AMD APU Display Architecture to remain VEGA, phase out in 2022, mention of Rembrandt
It is still based on a rumor, but with AMD APUs you all know there is an IGP installed, an integrated GPU if that makes it more understandable. Current, and near-future lines of APUs will still be based on VEGA (RDNA) micro architecure, and albeit NAVI has made a fashionable introduction for desktop, it seems that NAVI (RDNA2)will not reach AMD APUs before 2020.
As stated this is a rumor, one that comes from ExPreview. The Vega architecture would reach into Cézanne APUs that are expected to be released in 2021. And yeah, if you missed the news on it, Cézanne are APUs that will be based on ZEN3. In the article the Chinese website also makes mention of the fact that TSMC's 7nm process would still be used for this generation. And here's when we crank up the gossip up a notch, after Cézanne there's Rembrandt, these would be based on a TSMC's 6nm node and DDR5 DRAM memory. Here the APUs would switch towards the next, or second-generation RDNA architecture. It is also the timeframe where USB4 and PCI 4.0 would see its introduction into the range.
AMD would also plan a low voltage processor series (Van Gogh) at giving or take 9 watts to take on Intel's Y-series. The Twitterer Komachi Ensaka has also posted an overview of what he expects from the next few years, you can see that listed below. These self-made plots however are based on stuff noticed and expected, and as such hold no validity as to what the final outcome is going to be, ergo I can only label them as rumors until further notice.
7.38 GHz AMD APU on MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 - 10/09/2012 11:55 AM
MSI announced that their brand new FM2-A85XA-G65 has just set a stunning new world-record CPU speed for AMD's new A10 APUs. Featuring MSI's new DigitALL power design with Military Class III componen...
MSI E350IA-E45 - AMD APU Fusion review - 03/21/2011 12:41 PM
We peek at the cutest mITX motherboard from MSI today, have a look at some of its performance on the CPU and GPU side of things but most of all, we'll discuss features as what these products bring to ...
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The reason behind this is probably because the GPU part of an apu, especially on laptop are used mainly for compute task, with the majority of gaming worload (even on laptop) being done on a discreet GPU (except obviously for Ultrabook like devices). Probably when RDNA (2?, 3?) will become clearly better than GCN (perf by Watt, and without pushing it out of efficient widow) for compute task the switch will be made...
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Inconceivable if true. I actually hope Intel's Xe iGPUs will leave AMD's ancient Vega based offerings to eat the dust. Sometimes bitter medicine is what people need to move forward.
It's all the weirder when you keep in mind that AMD developed the APUs for the next gen consoles a while ago. They most certainly won't be based on any GCN anymore. So, AMD has already basically done the work, but still refuses to let go of GCN in their own products.
I highly doubt Xe will do anything to AMD.
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Joined: 2014-09-27
Inconceivable if true. I actually hope Intel's Xe iGPUs will leave AMD's ancient Vega based offerings to eat the dust. Sometimes bitter medicine is what people need to move forward.
It's all the weirder when you keep in mind that AMD developed the APUs for the next gen consoles a while ago. They most certainly won't be based on any GCN anymore. So, AMD has already basically done the work, but still refuses to let go of GCN in their own products.
Not at all. Vega sucks when a lot of voltage needs to be pumped to it, but in small packages and at lower voltages and frequencies, it's actually quite efficient. It was also designed with specific package height limitations and other laptop-specific things in mind, so I don't see any issue with it. Just the fact that it has the driver from a real GPU manufacturer makes it better than anything Intel might pump out.
And according to rumors, Xe seems like a really slow Vega 2 (ie hot and slow), so I wouldn't hold my breath about it.
Senior Member
Posts: 153
Joined: 2017-08-31
Inconceivable if true. I actually hope Intel's Xe iGPUs will leave AMD's ancient Vega based offerings to eat the dust. Sometimes bitter medicine is what people need to move forward.
It's all the weirder when you keep in mind that AMD developed the APUs for the next gen consoles a while ago. They most certainly won't be based on any GCN anymore. So, AMD has already basically done the work, but still refuses to let go of GCN in their own products.
I don't see a reason why they should move from Vega in their APUs. They do what they were designed for and their performance leaves everything Intel has to offer in the dust. Also, I think that AMDs Vega-based APUs are quite possibly at the top limit of performance you can get out of APUs, since they are always going to get heavily bottlenecked by RAM. Another thing is, that moving to a newer GPU arch would most probably need some sort of redesign = work = money. AMD would be crazy to invest anything in a low-cost, low-margin product, which already has no competition and works fine.
EDIT: grammar and typos.
Senior Member
Posts: 2942
Joined: 2013-03-10
Inconceivable if true. I actually hope Intel's Xe iGPUs will leave AMD's ancient Vega based offerings to eat the dust. Sometimes bitter medicine is what people need to move forward.
It's all the weirder when you keep in mind that AMD developed the APUs for the next gen consoles a while ago. They most certainly won't be based on any GCN anymore. So, AMD has already basically done the work, but still refuses to let go of GCN in their own products.