Rumor: Nvidia Ampere 7nm GPUs to launch 1H 2020

Nvidia remains the top player in the GPU market thanks to innovations like bringing real-time ray tracing to its latest line of Turing-based RTX 20 series GPUs. However, it’s chief competitor AMD is ahead of the game when it comes to the fabrication process it uses for its new Radeon VII GPUs which are fabricated on a 7 nm process. Nvidia is looking to bridge that gap by switching to Samsung’s 7 nm EUV process for its next generation of GPUs.

The latest rumors point to the company debuting the sequel to its 12 nm-based Turing architecture, dubbed Ampere, in the first half of 2020. This is certainly exciting news for GPU fans who are always looking for the latest in cutting edge graphics technology for their rigs and the wait for Ampere sounds like it will definitely be worth it. Just the switch to Samsung’s 7 nm EUV process will being substantial gains in performance and efficiency which should also deliver greater headroom for overclocking.

At this stage, the next generation of Nvidia GPUs are expected to be dubbed the 30 series direct sequels for the RTX series expected to include the RTX 3060, RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti. A 30 series-based Titan GPU is expected to be the top-of-the-line design. Nvidia is expecting to double down on ray tracing performance in the new GPUs with a lift in performance well above 1080p 60 fps, which is currently the around the upper limit of the RTX 2080 Ti.