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AMD Volcanic Islands coming late 2013
AMD seems to be making some changes for Sea Islands in order to respond to Nvidia's Kepler revision series of products. The new GPU family is now codenamed "Volcanic Islands" and is slated for late 2013, expect the Christmas season. The new Volcanic Islands GPU’s could be be manufactured on a 20nm Gate-Last process through either TSMC or Common Platform Alliance, but that remains unconfirmed though. We have some very intersting specs to share though.
According to reports coming from Chiphell Volcanic Islands could be coming in the last quarter and feature the Hawaii graphics core that is going to replace Tahiti (Tahiti is used in the series Radeon HD 7900 graphics cards). Now the Volcanic Islands architecture although not confirmed could very well stick to 28nm, but 20nm is more plausible if the chip foundries are ready for it. Two additional and possible codenames have been hinted as Reychavik and Honolulu, of which both are active volcanoes and or related to vulcanic islands.
The chip codenamed Hawaii looks to be the most high-end part and would pack some serious muscle:
- 20 nm fabrication proces
- 4096 shader processors
- 16 serial processor units
- 4 geometry engines
- 256 TMUs
- 64 ROPs
- 512-bit GDDR5 memory interface
The early block Diagram has leaked through an Asian website Chiphell, showing "Hawaii," 20nm 16X SPU 4X ACE/Geometry Engine 4096SP 256TMU 64ROPs 512Bit.
The diagram is very blurry but you can see that there will be parallel and serial shader units embedded. If that is the case then AMD is making really significant changes in their architecture as the serial cores that AMD may use (licensing wise) are x86 and could help out on the compute side of things.
Now if we chart it up you can see why this is such big news, as this is a 2x performance increase over the current high-end graphics part.
| AMD Radeon HD 9970 Hawaii GPU | AMD Radeon HD 7970 Tahiti GPU | |
|---|---|---|
| Die Size | 20nm/28nm | 28nm |
| Stream Processors | 4096 | 2048 |
| Compute Units | 16 | 32 |
| TMUS | 256 | 128 |
| ROPS | 64 | 32 |
| Memory | 4 GB GDDR5 | 3 GB GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 512-bit | 384-bit |
As always, leaked information and slides like the block diagram shown above should be taken with a grain of salt. You never know if they are correct and the reality is that the block diagram does have the AMD 'feel and aesthetics their typical presentations have. But the leak of this block diagram is seriously significant, if right.
Rich_Guy
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#4592530 Posted on: 05/08/2013 02:14 PM
Now thats more interesting than Nvidias 6 series re-release
Hawaii sounds like a beast!
Now thats more interesting than Nvidias 6 series re-release
Hawaii sounds like a beast!
StewieTech
Chuck Norris
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Chuck Norris
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#4592536 Posted on: 05/08/2013 02:23 PM
In the article says "HD 9970", wouldn´t it be HD8970 or i´m missing something?
In the article says "HD 9970", wouldn´t it be HD8970 or i´m missing something?
IPlayNaked
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Banned
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#4592538 Posted on: 05/08/2013 02:32 PM
Presumably they won't re-use the 8k series. Those are OEM parts that are currently available.
In the article says "HD 9970", wouldn´t it be HD8970 or i´m missing something?
Presumably they won't re-use the 8k series. Those are OEM parts that are currently available.
ninogui
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#4592573 Posted on: 05/08/2013 03:55 PM
I think the main interesting upgrade will be the memory bus, much more so than the plain clocking capability
384 is already great, 512 will leave nvidia in the dust
I think the main interesting upgrade will be the memory bus, much more so than the plain clocking capability
384 is already great, 512 will leave nvidia in the dust
Dictator93
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Master Guru
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#4592584 Posted on: 05/08/2013 04:18 PM
Jeez.. that chip looks like a beast
Jeez.. that chip looks like a beast
Loobyluggs
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Maha Guru
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#4592585 Posted on: 05/08/2013 04:19 PM
Be interesting to read more on this.
Anyone else think we're kinda hitting the limits now? I can't see much more demand for more power/GPU performance now.
1080P gaming and DX11 have got the goods which developers seem to be plumping for - can't see this changing anytime soon, esp. since M$ and Sony are going to release 1080P games consoles this year.
What are new graphics cards going to bring us that we don't have now?
Don't get me wrong, I ♥ new technology - but for gaming (unless there is a new DX-xx on its way real soon, which might be something M$ has up its sleeve for the new xbox) I really have no clues as to what increased performance can bring us right now.
A reduction in the cost of 1080P GPU cards would be much more welcome to the market right now than more GPU power which few will use.
