There will be a limited supply of AMD R9 390X series cards due to low HBM yields

[BiG StroOnZ]

 

Supply of next-generation AMD Radeon R9 390-series graphics cards is expected to be very short initially. A media report suggests that the main reason behind supply constraints is limited availability of high-bandwidth memory made by SK Hynix.

 

Even though Advanced Micro Devices taped out its code-named “Fiji” graphics processor that powers the Radeon R9 390-series graphics cards in the middle of 2014 and currently its yields should be high, there is a major problem, which could hamper availability of such adapters: yields of high-bandwidth memory at SK Hynix. According to a report from TweakTown, there will not be enough memory available to fulfill AMD’s needs in the coming months.

 

Our industry sources tell us that there are some hurdles with yields on HBM, which will see a very limited supply of Radeon R9 390X and Radeon R9 395X2 cards right through to the end of the year.

 

If AMD really has problems with production of its Radeon R9 390-series graphics cards, then it explains why the company wants to release the whole lineup of next-gen adapters at once. On the other hand, the company itself expects its GPU market share to increase after it releases its new graphics solution. If AMD cannot ship enough graphics cards, then its market share will drop, not increase.

 

 

Source: http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/anton-shilov/supply-of-amd-radeon-r9-390-series-may-be-constrained-report/

Source 2: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/44684/amd-radeon-r9-390x-rumored-very-short-supply-launch/index.html

 

I find this interesting, because Lisa Su claimed in her interview that the reason why release was delayed was because of overstocked inventory and the need to get rid of that inventory first before launching a new product. Which makes a lot of sense. However here, it seems, that the actual reason why the R9 390X is delayed is because HBM yields are low which makes even more sense than too much inventory. I mean AMD's flagship product here is depending on the delivery of HBM. Without it they don't have their product that they intend to release, at least in the way it has been revealed to us. It's unfortunate if this is the case because AMD has a lot riding on the release of R9 390X. Sadly this is an issue with the supplier and not really AMD's fault but it looks like it just another hurdle for AMD to overcome. Hopefully things pan out for them. Limited supply of cards will mean limited sales, which in turn means limited ability to take back control of some of the market. Especially if this card is a winner, and they sell out of stock quickly. It means that it's going to take a long time for those cards to be restocked and if NVIDIA has a product that directly competes with it with a similar price; it means people will turn to that alternative instead. Which is definitely not what AMD wants to happen. 

[AlwaysFSX]

Heeeeeeeeey, look at what that's going to do to the prices...

 

$750+ 390X please?

[techguru]

this isn't exactly news..its pretty obviouse

[Kyuubixchidori]

this isn't exactly news..its pretty obviouse

you know the supply chain of graphics cards?

 

 

 

I guess this just means AMD cards will be more expesnive. sad because it wont drive down prices even more. but AMD needs more profit so

[dimitriianghelov]

i wonder if bitcoin miners will upgrade their rigs making the prices go up again...

[Victorious Secret]

AMD: The next greatest thing is coming. Soon. Just you wait and see. 

[BiG StroOnZ]

AMD: The next greatest thing is coming. Soon. Just you wait and see. 

 

[Dzzope]

non news... When has AMD had a decent launch supply in the last 5 years?

[blu4]

Shit. I am not going to get it if it's limited. I want to see performance and reliability first but they'll be sold out by then

[Norman_the_Owl]

Welp, i guess i'll just crossfire my 290x instead

[Nineshadow]

In other words, prepare your wallets if you're planning to buy an R9 390(x).

[CatCloud]

Didn't nvidia plan to use this as well on Pascal? Oh man, they better open more factories for those memories.

[Misanthrope]

I'm not sure how this tech works but I hope AMD or another vendor is able to create a non-reference design with a conventional gddr vram memory controller, much rather have a "gimped" 390 than just hear about this awesome benchmarks of a card I might be able to purchase in 2016 or 17

[niofalpha]

Will this mean that the 985 could possibly be cheaper than the 390x?

[Stomplar]

no, there will not be a shortage.

[NumLock21]

Didn't nvidia plan to use this as well on Pascal? Oh man, they better open more factories for those memories.

It's said they're going to use HBM2

[wpirobotbuilder]

non news... When has AMD had a decent launch supply in the last 5 years?

The 290 and 290X were decent, they just didn't expect all the coin miners to buy them.

 

Now you can get a 290 for dirt cheap. So I bought three

[spartaman64]

It's said they're going to use HBM2

its made with the same technology in fact it should show lower yields because of its higher complexity 

[sgloux3470]

non news... When has AMD had a decent launch supply in the last 5 years?

 

Maxwell and the TitanX were all sold out for a bit at first too.

 

It's very common with flagship GPU's because demand isn't consistently high.

[CoolaxGaming]

Well,  ima save up and pre-order the card.

If it goes out of stock, I will take a bag of cash and go straight to AMD headquarters

[Dzzope]

Maxwell and the TitanX were all sold out for a bit at first too.

 

It's very common with flagship GPU's because demand isn't consistently high.

Not that common outside NA... Uk usually has good stocks but for Nvidia, not AMD.

 

Any time I see a launch and people talking about gouging / lack of supply I usually find 3 or more places with a selection of cards for Nvidia, was the same with 680's 780's and Titans of all flavours. AMD, not so much.

 

Of course, this is only my observation, I have no numbers to back it up.

 

Obviously at launch there will be limited supplies But I'm talking about degrees of how bad it is... 7970 launch, they only really sorted out supply by the time the 680's landed.

290's were a similar story.. they were like hens teeth for the first 3 months or so. and considering the market share they had for that period.. even with mining, thats not nearly as many cards as Nvidia shifted... They need to sort out so many failing things in AMD..

 

They need to (IMO

Stop focusing on the low end.. Information trickles down, if the top cards aren't the best people who don't know better just want x or y brand.

They need to get better supplies and logistics for their launches.. Even when they pull a bit of a shocker to Nvidia, it's months before it'll make an impact because no-one can get them.. and by that stage there is another Nvidia card on the horizon.

They need to up the regularity of their driver releases / game profiles.. Smaller and more often beats big rare releases in an industry that moves so fast.

They need to start going in a different direction on their CPU's

 

All this is shown by their current market share.. Which is abysmal. Can't wait for them to sort their shit out.. My first 3 self builds were all AMD, would love to see them do better but I will not "support the underdog" by getting a sub-par product. (Again IMO, have had issues with last 2 AMD GPU's I've had and keep hearing the same issues from others)

 

All that said, Nvidia could improve in a few areas too... Their pricing is a bit much as you go up the range.. I Hate the power and voltage limits they impose and I couldn't disagree more with their policy of not allowing 2 different cards in a system for physX, not to mention that they tend to forget slightly older cards in their performance optimizations in each driver.

[RagnarokDel]

i wonder if bitcoin miners will upgrade their rigs making the prices go up again...

If anyone mines bitcoin using a gpu, they're doing it very very very wrong.

[silberdrachi]

i wonder if bitcoin miners will upgrade their rigs making the prices go up again...

 

I doubt it GPU mining is really hard to be profitable now days, ASICs are the only real way to turn a good profit.

[patrickjp93]

Didn't nvidia plan to use this as well on Pascal? Oh man, they better open more factories for those memories.

Micron's in full swing, but it's tied up until Knight's Landing arrives. Samsung won't be far behind either.

[marldorthegreat]

this isn't exactly news..its pretty obviouse

How? Very little has been said about HBM