Mar 17, 2017 09:29 AM EDT By Josh McClaren, UniversityHerald Reporter

NVIDIA Volta is expected to pack in more power into the GeForce gaming graphics cards than Pascal even topping the impressive performance boost seen in the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. A recent report revealed that NVIDIA will be using TSMC's new 12nm process node, which is only a tweaked version of its 16nm technology, but NVIDIA may still optimize the performance of Volta way beyond what its node offers.

The Pascal had a highly successful run with the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, the final product now dubbed as the fastest card on the market. Not much is known about its successor, the NVIDIA Volta other than what NVIDIA previously revealed that it will have its first HBM2 product under the new architecture. Digitimes recently reported that TSMC already received an order from NVIDIA for high-performing computing chips for AI applications. This could potentially be the GV100 from which Volta will be based from.

Incidentally, the GV100 has also been spotted a few weeks ago in some drivers, which indicates that NVIDIA is already preparing Volta as the successor of Pascal. If the rumor was true, it appears that NVIDIA Volta will be built on TSMC's new 12nm process node, which is not exactly a new process but rather a refreshed one of its 16nm technology. TSMC's CC Wei has disclosed the company's strategy which is to continuously improve every node like what it has done with its 16nm process but this time it is calling it by a new name, the 12nm. The odd naming may be attributed to some isolated additional improvements that TSMC most likely performed other than changes in density, classical density, performance, and power efficiency.

TSMC deviated from other foundries like Samsung and Intel which usually brand product as built from the same node although the added tweaks make the original and the respun as totally different products. TSMC may have deliberately opted for a new branding so it does not get left behind in terms of new technology, but there is no denying that a full node shrink will bring more benefits to the NVIDIA Volta instead of just a refreshed 16nm node. However, NVIDIA has been known for its track record of able to squeeze in substantial performance gains in its products according to Extreme Tech. With Volta, pretty much the same is expected and a much more powerful Pascal successor may soon come in the GeForce gaming graphics cards sometime in 2018.

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