Be interesting to read more on this.
Anyone else think we're kinda hitting the limits now? I can't see much more demand for more power/GPU performance now.
1080P gaming and DX11 have got the goods which developers seem to be plumping for - can't see this changing anytime soon, esp. since M$ and Sony are going to release 1080P games consoles this year.
What are new graphics cards going to bring us that we don't have now?
Don't get me wrong, I ♥ new technology - but for gaming (unless there is a new DX-xx on its way real soon, which might be something M$ has up its sleeve for the new xbox) I really have no clues as to what increased performance can bring us right now.
A reduction in the cost of 1080P GPU cards would be much more welcome to the market right now than more GPU power which few will use.
kens30
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#4592592 Posted on: 05/08/2013 04:30 PM
Wow some very nice specs there this time around i think i will be going for an AMD card for the very first time and i don't mind waiting until the end of 2013 as i wont be able to upgrade until then..and to Loobyluggs for me you can never have enough GPU power.....and there's no need for a new dx as no title is making full use of dx11..yet
Wow some very nice specs there this time around i think i will be going for an AMD card for the very first time and i don't mind waiting until the end of 2013 as i wont be able to upgrade until then..and to Loobyluggs for me you can never have enough GPU power.....and there's no need for a new dx as no title is making full use of dx11..yet
Matt26LFC
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#4592611 Posted on: 05/08/2013 05:10 PM
Those specs look pretty awesome! But I've only just bought a 7970 and until I buy a Monitor that runs at least 1440p I don't need it. Not to mention the top flight GPU (8970) will likely cost around £500 at launch.
People running 1600p screens cards like this are going to be a no brainer, I wonder how 4K would run on this GPU!
Those specs look pretty awesome! But I've only just bought a 7970 and until I buy a Monitor that runs at least 1440p I don't need it. Not to mention the top flight GPU (8970) will likely cost around £500 at launch.
People running 1600p screens cards like this are going to be a no brainer, I wonder how 4K would run on this GPU!
moab600
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Ancient Guru
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#4592633 Posted on: 05/08/2013 06:09 PM
sounds impressive but we see what maxwell will bring out, i hope 512bit as well. should be interesting...
sounds impressive but we see what maxwell will bring out, i hope 512bit as well. should be interesting...
Titan29
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Master Guru
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#4592641 Posted on: 05/08/2013 06:21 PM
Impressive specs, if true.
Two Concerns regarding Hawaii:
1. If it is 28 nm, then die size will be huge which means more power consumption, heat etc.
2. Might be priced close to $1000 (which is likely given 2x 7970 specs and estimated perf close to 7990).
Impressive specs, if true.
Two Concerns regarding Hawaii:
1. If it is 28 nm, then die size will be huge which means more power consumption, heat etc.
2. Might be priced close to $1000 (which is likely given 2x 7970 specs and estimated perf close to 7990).
mohiuddin
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#4592645 Posted on: 05/08/2013 06:28 PM
awesome. but, we don't need that amount horsepower anytime soon.
awesome. but, we don't need that amount horsepower anytime soon.
Richkill
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#4592651 Posted on: 05/08/2013 06:41 PM
4K resolution seems to be like the future which will warrant the video memory.
4K resolution seems to be like the future which will warrant the video memory.
-Tj-
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#4592655 Posted on: 05/08/2013 06:51 PM
Nice this looks like a perfect upgrade.
To those questioning its perf. there is never enough powaah!! Yes even at 1080P and newer titles.
Although im a bit confused about this part
16 serial processor units
4 geometry engines
So in reality it will have 16*4 = 64 CU?
Also i think it will be 20nm, AMD has 3 fabs to chose from so there wont be any delays because of it.
Nice this looks like a perfect upgrade.
To those questioning its perf. there is never enough powaah!! Yes even at 1080P and newer titles.
Although im a bit confused about this part
16 serial processor units
4 geometry engines
So in reality it will have 16*4 = 64 CU?
Also i think it will be 20nm, AMD has 3 fabs to chose from so there wont be any delays because of it.
Undying
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#4592656 Posted on: 05/08/2013 06:53 PM
Ho, ho...AMD is getting serious.
Ho, ho...AMD is getting serious.
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.
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A much better time to release new cards IMO with the new next generation consoles due for release around that time as well as Battlefield 4. NVIDIA releasing the 700 series this month is honestly a bit pointless, the GTX 770 especially so, as there are no games coming out that warrant an upgrade (and, no, I don't think Metro: Last Light will be a good enough reason either based on the mediocre original).