28nm cards ETA?

[taltamir]

So what is the current ETA on the 28nm GPUs? I am itching to upgrade my aging GTX260.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Q2 '12 for shure, maybe even Q1.

 

[taltamir]

Q2 '12 for shure, maybe even Q1.

so far away? weren't they supposed to be out this year? (I distinctly recall promises of Q4 2011)

 

[RavenSEAL]

so far away? weren't they supposed to be out this year? (I distinctly recall promises of Q4 2011)

There continues to be problems with TSMC, etc. AMD has officially delayed them a couple of times already.

 

[SithSolo1]

so far away? weren't they supposed to be out this year? (I distinctly recall promises of Q4 2011)

There were never promises, only assumptions and rumors.

 

[(sic)Klown12]

I believe we'll see low to mid range cards on 28nm in Q4 of 2011, but the high-end cards will be Q1 of 2012 and probably more towards the end of the period. The rumors are stating the TSMC is still having issues and haven't been able to really scale up production. I would love to be wrong though and see some new goodies soon.

 

[cmdrdredd]

There were never promises, only assumptions and rumors.

Yep and I distinctly remember a few members here telling everyone it will be before the end of the year or maybe in January. I said they were wrong.

 

[taltamir]

I distinctly remember there being official claims but I could be wrong. I can't find any now that i google it.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I distinctly remember there being official claims but I could be wrong. I can't find any now that i google it.

I never saw that...just fudzilla and the other rumor sites.

 

[(sic)Klown12]

I distinctly remember there being official claims but I could be wrong. I can't find any now that i google it.

There was a quote from some AMD official that stated they were targeting 2011 for release. Not a promise, but easily misconstrued as one. When I find the link, I'll post it.

Edit: The closest I could find is an interview at Rage3D with Eric Demers. Towards the end of the article, the author states that he was told that AMD was looking towards a 2011 release, but there is no direct statement from anyone from AMD.
http://www.rage3d.com/interviews/amdchats/eric_demers_july_2011/

 

[terryys]

probably this one:
http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/third-quarter-earnings-2011oct27.aspx

AMD demonstrated the industry’s first 28 nanometer mobile GPU. AMD’s next-generation family of high-performance graphics cards is expected to ship for revenue later this year.

 

[Rifter]

Q2 for sure, might see some low end crap before that but i would expect the high end chips to be out Q2, and late Q2.

 

[BrightCandle]

There are a rumours pointing to early next year for the high end, followed by the mid range and below. There is no official word from AMD other than they wanted it to be the end of the year. Without official word on what the release plan is we really don't know how the new cards will perform or when they will be out.

Like always with computers you can only upgrade to what you know performs well today. Its a guaranteed that something new is around the corner and it will probably be faster. If its not released yet its very hard to know whether the new hardware will be awesome or a flop in the grand scheme of things. There is a general rule that new hardware is faster than the predecessor but if you wanted a new CPU and were waiting for SB-E or Bulldozer you would have been disappointed with the gains shown.

Waiting is hard and in the end when its released you might be happy, you might be waiting again or you might end up buying a lemon because you already decided.

 

[taltamir]

the problem is that today is kinda sucky.

 

[Rifter]

the problem is that today is kinda sucky.

I agree, ive been sitting on 2 460's since before the 5xx/69xx series was even out and im looking for a upgrade. The current options offer no greater performance than i already have unless i go SLI again but this time im going to stick to best single GPU unless there is a huge price difference between high end single chip and two mid range chips with equal performance.

My system still has one GPU upgrade left in it till i need to do a whole rebuild.

I want me some 28nm GPU's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[3DVagabond]

There were never promises, only assumptions and rumors.

AMD did say they would have next gen GPU's "shipping for revenue" before years end.

There continues to be problems with TSMC, etc. AMD has officially delayed them a couple of times already.

I've never seen any "official delays". They were very vague about it all (See above). There are still persistent rumors that they might get 28nm mobile out by years end. That would be enough to cover their butts. It does seem to be all out of their hands though and in TSMC's court.

 

[NumericalMethods]

I think that both manufacturers are keeping conspicuously quiet up to this launch. They definitely don't want to canibalise their old card sales, as has happened on prior occasions. Given they missed the BF3 launch with their new hardware, they are probably trying to capitalise on current hardware sales at decent margins for as long as possible before announcing their new kit.

