NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 to have only 480 shaders?

Bright Side of News claims the GeForce GTX 480 will have only 480 shaders due to worse than expected yields on the 40nm process, while the GeForce GTX 470 is expected to have 448 cores. The site heard the only cards that will feature a 512-core Fermi will be the top-end Tesla and Quadro boards.

The GeForce GTX 470 is rumored to have a 320-bit memory interface with 1.28GB GDDR5 memory, while the GeForce GTX 480 should have a 384-bit memory bus with 1.54GB memory. Versions with more memory may follow later, BSN speculates we may see 2.56GB and 3GB GDDR5 versions of the GTX 470 and 480, these versions will only work with 64-bit operating systems.

However, it was only last night when we were finally confirmed the reason for renaming the parts from GeForce GTX 370 and GTX 380 into GTX 470 and GTX 480 series. When nVidia introduced their GF100 chip, the company claimed the part comes with 512 cores, 64 Texture units and 384-bit memory controller. However, due to problematic yields for 40nm process for both AMD and nVidia, the number of 512-core parts is quite limited. In fact, it is limited to the point where only Tesla C2070 [coming in 3Q 2010] and top-end Quadro board, the "FX 5900" should feature 512 cores [Tesla is announced, Quadro is not]. If our multiple sources are to believe, GeForce GTX 480 is set to debut with 480 shader cores, a number that will certainly curb a lot of enthusiasm for the part.

Then again, bear in mind that even with 480 cores, performance of GTX 470 and GTX 480 got AMD to the point where "HD 5890" is being prepared to undercut nVidia's prices, while AIBs got the green light to start manufacturing "HD 5990", a dual GPU part that is making sure AMD keeps the GPU performance crown - at least until dual-Fermi board debuts.

Earlier today FUD Zilla revealed NVIDIA is shooting for a 450EUR price tag on the GeForce GTX 480, and BSN reveals the US pricing may be around $299-349 for the GeForce GTX 470 and about $449-499 for the GeForce GTX 480.