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AMD Clarifies 2013 Radeon Plans

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http://www.tomshardware.com/news/AMD-Sea-Islands-Radeon-GPU,21136.html

HD 7000 series will remain until the end of this year.

The HD 8000 series has been surrounded in rumors that paradoxically claim that they have been released whilst others deny its existence altogether. It turns out that both are true, since all existing Radeon HD 8000s (desktop and mobile) are based on the same GCN architecture already driving the Radeon HD 7000 line-ups. AMD does have new silicon on the mobile side powering its Radeon HD 8500M, 8600M, and 8700M GPUs. That part is code-named Mars, and it's the hardware we previewed late last year. Both Sea Islands- and Solar System-based solutions are OEM-only components, which the company claims will not be available for purchase in the channel.

AMD also noted that the Radeon HD 7900 series will remain on top of its stack until the end of 2013, and that there will be new 7000-series SKUs coming out this year. Representatives were not prepared to discuss where on the performance spectrum those parts might surface, though we'd certainly like to see the company design a 7990 able to combine the power of two Tahiti GPUs in a well-engineered package that addresses some of the acoustic issues we've encountered with its single-GPU boards.

For those worried about the break in design cadence and persistence of the first implementation of GCN, AMD's vice president of channel sales, Roy Taylor, had the following to say: "We have products, we have a road map.
We are not announcing them now because we want to reposition the ones we have now. We are not sitting still, we do not lack resources, we do not lack imagination."

He also added that the reason AMD is not releasing any new parts this year is that "7000-series parts are continuing to ramp up, sales are increasing". The suggestion, of course, was that AMD has no intention of releasing new parts while its existing parts are selling well.

AMD believes it offers the best products on the market, Roy reiterated several times on the call. The company plans to spend 2013 working on its drivers, establishing relationships with gaming companies, and it may release a small number of new SKUs.
Click to expand...

Additionally:

Bonaire’s Microarchitecture - What We’re Calling GCN 1.1

Its seems AMD are sneaking GCN refresh silicone on to the market on the sleigh while not renaming them or making any sort of song and dance about it.

The 7790 for example is a slightly different GPU to all other HD 7000 series GPU's, it looks like it features some of the things that my end up as the HD 8000 series at the end of this year or early next year.

There seems no core for core - clock for clock performance difference (at this stage / with this GPU?) but features an 8 stage power management system allowing for higher clock frequencies with better thermals, and by the looks of it far better efficiency.

HD 7770 vs HD 7790

SP's: 640 vs 896
Clock: 1000 vs 1000
Mem: 1125 vs 1500

The 7790 has 40% more SP's, and has 34% higher clocked memory, its a lot more GPU, so you would think it would use a lot more power.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7790-bonaire-performance,3462-10.html

Crysis 3

7770 = 142w
7790 = 138w

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6837/...eat-sapphire-the-first-desktop-sea-islands/16

BF3

7770 = 242w
7790 = 249w

So one review has the 7790 slightly more efficient than the 7770, and another slightly less.

I think what we can see there is some serious efficiency improvements.
 
I can only see this as a good thing: they are refining the 8000 series and releasing a few stealth 7000 series cards with 8000 series features to test the waters and be "beta testers" to further refine the new series of cards
 
8970's not till next year then, suits me, saves me some money too :)

AMD and it's customers are really starting to see the benefits of gcn which by the sound of it are going to grow stronger in the next year. Good healthy competition for nvidia.
 
pgi947 said:
AMD and it's customers are really starting to see the benefits of gcn which by the sound of it are going to grow stronger in the next year. Good healthy competition for nvidia.
Click to expand...

+1

Though I do think the 8970 will appear for BF4 if it's an October release.
 
I predict the new memory management drivers are going to launch when the new 7990 card launches as a double whammy with improved smoothness and more performance. AMD will hopefully price it much cheaper than a titan.
 
hmmm was hoping for a release Christmas time - nothing like going to visit my folks in the states with a new gpu waiting for me :)
sorry but I still have a hard time paying 20% sales tax here :)
 
I have the upgrade itch and really wanted two 8970s. Now I have to decide do I stick with my 6990 or go for 7970s.
 
^
If it's a 'not really needing the extra performance' itch, wait until you need the performance.:)

Apologies for a bit off topic:

@Suarez, if I'm not mistaking you for someone else, you were quite pro nvidia when you had your 680, now that your using a 7970, what are your feelings regarding both vendors now and is there any difference in gameplay if you don't mind me asking(in a serious non baiting sense btw)?

As I always imagined it to be 6 n half a dozen in actual gameplay performance out with high res multimonitor situations, after all is said and done regarding the usual 'ones faster than the other' and 'smoother' debates which 9 out of 10, no one actually has compared like for like.
:)
 
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I was pro nvidia due to the problems I had with my 7870, this was before the performance drivers though and the drivers that fixed the black texture flicker bug. I honestly can't fault the 7970 I have now though, it scores higher than my 680 and performs better in some of the games I play regularly. Smoothness is the same across both cards when achieving around the same FPS.
 
AMD are really shining as a company right now, they have a fantastic time of itsince they released the 7 series, all the cards were good VFM, cheaper than green counterparts for very similar performance, their drivers have improved and they have offered some great deals on cards with games included.

Really pleased I went AMD last time after 6 years of NV.
 
Was looking forward to joining the amd crew this year. Currently have a 570, but I'm not gonna buy a 7 series card if q1 next year they release the next gen.

It's a real shame for me. If the "greens" release their next gen it'll be too tempting for me not to upgrade.
 
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