[Videocardz] Exclusive: AMD working on Tonga GPU

[csbin]

http://videocardz.com/50506/exclusive-amd-working-tonga-gpu

Today we have some exclusive information about an upcoming graphics processor from AMD. In our previous post we said that AMD is working on a new flagship model. Today we have a bit of good news to share, but before we get to that, let us make it clear that this new video card is not a high-end part after all. However, when it arrives, AMD’s position in the market may change our perspective back to their haydays.

AMD Tonga, GCN redesigned once again?

First rumors about Tonga surfaced more than a year ago. It was listed in a BETA Catalyst driver along with Hawaii and Vesuvius. The last two are already here, but Tonga was still being polished.
Tonga is not a single island, but an archipelago of 176 islands. Those islands have some piracy history, but we are not convinced this is a Pirate Islands’ chip. In fact, you will get much more results by looking for Tonga’s volcanoes.
First and foremost, Tonga is a mainstream processor, which is probably manufactured by Global Foundries. It will introduce some major changes to the architecture; however, if you expect 20nm fabrication process and High-Bandwidth-Memory, then you will be disappointed. So what is so special about this processor?
Tonga is most likely a direct competitor to NVIDIA’s Maxwell GM107. AMD has been actively improving GCN architecture to increase power efficiency. Tonga will bring a dramatic change in terms of power consumption, something you would not expect from AMD anytime soon. Tongan architecture is also said to feature new PowerTune Boost, which would operate at much lower hardware level.
Of course Tonga would also support all technologies known from other GCN 1.1 and GCN 2.0 GPUs: Mantle, TrueAudio and maybe even XDMA CrossFire.
AMD Radeon R9 2×5

Graphics card based on Tonga should be released in about two to three months. The sad news is that Tonga-powered graphics card will only feature 2GB memory (at least the reference model). This basically means we have a new Pitcairn (Curacao) replacement.
Probably the the most suitable name for this card would be R9 275X, but from what we’ve learned, final codename has not yet been decided.
AMD will probably talk more about its new GPU behind closed doors at Computex meetings, which starts in about 19 days, so stay tunned for more information.
The image above is not official.

For future reference, please put the source of an article in the thread title, especially for rumor articles
-ViRGE

 

[Ventanni]

If these rumors are true, would this be AMD's first dGPU manufactured at GF?

 

[blastingcap]

So this is AMD's GTX 750 Ti, months late. Yawn.

 

[Saylick]

So this is AMD's GTX 750 Ti, months late. Yawn.

Better late than never. Good to hear that AMD is also making strides on the architectural side. We, the consumers, need all the competition we can get.

 

[monstercameron]

So this is AMD's GTX 750 Ti, months late. Yawn.

if this can bring maxwell like power consumption reduction and on a stable glofo manu process, then that does spell an awesome future for excavator based apus especially in mobile...

oh no I am falling prey to my own devised AMD hype train!!!

 

[NostaSeronx]

So this is AMD's GTX 750 Ti, months late. Yawn.

Even though Tonga is a mainstream GPU, it probably will replace Tahiti LE.

It does not compete with CI GPUs; Oland, Bonaire
It does not compete with SI GPUs; Cape Verde

My speculation;

(Mainstream) Low-end GPU: (28nm SHP)
8 ACE F32 units - 2 Shader Engines - 24 CUs - 96 TMUs - 32 ROPs - 2048b HBM @ 1.05v / 224 GB/s

(Performance) Mid-end GPU: (28nm SHP)
8 ACE F32 units - 3 Shader Engines - 36 CUs - 144 TMUs - 48 ROPs - 3072b HBM @ 1.05v / 336 GB/s

(Enthusiast) High-end GPU: (20nm LPM+)
8-16 ACE F32 units - 4 Shader Engines - 64 CUs - 256 TMUs - 64 ROPs - 4096b HBM @ 1.2v / 512 GB/s

 

[DigDog]

what saylick said

 

[FalseChristian]

I remember when ATI brought out the Radeon 9700 Pro with a whopping 8 ROPS that blew away the GeForce4 Ti4600. nVidia was completely caught off guard and hastily brought out the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra that blew chunks.

Maybe AMD can pull off another coup. You never know.

 

[TrulyUncouth]

So this is AMD's GTX 750 Ti, months late. Yawn.

I'm sure you said the same when Nvidia brought out the 600 series months after AMD brought out the 7970

Silly thread-crapping aside- where the hell are NV, and we assume AMD, getting all these efficiencies gains from on the same process node? Is it simply the increased caches to reduce hits to memory and allow lower bandwidth?

At this point I would be happy with a full-on NV maxwell flagship at 28nm. We would assume at same wattage a ~30-50% performance increase, right?

 

[Silverforce11]

If these rumors are true, would this be AMD's first dGPU manufactured at GF?

Yes its good if its true, since GF needs to pick up the slack from TSMC. It will be interesting moving forward since mobile SoCs pretty much get first dibs at TSMC due to volume and pricing.. will NV be able to produce chips via GF??

 

[MeldarthX]

Silver - AMD still very tied to GF; I very much doubt NV would go there....

 

[Mand]

Eh.

Not excited.

 

[caswow]

Eh.

Not excited.

because amd too late?

