If GDDR5 and HBM2 are holding back the production of new video cards what about a Polaris 12 w/DDR4?

[cbn]

As you know (or may not know) Polaris 12 is just like Polaris 11 in that it has the 128 bit bus, but unlike Polaris 11 it only has half the cores (512sp vs. 1024sp).

Therefore (with the reduced number of cores to feed as well as shortage of GGDR5/HBM2) I am wondering if AMD would release a DDR4 version of Polaris 12? If not the full 512sp then a 384sp (ie, harvested) one. Or maybe both 512sp and 384sp?

P.S. A 384sp Polaris 12 (ie, harvested GPU) with DDR4 2400 would have roughly the same GPU to core bandwidth ratio as a 1024sp RX560.

 

[NTMBK]

DDR4 is also scarce and expensive.

 

[Shivansps]

Maybe DDR3 with 256 bit bus, lol that will still be expensive as hell for a mid to low-range GPU.

 

[LTC8K6]

Wouldn't it be GDDR6 at this point?

 

[ElFenix]

Wouldn't it be GDDR6 at this point?

cbn likes things to be as cheap as possible. GDDR6 is going the opposite way.

 

[24601]

Anything below GTX XX60 is no-man's land in terms of margins.

AMD will need to have something to match GTX 2060 at margins that they can stomach to have any chance this coming year

This is especially important as Volta/Ampere is also extremely good at mining (which is/was AMD's last bastion).

 

[maddie]

Anything below GTX XX60 is no-man's land in terms of margins.

AMD will need to have something to match GTX 2060 at margins that they can stomach to have any chance this coming year

This is especially important as Volta/Ampere is also extremely good at mining (which is/was AMD's last bastion).

Do you have special non-public knowledge?

 

[24601]

Do you have special non-public knowledge?

All you have to do is look at GV100 mining performance which is off the charts even with provisional drivers and un-optimized miners

 

[cbn]

cbn likes things to be as cheap as possible.

Not always. For example, I've always wanted to see a high powered HBM2 equipped APU in a laptop.

See example below on why dCPU and dGPU is not ideal for high TDP workstation laptop:

With that noted, getting back to the topic of Polaris 12 with DDR4 for desktop it is also true than some people don't need a large GPU for their desktop tasks, but they do need a lot of CPU cores. In such a case a Polaris 12 with DDR4 is just as good as any card with HBM2 or GDDR6.

 

[cbn]

Another usage, of course, would be workstation cards.

In fact, I would say a Polaris 12 with DDR4 would be a good replacement for W2100 (not to be confused with WX2100)---> https://www.anandtech.com/show/11509/amd-announces-radeon-pro-wx-3100-wx-2100

 

[cbn]

Glad to see the following announcement:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12442/amd-plans-playready-3-support-for-polaris-and-vega-gpus-in-2018

4K Netflix with 2GB or 4GB of DDR4?

 

[PingSpike]

Maybe DDR3 with 256 bit bus, lol that will still be expensive as hell for a mid to low-range GPU.

Plus I thought DDR3 production was wound/winding down. Its not like they're going to scrap the modules off the sticks they pull out of a bunch of dell refurbs they bought on ebay. It would probably have to be negotiated as a new order and they likely wouldn't save much money.

Bring back cards with memory slots!

 

[Blitzvogel]

We might be seeing HBM2 in the midrange if the Kabylake G Vega GPUs are any indication. I highly doubt AMD would develop a GPU just for Intel without using it for themselves unless Intel promised to foot the bill or purchase a significant volume. HBM2 just seems a bit too crazy for the low to middle 4.0 Teraflop range like Vega M GH could realistic hit in a graphics card form, but AMD could have separate HBM and GDDR5 versions or perhaps the memory controller can somehow use GDDR5 across a 128/192/256 portion of the bus. AMD probably also predicted HBM2 volume to be better by now so perhaps they really were/are trying to break HBM2 into lower end products.

I totally expect Polaris 10 to get another refresh next round. But if Vega uarch gets brought down to the low end, GDDR5 should still have a place in AMD's next lineup at least in the entry gaming space.

 

[cbn]

DDR4 is also scarce and expensive.

A possible answer to that problem:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/1245...tors-starts-to-sell-ddr4-memory-chips-modules

 

[cbn]

4K Netflix on Polaris has arrived:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/1280...nified-driver-for-apus-dgpus-with-playready-3

2GB DDR4 enough? (Nvidia needs 3GB for 4K netflix)

 

[SPBHM]

a video decoding card with whatever slow memory they can fit would be fine

 

[dark zero]

HELL NO.
Look at GT 1030 with DDR4... is worse than the Ryzen APU....

 

[LTC8K6]

HELL NO.
Look at GT 1030 with DDR4... is worse than the Ryzen APU....

But that is using a 64bit bus and slow DDR4.
What bandwidth is possible with DDR4, or is it impractical to get decent bandwidth?

 

[dark zero]

But that is using a 64bit bus and slow DDR4.
What bandwidth is possible with DDR4, or is it impractical to get decent bandwidth?

Is possible but not with that configuration.

 

[cbn]

But that is using a 64bit bus and slow DDR4.
What bandwidth is possible with DDR4, or is it impractical to get decent bandwidth?

The bandwidth with 128 bit DDR4 will be low, but the card would be balanced and useful for many refurbished SFF business PCs. (Example: my 8.5 liter Dell Optiplex 9010 SFF).