http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/nvidia-expected-to-unveil-geforce-gtx-960-on-january-22/

My guess is that a GTX 960 (GM206) will turn up towards the end of January.
It looks like it will be 4GB DDR5,256 BIT,993/6008, and I’m expecting 1280 CUDA Cores.
In some respects a 3GB version would make more sense but NVidia will likely fill the GF 900 range out a bit more around March and then again over the summer, so in due course there will be a greater variety.

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

Count another guess for 192 bit memory bus with 3 GB GDDR5.

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

A GM206 might be a 1024/8SMM or... GTX960 variant could possibly be a 10SMM GTX 970m (GM204/1280CUDA/80TMU/48ROP/192bit/3GB)or a GTX960ti variant- GTX980m at GM204/1536CUDA/96TMU/64ROP/256bit/4GB

Maxwell's SMM consists of 4ROP and 8TMU while GPC is 4SMM/32TMU/16ROP.
Every *6* NVidia released contains numerous specs. For example: Kelper's GTX 660 has three different (960/80TMU/24ROP/192bit and 1152/96TMU/32ROP/256bit and GTX660ti with 1344CUDA/112TMU/24ROP/192Bus) GTX760 also has three different dies - 2 with 256bit bus and another at 192bit. Fermi is the same as was GT200 series along with 860 Mobile- one is a Kelper 1152CUDA/96TMU/16ROP and other is a 640CUDA/40TMU/16ROP Maxwell.

I was going by this Zauba shipment,

GRAPHIC CARD GTX 960 4GB DDR5,256 BIT,993/6008 HDCP,DUAL DVI,HDMI,DP P PAKC (PCI,PCB POPULATED,VGA CARD,COMP. ACCESS)

https://www.zauba.com/import-GTX960-hs-code.html
Originally there was speculation of a Sept/Oct 960 release followed by an apparent U-turn due to good 980/970 sales. On reflection that '960' was probably an Engineering Sample, of a GTX970 with 384shaders disabled and is probably only what might have been. I'm not sure that NV were ever going to start shipments by Oct but if they did change their minds (after some sales modelling; if 960's would eat into 970 sales/profits) the specs that appeared once over 3months ago might be a long way from what might appear in a few weeks. Odd that they didn't call it a 965 (akin to the 465). While the above might still see the light of day in the form of a GTX965 or 960Ti, a 1280, 3GB, 192bus GM206 version would make more sense for a scaled down version of a GM204.

In terms of spec speculation just about every realistic combination of bus, memory, ROP, TMU and shader count has been predicted.

I've seen 960 speculations as low as a 128bit bus and 2GB GDDR5, but to me that sounds more like specs from a would be GTX950Ti.

Given the fact that 1280:80:48 mobile versions already exists (970m) I would fully expect something like that to turn up. The 970m comes with 3GB or 6GB GDDR5 and a 192bit bus. The big brother to this is 1536:96:64, with either 4GB GDDR5 or 8GB, but a 256bit bus. Both of these are GM204 but a discrete GM206 model without disabled units could well have 1280shaders. As for memory and bus, it and its lesser siblings (GM207, GM208) could have anywhere from 2GB to 8GB of GDDR5 and anything from a 64bit bus up to 256bit.

As soon as we know the actual 960 specs we should have a realistic idea of performance.

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

How 2 GTX 960 will perform over a GTX980? if the price and performance are and energy effiency can match (using just one 6/8-pin?) with some overclock room. I'm in.

Until we see the actual specifications we can only speculate. A 128bit bus or a boost cap could cripple it as an SP compute card, or it could come with a 256bit bus, 3 or 4GB RAM and boost really well. A dud or a lean mean crunching machine...
If it's got 1280shaders and a decent bus then two GTX960's are likely to outperform a GTX980.
As for pricing, I've seen a ~15% 980 price drop recently for some cards; from £449 to £389 (for new stock).

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

I agree: that Zaube shipment from last fall was probably an egineering sample based on GM204, hence the 4 GB and 256 bit bus. It probably represents the performance nVidia was targeting for GTX960 back then. The unusually low memory clock could well simulate highly clocked GDDR5 on a 192 bit bus.

The performance can be expected approximately in the middle between GTX750 and GTX980, so 2 960 vs. 1 980 is still undecided.

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

128bit bus confirmed for "GTX960" with decent clocks. Also- GTX960ti and GTX 965ti variants will be released soon after.

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-starts-listing.html

128 bit is barely enough for GM107 - things are certainly getting interesting! It could also be misinformation of those shops, or speculation on their part. nVidia can implement 192 bit busses with 2 and 4 GB, as they did with GTX660Ti.

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

Today at CES, Aorus announced a forthcoming (2nd Q) laptop with dual GTX965M GPUs. It comes with a 15.6" 3840*2160 (4k) screen. Basically it's a £2K games console!

http://www.kitguru.net/laptops/anton-shilov/nvidia-geforce-gtx-965m-spotted-in-drivers/

965M Specs:
GM204, 1024 cuda cores, 924 MHz GPU +Boost, 128 Bit, 5GHz, 2 to 4GB GDDR5.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidia-GeForce-GTX-965M-joins-the-product-portfolio.134107.0.html



It wouldn't surprise me if a GM206 GTX960 turned up with similar specs, followed by a Ti in a couple of months.
With only 1024 shaders it wouldn't suffer as much with a 128bit bus, but it would be well off the performance of a GTX970 - about 2/3rds.
This would be similar to the relative GTX670 and GTX660 performances.

