AMD Radeon R9 390X supposed price of over 700 US dollar [March 16th]

[patrickjp93]

The 28nm process is more mature than ever, pushing yields higher and costs lower (as low as they're going to go on this node). As for the die sizes, the GTX 780 Ti and GTX 780 already had a 561 mm² die. Previous generations had chips in the same size range too.

Even if the node itself is mature, each new architecture presents some unique challenges. If AMD developed a second level of HDL for GPUs, they can run into highly variable performance figures for each chip. If they didn't, the larger die size will significantly affect yields which would justify some of the price bump.

AMD needs better profits figures too. If you want AMD to be more robust and be able to put out more products more often, they need a better revenue stream. That may mean they price closer to Nvidia.

Also, we're talking ~650mm sq. for the GPU die, not to mention the large interposer it and the expensive new HBM sit on.

[GlassBomb]

I wont be surprised if it's priced at $700. If the card performs slightly higher than a GTX 980, then that is what I would expect it to cost.

 

Just look at something like the GTX 960, it's priced at $200. And performs just about as the $200 equivalent from AMD. Or the GTX 970, which trades blows with the R9 290X, and they are also similarly priced (depending on location, etc).

[HyperHertz]

Can't wait till they release them >.< I might go for the 380 or 380X instead of going for the GTX 970 which is what I'm saving money for. Should I?

[Sakkura]

Even if the node itself is mature, each new architecture presents some unique challenges. If AMD developed a second level of HDL for GPUs, they can run into highly variable performance figures for each chip. If they didn't, the larger die size will significantly affect yields which would justify some of the price bump.

AMD needs better profits figures too. If you want AMD to be more robust and be able to put out more products more often, they need a better revenue stream. That may mean they price closer to Nvidia.

Also, we're talking ~650mm sq. for the GPU die, not to mention the large interposer it and the expensive new HBM sit on.

 

It's not really a new architecture, it's just another GCN tweak. There are no details of any improvements over the GCN 1.2 we saw in the R9 285.

[Notional]

Very few AMD oven comments so far, I expected a lot more:

 

Here's a picture of the Nvida Fermi 590:

 

 

Yes, that surface is hot enough to boil water. Whatever people can critique AMD/ATI for, just remember that Nvidia has done it worse, in every aspect.

 

Remember the 320.18 driver that bricked cards? Fun times.

[Ashaira]

Here's a picture of the Nvida Fermi 590:

 

 

Yes, that surface is hot enough to boil water. Whatever people can critique AMD/ATI for, just remember that Nvidia has done it worse, in every aspect.

 

Remember the 320.18 driver that bricked cards? Fun times.

 

but but....nvidia is perfect.........

[vm'N]

Even if the node itself is mature, each new architecture presents some unique challenges. If AMD developed a second level of HDL for GPUs, they can run into highly variable performance figures for each chip. If they didn't, the larger die size will significantly affect yields which would justify some of the price bump.

AMD needs better profits figures too. If you want AMD to be more robust and be able to put out more products more often, they need a better revenue stream. That may mean they price closer to Nvidia.

Also, we're talking ~650mm sq. for the GPU die, not to mention the large interposer it and the expensive new HBM sit on.

I just doubt, that is the path they would go.

AMD have been trying to gain traction for a while now, and without any marketpressence, I doubt they could pull it off.

 

Looking at AMDs revenue streams, they all pretty much run on razer-sharp profits. That is just the nature of semi-custom (which AMD have showed more interest in, as it is a more stabil market for AMD).

[vm'N]

but but....nvidia is perfect.........

perfection is derived from failures.

[patrickjp93]

It's not really a new architecture, it's just another GCN tweak. There are no details of any improvements over the GCN 1.2 we saw in the R9 285.

Not true. Full HSA 1.0 compliance, not just the provisional level of the Kaveri. Also, a 4096-bit bus is very different to work with. There are large revisions here.

[NumLock21]

So the water cool 390x is priced at $700, what about the non water cool edition. And there is the 390. How much will that cost. No way im paying $500 for a 390. In the golden days a flagship card cost $300. Now it seems flagship card cost the same as a whole build.

[BonSie]

Any predictions when NV/AMD could have 20nm?

I really hope it's last year, when we're stuck at 28nm.

They skipped it, all of it is getting eaten by the mobile divisions

They will go 14/16nm next year

[FloRolf]

Pretty excited for the 300 series tbh.

probably gonna sell my 970 to get 390(x) CFX.

even though i have a shield, 3d vision kit and prefer nvidia control panel over amds so much. just becuase they deserve better.

[Misanthrope]

So the water cool 390x is priced at $700, what about the non water cool edition. And there is the 390. How much will that cost. No way im paying $500 for a 390. In the golden days a flagship card cost $300. Now it seems flagship card cost the same as a whole build.

