Rumour control: GeForce GTX 260 to get more stream processors

Posted at: 4:43pm 22nd August 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

September upgrade could be planned for the GTX 260

Much like the way in which the GeForce 8800 GTS got 16 more stream processors when it was revamped with the G92 core last year, Nvidia is now rumoured to be planning to add an extra 24 stream processors to the GeForce GTX 260.

Expreview claims to have spoken to sources who say that an upgrade to the GTX 260 is planned for September, and will add one more cluster of texture processors to the eight already found in the GTX 260. With 24 stream processors in a texture processing cluster (TPC), this will increase the number of stream processors from 192 to 216.

Comparatively, Nvidia’s top-end GeForce GTX 280 contains ten TPCs, and a total of 240 stream processors. Expreview also claims that the GTX 260’s specs will otherwise remain the same, with 896MB of 999MHz (1.998GHz effective) GDDR3 memory attached to a 448-bit memory interface, as well as a 576MHz core clock speed and 1,242MHz stream processor clock speed.

The extra stream processors could help Nvidia’s revamped GTX 260 to compete with AMD’s Radeon HD 4870, which beat the GTX 260 in our Call of Duty 4 and Race Driver: GRID benchmarks, and has a similar price of around £175. Of course, this information is still very much at the rumour stage and hasn’t been confirmed by Nvidia. However, it wouldn’t be the first time that Nvidia has tampered with the specs of an already established GPU name. We’ll bring you more information if and when we receive it.

Could an extra set of stream processors help to give Nvidia the edge over ATI in the sub-£200 price bracket? Let us know your thoughts.

Via Expreview