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

Wow, they're cutting GM204 in half? That's a seriously expensive proposition (for nVidia). I suppose this 965M will transition to GM206 as quickly as possible.

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002

Yes, that would be half the cuda cores and half the bus of a 980, so I expect performance to be around half. The 760 had half the cores of a 780, but used the same bus width.

videocardz.com said of the 960, "The only certain thing is the memory configuration of 2GB GDDR5 and 128-bit interface".
http://videocardz.com/54214/exclusive-msi-geforce-gtx-960-gaming-2g-and-gtx-960-100-million-edition-pictured

They also say the 960 will be GM206-300 and going by pictures of the die size will likely have between 8 and 10 SMMs; 1024-1280 CUDA Cores. So that means 1024, 1152 or 1280.
http://videocardz.com/54201/exclusive-nvidia-maxwell-gm206-pictured
That in itself suggests a would-be 960Ti would not be GM206.

With 1024 cores its performance if it scales might be around that of a GTX 660Ti or a GTX 670 but for 1/3rd less power (or better).

Whatever turns up it will give people something to choose between a 750Ti and a 970, and that's a good thing.

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

Well, the GTX960 WILL be 2GB, 128bit, 1177 to 1240MHz ref boost GPU, 3500MHz/7GHz GDDR5:

Date 		HS Code 	Description 														Origin Country 	Port of Discharge 	Unit 	Quantity 	Value (INR) 	Per Unit (INR)
8-Jan-2015	84733030	GTX 960 2GB DDR5 128BIT 1177-1240/7010 HDCP - ZT-90301-10M (PCI,PCB POPULATED,VGA CARD,COMPUTER ACCESS)	China		Delhi Air Cargo	NOS	160	2,290,154	14,313

https://www.zauba.com/import-gtx960-hs-code.html

Looks like a ZOTAC Card so possibly not reference GPU clocks.
No messing this time - 160 units sent!
Cost; INI 14,313 = £150, $226, €191 excluding import duty & VAT.

Performance should be ~half that of a GTX980, possibly slightly more if it boosts higher (assuming no boost lock).

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

With 1024 cores its performance if it scales might be around that of a GTX 660Ti or a GTX 670 but for 1/3rd less power (or better).

GTX960 Benchmarks (3Dmarks firestrike) have appeared. If there not fake: The GTX960 [1024CUDA/64?TMU/32ROPS] Performance is near GTX770. Certain boards will feature a single 6 or 8pin for the possibly 90-125W GTX960.

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-960-reference-overclocked-performance-revealed-performs-slightly-faster-radeon-r9-280/

An ASUS OC version has since appeared on a shipping manifest:

STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5//GTX960,DVI,HDMI,DP 3, 2G,D5 90YV07N0 - M0NA00 ( ASUS ) VGA

One 6-pin power supply (75W) + 75W from the slot provides for up to 150W. An 8-pin model makes no sense; it's only half the size of a 980 which has a 165W TDP. It doesn't need a 'physical' 225W TDP.

My guess is that a reference design version would be somewhere around 95W.
Fully expect these to OC-boost to 1350+ and then some. 1500MHz might well be true but for here we will have to wait and see.

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

STRIX GTX970/980 sell really well. Fan control design is clever. EVGA non-blower models also stop spinning when below 60C.

My guess is that a reference design version would be somewhere around 95W. Fully expect these to OC-boost to 1350+ and then some. 1500MHz might well be true but for here we will have to wait and see.

Yes- with Ti variants filling in the ~100W-145 gap. Most GTX970/980 have 125% power limit. (Zotac is limited to 111% on there overclocked GPU's) If GTX960 (fullGM206?) is rated at 75-100W with a 125% power limit: 1500MHz is very possible. Full dies always overclock better than a Cut down. Example: GK110 GTX780 can't reach GTX780ti speeds or GTX760 vs. GTX770. Maxwell GTX980's have higher reference clocks than the GTX970.

GTX 960 AMPI EDITION 2GB DDR5 128BIT 1266-1329/7010 HDCP - ZT-90303-10M (PCI,PCB POPULATED,VGA CARD,COMPUTER ACCESS)

Probably an FOC, but if its a base clock, 1266 is 12.4% higher than that of a Ref. GTX980 (1126MHz), and I'm running a 970 at 1350, so that scales (1350*1.124) to >1500MHz.

---

FAQ's

HOW TO:
- Opt out of Beta Tests
- Ask for Help

Full dies always overclock better than a Cut down.

Empirically this is correct, but with everything else being equal a full die would clock worse simply because it produces more heat. And the cut-down version can have the slowest part disabled, which can yield more frequency headroom.

The reason you're seeing the premium cards clock higher is that chips which clock better are more likely to be promoted to premium cards (if there are no defects).

MrS

---

Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002