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[wachie]

edited

In terms of power efficiency, possible speculation - "how efficient will new GPUs be on smaller fabrication node? Does the tweet from Koduri gives us a hint?"

"Raja Koduri @GFXChipTweeter
@Gchip Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than when Ptolemy observed it in 169 A.D"

AMD Radeon 400 series to utilize Polaris architecture

The picture you see above was released by HardwareBattle. It supposedly confirms AMD plans for major technological upgrade next year. Graphics Core Next, a name that accompanied each GPU since 2011, will soon be replaced by Polaris.

We have heard this name before. It was before RTG Summit in December. Tweets from Chris Hook and Raja Koduri made no sense, but some believed they were referring to new GPU codename, which was not exactly correct. Polaris is in fact entirely new architecture, that will be used in new Arctic Islands GPUs (and if rumors are correct one of them would be Greenland).

http://videocardz.com/58021/amds-polaris-to-succeed-graphics-core-next-architecture

Maybe the press were given a sneak peek and we'll get some architecture preview in Q2 and consumer products in Q3/Q4?

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

really hope AMD knocks performance/price out of the park with this. they need a home run. can't afford anything less

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

At least now I'll stop being confused and think that people are talking about the Gamecube with that abbreviation in pressers!

Hope for the best out of this, the past few generations of cards have not been the kindest to them and they've lost some significant architects in the company. We can't have only one player in the market.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Good. Hurry up and give me something I won't regret buying. I really want to support AMD.

 

[Kezen]

Cool name.

 

[orochi91]

Good. Hurry up and give me something I won't regret buying. I really want to support AMD.

Same.

 

[dr_rus]

I really hope that this won't be another rebrand on AMD's part.

 

[Projectjustice]

Im really happy with my 200 series cards. They are still beastly. Hopefully these new cards will be true 4k levels of gaming. Thats what im waiting for before building a new Rig.

 

[Dictator93]

I am surprised to see GCN be succeeded actually. I wonder what polaris will bring to the table that differentiates it from its predecessor.

Is this then the next AMD release?

AMD Radeon 400 series to utilize Polaris architecture

Videocardz is not the most reliable of sites IMO, but this would be great.

 

[Stevey]

Too little too late.
A lot of people I know- me included, won't touch AMD.
Anecdotal, I know.

 

[Kezen]

I really hope that this won't be another rebrand on AMD's part.

They can't afford that. They need to substantially outclass Nvidia's Pascal to regain marketshare and relevance within PC gaming.

Good luck, I don't think Nvidia are screwing around in their offices. Pascal should be a very significant leap over Maxwell.

 

[Rushersauce]

Too little too late.
A lot of people I know- me included, won't touch AMD.
Anecdotal, I know.

Of course you're here, shitting on AMD.

 

[wachie]

Videocardz is not the most reliable of sites IMO, but this would be great.

On the contrary, they are one of the more reliable ones.

They can't afford that. They need to substantially outclass Nvidia's Pascal to regain marketshare and relevance within PC gaming.

Good luck, I don't think Nvidia are screwing around in their offices. Pascal should be a very significant leap over Maxwell.

Pascal is 2x as efficient as Maxwell right?

 

[Kezen]

Pascal is 2x as efficient as Maxwell right?

On paper, according to Nvidia.
Needless to say the actual performance jump won't be close to that but it's not like Maxwell is total garbage in high-end games and neither is AMD's current lineup, so a 50% perf boost would be enough for games of tomorrow.
From what I understand Nvidia need to step their game up in regards to compute, and AMD in terms of geometry performance.

 

[Dictator93]

On the contrary, they are one of the more reliable ones.

In a land of WCCFTECH and Charline Demerjian, they perhaps are better. lol

I am not sure that their record looks so awesome if you have a cartesian perspective on these things though.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Pascal is 2x as efficient as Maxwell right?

