AMD Polaris Thread: Radeon RX 480, RX 470 & RX 460 launching June 29th

[Tumaras]

Not really delayed technically since AMD just said by back to school, so they could even delay until early August and not have missed that window. That puts retail availability likely out until mid-July at the soonest.

Even if it's not technically a delay, it's definitely not good from a competitive standpoint since both the 1070 and 1080 will have been in stores for quite a while by then. It puts AMD a month or two behind out of the gate, and reading between the lines just reinforces the feeling that AMD isn't even going to try to directly compete in the same segment with Polaris 10 vs. the 1070/1080. Not being released by either Computex or E3 is a bit brutal to be honest.

 

[sze5003]

If the 1070 won't be available until end of June anyway then is it really late for those that wanted to do comparisons before purchase?

I need an upgraded card but I'd feel stupid just buying 1070 now without waiting to see what amd is offering.

 

[Sweepr]

Thanks man, one of the few voices of reason left here.

So sad that people are ignoring what AMD have said since the start of the year. "Hi guys, we're gonna launch mid-year", "just in time for the summer holidays", in-case some even have no idea what that means, they even said "June".

Plan on track = delays?

Do you want them to rush ahead with the release because NV announces something a month ahead of their "launch"? An unhealthy precedent would be set, rushing out products not ready for mass volume and all that.

That's true, but the CES and Capsaicin demos raised expectations from fans that they already had fully functional cards. It will be real disappointing if they can't hard launch the VGAs in July.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

You can believe it. A lot of journalist just didn't know what was the original plan, and they write a lot of bullshit about the release date.
The fact is AMD decided to preview Polaris on the E3 PC Gaming Show, and this was back in february. They just stick themselves to the plan, because they invited a lot of high ranked game developer and they simply unable to move this show to the Computex.

Assuming they do a full Polaris reveal during E3 (perhaps not the best event for an OEM orientated product, I still think Computex is a more suitable launch platform) then I don't see the point of pushing the NDA all the way to 29th, UNLESS it's also a review NDA. Technically, there is a chance it covers both the event and whatever hardware those invited outlets will receive for the purpose of testing.

 

[Silverforce11]

That's true, but the CES and Capsaicin demos raised expectations from fans that they already had fully functional cards. It will be real disappointing if they can't hard launch the VGAs in July.

They do have fully functional cards, it's been snapped inside a system running for tech journalists to see.

The only thing of concern is do they have ENOUGH of those fully functional cards for a hard launch?

Because launching early with no availability doesn't do anyone any good. All it does is officially kill current GPU sales while everyone wait for stock or pre-orders.

If the time comes for the product launch and they are out of stock everywhere, you can safely say it was a poorly executed launch and can speculate why and what caused it (ie, delays at GloFo etc?).

 

[tviceman]

I'm betting that June 29 will be a hard launch - or within a week of. The problem is AMD won't be first out of the gate, won't be anywhere close to GP104 performance, and with GP106 die shots from a few months ago, they won't be alone in the mid-range space for long at all. Depending on GP106's specs and performance, Nvidia may introduce a third GP104 GeForce SKU with the same cores as GTX 1070 but with a 192-bit bus. Either way, Nvidia will have a top-to-bottom lineup with GP104, 106, and 107 by the end of August and AMD will be absent from the higher margin high end space.

I really, really hope AMD is competitive in perf/w (for notebooks) and perf/mm2 for margins, otherwise the shift we started seeing with Kepler (prior to DX12) with Nvidia getting clear and large performance leads (GK110 vs. nothing until Hawaii and OC'd GTX 980's beating OC'd Hawaii as bad or worse than Titan 1 beat 7970ghz) is going to increase. DX12 and console-designed games saved AMD last time late in the game, but they're out of wild cards and need to play with a solid hand straight up.

 

[Silverforce11]

I'm betting that June 29 will be a hard launch - or within a week of. The problem is AMD won't be first out of the gate, won't be anywhere close to GP104 performance.

Don't be so certain.

With the cuts to the 1070, it's ~980Ti and how much faster is that versus the 390X? Because the 1070 is within striking distance, but not the $699 1080.

Those same 1070/1080 leaks have a (C7 leaked) 36 CU Polaris @ 1.26ghz being 10% above a 390X.

Since I was accurate with Pascal's prediction (which you agreed with), let me call it now for Polaris.

Polaris 10 is 40 CU, 2560SP full-chip (C10). The 2304 SP variant is a cut-down SKU. There's also a 3rd tier C4, 2048 SP cut-down SKU.

The goal with Polaris 10 is IPC/shader efficiency, not raw clock-speed gains. It doesn't need amazing high clocks to pull off a victory over the 390X, thus it's low clocks on FF give it great perf/w.

