During GTC 2019 in Suzhou, China, NVIDIA's CEO responded to the press that the majority orders of their next-generation 7nm GPU will be handled by TSMC with Samsung only playing a small role than previously reported.
TSMC Receives Majority of NVIDIA's Next-Generation 7nm GPU Orders - CEO, Jensen Huang, Confirms
The information comes straight from NVIDIA's CEO who stated during the media Q/A session that they will primarily be selecting TSMC for the majority of their next-generation 7nm GPU orders with Samsung only receiving a smaller number of orders.
NVIDIA's CEO also stated that his company has had close relations with TSMC in the past with TSMC producing their previous 16nm (Pascal) and 12nm (Volta / Turing) GPUs. NVIDIA also highlighted its Turing GPU architecture which is built upon TSMC's 12nm process node and offers better efficiency and performance than rivaling 7nm process based products. NVIDIA's CEO also stated that without TSMC's and their advanced process technologies, they wouldn't have been so successful, hence this partnership between TSMC and NVIDIA is very important for them.
Now, this refutes the previous claims that NVIDIA was tapping in Samsung's 7nm EUV process node for the development of their next-generation GPU but not entirely. Jensen does state that Samsung would still receive an order, albeit a smaller number than the one given to TSMC. Previously, we've seen NVIDIA produce entry-level mobility and desktop GPUs on Samsung's nodes.
The GP107 GPU in the Pascal generation was produced by Samsung while the rest of the Pascal lineup was handled by TSMC. The Turing lineup was entirely based on TSMC's 12nm FinFET process node but since the CEO of NVIDIA has stated that Samsung would indeed get a small order, we can expect them to be either entry-level stuff or some AI/DNN specific custom chip such as the Orion SOC which also has a next-generation 7nm GPU integrated on it.
We are always busy at work building our overall architectures whether that be our architectures as a whole, and it tends to serve many of our different markets, whether that be gaming, or professional visual, our overall data center. So fear not, we're working on our technology. Our innovations and our process technology has been exceptional over these last years. So stay tuned. We will always have something for you in the future, but we like to surprise everybody with our overall roadmaps and when things come out. - NVIDIA CFO, Colette Kress (Via)
Finally, Jensen was asked about the launch timeframe of their next-generation 7nm GPU but he simply replied that it wasn't a convenient time for them to disclose any date at the moment. We know from a recent interview with NVIDIA's CFO, Colette Kress, that they want to surprise everyone with their own 7nm GPU announcement but they are waiting for the right time to do so.
With CES 2020 closing in, we might get a hint of what NVIDIA has in its pockets for 2020. We know that a lot of our gaming and enthusiasts audience has been waiting for NVIDIA's next-gen successor to the Turing GPU for a while now which is expected to be codenamed Ampere and as recent speculation has shown, would be a huge upgrade over 12nm Turing. This makes 2020 all the more exciting since we will have full-fledged GPU lineups from all three vendors, Intel, NVIDIA and AMD.
