Nvidia set for next-gen GPU launch this summer

'Next generation mainstream GPU' from Nvidia to be revealed this summer

Nvidia is set to show-off its "next generation mainstream GPU" at the Hot Chips technology conference in August, according to a press release from the event.

With Hot Chips aimed at technical experts, rather than consumers, the expectation is that Nvidia will hold a launch event well before that date.

However, whether the launch turns out to be GPUs and graphics cards based on the long-awaited Turing microarchitecture or a more disappointing Pascal refresh remains to be seen.

The specialist Videocardz website was the first to spot the info. It suggested that the appearance is consistent with rumours of a third quarter GeForce graphics cards launch, which would coincide with new, faster GDDR6 memory going into mass production.

In a bid to get faster memory into its top-of-the-range graphics cards, AMD resorted to pairing its Vega GPUs with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), but suffered due to the relative high cost of HBM memory compared to GDDR5 and GDDR5X.

However, the "mainstream" tag would also suggest something in the GTX 1050 or GTX 1060-segment of the market, and may therefore not excite consumers looking for the fastest graphics card that money can buy.

The new GPU is expected to be made on a 12nm node - rather than the current 14nm/16nm - but both AMD and Nvidia are looking towards 7nm next year, which should mean a big ramp-up in performance that could help make 4K PC gaming more mainstream.

The Nvidia reveal came in a press release from the event organisers that also promised "AMD featuring their next-gen client chip, NVIDIA with their next-gen GPU, and Intel with an interesting die-stacked CPU with iGPU plus stacked dGPU".

The event will also feature a ‘deep dive' into Nvidia's Deep Learning Accelerator, and Xilinx will unveil details of its adaptive compute acceleration platform (ACAP), with Xilinx CEO Victor Peng also keynoting.