55nm GT200 (GT200-400) on the way?

[zerazax]

I'm pretty sure it's the same chip manufactured on 55nm with less redundancy (and thus less transistors, making it a little smaller even) and a little higher core and shader clock. The other option is that the chip is the same entirely build on 55nm (maybe with some extra transistors for redundancy) with more active components. The first option is more likely as Nvidia really wants to make this chip smaller. If the second option is chosen it is only to not lose face, but Nvidia will lose some money over this.

I think the bigger reason for the push to 55nm is to save money anyways. You can put a lot more die per wafer and improve yields dramatically.

Look at ATI move from 80nm R600 to 55nm RV670. Costs were slashed dramatically and yields improved a lot, considering rumors of terrible R600 yields were later alluded to by engineers after RV670.

65nm to 55nm won't provide that dramatic of a boost but it allows Nvidia to price things more competitively.