I think they even made as bold a claim as that the future tech would allow 4x the energy efficiency, but as always with GPU marketing hype, assume they're full of shit and you'll get something more like a 25-40% YoY increase optimistically.

 

[Stevey]

Of course you're here, shitting on AMD.

Everyone I know IRL runs Nvidia.
It'd be good if this was a big thing for AMD, but I just can't see it happening.
It's like HD-DVD vs Blu-ray.
Same deal with Intel/AMD.

 

[The Dear Leader]

Wait for Polaris.

 

[GatticusFinch]

Yeah, sure AMD. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I went out and bought a 980 Ti because I am sick of your bullshit. Fun to see a company that I relied on in my childhood when I started building PC's run itself into the fucking ground over and over.

I'm sure Zen will just destroy Skylake, too...

 

[FLAguy954]

Im really happy with my 200 series cards. They are still beastly. Hopefully these new cards will be true 4k levels of gaming. Thats what im waiting for before building a new Rig.

This. Give us some GPUs that are actually UHD ready and they will have my wallet.

 

[Kezen]

Everyone I know IRL runs Nvidia.
It'd be good if this was a big thing for AMD, but I just can't see it happening.
It's like HD-DVD vs Blu-ray.
Same deal with Intel/AMD.

In terms of performance AMD are still there though, not the same case with CPUs where Intel stomp them easily enough.

 

[Sky Saw]

Wait for Polaris.

The end doesn't scare us.

 

[tuxfool]

I'm sure Zen will just destroy Skylake, too...

We already know it won't and that isn't what they promised.

 

[Stevey]

In terms of performance AMD are still there though, not the same case with CPUs where Intel stomp them easily enough.

Maybe so, but it's people's mindsets they've got to change.
A lot of damage has been done.

 

[wachie]

In a land of WCCFTECH and Charline Demerjian, they perhaps are better. lol

I am not sure that their record looks so awesome if you have a cartesian perspective on these things though.

So you want a rumor from Anandtech?

I think they even made as bold a claim as that the future tech would allow 4x the energy efficiency, but as always with GPU marketing hype, assume they're full of shit and you'll get something more like a 25-40% YoY increase optimistically.

On paper, according to Nvidia.
Needless to say the actual performance jump won't be close to that but it's not like Maxwell is total garbage in high-end games and neither is AMD's current lineup, so a 50% perf boost would be enough for games of tomorrow.
From what I understand Nvidia need to step their game up in regards to compute, and AMD in terms of geometry performance.

Yeah, I think they used some clever terminology such mixed precision for that. It's not like we know that Polaris is 2.5x better than GCN either.

 

[Dictator93]

This. Give us some GPUs that are actually UHD ready and they will have my wallet.

IMO, "UHD ready" is such a weird term. All the heavy hitters out right now can play at 4K at above console settings with 30fps.

It is just 60fps which is out the reach usually.

Of course Fiji was such a weirdly balanced product though, 4GB and an apparent performance plateau next to the 390X in some games is just... odd.

So you want a rumor from Anandtech?

At this point I just assume everyone is pulling things out of their asses. The just before the r600 was the last time I actively believed things I was reading on these kind of tech sites. That was a watershed moment of FUD. Truly, it brought us about the GPU market we have today!

 

[tuxfool]

Maybe so, but it's people's mindsets they've got to change.
A lot of damage has been done.

True. However a lot of mindsets are filled with bullshit...

 

[Caayn]

Too little too late.
A lot of people I know- me included, won't touch AMD.
Anecdotal, I know.

Anecdotal indeed, in my office I'm the only one with a NVIDIA gpu.

If AMD manages to produce a GPU that beats whatever NVIDIA offers, I'll be jumping ship back to the red camp.

 

[Stevey]

True. However a lot of mindsets are filled with bullshit...

In your opinion.
Doesn't matter what you think of them when it comes to sales.