As I posted awhile before, my only concern is the Apple refresh around that time combined with the next-gen console on 14nm FF as well could potentially mean supply is limited for PC gamers.

 

[Udgnim]

some pictures from the event

http://www.24liveblog.com/live/1331452

look at the food

 

[Head1985]

Don't be so certain.

With the cuts to the 1070, it's ~980Ti and how much faster is that versus the 390X? Because the 1070 is within striking distance, but not the $699 1080.

Those same 1070/1080 leaks have a (C7 leaked) 36 CU Polaris @ 1.26ghz being 10% above a 390X.

Since I was accurate with Pascal's prediction (which you agreed with), let me call it now for Polaris.

Polaris 10 is 40 CU, 2560SP full-chip (C10). The 2304 SP variant is a cut-down SKU. There's also a 3rd tier C4, 2048 SP cut-down SKU.

The goal with Polaris 10 is IPC/shader efficiency, not raw clock-speed gains. It doesn't need amazing high clocks to pull off a victory over the 390X, thus it's low clocks on FF give it great perf/w.

As I posted awhile before, my only concern is the Apple refresh around that time combined with the next-gen console on 14nm FF as well could potentially mean supply is limited for PC gamers.

Yep 980TI is only 19% faster than 390x...
If polaris is only 10% faster than 390x then bingo it will be within 10% of 1070

 

[Glo.]

some pictures from the event

http://www.24liveblog.com/live/1331452

look at the food

Dear lord. That cakes!

 

[zlatan]

That's true, but the CES and Capsaicin demos raised expectations from fans that they already had fully functional cards. It will be real disappointing if they can't hard launch the VGAs in July.

I think all IHV has functional hardware half year before the release. Demoing these or not is just a simple decision.

 

[tential]

Thanks man, one of the few voices of reason left here.

So sad that people are ignoring what AMD have said since the start of the year. "Hi guys, we're gonna launch mid-year", "just in time for the summer holidays", in-case some even have no idea what that means, they even said "June".

Plan on track = delays?

Do you want them to rush ahead with the release because NV announces something a month ahead of their "launch"? An unhealthy precedent would be set, rushing out products not ready for mass volume and all that.

In saying it's a failed launch because it will be. It already is although sure, let amd launch and play it out. AMD could not come second to market with Polaris and it now will be after the 1080 and 1070.

Leaving the 1070/1080 as the only things people are talking about until amd launches is bad. Amd needs to be ahead setting the narrative not behind trying to catch up with setting the narrative which is the situation they're in now.

 

[Rvenger]

some pictures from the event

http://www.24liveblog.com/live/1331452

look at the food

Notice the Radeon logo looks redone on that back pack and name tag?

 

[Phynaz]

WTF?? What delay?

You are reading the calendar wrong. End of June is mid year, so on schedule.

Unwind a bit guys, it's a joke, see the smiley?

 

[Glo.]

Notice the Radeon logo looks redone on that back pack and name tag?

It is the same logo that is on that display:
http://www.24liveblog.com/show?img=//cdn3.24live.co/images/2016/05/27/img_57480543ab27a.jpg
Or this: http://www.24liveblog.com/show?img=//cdn3.24live.co/images/2016/05/27/img_57480544a0343.jpg

 

[Phynaz]

some pictures from the event

http://www.24liveblog.com/live/1331452

look at the food

The Venetian is a clone of Las Vegas. Even the light fixtures are the same.

 

[R0H1T]

I have a hard time believing AMD would miss both Computex AND E3 with their Polaris launch only to release it two weeks later. I understand the product is not meant for retail customers and OEMs don't need flashy reveals, but it makes little sense to skip on the publicity.

Not too hard when/if you consider Apple using it for their revamped or updated Mac lineup, also the next gen consoles might be using up the supply as well.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Not too hard when/if you consider Apple using it for their revamped or updated Mac lineup, also the next gen consoles might be using up the supply as well.

Consoles using Polaris dGPUs? Interesting.

 

[Krteq]

Well, why not... you can use iGPI and dGPU for Affinity Multi-GPU VR

 

[PhonakV30]

wow this is really Macau? Beautiful City.

 

[Silverforce11]

In saying it's a failed launch because it will be. It already is although sure, let amd launch and play it out. AMD could not come second to market with Polaris and it now will be after the 1080 and 1070.

Leaving the 1070/1080 as the only things people are talking about until amd launches is bad. Amd needs to be ahead setting the narrative not behind trying to catch up with setting the narrative which is the situation they're in now.

In a month's time, all of this will be moot. The 1070 and 1080 being the narrative makes no difference. Do you think people who have always bought ~$150 to $300 will suddenly, magically, splurge and increase it to $449 to $699?

