AMD Lists The Radeon RX 490 Flagship – Polaris based Dual GPU Graphics Card For 4K Ready Gaming

[Mr_Troll]

AMD Lists The Radeon RX 490 Flagship – Polaris based Dual GPU Graphics Card For 4K Ready Gaming

Quote

It has been just a few weeks since the release of the RX 480 graphics card and we have already started hearing rumblings of a brand new GPU in the works by the name of the Radeon RX 490. Just a few days ago, AMD, on its website, accidentally listed the RX 490, a fact that was quickly spotted by a redditor and posted. Many were quick to disregard it as a typo but this type of error is something we have already seen in the past and some hints given to us by past leaks told us something else entirely.

AMD’s RX 490 gets listed on promotional page – shipping data points towards a Polaris dual GPU graphics card

Quote

The RX 490 will be AMD’s 4K ready flagship that will be taking on the GTX 1080 at a (probably) similar price point.It is going to be the crown jewel in AMD’s RX lineup. The existing Polaris based lineup currently maxes out at the Polaris 10 based RX 480 – which is roughly equivalent to the GTX 1060 in terms of graphical performance. According to AMD, Polaris 10 is the largest 14nm FinFET GPU available right now and that raises interesting questions what we can expect from the RX 490

 

AMD internal nomenclature overview

Quote

[If you know this part, you can skip this] AMD uses a predictable nomenclature while naming its test boards. All of these boards start with the letter C (which probably stands for consumer) followed by five numbers. The first digit after C almost certainly denotes the generation of the graphic card. The second digit apparently represents the relative rank of the chi p in the same lineup. The numbers that follow are much harder to guess at externally and can depict any specification whatsoever. Since the numbering follows a very obvious trend however, its not that hard to figure out how AMD builds the lineup. Before we go any further, take a look below.

Hawaii boards for were named C6XXXX, Tonga boards C7XXXX and Fiji boards C8XXXX. In fact, if we are being specific about it than the exact code names were:

 

• Hawaii XT had the C67101 code name.
• Tonga had the C76501 code name.
• Fiji XT had the C88001 code name.

 

By the same logic, Polaris boards should have the C9XXXX nomenclature, and this is something we have already seen before. The Baffin XT GPU listed on Zauba had the C98101 code name, which is clearly a Polaris die. Apart from this we spotted a total of two more variants on Zauba which are probably also Polaris GPUs. Keep in mind that the INR value given to these dies is just the insurance value (and does not depict the expected MSRP of the same).

Unraveling the mystery of the RX 490 – the “C99” Polaris test board

Quote

To tackle this particular topic, I will be referencing some of the shipping data from Zauba we have covered in the past.We saw four distinct Polaris board variants by the names of C91, C92, C94, C98 and C99.So far, we have been able to account for 4 out of the 5 sightings. The insurance value of these particular pieces was in ascending order with a very very large difference between C98 and the C99 counterparts. Here is what was explicitly stated on one of the shipping manifests: the Baffin XT GPU (aka Polaris 10) was the C98 variant.

 

In fact both C94 and C98 boards represent iterations of the RX 480 (namely 4GB and 8GB). This automatically means that the C91 and C92 variants correspond to the Polaris 11 GPU (and the low insurance value gives strong weightage to this rationalization). Please note that the PCB (which was tested separately this time for reasons unknown) for the RX 480 was code named ‘D00’ and this is the number you will find on any RX 480 if you care to look at the code near the PCI-E fingers.

 

 

Quote

That only leaves the C99 variant not accounted for. Here is where things get really interesting. The C99 variant is roughly double the value of the last GPU: the C94 (aka Pol 10) variant. INR does not correspond directly to MSRP, but usually has a high correlation with the GPU’s performance or features. In this case, it would seem that the C99 test board was at least two times as valuable as a C94 test board. Here is another fact. The INR value of the test board is roughly about the same (INR 125350) as the Gemini test board (Radeon Pro Duo). Finally the nomenclature C99 indicates that the GPU is of the Polaris family (remember, the first number after the letter C represents the architectural generation.) but roughly twice the power of the RX 480.

The RX 490 is a dual GPU graphics card
 

Quote

All of these things indicate to us that we are looking at a dual GPU solution, probably one based on a full version of Polaris 10. The only other alternative was that the C99 variant is Vega 10 but there are some gaping holes in that theory that in my opinion put it at negligible probability: 1) Vega 10 by recent reports is too early in the development stage to have made it out to the FOC testing phase.In fact, if I were to offer some proof: the C99 board passed RRA certification on 8th April 2016 which was way before AMD celebrated the Vega 10 GPU development milestone!2) The nomenclature indicates to a Polaris card.

