet when it comes to information on Maxwell, but we always have the rumor mill to keep us going, right?

 

The latest scuttlebutt says we could see the first Maxwell-based GPU as early as next month. SweClockers says it will be a TSMC-made GeForce GTX 750 Ti manufactured on the 28 nanometer process, and it will replace the GTX 650 Ti Boost. The card is pegged for a February 18 launch, though Nvidia isn't confirming anything. You'll notice this card is carrying the GTX 700 series branding as opposed to the much talked about GTX 800 series branding that was rumored for Maxwell. TechPowerUp reckons Nvidia might be testing the waters with Maxwell on the existing 28 nanometer process before taking things to the next level on the future 20 nanometer nodes.

We've actually been hearing about Maxwell for almost four years. Way back in 2010, when Nvidia was shipping Fermi, the company named Kepler and then Maxwell, which promised 16 times the performance in parallel graphics-based computing and the ability to work independent of the CPU, as the next stops on its GPU roadmap. Looks like the wait is almost over!

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74 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thesuperguy
    I was admittedly hoping it would replace the 660.
    Reply
  • amk09
    You know with this new architecture, it just might. If this 750 can hold it's own against the 660/560, and stays within the typical x50 price range, it could turn out to be one of the best bang for buck cards we've seen in this range of performance. Perfect entry level card for a console gamer wanting graphics that will match and exceed the quality of graphics that the new consoles generate.
    Reply
  • mrcoolbreeze704
    But will it beat Hawaii based amd offerings?
    Reply
  • dragonsqrrl
    You know with this new architecture, it just might. If this 750 can hold it's own against the 660/560, and stays within the typical x50 price range, it could turn out to be one of the best bang for buck cards we've seen in this range of performance. Perfect entry level card for a console gamer wanting graphics that will match and exceed the quality of graphics that the new consoles generate.
    660 type performance would be my guess. Something to slot in right under the 760 in their lineup, probably targeting $150 - $200 range.
    Reply
  • DarkSable
    On the other hand, which gets me more excited... this means there's a STRONG chance we're going to be seeing full-fledged, 20nm Maxwell cards dropping soon-ish. :3
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    x50TI (GM117), means 128-192bit memory bus max., 128bit more likely. i expect this one to be memory choked like 650ti boost. current kepler gpus could easily perform higher with 256bit bus, but nvidia cripples them so that they can gouge customers (gtx 660, 660ti).
    and "
    TechPowerUp reckons Nvidia might be testing the waters with Maxwell on the existing 28 nanometer process before taking things to the next level on the future 20 nanometer nodes.
    "? doesn't that mean qualcomm and apple fab-blocked nvidia? tsmc is already going into high volume production for 20nm arm socs ( seemingly from vendors that are not nvidia, lol).
    Reply
  • CaptainTom
    You know with this new architecture, it just might. If this 750 can hold it's own against the 660/560, and stays within the typical x50 price range, it could turn out to be one of the best bang for buck cards we've seen in this range of performance. Perfect entry level card for a console gamer wanting graphics that will match and exceed the quality of graphics that the new consoles generate.
    You know with this new architecture, it just might. If this 750 can hold it's own against the 660/560, and stays within the typical x50 price range, it could turn out to be one of the best bang for buck cards we've seen in this range of performance. Perfect entry level card for a console gamer wanting graphics that will match and exceed the quality of graphics that the new consoles generate.
    It would take more than 660 performance to beat the PS4. The 760 does just barely. Howwever it WILL easily beat the XBOX One, but then again that's not saying much lol!
    Reply
  • hannibal
    With the same production node they can not make this much quicker without making this chip bigger. 5-10% top more speed than 650. (if the size remains the same.) As someone said, this is a test run, and "real" 800 series comes later with smaller production node. What this allso means, is that 20nm production node is not quite in there just yeat. Interesting to see how long it will take untill it will be out and running in highend GPU production.
    Reply
  • wdmfiber
    TSCM was ramping up to 20nm last October:http://www.tomshardware.com/news/tsmc-20-nm-lithography-hkmg,24487.htmlI'm looking forward to the high ends cards(200 - 300 watts, 20nm), likely only a few months away.
    Reply
  • Mousemonkey
    12476638 said:
    But will it beat Hawaii based amd offerings?

    What? The mid range ones that don't exist? :heink:
    Reply