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Nvidia announces Kepler architecture and new laptop graphics cards

Teaser
Finally, the 28nm GPU generation has arrived for laptops. Nvidia has officially announced the new Kepler generation of graphics cards as part of the new GeForce 600M series. However, only some cards of the 600M series are based on the Kepler architecture while some are still of the Fermi generation. More information after the break.

Nvidia today has officially launched the new Kepler architecture - the successor to the successful Fermi lineup - for mobile computers. The new 28nm core should offer up to twice the energy efficiency when compared to its predecessor. Users must take note, however, that only certain GeForce 600M cards will be based on the Kepler core.

First off, let's start with the new model ranges. Nvidia will make available the GeForce GT 620M up the the GTX 675M, where everything in between can be either a 28nm Kepler core, a 28nm Fermi core or even renamed 40nm 500M Fermi core.

The most notable and "true" next-gen models are the ones based on the new GK107 architecture, such as the GeForce GT 640M LE, GeForce GT 640M, GT 650M and GTX 660M cards. These models all benefit from 384 shader cores, 32 TMUs and 16 ROPs with a 128 bit memory bus. The main difference between these 5 cores will be factory clock rates and the associated memory type for VRAM. 

Another new chip is the GF117 in the GT 620M and in specific versions of the GT 630M. The architecture here is essentially an optimized 28nm version of the GF108 (GeForce GT 540M), but without dedicated monitor ports. Therefore, these cards can only be used in conjunction with Optimus and are still Fermi cards at heart.

The high-end GeForce GTX 670M and GTX 675M are, unfortunately, still based on the old 40nm GF114. As a result, the specs are more or less similar to the GeForce GTX 570M and GTX 580M, respectively, and can be considered renames. The only difference is the slightly higher clock speed of the 670M compared to the 570M.

A Kepler-based high end card (possibly the GTX 680M) is expected later this year.

Overview on GeForce 600M GPUs:

Model Chip Process Shader TMUs ROPs Core Clock Memory Bus
Geforce 610M GF119 (Fermi) 40 nm 48 8 4 up to 900 MHz 64 Bit DDR3
Geforce GT 620M GF117 (Fermi) 28 nm 96 16 4 up to 620 MHz 64/128 Bit DDR3
Geforce GT 630M (old) GF108/106/116 (Fermi) 40 nm 96/144 16/24 4/16 up to 672 MHz 128 Bit DDR3
Geforce GT 630M (new) GF117 (Fermi) 28 nm 96 16 4 up to 800 MHz 64/128 Bit GDDR5/DDR3
Geforce GT 635M GF108/106/116 (Fermi) 40 nm 96/144 16/24 4/16/24 up to 753 MHz 128/192 Bit GDDR5/DDR3
Geforce GT 640M LE (1) GF108 (Fermi) 40 nm 96 16 4 up to 762 MHz 128 Bit DDR3
Geforce GT 640M LE (2) GK107 (Kepler) 28 nm 384 32 16 up to 500 MHz 128 Bit DDR3
Geforce GT 640M GK107 (Kepler) 28 nm 384 32 16 up to 625 MHz 128 Bit DDR3/GDDR5
Geforce GT 650M GK107 (Kepler) 28 nm 384 32 16 up to 850 MHz 128 Bit DDR3/GDDR5
Geforce GTX 660M GK107 (Kepler) 28 nm 384 32 16 up to 835 MHz 128 Bit GDDR5
Geforce GTX 670M GF114 (Fermi) 40 nm 336 56 24 up to 598 MHz 192 Bit GDDR5
Geforce GTX 675M GF114 (Fermi) 40 nm 384 64 32 up to 620 MHz 256 Bit GDDR5
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2012 03 > Nvidia announces Kepler architecture and new laptop graphics cards
Till Schönborn, 2012-03-22 (Update: 2012-06-25)