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-polaris-10-mainstream-gpu,31879.html

Again because some people here don't understand the strategy here.

AMD is starting out on the desktop with that mainstream performance segment, targeting roughly $150-$300 products, sources say.

AMD believes that Nvidia, by starting with the GTX 1080, is still a couple of quarters away from any volume play for Pascal, thus giving AMD the opportunity to first challenge Maxwell, rather than Pascal, and most importantly, to win immediate market share.

^ This can only happen if they hard launch by June's end. Not low volume paper launching out of stock everywhere, but real mass volume for the mainstream. When people compare cards of $150 to $300, they will see Polaris destroying the competition and that's all she wrote.

Further, as Nvidia begins to flesh out its Pascal lineup, including filling out the lower end, AMD will unveil Vega at the higher end, with HBM2 and performance that takes off where Fiji began. At GDC, it even teased Navi for 2018, touting next-generation memory.

In other words, those who want to see AMD go head to head with Nvidia on all fronts, especially the more glamorous ones, will have to wait until later this year. In its quest for transparency and the slow drip, AMD has said as much all along.

This is the amazing thing here, AMD did say as much all along, yet a lot of tech sites just make up redacted all the time and clickbait, setting the agenda off the path and creating expectations of AMD somehow launching ahead of schedule and now that they are sticking to their plan, people make up claims that they are late.






Profanity is not allowed in tech.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[ShintaiDK]

In a month's time, all of this will be moot. The 1070 and 1080 being the narrative makes no difference. Do you think people who have always bought ~$150 to $300 will suddenly, magically, splurge and increase it to $449 to $699?

Its 379$ to 699$. No matter how many times you write it wrong it wont be right. And that's big revenue.

Polaris will have to fight with GP106.

 

[tential]

Its 379$ to 699$. No matter how many times you write it wrong it wont be right. And that's big revenue.

Polaris will have to fight with GP106.

This is where we begin to agree. Because Nvidia isn't going to leave these prices as is. Already AIBs want to go lower than 699 on the 1080 with vastly superior cards than the founder's edition.

If I'm spending $250 on a GPU, and a Titan X 1070 is available with the ability to OC quite well with an AIB cooler for $380, it's not out of reach.

This is $100 extra dollars for many people. It's not the end of the world. Nvidia can DEFINITELY upsell people to the 1070.

And as Shintai said, "That's the big revenue."

That's why Nvidia releases the bigger chips first. Because if they can get people to upsell on themselves, or get them to buy cards they don't need, just because they want something new to tide themselves over or whatever the reason, they can get people to potentially triple dip (1080> Titan regodliked> 1080ti).

Why doesn't Nvidia target the middle class gamer, where 90% of the population resides? Because they are price conscious.

Those people that are die hard midrange purchasers don't rush out to buy a GPU at launch day. That's why Nvidia doesn't focus on them.

This narrative that AMD is going to corner the market by launching a killer price/performance GPU that people will rush out and buy is just not going to happen.

I just had a hardcore gamer come up to me with an FX-8350 processor because it was cheap/affordable, but he HAD to have an Nvidia GPU. That was a requirement. GTX 960. People aren't just going to jump ship even if Polaris is all around better by a couple percent. They'll get their preferred brand.

Nothing about Polaris indicates it is anything special so far.

 

[JDG1980]

This narrative that AMD is going to corner the market by launching a killer price/performance GPU that people will rush out and buy is just not going to happen.

AMD is going for OEM contracts first and foremost. Sales to budget-conscious gamers are a nice bonus.

I just had a hardcore gamer come up to me with an FX-8350 processor because it was cheap/affordable, but he HAD to have an Nvidia GPU. That was a requirement. GTX 960. People aren't just going to jump ship even if Polaris is all around better by a couple percent. They'll get their preferred brand.

Did you get a clear answer from him about why he thought the GTX 960 was a good choice? If he's got a FX-8350 then he obviously isn't too concerned about energy efficiency, so that's out. Did he need the HTPC features (HDMI 2.0 and HEVC) or was he just an irrational fanboy?

 

[boozzer]

AMD is going for OEM contracts first and foremost. Sales to budget-conscious gamers are a nice bonus.



Did you get a clear answer from him about why he thought the GTX 960 was a good choice? If he's got a FX-8350 then he obviously isn't too concerned about energy efficiency, so that's out. Did he need the HTPC features (HDMI 2.0 and HEVC) or was he just an irrational fanboy?

there was a study that showed people had a part of their brain stimulated as religious people when it comes to brand names. it was conducted on apple fans. you can easily google it.

it is pretty scary. it is akin to brain washing like religions.