What length will the new Fermi cards be?

[Siskods9]

Anyone got any info on this?

With the 5870 being 11" and the 5870x2 rumoured to be ~12" in length, things are getting crazy...

I can see card length playing a part in my next upgrade decision.

I know recent pics of the Fermi display board were only mock-ups but even so, do we think it will be longer than ATi's current offerings?

[harl]

Fermi it's supposed to have the same TDP than GTX285 (or similar)
and have a narrower bus (512=>384)
so the pcb shouldn't be more complex than the GTX285 in fact should
more simple

Why should it be longer than GTX285?

[Siskods9]

Thanks for the info harl...

Will the single GPU high end Fermi be positioned against the 5870 or the 5870x2 ?

Interesting times...

[JH24]

Its only rumors, but from what I read on different sites "Fermi" should be put against a HD 5870X2 or come somewhat close to it, but I got the impression that's more kind of speculation at this stage. If Nvidia is to be believed, one high-end Fermi card should dominate or at least be considerably faster than a HD 5870. So a dual Fermi card "should" be faster than a HD 5870X2. If this is not the case, it will not be a good thing for Nvidia.



This is not my opinion, just my impression of reading articles/comments on different sites/forums in the past few weeks.

[LydianKnight]

I'd more say a single Fermi would be put against a 5870, not a 5870 X2, but we'll see some numbers as soon as cards are available, which (theoretically) should be something like... 45-65 days ahead?

(just guessing, not speculating)

[rage10]

I'd more say a single Fermi would be put against a 5870, not a 5870 X2, but we'll see some numbers as soon as cards are available, which (theoretically) should be something like... 45-65 days ahead?

(just guessing, not speculating)

by all acounts so far, one Fermi will outclass a 5870 by a wide margen. a 5870 x2 will be stronger then a single Fermi but dual Fermis will wipe the floor with it. most likely a GTX 380 will be a Fermi will all the cores and other stuff and cost more the a 5870 by a fair amount. the GTX 360 will be a Fermi on which not every thing works and will out preform a 5870 bya small margin and be priced the same if not lower.

of course this is just speculation and we shall have to wait a month or two for actual prefomance figures.

[Sazar]

I am somewhat concerned by what that sucker will cost :D

[josiahsuarez]

if you're trying to figure out what size case to get I'd say err on the side of caution and go for as big as possible. even if Fermi is smaller than 5870 you don't know what future cards would be like, and it's always good to have the flexibility to be able to install whatever you want.

[ArrowMk84]

For the past couple of years, I've always assumed the latest graphics cards would be full-length PCI (12"), and bought my cases and motherboards accordingly.

I also find it funny as hell that the latest GPUs suck down more power and require better cooling than the $60K FPGA boards I was working with three years ago. To bad the programming tools for GPGPU development were only just coming out back then, as the GPU probably could have done the work the FPGAs were.

[rage10]

For the past couple of years, I've always assumed the latest graphics cards would be full-length PCI (12"), and bought my cases and motherboards accordingly.
+1.
and even if the card is only 10.5", if the power connectors are on the end that adds an extra inch or so.

...and nice avatar!

[Atomizer]

Yeah card size is unfortunately one thing I didnt take into account, but then I never planned to upgrade this computer, at least not this close to my next full computer build.
I had a 8800GTX before and fit fine in my case, with the HDD bay sitting very close to the end of the card, however a few months ago I decided id grab a GTX275 on the cheap, while still being a decent upgrade....it didnt fit, I had to remove my HDD bay to fit it, and now my HDD bay is no longer attached inside, its just sitting in a stable position.

At least ill consider it when I build my new computer in Dec/Jan

[shadow001]

by all acounts so far, one Fermi will outclass a 5870 by a wide margen. a 5870 x2 will be stronger then a single Fermi but dual Fermis will wipe the floor with it. most likely a GTX 380 will be a Fermi will all the cores and other stuff and cost more the a 5870 by a fair amount. the GTX 360 will be a Fermi on which not every thing works and will out preform a 5870 bya small margin and be priced the same if not lower.

of course this is just speculation and we shall have to wait a month or two for actual prefomance figures.



Here's the kicker though,if the HD5870 X2 is already rumored to easily hit 300 watts of power consumption under hard load,and each of those GPU is packing 2.1 billion transistors a piece,what are the odds on a dual fermi card,with each GPU using 3 billion transistors,and keeping to that 300 watt power limit.


300 watts is the maxium that the PCI-e spec currently allows,and is combination of the PCI-e slot itself(75 watts),one 6 pin PCI-e power connector(75 watts),and an 8 pin PCI-e connector(150 watts).


Interesting fact to remember....The GTX 295 only became possible when the GT200 GPU's were shrunk from their original 65nm process,to 55nm several months later,so the question is....Is a dual GT300 fermi card even possible,power consumption wise,while the GPU's are built at 40nm,or do they have to be further reduced to the 32nm process,meaning no dual Fermi cards anytime soon.


There's a lot more questions than answers regarding Fermi right now.

[LydianKnight]

Why can't they use 2x8 connectors? that would ammount for a maximum power of 375W, hereby exceeding that limit, but could feed the card.

(Just guessing, of course)

[nekrosoft13]

Thanks for the info harl...

Will the single GPU high end Fermi be positioned against the 5870 or the 5870x2 ?

Interesting times...

upgrading now would be kind of stupid, since we don't know what is comming, with your 4870x2 you are more then ok to wait.

once both products are available make your decision.

[shadow001]

Why can't they use 2x8 connectors? that would ammount for a maximum power of 375W, hereby exceeding that limit, but could feed the card.

(Just guessing, of course)


Mostly cooling issues for the most part.


As it is,the coolers for the GTX295 and HD4870 X2 already work pretty hard,and they are large dual slot coolers afterall,so upping that limit to 375 watts and having the cards using that much power,may mean standard dual slot coolers no longer being enough to keep temperatures under control anymore,at least when the cards are working hard.

[josiahsuarez]

upping that limit to 375 watts and having the cards using that much power,may mean standard dual slot coolers no longer being enough to keep temperatures under control anymore

triple slot coolers :wonder:

[shadow001]

triple slot coolers :wonder:


Say goodbye to triple SLI setups then,or make a new standard for motherboards,also requiring new PC cases,with more room for the cards and seriously beefed up power supplies,and even then,you'd have 2 expansion slots besides the PCI-e slot for the graphics card completely blocked and unable to add anything else.


Triple slot coolers are a solution,but comes with several drawbacks as well,so you'd either have to come up with a more efficient dual slot cooler, or even better yet,start using water cooling with the cards having their own water block,as at least that way,the slots next to the PCI-e slot remain available,but it is an expensive option.

[Toss3]

upgrading now would be kind of stupid, since we don't know what is comming, with your 4870x2 you are more then ok to wait.

once both products are available make your decision.

That's what most people said about the R600. ;)