AMD VEGA confirmed for 2017 H1

SiDeards73 · 28 Mar 2017 at 15:00

An ace AMD might have up its sleeve is going forward is obviously their connections with Consoles. The Zen chips are very close to the stuff in the consoles im told? so that should make optomising for them slightly easier? what if Scorpio is sporting a Zen / Vega hybrid APU type thing? If that consoles got hardware thats also found in both Zen and Vega CPU's, and it can be harnessed in PC games with the same hardware, thats going to make optomising for them easier and technically should bring better results? yeah we have been saying this for a while with Xbone etc, but i think they were the first step towards the end goal for AMD, they are closer to a PC than we have ever been, what if the Scorpio is closer still?

Its no secret AMD have been building an Eco-system, Ryzen is the first step, its massively impressive and getting better daily as bios updates improve ram compatibility with it. Interesting times ahead

AlamoX · 28 Mar 2017 at 15:16

N19h7m4r3 said:
Optane only works on Kabylake and newers; plus Vega's HBC memory sharing function seems far more geared towards Enterprise and Professional workloads than gaming really.

System RAM, SSD's and the rest are all significantly slower than onboard VRAM, whether that's GDDR5/X or HBM2.
I can't see that helping in gaming much, unless you can only use system RAM, and even then it'll just mean people need to fork out more for high speed RAM there.

intel developed optane with micron, and micron is launching their version of it at the end of the year, and it will be called QuantX, and ofc, compatible with with Rzen and all post-kaby cpu from intel, and probably much cheaper, since they will licence the tech to other companies like samsung...

subbytna · 28 Mar 2017 at 15:29

SiDeards73 said:
An ace AMD might have up its sleeve is going forward is obviously their connections with Consoles. The Zen chips are very close to the stuff in the consoles im told? so that should make optomising for them slightly easier? what if Scorpio is sporting a Zen / Vega hybrid APU type thing? If that consoles got hardware thats also found in both Zen and Vega CPU's, and it can be harnessed in PC games with the same hardware, thats going to make optomising for them easier and technically should bring better results? yeah we have been saying this for a while with Xbone etc, but i think they were the first step towards the end goal for AMD, they are closer to a PC than we have ever been, what if the Scorpio is closer still?

That's actually a pretty good shout and worth considering. Might make porting games over a lot easier thus more optimised for the chip, ergo better FPS?

TNA · 28 Mar 2017 at 15:57

AlamoX said:
intel developed optane with micron, and micron is launching their version of it at the end of the year, and it will be called QuantX, and ofc, compatible with with Rzen and all post-kaby cpu from intel, and probably much cheaper, since they will licence the tech to other companies like samsung...

Now that you mention it, I recall reading something like that in the past, but completely forgot. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.

SiDeards73 said:
An ace AMD might have up its sleeve is going forward is obviously their connections with Consoles. The Zen chips are very close to the stuff in the consoles im told? so that should make optomising for them slightly easier? what if Scorpio is sporting a Zen / Vega hybrid APU type thing? If that consoles got hardware thats also found in both Zen and Vega CPU's, and it can be harnessed in PC games with the same hardware, thats going to make optomising for them easier and technically should bring better results? yeah we have been saying this for a while with Xbone etc, but i think they were the first step towards the end goal for AMD, they are closer to a PC than we have ever been, what if the Scorpio is closer still?

Its no secret AMD have been building an Eco-system, Ryzen is the first step, its massively impressive and getting better daily as bios updates improve ram compatibility with it. Interesting times ahead

I hope you are right. Would be good for both AMD and all of us if it works out like that.

eiamhere69 · 28 Mar 2017 at 16:17

opethdisciple said:
Only issue with an April launch for Vega is, where does this leave the 480 500 series refresh?

Same time? Something like a 570, 580, 590 launch. 570 & 580 being 480 and a faster version refresh and the 590 being Vega?

Dunno..... something doesn't make sense here.

To differentiate Vega they'd have to call it either RX Vega / Fury rather than a number or call it 680 series or something...