 

So we know for a fact that the C99 board has yet to be accounted for.We know that its value is equal to roughly double of the RX 480. We know that the nomenclature indicates a Polaris GPU yet Polaris 10 is the full fat chip (meaning there isn’t a more powerful Polaris variant out there) and finally, that it passed RRA certification way before Vega 10 was anywhere near completion.In fact, the only way the RX 490 ends up being a Vega 10 GPU is if it arrives next year (which would mean that the C99 board will be called something else), which doesn’t make a lot of sense considering its (RX 490) listing has popped up in AMD partner AIB sites as well.

 

As far as the pricing or the exact specification goes, we don’t really have much information on that count. Keeping in mind AMD’s strategy however, I doubt the card will be priced in the same range as the Radeon Duo Pro and I definitely would not be surprised if it is priced very similar to the GTX 1080. AMD has previously stated that two RX 480s can beat a GTX 1080, and it is possible that this innocent enough statement was a big hint to what was coming sooner rather than later.

 

i know its wccftech. For amds sake i hope its not true. what is the point of releasing a dual P10 solution in one card when u can get them now in CF. what a waste of resources.

 

Source:

http://wccftech.com/amd-rx-490-dual-gpu/

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/4qe927/amd_lists_rx_490_on_eve_of_rx_480_launch_amd4u/

 

 

[byalexandr]

Yes that means it's coming sooner or later

 

Glad I waited.

[AresKrieger]

[2FA]

15 minutes ago, Mr_Troll said:

i know its wccftech. For amds sake i hope its not true. what is the point of releasing a dual P10 solution in one card when u can get them now in CF. what a waste of resources.

Not everyone has the space or expansion slots for multiple cards.

[raphidy]

Looks good, It's going to compete with what Nvidia has now, before launching Vega. I would prefer AIB partners to do it instead of AMD coming up with a reference card for it.

[QFA350]

And then a few weeks after this cards launch, Nvidia will release the 1080ti and crush AMD again....

[byalexandr]

2 minutes ago, Warning said:

And then a few weeks after this cards launch, Nvidia will release the 1080ti and crush AMD again....

And then AMD will release it's flagship which barely keeps up but it doesn't matter anyway because AMD crushes the budget market.

[Murasaki]

endless loop, make it s t o p

[Misanthrope]

No chance in hell it's just a dual polaris card unless they've run into catastrophic issues with Vega. 

[Trixanity]

Would be cool if it was two chips on the same die with a high-bandwidth low-latency interconnect (the new GMI?) and it appearing to the system and applications as a single GPU without the usual multiGPU penalties and scaling issues. A man can dream, can't he?

[Misanthrope]

14 minutes ago, byalexandr said:

And then AMD will release it's flagship which barely keeps up but it doesn't matter anyway because AMD crushes the budget market.

Really?

Quote

Quick highlights:

• AMD’s overall unit shipments increased 15.87% quarter-to-quarter, Intel’s total shipments increased 5.08% from last quarter, and Nvidia’s increased 21.39%.
• The attach rate of GPUs (includes integrated and discrete GPUs) to PCs for the quarter was 138% which was up 1.24% from last quarter and 29.95% of PCs had discrete GPUs, which is up 3.51%.
• The overall PC market increased 7.55% quarter-to-quarter, and decreased -8.94% year-to-year.
• Desktop graphics add-in boards (AIBs) that use discrete GPUs increased 27.59% from last quarter. via Jon Peddie Reseach

All throughout 2015 and most of 2016 AMD had better offerings at nearly every single tier but the enthusiasts cards which was the 980ti untouched. AMD made not much progress in overall sales and market shares. It's unfair that they're not doing any better but what you're saying here it's been inaccurate for many many years.

[Briggsy]

Let me guess, it uses a single 6-pin connector.

[Briggsy]

10 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

No chance in hell it's just a dual polaris card unless they've run into catastrophic issues with Vega. 

A lot of respected sources say 1st half 2017 for Vega. Then again, there aren't a lot of respected sources when it comes to "insider info"...

[samcool55]

Wut? Doesn't make sense.

They should call it the rx 480x2 if it's a dual-gpu polaris-based card.

[Misanthrope]

1 minute ago, Briggsy said:

A lot of respected sources say 1st half 2017 for Vega. Then again, there aren't a lot of respected sources...

That would be very bad news indeed. Like at that point just aim Vega at the mid range again and just leave dual gpus only for high end but that's basically admitting what we suspect: AMD is now lagging behind in the technology race against Nvidia when they were once ahead or on par.

 

Remember when AMD was ahead or on par with Intel? Then slightly worst? Then it's been 5 fucking years of them lagging behind intel and Zen being a last desperate attempt to catch up? I wouldn't want that to happen to their last good divisions, their GPUs, but it is looking like it if Vega is that late.

[The Benjamins]

As far as anyone knows the 490 could be Polaris 12 which has a few more CU the Polaris 10. I will not be a fan of dual Mid/low GPUs until Dx12 multi GPU is everywhere and scales good. 

