SINCE WE BROKE the news about Nvidia’s GT300 and it’s huge die size, there is more about the family that has come to light. It will have some ankle biting offspring in short order.
Yes, the oft-delayed monster is going to have children, four of them. For the sharp-eyed, this is more than Nvidia has done at any time in the past. While none of them have taped out yet, our moles say that Nvidia usually waits until they get the first silicon back to see if there are any changes that need to be made to subsequent designs. With mask sets running into the 7 figures, this is what you call a smart move.
So, to reiterate, GT300 is going to be a huge die, ~23mm*23mm, half way between GT200 and GT200b. With TSMC 40nm wafers running ~30% more than 55nm wafers, this puts the cost of GT300 dies at about ((530/484) * 1.3 = 1.42x GT200. If you take yield into account, that cost will be much higher. We shall see.
Nvidia is still claiming a 2009 ‘launch’, but it remains to be seen what ‘launch’ is. Reality dictates that anything more than a trickle of parts to reviewers is not possible, but NV has never been known for honesty in spinning. The really interesting question will be answered when people compare the steppings reviewers get to the ones on the shelves. Time will tell.S|A
Charlie Demerjian
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