And so it happens… after several leaks about the deployment of 55nm GPUs as Quadro CX / FX 4800 / 5800, we finally received some solid 55nm GeForce news from the Far East. Chinese colleagues at Expreview managed to get their hands on Zotac GTX 260-216 based on P654 PCB design.
55nm chip on a GeForce card
This card features Volterra multiphase power regulation (no more Nvidia squealing, yes!), 14 memory chips (instead of standard seven) and 55nm GT200-103-B2 chip. 14 memory chips leaves room for cards with 1.5 GB of GDDR3 memory, and if dual-bank is used, GTX260 can support 3GB memory on the single card.
Does this mean GTX295 will feature 3GB of GDDR3 memory? Only time will tell…
Zotac board comes with standard GTX260-216 clocks, but the board features two 6-pin PEG adapters. Since Quadro FX 4800 works with just one, this board just may be overclockers dream. Second PEG adapter provides additional 75W, so the board can consume 225W instead of maximum 150W on Quadro CX/FX4800.
When this card hits the market, you can expect overclock it to at least 650 MHz for the GPU and 1500 MHz for the shaders (default clock on FX5800). It will be interesting to see how far can enthusiasts push the 55nm GPU, since this board should result in wonders when cooled with water or something even higher…
As it stands right now, the only card with 55nm GPU featuring all 240 shader units is Quadro FX 5800. It is possible that current yields suck so bad… until we see GTX “270” or GTX280 based on P656 PCB, we know that there aren’t many 55nm GPUs available for production with all 240 shaders on it.
