New nVidia cards in July?

Just after the introduction of the GeForce 9800 GX2 it was already known that the card wouldn't have a long lifeline. According to unofficial sources nVidia plans to launch a new next-generation 3D-chip in June. An article by Expreview tells us nVidia will call the new cards GeForce 9900 GTX and 9900 GX2. Shamefully there were no further details available.

Every computermagazine assumes that nVidia will come with a new 55nm version of the G92 within three months. This chip will perform better, cost less, and have a lower power consumption due to the smaller size. In theory the GeForce 9900 series can be done with these new 55nm chips, which results in faster cards. However, there will be no new features like DirectX 10.1.

The GeForce 9 barely differs from the GeForce 8 when it comes to the features. This makes sense since both series use of the same technology: the first generation unified shader processor that came available in the second half of 2006. To remain successful and innovative nVidia would have to develop an entirely new GPU atleast every two years. With this in mind, it would be logic that nVidia will come with a new design in July (second half of 2008). Especially when you take a look at the opposition.

It is still unknown when nVidia will release her second generation Unified Shader Processors. If the new dual-chip GeForce 9900 GX2 is in fact based on the G92 chip, nVidia will atleast wait four months before introducing a new architecture, as it would be impssible to keep their best card on the market for only a month. If however, the 9900 GX2 isn't based on the 55nm G92 chip, we may see a new architecture in the third quarter of 2008 after all.

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