New AMD video architecture this year?

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taltamir

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
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I have been hearing rumors of a new AMD GPU architecture coming out later this year. About when is it supposed to arrive, and what is currently known about it?
 
Patrick Wolf

Patrick Wolf

Platinum Member
Jan 5, 2005
2,443
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Yes, it's called Southern Islands. Not much is really known about it. Supposed to be a hybrid of Evergreen and Northern Islands (NI is the true next gen architecture due out in 2011). And it'll be 32nm, 28nm, or something like that.
 
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taltamir

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
Thank you.

it can't be 32nm, both TSMC And GF canceled their 32nm to "better focus on their true next gen 28nm architecture" (pfft, yea right)... the only one to have 32nm process is intel. And 28nm will not be up and running for either TSMC or GF this year.

So... not much is actually known about it eh? I guess that means more waiting...
 
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S

Soleron

Senior member
May 10, 2009
337
0
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All the information on it has been from Semiaccurate. Repeated later by other sites.

http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/04/21/atis-southern-islands-tapes-out/
http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/05/20/ati-southern-islands-code-names-leak/

And also Charlie's forum posts provide a broader picture:

Southern Islands is 40nm, using Evergreen shaders and Northern Islands uncore. Will be launched this fall, about September. Die size of the top part is larger than Cypress, but not as large as GT200b or GF100. It may use GDDR5+ memory.

There are three members of the family, with the codenames Whistler-Blackcomb, Robson and Seymour.
 
Tsavo

Tsavo

Platinum Member
Sep 29, 2009
2,645
37
91
Hmm, dang. I was going to grab a GTX 470, but new parts from ATI are just around the corner.

4 months away...
 
S

Soleron

Senior member
May 10, 2009
337
0
71
Well, no one knows whether performance will be much better. It's only a revision of Evergreen and it's still 40nm, so I wouldn't expect miracles.

There's always something just around the corner in PC hardware. If you need new stuff now, then buy now. If you don't, then buy when you do, not just because there is or will be something new.
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
Tsavo said:
Hmm, dang. I was going to grab a GTX 470, but new parts from ATI are just around the corner.

4 months away...
Click to expand...
and at that time rumors of an Nvidia refresh will pop up. and then true next gen 28nm gpu rumors will start popping up. something new is always around the corner so in most cases its best just to buy what you when you need it or you will always be waiting.
 
S

SHAQ

Senior member
Aug 5, 2002
738
0
76
It could just be a new design to boost tesselation performance to keep up with Fermi. I wouldn't expect massive improvements because if there were it would require a die size comparable to Fermi and I don't think ATI will go that route. 15% better performance across the board and 30-50% higher tesselation performance is my current guess.
 
cbn

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
106
Soleron said:
Die size of the top part is larger than Cypress, but not as large as GT200b or GF100. It may use GDDR5+ memory.
Click to expand...

This is good news, but I am also hoping ATI is on the way to perfecting some type of SFR through hardware and/or drivers.

Microstutter and larger input lag is what a lot of people seem to complain about when comparing two smaller GPUs vs One large GPU.
 
Tsavo

Tsavo

Platinum Member
Sep 29, 2009
2,645
37
91
Soleron said:
Well, no one knows whether performance will be much better. It's only a revision of Evergreen and it's still 40nm, so I wouldn't expect miracles.

There's always something just around the corner in PC hardware. If you need new stuff now, then buy now. If you don't, then buy when you do, not just because there is or will be something new.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there is always something waiting around the corner, but I'm always keen on waiting for a new architecture if the release isn't that far away. If this is just a refinement and not all new, then I may just contribute to global warming and get that GTX 470.
 
N

nismotigerwvu

Golden Member
May 13, 2004
1,568
33
91
Soleron said:
Well, no one knows whether performance will be much better. It's only a revision of Evergreen and it's still 40nm, so I wouldn't expect miracles.

There's always something just around the corner in PC hardware. If you need new stuff now, then buy now. If you don't, then buy when you do, not just because there is or will be something new.
Click to expand...

This is very true, however, right now value isn't so hot. If i needed an upgrade right now, I'd keep my eyes peeled for a 4890 on the cheap.
 
S

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
126
toyota said:
what is gddr5+ memory?
Click to expand...

My guess is it means that the author didn't know what it'll use, but it's highly unlikely it'd be DDR3 or DDR4 so saying "DDR5+" likely covers it.

I'm hearing September from the rumors I've read, by that time Cypress will be about a year old. Good to see they have their foot on the gas. Now if only we could get more games that aren't Xbox ports to use that horsepower...
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
SlowSpyder said:
My guess is it means that the author didn't know what it'll use, but it's highly unlikely it'd be DDR3 or DDR4 so saying "DDR5+" likely covers it.

I'm hearing September from the rumors I've read, by that time Cypress will be about a year old. Good to see they have their foot on the gas. Now if only we could get more games that aren't Xbox ports to use that horsepower...
Click to expand...
well he said "NI was set to use GDDR5+, but since DRAM makers might not be ready, we may end up with only GDDR5 on SI"

that makes it sound like gddr5+ is something different than gddr5. :confused:

perhaps its time for a google search...

EDIT: theres a little info in here and indeed it is an improved gddr5 according to some. http://www.semiaccurate.com/forums/showthread.php?p=44683

"GDDR5+ adds a couple of functional pins to each dram package, and uses them to help track write data drift (mostly over temperature swings). This function is also known as Write-CDR or WCDR. (Read CDR is already part of the original G5 spec)."
 
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taltamir

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
toyota said:
and at that time rumors of an Nvidia refresh will pop up. and then true next gen 28nm gpu rumors will start popping up. something new is always around the corner so in most cases its best just to buy what you when you need it or you will always be waiting.
Click to expand...

The thing is prices don't go down until there is a new release, at which point the value of your purchase suddently drops all at once. we are 2/3 of the way into the life of cypress before it is replace, and it still costs the same as the day it was released.
Since computers are a constant cycle of upgrades (where, ideally, you sell the old parts and buy new/used but better replacements), buying it now is paying 3x as much per month since you pay the same MSRP as 8 months ago and will sell it for the same price 4 months from now regardless of whether you bought it at release or today.
 
evolucion8

evolucion8

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2005
2,867
3
81
I wonder what they mean with Uncore? execution resources? Memory controller? Tessellation? ROP's? Anything that isn't refered to Shaders per se. Evergreen shader perfomance is great as it is currently, keep it fed is a challenge, so I wonder how further they can move on with such VLIW design.
 
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