 

[jotun?]

really hope AMD knocks performance/price out of the park with this. they need a home run. can't afford anything less

Talk of efficiency is usually a bad sign if you're hoping for performance, if the CPU market is anything to go by

 

[ZOONAMI]

I really hope that this won't be another rebrand on AMD's part.

It's obviously not. When's the last time they've actually done a rebrand on a high end gpu? 290x wasn't a rebrand. Fury wasn't a rebrand. Repositioning your former high end chip into the midrange isn't a bad thing for consumers, which is exactly what the 390/390x is.

 

[NeOak]

This will replace my 7970 GE.

 

[orochi91]

Anecdotal indeed, in my office I'm the only one with a NVIDIA gpu.

If AMD manages to produce a GPU that beats whatever NVIDIA offers, I'll be jumping ship back to the red camp.

True.

AMD has always been good enough, but that isn't enough to covert people from NVIDIA.

AMD needs something truly earth-shattering in order to shake-up the GPU scene.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Looking forward to seeing what they cook up. We need some competition in here.

 

[tuxfool]

In your opinion.
Doesn't matter what you think of them when it comes to sales.

Not my opinion. The amount of nonsense spouted by a lot of people verily provides ample evidence of this.

Of course it doesn't matter, I never claimed it did.

 

[Lumberjackson]

The end doesn't scare us.

First thing that came to my mind when i saw the title

 

[GatticusFinch]

We already know it won't and that isn't what they promised.

Their MO has been to hype the shit out of a new product and then colossally under perform. They are already promising 40% IPC improvement on Zen and shooting for "performance parity" with Intel. Bulldozer was going to destroy Intel, Fury X was going to be "an overclocker's dream," etc.

 

[Kezen]

Maybe so, but it's people's mindsets they've got to change.
A lot of damage has been done.

It's down to brand image then, that can be fixed with better marketing. Those who do a lot of research before making a purchase will know Nvidia-AMD have their pros and cons, depending on your target resolution and specifics of the games you want to play and of course price. The sub 200$ is dominated by AMD, Nvidia don't have a very good offer in that price bracket for instance. So the situation is not akin to the CPU landscape where objectively Intel CPUs are purely superior.

So you want a rumor from Anandtech?

Yeah, I think they used some clever terminology such mixed precision for that. It's not like we know that Polaris is 2.5x better than GCN either.

Mixed precision is not for games, it's for scientific apps. Nvlink is not for gaming either, I'm not sure Nvidia willfully created fake hype around their GPUs, it's mostly the mainstream outlets not getting it and being desperate for clicks. To my knowledge Nvidia never claimed Pascal would be twice as fast as Maxwell. I guess some read what they want to read.
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/462486-nvidia-pascal-mythbusting/
VR and 4K will require a leap over what's available right now but it just won't happen. Safer to bet on the usual 40+50% performance improvement in most games at 1080p/1440p (assuming those sophisticated enough of course).

Anyway 40-50% across the board is not too shabby but really substrantial jumps in performance are a thing of the past.
We did not realise how good we had it until we lost it, like most things.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

If AMD can push out an affordable GPU that can also respectably do VR, I'll be solidly in their camp again. I'm none too much interested in the CPU race, but if they could at least catch up and be on par with Haswell, I'll consider an APU to go along with it.

 

[tuxfool]

Their MO has been to hype the shit out of a new product and then colossally under perform. They are already promising 40% IPC improvement. Bulldozer was going to destroy Intel, Fury X was going to be "an overclocker's dream," etc.

I'm just disputing the claim you made earlier. They never said it would beat Skylake.

 

[Blanquito]

Cool, looking forward to more info

 

[FLAguy954]

IMO, "UHD ready" is such a weird term. All the heavy hitters out right now can play at 4K at above console settings with 30fps.

It is just 60fps which is out the reach usually.

Of course Fiji was such a weirdly balanced product though, 4GB and an apparent performance plateau next to the 390X in some games is just... odd.

