AMD HD8000 Series [Or: Here we go again...]

[GodisanAtheist]

So its that time again when the juicy rumors about the next gen video cards start up. Thank god too, VC&G has become painfully boring.

Anyhow:http://videocardz.com/33740/latest-rumors-nvidia-preparing-gtx-660670-se-radeon-hd8000-performance

So there is some meh stuff in there about the GTX 660's, which is all well and good and it will be nice to have some serious mid-range competition this round but the juicy bit is the HD8000 section.

They claim:
Radeon HD 8970 3GB
5.1 billion Trannies
410 mm^2
28nm VENUS XT
2560 GCN cores
160 TMUs
32/48 ROPs
384-bit
40% faster than HD7970GE

The 40% figure, given the clock room with this generation of 7xxx series and the bump in GCN cores, actually seems feasible. A 20% increase in SPs with a clock of roughly 1200mhz, coupled with architectural improvements could definitely net a 40% increase in performance. Then again the HD6970 was supposed to be at GTX580 speeds according to AMD marketing, but then again rumors seem to be far more reliable than AMD marketing.

Next round should be just as interesting as this one was. Just like AMD showed NV all its cards with its early 7xxx launch, AMD now knows the GK110 is NV's ace for the refresh and it has a mark to meet. At 410^mm it looks like AMD has regained some of its confidence and will be moving away from its small die strategy for good.

 

[palladium]

Release dates............

And at that die size, the price won't look good. Unless nV can keep them in check.

 

[sandorski]

That's a lot of penis.

 

[borisvodofsky]

Well. ok, but if you guys haven't noticed. No game developers has the resources to take advantage of even current generation hardware.

Even if they could, it wouldn't be a prudent investment. :'(

 

[OVerLoRDI]

mmmm MOAR CORES!!!

Which is a good thing for GPUs. Glad to see AMD keeping things moving along.

 

[moonbogg]

Well. ok, but if you guys haven't noticed. No game developers has the resources to take advantage of even current generation hardware.

Even if they could, it wouldn't be a prudent investment. :'(

How is this true? There are plenty of games that destroy any single GPU at 1080p. We need faster cards AND faster CPUs. Honestly though, a single 670 or 7970 is barely adequate for 1080p gaming. I'm talking about new titles maxed out. Not sort of maxed out, but actually maxed out.

 

[Silverforce11]

Some features in games to "max out" offers so little visual improvement at a huge performance cost that its pointless. You can spend heaps and get quad gpu setups to "max out", and your visual improvement is "meh".

Best example: Metro with DoF.

Also, expecting this to be out Q1 2013 to combat gk110 for consumers. Or whenever NV is planning to release gk110 as geforces.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Some features in games to "max out" offers so little visual improvement at a huge performance cost that its pointless. You can spend heaps and get quad gpu setups to "max out", and your visual improvement is "meh".

At 60hz 1080p I'd agree.

With 2560x1440 @ 120+hz being possible some people really want a single card that can handle that res + eye candy at that refresh rate. Once monitor tech catches up and pixel density starts to increase GPUs are going to have to start playing catch up.

 

[Monster_Munch]

At 60hz 1080p I'd agree.

With 2560x1440 @ 120+hz being possible some people really want a single card that can handle that res + eye candy at that refresh rate. Once monitor tech catches up and pixel density starts to increase GPUs are going to have to start playing catch up.

Yeah it's only a matter of time before we start seeing "4k" screens. The new Macbook Pro has that 2880x1800 screen. I bet Samsung or someone else will start doing PC monitors with the same resolution at some point.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Oh no, not this again.

 

[boxleitnerb]

Plagiarism at work again. The author of this article did some estimates which were plagiarized:

http://www.3dcenter.org/news/tape-out-von-amds-sea-islands-launch-im-ersten-quartal-2013

40% is a bit too high I think. If they go for 300W TDP maybe not, though.

 

[brandon888]

same rumor was about gtx 680 vs radeon 7970 .... 45% faster ? no ! only 10% ...

 

[aaksheytalwar]

40% faster would be disappointing unless 8970 over locks really really well

6970 didn't oc a bit and yet the stock 7979 was like 45% faster and comparing oced vs oced around 60-80% faster and yet it wasn't received that well.

Unless the 8970 does 30-40% oc on stock cooling, it is going to be tough for and and won't be easy even then when it would be just 10-15% faster at stock compared to an oced 7970

 

[boxleitnerb]

8970 is on the same process, 40% would be very very good. Compare that to the 15% the 6970 brought over the 5870.
The 8970 would be beefed up refresh, no matter what they call it.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Im guessing this will be the first time AMD releases a monolithic core with 300W TDP in mind?(well they haven't done this inawhile since the R600).

 

[Olikan]

so...wasn't 8xxx series to bring HSA features?

 

[Riek]

those are fake specs.

 

[Will Robinson]

The 2nd generation of the GCN architecture ought to be a fair bit better.
I'd be happy with a 40% across the board performance increase over Tahiti XT.:thumbsup:

 

[Spjut]

Well. ok, but if you guys haven't noticed. No game developers has the resources to take advantage of even current generation hardware.

Even if they could, it wouldn't be a prudent investment. :'(

There's hope for the enthusiasts with Crysis 3

If the PS4/Xbox3 comes in 2013 as well, the requirements will go up

 

[Homeles]

those are fake specs.

They're estimates, genius.

 

[twjr]

They're estimates, genius.

Estimates, guesses, fake specs.... All much of a muchness really. Until there are actual shipping cards in the hands of reviewers and customers it is all moot.

 

[tviceman]

Compare that to the 15% the 6970 brought over the 5870.

This is the best (only) barometer we have to guess at how much a new AMD architecture on the same node can deliver over the hd7970GE. I remember quite well people were highly anticipating Cayman would be 40% faster than Cypress, but that never materialized. If AMD decides to go big die ( 425 mm^2 or bigger) with their flagship GPU they can squeeze out quite a bit of performance on 28nm. The question will then become a matter of efficiency, and how much power they can squeeze out while maintaining decent TDP's.

 

[Homeles]

Estimates, guesses, fake specs.... All much of a muchness really. Until there are actual shipping cards in the hands of reviewers and customers it is all moot.

If you throw every rumor out the window, you'll have no idea what's going on in the industry. You'll also waste tons of time waiting for things to come out, when you could have moved on months prior if you knew something was going to suck.

 

[poohbear]

How is this true? There are plenty of games that destroy any single GPU at 1080p. We need faster cards AND faster CPUs. Honestly though, a single 670 or 7970 is barely adequate for 1080p gaming. I'm talking about new titles maxed out. Not sort of maxed out, but actually maxed out.

none of that is true. Name one game that a gtx 670 can't handle @ 1080p?

 

[Silverforce11]

none of that is true. Name one game that a gtx 670 can't handle @ 1080p?

Metro max with DoF.

Dirt Showdown ultra lights.

There's a few others, essentially some games just have performance viruses as "features" that if you enable, you will tank performance for very little visual gains. Only do it if you are a masochist.