Alleged GTX 1180 PCB images reveal possible NVLink, USB Type-C

[midian182]

Highly anticipated: With the promise of “some spectacular surprises” in store, it looks as if we’ll finally get to see Nvidia’s long-awaited GTX 1180 (or whatever it’s called) at Gamescom on August 20. Now, two alleged photos said to show the graphic card’s PCB could give us an idea of what to expect ahead of the event.

The photos come courtesy of a Baidu user, so, as is always the case with these sort of things, a dose of salt is advised. Images of the printed circuit board reveal some interesting details. The eight memory dies placed around the GPU core suggest it will feature either 8GB or 16GB of VRAM, which is presumed to be of the GDDR6 variety.

We also see a 10-phase VRM powered by 6+8 pin power connectors—more than the GTX 1080’s single 8-pin connector. This setup matches the GTX 1080 Ti’s 6-pin and 8-pin PCI Express power connectors.

The different SLI fingers could suggest Nvidia is implementing an NVLink connector in place of SLI in the GTX 1180, something it does in its enterprise cards such as the Quadro GV100. This offers higher bandwidth than SLI or PCIe for card-to-card communications.

The GPU pin size suggests the presence of the GV104 processor, and one of four video-out connectors is smaller than the others, which could hint at the presence of USB Type-C. MSI was first to add a Type-C port to a GPU, in its GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Card from last year.

Finally, the PCB shows a 256-bit bus interface and Nvidia’s logo on the bottom, meaning this is likely a final reference PCB rather than a custom model. We’ll likely find out the accuracy of the photos at Gamescom in just over two weeks’ time.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/75795-alleged-gtx-1180-pcb-images-reveal-possible-nvlink.html

 

[Vulcanproject]

"the PCB shows a 256-bit bus interface"

Even assuming GDDR6 memory bandwidth that would hint it is the direct replacement for the GTX1080 and not the GTX1080ti. Which would make sense with Nvidia's current method of releasing a top dog 'Ti' model later.

Sounds sad but I am interested in seeing the bandwidth GDDR6 achieves, it should bring a hefty step up for every card that uses it. A mid range card could conceivably have as much bandwidth as the GTX1080.

This should make a difference at higher resolutions.

 

[ZackL04]

“Your excited?, feel these nipples!”

- Bob Costas (Baseketball)

 

[EEatGDL]

My guess is that the next NVIDIA series will be 20 and not 11, because of the possible announcement day: 20/8. Could be just coincidence or could be perfect timing for NVIDIA marketing purposes.

 

[Squid Surprise]

The 2 power connectors makes me wonder what their mobile version will be like.... the "Max Q" was fairly similar for the 1080s and 1070s - yes the desktop versions were faster, but not immensely... I wonder how a laptop with an 1180 (or a 2080) will perform....

 

[TmberWolf 3R]

My guess is that the next NVIDIA series will be 20 and not 11, because of the possible announcement day: 20/8. Could be just coincidence or could be perfect timing for NVIDIA marketing purposes.

Nice pick up on the date. You may be right.
I don't believe that this is the 1180 or 2080. This looks like the GTX xx60 card. They have reference boards for these as well. The chip looks to small to be a GV102. I would expect Nvidia to come out and smash AMD into the dirt before they could take market share. And a top tier card with only 8GB will not cut it. But a GTX xx60 with 8GB would be on target.

 

[EEatGDL]

Nice pick up on the date. You may be right.
I don't believe that this is the 1180 or 2080. This looks like the GTX xx60 card. They have reference boards for these as well. The chip looks to small to be a GV102. I would expect Nvidia to come out and smash AMD into the dirt before they could take market share. And a top tier card with only 8GB will not cut it. But a GTX xx60 with 8GB would be on target.

NVIDIA always launches high-end first, then usually mid range, followed by top tier (Titan, xx80 Ti). They want to recover R&D with early adopters and a nice markup, volume isn't ready to handle mid range at the beginning, with modest markup.

 

[TmberWolf 3R]

NVIDIA always launches high-end first, then usually mid range, followed by top tier (Titan, xx80 Ti). They want to recover R&D with early adopters and a nice markup, volume isn't ready to handle mid range at the beginning, with modest markup.

I am not disputing any of this. I am saying that the PC board shown above does not look like what the GTX 1180 should look like. It looks like a mid tier card that will be released monthes after the 1180's. There was a leak with a populated board with out a GPU chip, with GDDR6 memory in June. That rig had 12GB memory and a large GPU chip. This unit has 8GB and a smaller GPU. That tells me that this PCB is the early runs of boards destined to GTX 1160's.

