AMD Polaris architecture – GCN 4.0

~Mike~ · 8 Jan 2016 at 08:30

This forum goes to a new level

FrenchTart · 8 Jan 2016 at 09:42

Let's all calm down and get back on to the topic of GPUs please.

Boomstick777 · 8 Jan 2016 at 09:57

[UPDATE 3 : 2016 January 8, 12:53 AM ET]
We’ve reached out to AMD and they have confirmed that the Polaris GPU demoed was in fact built using Globalfoundries’ 14nm FinFET process. Some publications have reported that Polaris will be a mix of both TSMC 16nm and Globalfoundries 14nm GPUs, which is where some of the confusion could potentially have stemmed from. However, according to AMD Polaris “is only 14nm”.

Furthermore, they’ve asked us to refer back to the company’s press release — which you can find quoted in its entirety in the original article below — which clearly states that the Polaris Architecture is 14nm based. Here’s the the relative segment of the press release :

AMD’s Polaris architecture-based 14nm FinFET GPUs deliver a remarkable generational jump in power efficiency. Polaris-based GPUs are designed for fluid frame rates in graphics, gaming, VR and multimedia applications running on compelling small form-factor thin and light computer designs.

Click to expand...

Read more: http://wccftech.com/amd-polaris/#ixzz3we4dfHYB

Nutella33 · 8 Jan 2016 at 10:24

So 14nm GPU and the Samsung 16nm for CPU/APU perhaps?

Gregster · 8 Jan 2016 at 10:32

Boomstick777 said:
Read more: http://wccftech.com/amd-polaris/#ixzz3we4dfHYB

Cheers Boom and good to see some solid info (even if it is from wccftech). Hopefully we can get to see some die sizes and specs soon so the mathematicians can do the sums for performance. It would be great to see a release soon. My machine needs an overhaul

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jan 2016 at 10:58

Nutella33 said:
So 14nm GPU and the Samsung 16nm for CPU/APU perhaps?

Samsung and GF are sharing the same process as GF licensed it from Samsung.

Boomstick777 · 8 Jan 2016 at 11:06

Gregster said:
Cheers Boom and good to see some solid info (even if it is from wccftech). Hopefully we can get to see some die sizes and specs soon so the mathematicians can do the sums for performance. It would be great to see a release soon. My machine needs an overhaul

Yeah I can't wait for new GPU's. Have to wonder if AMD have achieved this level of performance to watt. Than what have Nvidia been able to do, considering they are already ahead. They might of been able to make even more progress. Would love a card performance level of 980 Ti in performance a lower power envelope that runs cool. Would go well with this Skylake i5. Low power / cool running gaming system.

I will probably pick one of these early AMD chips up to mess with until the big boys arrive. It will be ideal for my boys MITX. (When I'm done playing) lol

Gregster · 8 Jan 2016 at 11:11

lol fair.

I am only interested in a sizeable performance gain over my TX in truth and not wasting money anymore. I have been gaming so much and the Swift and DK2 have made that, so as long as I have enough grunt to have the pretties on with the CV1 and Swift, I will be set. Not interested in benching now either, just gaming.

Boomstick777 · 8 Jan 2016 at 11:53

Gregster said:
lol fair.

I am only interested in a sizeable performance gain over my TX in truth and not wasting money anymore. I have been gaming so much and the Swift and DK2 have made that, so as long as I have enough grunt to have the pretties on with the CV1 and Swift, I will be set. Not interested in benching now either, just gaming.

Same here not benching atm. Although Broadwell -E and Pascal Titan could be tempting later on lol.

Would be happy with Skylake i5 and 980 Ti level performance in lower power envelope, cos like you I'm just gaming these days. The games I play aren't even that taxing lol only @ 1080P atm. Am looking forward to Rise of the Tomb Raider on PC soon. Hitman looks good as well, there are more games than I could ever finish tbh.

If I do move to 4K this year that would be end up with me getting another Titan or AMD equivalent..

Overlag · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:07

Davedree said:
If not mind you own business and don't get involved in something you don't understand, you could just as easily ignore it and withhold a comment.

I came here to read about Polaris and GCN 4.0. NOT Intel CPUs vs AMD CPU's.

my post only quoted your image, the other was a question to BOTH of you hence it didn't quote either of you, so its not like i was just singling you out. Take it to the CPU forum and stop messing up this post. Its bad enough with the Nvidia vs AMD fanboys, not adding in Intel vs AMD fanboys too! :rolleyes:

Oh and i understand clearly. :rolleyes:

~Mike~ said:
This forum goes to a new level

amen, no wonder the mods are so busy.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:12

I get the feeling many of you might be dissapointed with the first releases from the Polaris line. I feel that AMD might be releasing a 14NM pipecleaner first like with the HD4770,and will use that to try and gain more marketshare in laptops and prebuilt desktops where the GM107 and GK206 rule.

