nVidia GeForce 55nm 9800GTX+

Earlier, nVidia announced a 55nm G92, known as the G92b. The goal of this die-shrink is not only to reduce the production costs (more chips from the same wafer), but also to decrease power consumption, so the clockspeeds can be optimized easily. This chip has recently been completed, because Bit Tech showed the first 55nm based graphics card, the 9800GTX+.

The appearance of the new 55nm 9800GTX is identical to the original one

The card, identical in appearance to the 'regular 9800GTX, runs at higher clockspeeds and will be sold at a lower price. nVidia thinks this is a great option to compete with AMD's HD4850, which according to the recently published reviews, has a slightly better performance, with a lower pricetag. Compared to the 65nm version of the 9800GTX, this new model has its core frequency increased from 675 to 738 Mhz. The shaders are also running a bit faster on the chip, increasing from 1668 to 1836 MHz. The margin in the GDDR3 memory is smaller, this will still be clocked around 1 to 1.2 GHz. 

The differences between the old and the new card's PCB aren't really noticable. The new 55nm version of the card still has the same 4+2 phase power solution and most other components have their same place as well. The biggest differences are found in the graphics chip, which isn't 18x18 but 17x17 mm now, and the transit from Samsung to Hynix memory chips. 

The new 55nm G92b image source: Bit Tech

The GeForce 9800GTX+ will be positioned between the HD4850 and HD4870, costing about $229 US Dollar. The old 9800GTX with the 65nm chip will decrease in price to $199. nVidia is unable to say whether more GeForce 9 cards will receive a 55nm model. 

Tags: geforce ddr3

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