AMD plans G200b counterattack

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
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I hope they learned from the A64 to Phenom transition not to release a good product then just sit on it. Hopefully they do make a nice in-between part before the RV870.
 

nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
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Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
I hope they learned from the A64 to Phenom transition not to release a good product then just sit on it. Hopefully they do make a nice in-between part before the RV870.

i agree, these tiny refreshes are needed to keep competition at bay. AMD sat on A64 X2 design for too long, they need to plan the whole thing incrementally like Intel's tick/tock strategy on cpu. relentless push is needed in this case. 260GX-216 is coming from nvidia, now ATI needs to respond or loose sales.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
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It will be great news if ATi can release a refresh before the end of the year.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
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alienbabeltech.com
Not really a surprise

pragmatic

rose.gif


 

Zstream

Diamond Member
Oct 24, 2005
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If they increase the SP count by 100 that will be around a 4-5% increase. Now if you have add decent overclocks to the card that is another 5%. So 10% total overall performance is what I am betting.
 

nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
5,630
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Originally posted by: Zstream
If they increase the SP count by 100 that will be around a 4-5% increase. Now if you have add decent overclocks to the card that is another 5%. So 10% total overall performance is what I am betting.

how about use faster DDR5s. It seems ATI's new 4xxx line benefits from bandwidth a lot. Get some new and better DDR5s and it should put some new life in this "old" line.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,654
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Originally posted by: nyker96

how about use faster DDR5s. It seems ATI's new 4xxx line benefits from bandwidth a lot. Get some new and better DDR5s and it should put some new life in this "old" line.
I think faster memory is a waste of time as they don't need more bandwidth. The 4850, for example, still pulls amazing 8xMSAA and AAA scores despite having absolutely lethargic bandwidth compared to nVidia's offerings.
 

CrystalBay

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2002
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I wonder if they can make those old rumored 950+ clocks, with the new gas multilayerd heat sinks.
 

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
11,844
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Originally posted by: CrystalBay
I wonder if they can make those old rumored 950+ clocks, with the new gas multilayerd heat sinks.

Those aren't coming till RV870 are they?
 

MarcVenice

Moderator Emeritus <br>
Apr 2, 2007
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Who knows thilan, the technology is there I think, so they could use it on this refresh.

So, since rv870 is coming q1 2009, we should be seeing the refresh in less then 2 months ?
 

ronnn

Diamond Member
May 22, 2003
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Thought they also gave themselves an extra month when necessary. Rarely do they seem on time with new tech.
 

rjc

Member
Sep 27, 2007
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Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Who knows thilan, the technology is there I think, so they could use it on this refresh.

So, since rv870 is coming q1 2009, we should be seeing the refresh in less then 2 months ?

That date seems way too aggressive!

The wafer supplier for tsmc only announced it is taking orders for production levels of 45nm wafers in march next year. Once tsmc has the wafers the foundry takes at least 30days(from memory, it might actually be closer to 60) and then another 30days to for the card packaging up and shipping.So its like june for the first 40nm chips to arrive.

And when was the last time the first GPU on a new process was the high end chip? They always do a test one first. For amd this is the RV740 - little dragon.

RV870 is august at best.
 

Borealis7

Platinum Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,914
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also are we talking Financial year quarter or regular year quarter?
Financial year starts at September...

i think AMD/ATI dont really need to release a new single card, but rather cut the prices of their existing cards to really blow off Nvidia from the store shelves.
4870 is strong enough, now if only it were more affordable...
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
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Originally posted by: rjc
Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Who knows thilan, the technology is there I think, so they could use it on this refresh.

So, since rv870 is coming q1 2009, we should be seeing the refresh in less then 2 months ?

That date seems way too aggressive!

The wafer supplier for tsmc only announced it is taking orders for production levels of 45nm wafers in march next year. Once tsmc has the wafers the foundry takes at least 30days(from memory, it might actually be closer to 60) and then another 30days to for the card packaging up and shipping.So its like june for the first 40nm chips to arrive.

And when was the last time the first GPU on a new process was the high end chip? They always do a test one first. For amd this is the RV740 - little dragon.

RV870 is august at best.

TSMC starts 45nm production September 2007

TSMC to ramp 32nm in 2009

So, they are already on their way to 32nm production in 2009. Have been producing 45nm wafers since September 2007
 

rjc

Member
Sep 27, 2007
99
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Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
TSMC starts 45nm production September 2007

TSMC to ramp 32nm in 2009

So, they are already on their way to 32nm production in 2009. Have been producing 45nm wafers since September 2007

The first link is from 2007, things have changed since then, not sure who is using TSMCs 45nm process, everything i had heard from their clients was on 40nm. At the bottom of the second link is a reference to a digitimes article on TSMCs 40nm process:
"Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has announced the unveiling of the foundry's first 40nm manufacturing process technology with first wafers expected in the second quarter of 2008."

"TSMC's CyberShuttle prototyping service can be booked for 40nm designs in April, June, August, October and December 2008 and first wave 45/40nm customers have already used above 200 blocks on completed multi-project wafer runs. The 40G and LP processes will initially run in TSMC's 12-inch wafer Fab 12 and will be transferred to Fab 14 as demand ramps."

ie they are at the sample stage now since april. Theoretically i suppose you could order lots and lots of samples and release that but it would be hugely expensive ie workstation type card prices.

The CEO of Altera says they are the lead customer for TSMCs 40nm process. Apparently they are sampling now and are starting production shipment in May 2009.

Obviously nvidia and amd are somewhere in line after them.

Apparently amd currently has samples of the 40nm RV740 chip(a tsmc employee leaked info on chiphell site), havent heard of any reports of a taped 40nm nvidia chip.