More info on southern islands

[Skurge]

http://translate.google.com/transla...www.4gamer.net/games/110/G011065/20100526093/

seems like the whole generation is gonna be on 40nm.

 

[StrangerGuy]

What are the architecture improvements of SI over Cypress? Did AMD gave details yet?

 

[luv2increase]

http://translate.google.com/transla...www.4gamer.net/games/110/G011065/20100526093/

seems like the whole generation is gonna be on 40nm.

That was the worse Google translation ever!!! I thought I was going to go crazy trying to read that..

I'm very excited and ready to do another upgrade

 

[FragKrag]

I guess it would be unfair to expect TSMC to have a reliable 28nm process that quickly given their 32nm problems.

Now this begs the question: Do I want that HD 5850
...

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I'm not really sure much of that was really intelligible, but the real take home message seems to be low end 6xxx series at the end of 2010 (5400/5600 stuff), higher end stuff early 2011.

 

[happy medium]

So no high end parts till 2011? hmmm.

 

[luv2increase]

It is a little weird they plan on releasing the lower end stuff first. It will be the first time ever where it is done like this. Usually, it is always the top-end followed by the lower-end...

The main advantages over Cypress will be improving the geometry shaders and tessellation performance. Those are and will be very important for upcoming DX11 titles over the next 2 years.

Overall, it should be pretty interesting to see what they bring to the table. If it is anything how Cypress ended up, it will be another home run. That'll be two in a row for ATI/AMD... Competition is good!

 

[happy medium]

No they released the 4770 first I think that counts.

 

[hawtdawg]

No they released the 4770 first I think that counts.

That was just a new fab process.

 

[NoQuarter]

No they released the 4770 first I think that counts.

I was thinking that too but I think it's a little different. The 4770 was a test of a new process (40nm) while keeping the old architecture. New architecture itself has generally released with the top end flagship first.

 

[IntelUser2000]

I guess it would be unfair to expect TSMC to have a reliable 28nm process that quickly given their 32nm problems.

Now this begs the question: Do I want that HD 5850
...

First 55nm GPU: 11/15/2007 High end
First Nvidia 55nm: 6/24/2008 Low end

First 40nm GPU: 4/28/2009 Low end
First Nvidia 40nm: 10/12/2009 Low end
Mass 40nm: 9/23/2009 High end

Looking that it took 2 years from 55nm to 40nm, its unreasonable to expect that 40nm to 28nm, which is a bigger jump, can take less than 2 years.

Given the rumors that TSMC might be having problems with their 28nm, it wouldn't be surprising if we see first parts at Q2, or later. That's what's expected historically anyway.

 

[FragKrag]

I remember reading on Anandtech that there was an 'errorfree' 28nm or something?

I guess I made unreasonable expectations based off of that. I'm also expecting sometime around late 2011, early 2012 for 28nm.

 

[Idontcare]

I remember reading on Anandtech that there was an 'errorfree' 28nm or something?

The specific BS claim was that it was "defect free"...which is/was complete nonsense.

However I do like when that kind of false info gets out into the "tech media" because it serves as a quick and easy litmus test showing who knows their ass from a random hole in the ground when it comes to the stuff they think they are writing about.

In this particular case BSN failed, utterly. As did a few other wannabe technophiles that parroted it thereafter.

 

[rolodomo]

HDMI 1.4 is nice, probably means whatever ATI's 3D solution is at the time will be understood by my 3D television I just picked up fairly cheap. Good flexibility for a HTPC setup.

 

[RussianSensation]

So no high end parts till 2011? hmmm.

Yup. Looks like nothing really exciting is going to come out from AMD in the CPU/GPU/Mobile space until 2011. I guess, other than mobile NV parts launching next and continuous improvements in the SSD arena, 2H of 2010 is going to be a rather uneventful period in PC hardware.

I guess this also means that current GPU prices are unlikely to fall. With Crysis 2 and Medal of Honor not launching until Oct-Dec of 2010, I don't really see the upgrade bug biting that hard though Starcraft 2 should keep many busy during the summer/fall period without needing much more than an 8800GT.

 

[Avalon]

The little time flow chart seems to suggest that Island's high end single GPU part will have a 384bit memory interface. This is interesting because on top of the other improvements they are adding to the GPU, I'd imagine this would increase power output by a significant margin.

 

[epidemis]

It is a little weird they plan on releasing the lower end stuff first. It will be the first time ever where it is done like this. Usually, it is always the top-end followed by the lower-end...

They release high-end parts first, because they need the margins on less-than-mature yields. That and ofcourse the ability to proclaim to have the fastest graphic card!

It actually make alot of sense since it's on same node as the previous generation, hence they can turn a buck on 'em since the yields are mature by then.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

While the new cores are undoubtedly going to be larger than the 5xxx series, ATI will probably be able to get some space/heat/power savings back by eliminating some of the redundancy the 5800 series incorporated in order to improve yields given that the 40nm process should be fairly mature and yielding much better than it did when the 5 series was first introduced.

So while the cores will undoubtedly get a little larger with whatever extra transistors they pack on, it shouldn't just be a straight up addition but a little give and take.

Also the low end first, high end later launch is undoubtedly a measure to ensure whatever modifications they did to the core come through the fab process working like they should before committing to a full scale die.

 

[Skurge]

While the new cores are undoubtedly going to be larger than the 5xxx series, ATI will probably be able to get some space/heat/power savings back by eliminating some of the redundancy the 5800 series incorporated in order to improve yields given that the 40nm process should be fairly mature and yielding much better than it did when the 5 series was first introduced.

So while the cores will undoubtedly get a little larger with whatever extra transistors they pack on, it shouldn't just be a straight up addition but a little give and take.

Also the low end first, high end later launch is undoubtedly a measure to ensure whatever modifications they did to the core come through the fab process working like they should before committing to a full scale die.

I don't know much about yields, but this makes sense.