Unless what is going to launch along side Prey will be the Polaris refresh and we will wait a bit longer for Vega.

It is called Vega . A few weeks back AMD held a special event with (Capsaicin & Cream) where everyone was expecting some hardware info about Vega, I'm sure detsils were strongly hinted at, AMD DEFINITELY teased more than they ended up revealing.

At the event (after the GTX 1080ti was revealed) Kodouri announced on stage that Vega is called Vega. Most people suspect they were try for force Nvidias hand to reveal 1080ti.

Regardless , they hyped everyone up and left everyone very disappointed

Griffildur · 28 Mar 2017 at 16:43

eiamhere69 said:
Regardless , they hyped everyone up and left everyone very disappointed

that sums up AMD pretty well, I just hope that some day they'll realize how much money they lose because of acting so secretive. It's even more annoying when you see them do it again and again and not learning from their mistakes at all. I do wonder if they realize how much money they lost already because whoever wanted a decent card by now would have bought an NVidia one.

N19h7m4r3 · 28 Mar 2017 at 16:55

Griffildur said:
I do wonder if they realize how much money they lost already because whoever wanted a decent card by now would have bought an NVidia one.

Plenty of folks, including myself haven't done that. Happily going to wait and see what Vega brings.

Griffildur · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:00

N19h7m4r3 said:
Plenty of folks, including myself haven't done that. Happily going to wait and see what Vega brings.

so you're saying that I am incorrect ?

Rroff · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:04

SiDeards73 said:
An ace AMD might have up its sleeve is going forward is obviously their connections with Consoles. The Zen chips are very close to the stuff in the consoles im told? so that should make optomising for them slightly easier?

That kind of perspective has been mooted many times over the years but so far nothing has really come of it, there are just too many differences right now, maybe in the future but we are talking atleast a generation ahead of what is incoming now at a minimum.

TNA · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:09

Griffildur said:
so you're saying that I am incorrect ?

Lol

Well let's be honest, I don't think as many people care about as you think. Nvidia is also secretive and people do not call them out on it do they. End of the day I just judge a product on price for performance, that matters a hell of a lot more than whether AMD leak info out or not. Am I incorrect?

LoadsaMoney · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:11

They've been in the consoles for years, and its made not one jot of a difference.

TNA · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:12

LoadsaMoney said:
They've been in the consoles for years, and its made not one jot of a difference.

Maybe it has, maybe they would be further behind if they were not in consoles

TheRealDeal · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:19

Griffildur said:
so you're saying that I am incorrect ?

LoadsaMoney said:
They've been in the consoles for years, and its made not one jot of a difference.

I wouldn't say that at all. If it's made not one bit of difference how do you explain the 390x being on par with a gtx980 when on release the 290x couldn't compete at all. The 290/390 is now faster than a gtx780ti and a match for the gtx970. The Rx480 is now the preffered card for those that know against the gtx1060. Is it just drivers or are games now making better use of Amd cards. Amd's game ready drivers seem to be coming out much faster. Is this because the games already run pretty well on AMD hardware to start with so AMD don't need to do so much with the drivers. Since the release of the Ps4 and Xbone AMD have got gradually better and this could be down to consoles. Gcn architecture has stayed pretty current over the years and that could easily be down to games being designed around the consoles which sport GCN gpu's. Any how it's all if's and but's but i wouldn't rule out the console deals having a hand in this.

TheRealDeal · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:20

Gameworks has started dying out as well which could be down to developers not wanting to use it as much because in Console games it would most likely hinder the performance.

Doobedoo · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:24

The fact that AMD are able to fight on two different fronts in the CPU and GPU markets, against 2 enormous corporations such as Nvidia and Intel and still remain on their heels, to me is incredible.

I see way to much negativity aimed their way when in fact people should be a little more grateful that they are able to provide competition in markets that their competitors almost have a monopoly in.