At this point I just assume everyone is pulling things out of their asses. The just before the r600 was the last time I actively believed things I was reading on these kind of tech sites. That was a watershed moment of FUD. Truly, it brought us about the GPU market we have today!

60 fps in UHD is what I meant but you are right. Fiji was the perfect example of why RTG needed to overhaul their GPU's front end.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

They need another 9700 pro.

They also need to release first or around the same time as Nvidia. Who is going to wait for AMD to pick up a new card?

 

[finalflame]

I hope, for AMD's fucking sake, that this isn't as big of a letdown as 3xx and Fury/X. I remember hearing and saying all the same things in this thread -- "AMD needs to knock this out of the park", "they better outclass nVidia to regain relevance", and just generally being excited about the potential behind Fury. Turned out to be entirely lackluster and 3xx series was a rebrand with some extra memory. Fucking pathetic on AMD's part and makes them look utterly incompetent.

As others have said, I want to support them in the enthusiast segment, but they're making it really, really hard.

 

[Kezen]

I hope, for AMD's fucking sake, that this isn't as big of a letdown as 3xx and Fury/X. I remember hearing and saying all the same things in this thread -- "AMD needs to knock this out of the park", "they better outclass nVidia to regain relevance", and just generally being excited about the potential behind Fury. Turned out to be entirely lackluster and 3xx series was a rebrand with some extra memory. Fucking pathetic on AMD's part and makes them look utterly incompetent.

As others have said, I want to support them in the enthusiast segment, but they're making it really, really hard.

Rebrand or not the R9 300 series are very good GPUs that match Nvidia's current offering in performance. The Fury line does not do as well as I thought.

I don't get the rant about rebrands, who gives a fuck as long as the performance is there and it is in the case of the 300 series. The 390 beats the 970 sometimes (Battlefront comes to mind), the 390x edges out the 980 in some of the latest AAA games.
I mean I don't see how this series is a disappointment, Nvidia did not reinvent the wheel with Maxwell. There are some cool new features which are not used anyway.

I don't get the doom and gloom in the GPU space, marketshare is not too hot but is it beyond hope ? I don't think so, PC gamers are not Nvidia drones.

DX12 is also on the horizon, we will see how it will alter the current state of affairs. Async compute (which as far as I understand is not really "doable" on Nvidia) vs Maxwell rendering features, it's safe to say async will be used more regularly as consoles support it as well.

 

[icecold1983]

I hope, for AMD's fucking sake, that this isn't as big of a letdown as 3xx and Fury/X. I remember hearing and saying all the same things in this thread -- "AMD needs to knock this out of the park", "they better outclass nVidia to regain relevance", and just generally being excited about the potential behind Fury. Turned out to be entirely lackluster and 3xx series was a rebrand with some extra memory. Fucking pathetic on AMD's part and makes them look utterly incompetent.

As others have said, I want to support them in the enthusiast segment, but they're making it really, really hard.

those rebrands all beat nvidias latest quite handily

 

[Oxn]

Maybe if the Fury Cards werent so god damn ugly I would buy one.

 

[GatticusFinch]

I'm just disputing the claim you made earlier. They never said it would beat Skylake.

They did. They had already been touting Zen would have performance parity with the whatever the "current Intel chip" was, which is now Skylake. Now the rumors are parity with Haswell.

 

[tuxfool]

They did. They had already been touting Zen would have performance parity with the whatever the "current Intel chip" was, which is now Skylake. Now the rumors are parity with Haswell.

The objective calculation I saw was matching Ivy Bridge. Based on their own IPC targets for Zen.

It isn't like Skylake is a massive improvement over Ivy Bridge. But I'd like to see where their own marketing claims better performance than Skylake.

 

[wachie]

I don't think so, PC gamers are not Nvidia drones.

Dont think all but majority yes. Nvidia's mindshare is simply too much for AMD.

Even if Polaris is better than Pascal, I dont think there will be any significant change in tides.