 

[EEatGDL]

I am not disputing any of this. I am saying that the PC board shown above does not look like what the GTX 1180 should look like. It looks like a mid tier card that will be released monthes after the 1180's. There was a leak with a populated board with out a GPU chip, with GDDR6 memory in June. That rig had 12GB memory and a large GPU chip. This unit has 8GB and a smaller GPU. That tells me that this PCB is the early runs of boards destined to GTX 1160's.

I see.

 

[Squid Surprise]

I am not disputing any of this. I am saying that the PC board shown above does not look like what the GTX 1180 should look like. It looks like a mid tier card that will be released monthes after the 1180's. There was a leak with a populated board with out a GPU chip, with GDDR6 memory in June. That rig had 12GB memory and a large GPU chip. This unit has 8GB and a smaller GPU. That tells me that this PCB is the early runs of boards destined to GTX 1160's.

This could be a 16GB card... and the 2 power plugs seems more in line with a 1180/2080 than an 1160/2060.... it would be quite surprising to see a mid-tier card require that much power - this might even be a Ti, leaked several months in advance....

 

[TmberWolf 3R]

This could be a 16GB card... and the 2 power plugs seems more in line with a 1180/2080 than an 1160/2060.... it would be quite surprising to see a mid-tier card require that much power - this might even be a Ti, leaked several months in advance....

This is not possible with the available chips. SK Hynix is the vendor of choice for NVidia, only has 8 Gb chips for GDDR6. That puts 1GB per chip. No other vendor has announced any 16 Gb chips for the market. SK Hynix has already announced a major order for chip order for a card that will have 12GB and a 384bit bus. This aligns up with the card leaked in June. The card above would have to be the next GTX xx60 series cards.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/1129...gddr6-memory-for-graphics-cards-in-early-2018

Now for the power question. AMD is catching up to Intel. Intel was caught resting on their laurels by letting the 10nm line slip. Now AMD is going to be pushing 7nm thread ripper2 and take the spot light. If NVidia was paying attention, they would realize their 12nm run for the next GPU would be at a disadvantage against the Navi.
The proactive defense would be to over volt and over clock to compensate. Then put the best cooling solutions you can find. If you think NVidia would not put out a card that uses 300W, look back at the GTX 480 cards. This is the last time NVidia was pushed by other vendors, and they came out on top. Most gamers don’t care about power, they care about speed.

 

[Squid Surprise]

This is not possible with the available chips. SK Hynix is the vendor of choice for NVidia, only has 8 Gb chips for GDDR6. That puts 1GB per chip. No other vendor has announced any 16 Gb chips for the market. SK Hynix has already announced a major order for chip order for a card that will have 12GB and a 384bit bus. This aligns up with the card leaked in June. The card above would have to be the next GTX xx60 series cards.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/1129...gddr6-memory-for-graphics-cards-in-early-2018

Now for the power question. AMD is catching up to Intel. Intel was caught resting on their laurels by letting the 10nm line slip. Now AMD is going to be pushing 7nm thread ripper2 and take the spot light. If NVidia was paying attention, they would realize their 12nm run for the next GPU would be at a disadvantage against the Navi.
The proactive defense would be to over volt and over clock to compensate. Then put the best cooling solutions you can find. If you think NVidia would not put out a card that uses 300W, look back at the GTX 480 cards. This is the last time NVidia was pushed by other vendors, and they came out on top. Most gamers don’t care about power, they care about speed.

Still conjecture - we don’t know for sure that they’re not using someone else for memory... Samsung has 16GB ddr6 .... or Hynix could simply have not announced the 16GB ddr6 until after Nvidia announces the card.... we’ll find out soon enough

 

[TmberWolf 3R]

I will admit this is all conjecture. I do not see the advantage of using a 256 bit bus with 2GB per chip. The total bandwidth would be 512GB/s. This is not much faster than the 484GB/s that the 1080Ti has. It would be more logical to have a 384bit bus with 12GB memory and push the bandwidth to 768GB/s for 4K graphics. We will not know for sure until the fat lady sings, that means Jensen Huang gets on stage with his leather jacket and announces what he has built.
I still say this card above will be a GTX xx60.

 

[poohbear]

My guess is that the next NVIDIA series will be 20 and not 11, because of the possible announcement day: 20/8. Could be just coincidence or could be perfect timing for NVIDIA marketing purposes.

Nice pick up on the date. You may be right.
I don't believe that this is the 1180 or 2080. This looks like the GTX xx60 card. They have reference boards for these as well. The chip looks to small to be a GV102. I would expect Nvidia to come out and smash AMD into the dirt before they could take market share. And a top tier card with only 8GB will not cut it. But a GTX xx60 with 8GB would be on target.

What is there to smash on AMD's side? Nvidia is well ahead in performance at the moment.