Rroff · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:26

TNA said:
Maybe it has, maybe they would be further behind if they were not in consoles

Ooof

TNA · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:27

Doobedoo said:
The fact that AMD are able to fight on two different fronts in the CPU and GPU markets, against 2 enormous corporations such as Nvidia and Intel and still remain on their heels, to me is incredible.

I see way to much negativity aimed their way when in fact people should be a little more grateful that they are able to provide competition in markets that their competitors almost have a monopoly in.

Indeed. But maybe Griffildur would rather see them bankrupt so he does not have to put up with such nonesense from AMD?

Rroff said:
Ooof

Just a different perspective offered

opethdisciple · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:34

LoadsaMoney said:
They've been in the consoles for years, and its made not one jot of a difference.

This. I was going to ask what difference has it made for AMD GPUs the fact the consoles use AMD parts?

I think the answer is not much.

I will say tho that there is something holding the gaming ecosystem back. Intel/Nvidia dominance perhaps?

Intel keeping everyone on four cores and Nvidia not putting enough support behind DX12 and Vulkan.

Both of which your notice are areas where AMD do do well. (FX chips being multi core and their GPUs implementing more DX12 features)

The issue we have here tho is what good is it to AMD having these advantages if they can't influence the market. If you can't beat them join them comes to mind.

Seanspeed · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:34

Besty said:
I would sooner frame it as 'AMD collaborations' pushing the envelope forward which have resulted in a new set of really well optimised games rather than Nvidia's DX12 token efforts which have been rather poor.

I have to hand it to AMD, their title collaborations with software developers have been, generally speaking, much more successful than the Green teams but AMD have to demonstrate that the raw compute power in Vega can actually be brought to bear through software.

If the card is released and the software base is not right then its a lame duck launch, with the implied cost of the Vega card, this would be more costly in the long run than getting it right first time.

And lest us not forget, even putting these 3 games aside, potentially the biggest PC 'release' of the year will be Star ~~Commander~~ Citizen Beta 3.0 and it will run on Vulkan. Assumption there being it will also run great on Vega.

Bright times are almost here for AMD fans but like I said yesterday, I expect the Vega hardware is ready to go last month and its now just a waiting game to get all the software ducks lined up in a row. Launching now and using Doom as a poster child won't hold enough water.

Let's just say that if Vega *requires* specific AMD intervention and special optimization for specific titles just so they can compete and look good in benches against Nvidia and is what is holding back the launch, then something is very wrong with the architecture as a whole.

Which is why I dont believe it for a second.

Seanspeed · 28 Mar 2017 at 17:38

SiDeards73 said:
An ace AMD might have up its sleeve is going forward is obviously their connections with Consoles. The Zen chips are very close to the stuff in the consoles im told? so that should make optomising for them slightly easier? what if Scorpio is sporting a Zen / Vega hybrid APU type thing? If that consoles got hardware thats also found in both Zen and Vega CPU's, and it can be harnessed in PC games with the same hardware, thats going to make optomising for them easier and technically should bring better results? yeah we have been saying this for a while with Xbone etc, but i think they were the first step towards the end goal for AMD, they are closer to a PC than we have ever been, what if the Scorpio is closer still?

Its no secret AMD have been building an Eco-system, Ryzen is the first step, its massively impressive and getting better daily as bios updates improve ram compatibility with it. Interesting times ahead

I dont know what you mean by 'going forward'.

AMD is already reaping the benefits of AMD-based optimization for multiplatform AAA games. Slowly, the switch from Nvidia to AMD bias has occurred during this generation to the point where I'd say at least 70% of new multiplatform AAA releases nowadays see better performance on AMD than on Nvidia in a given 'range of GPU'. This will absolutely continue.

And it's why I think people who want to see more DX12 titles being benchmarked to help AMD look better are being silly. They dont need that. DX12/Vulkan is not actually AMD's big advantage at the moment. It's the inherent linking of architecture with the consoles. And yes, it is undeniably making a big impact on performance.

As for Zen, we'll have to see what the next generation brings, cuz Zen isn't in the PS4 Pro or Scorpio. No guarantee AMD wins the rights to any new consoles in the next 2-3 years.