 

[brandonb]

Anybody know how this might compare to a 7970 (launch version)? My 7970 is getting pretty old (3 years old now?) and sounds like a leaf blower. Need something cooler!

 

[Mondozei]

because amd too late?

I'll answer for myself(hijack!): No, because the card doens't excite me as someone who already uses a high-end card.

 

[Mondozei]

The comparisons with the 750 Ti are pretty pointless. That card was great for the low-end but by and large irrelevant for most people.

Tonga could end up in a much more logical sequence, where you get a staggered release over a much more focused timespan. So you get the low-end card first, then a month or two later, you get the mid-range card and then the high-end one.

What's the point of doing it like Nvidia, where you release it in february and then wait 8+ months(minimum) before anything else?

Both NV and AMD are going to do high-end this year, on 28 nm. AMD just held their cards to their vest much closer for a longer duration of time. NV probably believed they had an unsurmountable lead with Maxwell.

And AMD surely didn't mind letting NV to think that for as long as possible.

Just like we saw how they let Nvidia blow their horns for the Titan Z, and then came out with the 295X2 out of nowhere and blew NV's plans up. This seems to be their new dictum now.

 

[blastingcap]

I'm sure you said the same when Nvidia brought out the 600 series months after AMD brought out the 7970

Silly thread-crapping aside

Sorry you didnt' like my 1 sentence summary which was pretty dang accurate if the OP is true. We've seen this movie before with the HD 4770, 7790, GTX 750 Ti... both companies testing the waters with midrange chips to see if there would be something wrong with a design or process. Your attempt to make this into an AMD vs NV thing is sad and speaks more to your own biases than mine. There is no need to get personal.

 

[rainy]

My 7970 is getting pretty old (3 years old now?)

Looks like that time is running a bit differently for you - HD 7970 was released on January 2012.

 

[Techhog]

Sorry you didnt' like my 1 sentence summary which was pretty dang accurate if the OP is true. We've seen this movie before with the HD 4770, 7790, GTX 750 Ti... both companies testing the waters with midrange chips to see if there would be something wrong with a design or process. Your attempt to make this into an AMD vs NV thing is sad and speaks more to your own biases than mine. There is no need to get personal.

Your post was poorly/lazily worded if this is the point you're trying to make. I'm really not sure what you expected.

 

[blastingcap]

Could I have been clearer? Sure, but that would require me to care about this topic, and this will be the last time I post on this boring topic.

So here's the wordy version of what I should have posted I suppose: enthusiasts want 20nm high end GPUs, not yet another midrange 28nm GPUs like the GTX 750 Ti, which has already been available for months anyway. This thread doesn't have a lot of activity for the above reason. The first thread to have definitive leads on 20nm or smaller high-end GPUs will generate a LOT more posting activity and enthusiasm per day, I guarantee that.

Sentences require context. I don't expect newbies to understand the context; they probably have no idea why the GTX 750 Ti is to be expected, as they don't remember the HD 4770 and double vias. It's almost SOP now to have a midrange pipecleaner GPU come out first. Hell, NV's GTX 680 was such a midrange pipecleaner project, except it exceeded expectations; I can't find the URL right now but Techpowerup had an article where if you look at the early driver numbers or whatever, it was not supposed to be the top end chip. Plus the codename was a giveaway that it was supposed to be heir to the GTX 560 crown, not the GTX 580 crown. GTX 680 just got branded as a top GPU because it stood up to AMD's finest, and NV was looking to make money by selling relatively cheap, small GPUs with relatively cheap, small PCBs as high end. That's exactly what GT 680/670 was. Remember they came out during some of the worst parts of the Great Recession, so belt-tightening was to be expected. It was apparently too hard to stop the train over at AMD so recession or not, the big 7970 was going to launch. If AMD had waited several more months like NV, maybe we would have seen a souped-up 7870 posing as AMD's top GPU. Who knows?

Here's some reading for people who don't already know why midrange pipecleaner projects are so common from NV and AMD after 2008: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2937/9

 

[SlickR12345]

Would love for this to be true, more competition is always better, even though AMD has so far been leading in the low and mid range segments.

I wouldn't mind say a R7 265 type performance GPU with lower power consumption and no extra pins requirements at the same $150 price range.

 

[Wall Street]

I would be happy if they just release competition at the 256-bit and 384-bit slots. GCN 1.1 is nice, but is a lot like baby bear and papa bear in the 3 bears scenario. The 7790 is nice, but not an upgrade from my current card. The 290 is nice, but $400+ is a little expensive. They definitely need to compete with this architecture at the $200-300 mainstream price points, but instead only have 7870 and 7970 refreshes.

 

[monstercameron]

I would be happy if they just release competition at the 256-bit and 384-bit slots. GCN 1.1 is nice, but is a lot like baby bear and papa bear in the 3 bears scenario. The 7790 is nice, but not an upgrade from my current card. The 290 is nice, but $400+ is a little expensive. They definitely need to compete with this architecture at the $200-300 mainstream price points, but instead only have 7870 and 7970 refreshes.

or is it you who would like that?

 

[parvadomus]

Tonga is tahiti replacement. Better performance than 280x/770 at lower power consumption.

 

[Shmee]

Tonga is tahiti replacement. Better performance than 280x/770 at lower power consumption.

Source?

Also, guys, please stop with the back and forth bickering. Thanks.