 

To be fair, in said golden days a flagship card looked like this:

 

 

You've got to appreciate how far along we've come, yes there is a price premium but the amount of texture and mesh quality we have in games today and the extreme resolutions by comparison (Seriously 800*600 no AA vs 1440p with moderm AA is like night and day, not even comparable you might as well compare modern games to 8bit consoles) those old flagships were basically toys compared to modern GPUs

[Swndlr]

I hope DX12 is commonplace quickly and can allow SLFire, so I can use both of these cards.

doubt it

[Swndlr]

Here's a picture of the Nvida Fermi 590:

 

 

Yes, that surface is hot enough to boil water. Whatever people can critique AMD/ATI for, just remember that Nvidia has done it worse, in every aspect.

 

Remember the 320.18 driver that bricked cards? Fun times.

roasted

LOL HOLY SHIT I JUST MADE THE BEST PUN

[Sakkura]

Not true. Full HSA 1.0 compliance, not just the provisional level of the Kaveri. Also, a 4096-bit bus is very different to work with. There are large revisions here.

 

The Tonga GPU (R9 285) already has HSA compliance, so there's nothing new here except for HBM. And HBM isn't going into the cards below the 390.

[Megahurt]

I'm laughing so hard at people complaining about the flagship cards being expensive. If there is a market for them, AMD and Nvidia would be stupid not to produce them, as profit margins are much higher on such cards. Cards that will meet the needs of the vast majority of people are still affordable. People are just butthurt that they can't afford the best of the best, even if that is overkill for their needs.

[patrickjp93]

The Tonga GPU (R9 285) already has HSA compliance, so there's nothing new here except for HBM. And HBM isn't going into the cards below the 390.

Provisional only.

[NumLock21]

I'm laughing so hard at people complaining about the flagship cards being expensive. If there is a market for them, AMD and Nvidia would be stupid not to produce them, as profit margins are much higher on such cards. Cards that will meet the needs of the vast majority of people are still affordable. People are just butthurt that they can't afford the best of the best, even if that is overkill for their needs.

Sadly there isn't a market for them, as it makes the lowest profit for both AMD and Nvidia. The ones that actually helps them make a profit are those mid range ones like GTX 960 or R9-270. The reason why they can charge so much is because there will always be users that will buy them either to have the best of the best in terms of performance or just to show off. If everyone stops buying it, then both AMD and Nvidia will lower the prices. I've spend $500 back in the days for a 2900XT? Why? Probably it was for the 1GB of vram running at GDDR4 or was it was a e-peen contest. The card only lasted about 3 years until it started producing artifacts and it died, lesson learned. Got a HD5850 for $300, have it for about  6 years and it still works great. For my next card, I'll probably spend $300 on it, $400 max if that $400 card it actually worth $400. And since you're laughing at people for being butthurt, that they cannot afford a flagship card, why don't you buy it for them? That's a 390x for everyone in this forum.

[BonSie]

I wonder if anything else will happen on the 19th of march (freesync launch)

[Sakkura]

Provisional only.

 

It has HSA support. Nothing has even been mentioned about the R9 390X, the leaked slides say nothing about HSA.

[amintha1992]

this seems about right. 

[Misanthrope]

Sadly there isn't a market for them, as it makes the lowest profit for both AMD and Nvidia. The ones that actually helps them make a profit are those mid range ones like GTX 960 or R9-270. The reason why they can charge so much is because there will always be users that will buy them either to have the best of the best in terms of performance or just to show off. If everyone stops buying it, then both AMD and Nvidia will lower the prices. I've spend $500 back in the days for a 2900XT? Why? Probably it was for the 1GB of vram running at GDDR4 or was it was a e-peen contest. The card only lasted about 3 years until it started producing artifacts and it died, lesson learned. Got a HD5850 for $300, have it for about  6 years and it still works great. For my next card, I'll probably spend $300 on it, $400 max if that $400 card it actually worth $400. And since you're laughing at people for being butthurt, that they cannot afford a flagship card, why don't you buy it for them? That's a 390x for everyone in this forum.

Again you're comparing old products from previous generations to newer ones and unfairly so. A year later than you I got a gtx 260 and while it lasted a good while, by now it hasn't died only due to thermal throttling though otherwise it would be fried by now (It's been years since it runs at it's max temp of 105c and just throttles back). In fact the further back I go the easier my cards fried. There is some truth to what you're saying if you compare flagship cards vs low midrange cards but the gap isn't as pronounced as you make it out to be, it's just that if you go back even just 7 or 8 years the coolers were just crap vs what we have today. Plus we didn't always get things like the aforementioned thermal throttling.

[HellHunter]

Did everybody expect AMD to release a flagship card, that outperforms the Titan X, has HBM memory and cost $500 ?! Please people realize, that AMD is trying to please enthusiasts again and we will still have very good priced consumer cards as the 380x or 380 in the 3xx series.

[fliggopolis]

I'm hoping that the ~$700 price figure is for 8gb WCE model. If not, hopefully the air cooled 8gb version isn't more than that. With the amount of VRAM that games are starting to use, I don't want to buy an insanely powerful card and then turn down textures because I don't have the memory to support it. That would just be a waste. And with the Titan X launching at $999, I can't see the rumors about the 390 (non X) costing $700 being true. That would put the WCE 390x dangerously close to the $1K mark, and I can't see AMD putting it at the same price as the Titan X.