Stock for both nvidia and AMD cards in the UK is very thin now, suggesting something is about to happen. My guess would be that there will be little news about the next gen cards until 2-3 weeks before their launch.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

last I saw the latest rumors suggested as early as next month for the 7800s and January for the 7900s and other parts (although March for the dual GPU 7990) but thats based on week old rumors, I don't keep up on this on a daily basis.

also, the 7800s look like they're just die shrunk 6900s, so slightly faster if clocked higher but with less than half the TDP, and priced similarly but slightly cheaper (think $~300 range) with the 7900s into the $400-500 range. Again, rumors.

 

[Borealis7]

i hope they get released soon, having a 5850 i really don't have a meaningful upgrade option around 200$ (excluding 2nd hand cards...)

 

[bunnyfubbles]

i hope they get released soon, having a 5850 i really don't have a meaningful upgrade option around 200$ (excluding 2nd hand cards...)

With current rumors placing the 7800s above 6900 performance and right around the same price range (likely a tad cheaper), you might be SOL for a good while longer to find a suitable replacement for your 5850 @ 900MHz for just $200.

although any game that really needs faster than such a 5850 will also likely need a CPU more powerful than the 8400

 

[Concillian]

AMD did say they would have next gen GPU's "shipping for revenue" before years end.

"Shipping for revenue" means they have shipped GPUs to board integrators. It definitely does not mean on the shelves. That will generally happen months after AMD has started "shipping for revenue"

It's good to hope for this year, but between decoding the coporatese language and the more recent announcements that point to Q1-Q2 CY2012, I think it's pretty unlikely to see anything 28nm available for purchase prior to 2012.

Shoppers in general are better informed than just a few years ago. The MFRs know this and know that and also know that release dates will very much stifle current demand. Gone are the days where they're trying to one-up each other on paper launches. Now the only people they're trying to one-up are the consumers. They want as many people as possible to buy current gen cards without knowing a significant jump in performance is coming in the short term.

 

[taltamir]

Concillian, its not the consumer are magically more intelligent today. Even if the internet helps, its been around for a while and the purchasers of GPUs are not exactly your average computer clueless elderly person.

Sure, they get an advantage over their competitors by keeping it silent. But to keep it silent requires that very few people know about it. This can work with a technology like eyefinity. where only a few people inside AMD knew of it.

But with a next gen card you need to get it in the hands of developers to have them start developing with it in mind (rather then, say, your competitor's cards)
Also, if it is only months away then its too late for your competitor to make major changes anyways.

 

[Hippiekiller]

Shoppers in general are better informed than just a few years ago. The MFRs know this and know that and also know that release dates will very much stifle current demand. Gone are the days where they're trying to one-up each other on paper launches. Now the only people they're trying to one-up are the consumers. They want as many people as possible to buy current gen cards without knowing a significant jump in performance is coming in the short term.

Strongly disagree that the days of the infamous paper launch are over. The next paper launch will happen when one company is getting beaten badly in the current gen, and has what they think is a trump card.

It makes sense to stifle current sales if your competitor is taking potential customers for your next gen part at a 4:1 ratio for example than what you are current gen.

 

[TheRealMrGrey]

I asked this same question here a couple weeks ago and was told Q4 2011. I don't think anyone really knows except the card makers.

I wonder how much demand for cards has dropped with economic uncertainty? Economic numbers came out today suggesting that inventories fell last quarter on poor consumer expectations, but the economists expect inventories will pick up this quarter because consumer spending was stronger than expected last month. If inventories are low (at least in UK according to one poster above) perhaps this will push them harder to grind out the next gen, particularly if consumer demand starts to rev up? I'm hopeful for Q1 2011 - one wants both companies to have models out so there is competition.

I'd really like to know a rumor on Nvidia's release, since they have better driver support - especially important to me because I still play '06 games as well as new. All I read on forums is about AMD and the 7000's.

 

[WMD]

AMD 6000 series gpu are selling like hotcakes right now due to BF3. Why would they shoot themselves in the foot by giving any hint of the upcoming release. Longer product cycles = more profit. Even if they got new products ready its unlikely to be leaked unless sales of current products are declining or they know the competitors are releasing something.