NVIDIA is preparing to launch a new generation of RTX 50 series graphics cards based on the Blackwell architecture. However, its release seems to be accompanied by the gradual phasing out of support for several older GPU architectures, including Pascal, which is the basis for the legendary GTX 1060.
While this decision will not immediately affect gaming driver support, it is a preparation for the upcoming end of full support for these older graphics cards. Currently, the Maxwell and Pascal architectures are still supported by the latest GeForce Game Ready drivers, and NVIDIA has not yet announced an exact timeline for ending support for them.
These architectures have made a significant contribution to the history of NVIDIA:
- Maxwell (GTX 700/900 series): First introduced in the GTX 750 and GTX 750 Ti, the architecture delivered a huge leap in performance-to-power ratio over its predecessor, Kepler. The GTX 900 series, including the GTX 980 and GTX 970, cemented Maxwell's reputation as the benchmark for energy efficiency;
- Pascal (GTX 1000 series): considered one of NVIDIA's most revolutionary architectures. Utilizing TSMC's 16nm FinFET technology, the GTX 1080 delivers up to 65% performance increase over the GTX 980, and the GTX 1080 Ti outperforms the GTX 980 Ti by 60%, while offering a competitive price of $700;
- Volta: NVIDIA's first architecture focused on artificial intelligence. It first introduced Tensor cores for deep machine learning, which became the basis for future architectures such as Turing and Ampere.
After the end of support for older architectures, the oldest series of NVIDIA graphics cards with full support will remain the GTX 16xx based on the Turing architecture.