[Briggsy]

2 minutes ago, The Benjamins said:

As far as anyone knows the 490 could be Polaris 12 which has a few more CU the Polaris 10. I will not be a fan of dual Mid/low GPUs until Dx12 multi GPU is everywhere and scales good. 

as someone with experience using crossfire in recent years, I totally agree. crossfire is a headache best case scenario until DX12 multiadapter is in widescale use in every AAA title.

[Orcblood]

15 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Would be cool if it was two chips on the same die with a high-bandwidth low-latency interconnect (the new GMI?) and it appearing to the system and applications as a single GPU without the usual multiGPU penalties and scaling issues. A man can dream, can't he?

That would be cool. Yeah fake the system into thinking it's just one giant pool of graphics horse power. Like raid 1 for hard drives. Probably be way easier to program for. . I don't know though. I'm not an engineer. 

[-BirdiE-]

AMD's Polaris offerings have been pretty impressive price wise (great for consumers), but technology wise it feels like they're struggling a bit...

 

They have a smaller manufacturing node, yet while the 1070 performs like a 980ti, the RX480 draws more power than a 1070 but performs like a 970. And now in order to compete with Nvidia's higher end they have to release a dual-gpu solution.

 

Hopefully Vega comes sooner rather than later, and really impresses... Otherwise RTG might be in trouble...

[Orcblood]

5 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

That would be very bad news indeed. Like at that point just aim Vega at the mid range again and just leave dual gpus only for high end but that's basically admitting what we suspect: AMD is now lagging behind in the technology race against Nvidia when they were once ahead or on par.

 

Remember when AMD was ahead or on par with Intel? Then slightly worst? Then it's been 5 fucking years of them lagging behind intel and Zen being a last desperate attempt to catch up? I wouldn't want that to happen to their last good divisions, their GPUs, but it is looking like it if Vega is that late.

Yeah amd just needs to compete high end. I hope it isn't cause they are waiting on hbm2. Forget hbm2 and release a card with GDDR5 or 5x. Then later when it is ready release that. They just can't afford to wait.

[Briggsy]

3 minutes ago, -BirdiE- said:

AMD's Polaris offerings have been pretty impressive price wise (great for consumers), but technology wise it feels like they're struggling a bit...

 

They have a smaller manufacturing node, yet while the 1070 performs like a 980ti, the RX480 draws more power than a 1070 but performs like a 970. And now in order to compete with Nvidia's higher end they have to release a dual-gpu solution.

 

Hopefully Vega comes sooner rather than later, and really impresses... Otherwise RTG might be in trouble...

yeah... 1070 performance for 300+ watt power draw is not ideal, especially when crossfire/SLI are never ideal in the best of times.

[The Benjamins]

4 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

as someone with experience using crossfire in recent years, I totally agree. crossfire is a headache best case scenario until DX12 multiadapter is in widescale use in every AAA title.

I want to be able to recommend 2 mid GPU's over a highend one. And it will put pressure of AMD/Nvidia to not price high end GPU's with high premiums

[-BirdiE-]

2 minutes ago, jman629 said:

Yeah amd just needs to compete high end. I hope it isn't cause they are waiting on hbm2. Forget hbm2 and release a card with GDDR5 or 5x. Then later when it is ready release that. They just can't afford to wait.

As much as I'd love to think they're just waiting... I'm worried the issue is deeper than that.

If it takes them 165w (or whatever it is) with Polaris just to get 970 performance, what would it need to draw to compete with something like the 1080?

 

Maybe I'm just John Snow (I know nothing) but I feel like they were trying for Polaris to be the 490, and Vega to be the next iteration of the Fury series, but Polaris was just incredibly underwhelming so they had to sell the full chip for $239. There were rumors that Polaris was a big disappointment within AMD, which I dismissed at the time, but the more I see about Polaris, the more it seems as if those were true.

 

They need Vega ASAP.

[goodtofufriday]

As an AMD builder, I HIGHLY doubt that the 490 is going to be competition to the 1080. Even if they did a dual gpu card You cant really put that in the same vain.

[goodtofufriday]

6 minutes ago, -BirdiE- said:

As much as I'd love to think they're just waiting... I'm worried the issue is deeper than that.

If it takes them 165w (or whatever it is) with Polaris just to get 970 performance, what would it need to draw to compete with something like the 1080?

 

Maybe I'm just John Snow (I know nothing) but I feel like they were trying for Polaris to be the 490, and Vega to be the next iteration of the Fury series, but Polaris was just incredibly underwhelming so they had to sell the full chip for $239. There were rumors that Polaris was a big disappointment within AMD, which I dismissed at the time, but the more I see about Polaris, the more it seems as if those were true.

 

They need Vega ASAP.

Ive said it before and Ill say it here, Why does power draw even matter these days? Im thinking back to my 6990 that used up 450W and other cards of the day. A couple W difference literally means nothing today. Even in places where electricity is expensive 40W is a marginal difference in price.