Nvidia gets first samples of GP100 from TSMC, begins internal tests

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has successfully produced the first samples of Nvidia Corp.’s code-named GP100 graphics processing unit. Nvidia has already started to test the chip internally and should be on-track to release the GPU commercially in mid-2016.

3DCenter reports that Nvidia has sent the first graphics cards based on the GP100 graphics processor to its subsidiary in India, where it has a lot of hardware and software developers. No actual details about the chip or graphics cards on its base are known, but it is about time for the graphics giant to start testing its GP100.

Nvidia taped out the GP100 in June, 2015. Production cycle of TSMC’s 16nm FinFET process technology is about 90 days, therefore Nvidia got its GP100 from TSMC very recently. Right now the company is testing the chip and its drivers internally.

Nvidia’s GP100 graphics processing unit is based on the “Pascal” architecture and is made using 16nm FinFET+ process technology. The chip is expected to integrate up to 6000 stream processors and contain around 17 billion transistors. Graphics cards featuring the GP100 will carry up to 32GB of HBM2 memory.

Nvidia did not comment on the news-story.

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KitGuru Says: It is about time for Nvidia to start testing its GP100 now. What remains to be seen is when exactly the company plans to formally introduce its next-generation GPUs. If the first revision of the chip is fully functional, the company may move in introduction of the GP100 to the first quarter of the year.

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