Why is the 300 series made up of all pro cards?

[EndlessWargasm]

Where are the XTs?

No full Tonga (Antigua), kinda understandable if all those chips are actually being gobbled up by apple.

But Pitcairn (Trinidad) and Bonaire (Tobago)? Where is the 370x and 360x?

What possible reason would AMD have for holding those chips back?

 

[LTC8K6]

They are abandoning that line, I think.

Going all Fiji based cards.

So, no need to flesh out those lines?

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Worst one is the 370, that's the only gcn 1.0 part in the 300 series. Should've just left it out.

Hopefully there's a full tonga 380x soon.

 

[EndlessWargasm]

They are abandoning that line, I think.

Going all Fiji based cards.

So, no need to flesh out those lines?

That's not how this works though. The PROs and XTs are the same chips, just with a bit disabled in the case of the PROs.

Yields on these chips should be huge at this point, are they crippling a bunch of viable XTs or are they stockpiling them.

Neither of those options make any sense to me. Something weird is going on, what is AMD up to?

 

[Stuka87]

There is still the 290X which is an XT.

I do think the 300 series is just a place holder for now. No reason to dump a bunch of money into lower end 28nm cards.

I am actually happy they simplified their product lineup. There was way too many models before.

 

[EndlessWargasm]

There is still the 290X which is an XT.

I do think the 300 series is just a place holder for now. No reason to dump a bunch of money into lower end 28nm cards.

I am actually happy they simplified their product lineup. There was way too many models before.

I would agree with you, if they had used the full XT version of the chips, instead they have released the cut down chips.

This is leaving at least 10% performance off the table for no good reason as far as I can tell.

They can't be having yield issues.

There isn't a performance per watt argument either. Wider and slower chips are more efficient all things being equal.

What are they saving the XT chips for?

Pairing them with HBM for mobile applications?

Keeping them back to see how nvidia responds to the 300 series?

It is confusing and I can't think of a precedent for this behaviour at all.

 

[Fox5]

I would agree with you, if they had used the full XT version of the chips, instead they have released the cut down chips.

This is leaving at least 10% performance off the table for no good reason as far as I can tell.

They can't be having yield issues.

There isn't a performance per watt argument either. Wider and slower chips are more efficient all things being equal.

What are they saving the XT chips for?

Pairing them with HBM for mobile applications?

Keeping them back to see how nvidia responds to the 300 series?

It is confusing and I can't think of a precedent for this behaviour at all.

The best quality chips may be going to mobile (not with HBM). Alternatively, these could be failed/left over chips.

 

[BryanC]

Where are the XTs?

No full Tonga (Antigua), kinda understandable if all those chips are actually being gobbled up by apple.

But Pitcairn (Trinidad) and Bonaire (Tobago)? Where is the 370x and 360x?

What possible reason would AMD have for holding those chips back?

Apple can't possibly be using all the Tonga XT parts. The only product with Tonga XT is a $2500 BTO iMac. You can't even buy one in an Apple Store, they only carry Pitcairn models in store.

 

[JDG1980]

Apple can't possibly be using all the Tonga XT parts. The only product with Tonga XT is a $2500 BTO iMac. You can't even buy one in an Apple Store, they only carry Pitcairn models in store.

You keep saying this, but I am not aware of any publicly released sales figures from Apple that would support it.

 

[richaron]

I can only think of two options:

1. They're only going to sell one line of each chip, & you'll have more product to sell if it's the "PRO" (cut down) version. So they're deliberately neutering fully functional chips they can't sell in another market (i.e. mobile).

2. They're stockpiling for some sort of mid-season refresh (a la Kaveri [but better]). It's going to be quite a wait for the entire next gen on a new node & I can imagine they'll want to get a few headlines before then.

 

[BryanC]

You keep saying this, but I am not aware of any publicly released sales figures from Apple that would support it.

I just bought one two weeks ago, so I experienced this first hand. Go to Apple's website and try to find an iMac with Tonga XT. You have to jump through lots of BTO hoops and pay $2500 to get it.

Tonga XT in the iMac is a niche of a niche.

 

[svenge]

Alternatively, these could be failed/left over chips.

Lord knows that AMD has too many unsold chips stockpiled as it is!

 

[SPBHM]

I can only assume they are going to release a 380x, 370x and 360x in a few months

 

[Pinstripe]

Won't happen, as Tonga XT is an Apple exclusive.

 

[Abwx]

Lord knows that AMD has too many unsold chips stockpiled as it is!

Dunno but if it s the case at least they apparently dont need to pay their customers to "buy" them....