Register Hardware

Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/01/26/nvidia_g71_march_launch/

Nvidia says next high-end GPU due early March

By Tony Smith
Published Thursday 26th January 2006 10:38 GMT

Nvidia has confirmed speculation that it will announce its next-generation graphics chip architecture at CeBIT. The head of the company's Taiwan sales operation, Paul Sun, this week said the chip maker will introduce a new high-end GPU in early March.

Sun, cited (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20060124235047.html) by DigiTimes, also said a full line-up of GeForce 7-class GPUs will be available worldwide by 1 February, suggesting an imminent product announcement, quite possibly the rumoured (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/11/09/nvidia_geforce_roadmap/) GeForce 7200 and 7600.

Last week, Nvidia launched the GeForce 7300 GS - its first 90nm GeForce 7 part - pitching the chip at entry-level systems. Five days later, the company's arch-rival, ATI, launched its Radeon X1900 GPU, the part Nvidia's own next-generation chip, codenamed G71 and believed to be branded the GeForce 7900 GTX, is expected to go head-to-head with.

The 7900 GTX is thought to contain 32 pixel-processing pipelines in a core clocked at 700-750MHz. The GDDR 3 memory will run at 800-900MHz (1.6-1.8GHz, effective). CeBIT 2006 kicks off on 9 March. ®