I just hope the smaller Polaris chip is actually a decent performance bump over the GTX960/R9 380 and R9 380X and not simply a lower TDP version,which will be great for the markets mentioned but rather boring for us lot.

However,if it is only 120MM2,I think it might be more GTX960 level(221MM2 on 28NM) performance.

Overlag · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:17

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I get the feeling many of you might be dissapointed with the first releases from the Polaris line. I feel that AMD might be releasing a 14NM pipecleaner first like with the HD4770,and will use that to try and gain more marketshare in laptops and prebuilt desktops where the GM107 and GK206 rule.

being a new architecture and new manufacturing process it wouldn't surprise me if you are right. They've got to learn how it all reacts before making modifications to iron out the bugs etc. Also top end stuff doesn't really gain them market share and this is what AMD need.

David Bisset · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:20

Boomstick777 said:
Yeah I can't wait for new GPU's. Have to wonder if AMD have achieved this level of performance to watt. Than what have Nvidia been able to do, considering they are already ahead. They might of been able to make even more progress. Would love a card performance level of 980 Ti in performance a lower power envelope that runs cool. Would go well with this Skylake i5. Low power / cool running gaming system.

I will probably pick one of these early AMD chips up to mess with until the big boys arrive. It will be ideal for my boys MITX. (When I'm done playing) lol

On full card perf/watt the Nano won out in most reviews I saw. It uses HBM so NVIDIA will of course get that power saving moving memory tech too, though NVIDIA has been using more complex power management which is where their sudden jump in perf/watt came from which AMD are saying they've now added - of course we know very little about how the two compare.

Overall... I've no idea who'll come out ahead or if it'll be too close to call/situational.

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I get the feeling many of you might be dissapointed with the first releases from the Polaris line. I feel that AMD might be releasing a 14NM pipecleaner first like with the HD4770,and will use that to try and gain more marketshare in laptops and prebuilt desktops where the GM107 and GK206 rule.

I just hope the smaller Polaris chip is actually a decent performance bump over the GTX960/R9 380 and R9 380X and not simply a lower TDP version,which will be great for the markets mentioned but rather boring for us lot.

However,if it is only 120MM2,I think it might be more GTX960 level(221MM2 on 28NM) performance.

Yeah probably a pipecleaner, seems the sensible but boring option.

Orangey · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:30

I have seen people say they will put lots of small dies on an interposer instead of making a big die, but I've no idea how that would work in reality and what new problems you would have to deal with.

It certainly gets around the problems of needing a HP process variant and area scaling.

shankly1985 · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:41

Robert Hallock has said in a CES 2016 video that HBM memory will only be in the higher end GPUs and GDDR5 will be used on GPU's were pricing matters.

So 14nm we going to expect a decent range of GPUs this year.

Gregster · 8 Jan 2016 at 14:43

shankly1985 said:
Robert Hallock has said in a CES 2016 video that HBM memory will only be in the higher end GPUs and GDDR5 will be used on GPU's were pricing matters.

So 14nm we going to expect a decent range of GPUs this year.

I suspected that and imagine the same for Nvidia. It would appear as expensive or short supply for them to go that route.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jan 2016 at 15:22

I just hope the R9 480/GTX1060 is at least a good 40% to 50% faster than my GTX960 at under £200. I don't think I am asking for much as that is GTX970/R9 390 level performance at £150 to £200.

bru · 8 Jan 2016 at 15:37

The issue is that just how good can a pipe cleaner product be ?

If the performance is there does your £100 card suddenly outperform everything other than your top tier cards.

Or your £50 card suddenly make everything under £180 pointless, destroying your own bread and butter market for the next 6 months.

Just how good/bad can a pipe cleaner product be ?

Steampunk · 8 Jan 2016 at 15:50

In the past we've seen pipe cleaners that were smaller, cheaper chips quickly followed within a few months by the larger, top end product. The pipe cleaners are sanity checks to the process, allowing tweaks for the next product in line. They are not going to delay subsequent chips unless a major SNAFU is discovered.

Your old cards get pushed down the stack or end-of-lifed, and inventory is run down well in advance.

Scougar · 8 Jan 2016 at 15:53

What is a pipe cleaner in this context please? (I tried looking it up but couldn't find anything concrete)