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Nvidia is said to be planning Turing graphics cards without raytracing hardware in addition to the RTX series. These will be marketed as the GTX 1100 series.

Turing without raytracing?

Nvidia presented the new Turing generation of graphics cards at Gamescom 2018. The new architecture focuses primarily on one technology: raytracing. With raytracing you can create much more realistic images, because the image calculation is different. The catch, however, is that much more computing power is required. The graphics cards currently available therefore have tensor and RT cores built in as shaders in addition to the normal CUDA cores. Due to the high number of shaders and the additional hardware, the necessary calculation also works in real time for games. The performance level, for example in Battlefield 5, throws the players back to the times of Full HD resolution. With a new update Battlefield 5 should work with an RTX 2080 Ti at least on WQHD and high raytracing effect settings.

Another big catch of focusing on raytracing is the high price. An RTX 2080 Ti, with a few exceptions, currently costs a good 1,200 Euros. The RTX 2080 comes to at least 670 Euros, while the RTX 2070 is available from 489 Euros. Apart from raytracing, the performance of the graphics cards has increased rather moderately. The RTX 2070 comes roughly to the performance level of the GTX 1080, while the RTX 2080 roughly reaches the performance level of the GTX 1080 Ti. The prices are almost the same – so you might think that Nvidia’s technical progress is stagnating. Especially in the mainstream area this is dangerous. Since raytracing requires a lot of performance, weak hardware is simply not a good option. Even the reported RTX 2060 should cost 349 US dollars, which is just too much for the middle class. One possibility would therefore be to bring Turing graphics cards onto the market without raytracing hardware. Exactly such an approach is now confirmed by two leaks.

GTX 1100 with Turing, but without raytracing hardware

The well-informed website Videocardz yesterday received some information about a GTX 1160 that will be launched at the same time as the RTX 2060. Independently of this, the Chinese website Expreview (behind a paywall) also received information and marketing material about the same graphics card, which, according to their information, is called GTX 1660 Ti. However, it should be the same graphics card. According to the information Nvidia continues to use Turing as architecture, but without raytracing hardware. While the RTX 2060 should get the TU106-200 chip, the GTX 1160 (or GTX 1660 Ti) comes with a chip called TU116. In the marketing materials the name “Turing Shaders” is mentioned instead of “Ray Tracing”.

No RTX 2050, Launch with RTX 2060

Whether the TU116 chip is cut or simply worse TU106-200 chips is not yet known. However, it would be logical for Nvidia to introduce its own chip for the mainstream market below the RTX 2060. According to these sources, it has also been confirmed that there is no RTX 2050. The GTX 1160 or GTX 1660 Ti should settle below the RTX 2060. The GTX 1100 series could also get further models. Nvidia probably uses the series exclusively for the entry-level market. Further information could follow at CES 2019. According to Videocardz, the graphics card will be launched together with the RTX 2060 in mid-January.