AMD 600 Series GPU Project “Zen” Detailed

Megalith

Megalith

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According to Wccftech, AMD’s 7nm Navi GPU isn’t the only graphics solution it is working on: a new team within the Radeon Technology Group has been assembled for a new project dubbed “Zen.” This initiative was spearheaded by CEO Lisa Su herself, who has tasked the team to significantly improve the clock speeds of current designs and push them to be more power efficient.

The new team has been put in place to inject the company’s upcoming GPU products with a dose of engineering steroids so to speak and leapfrog the company’s original GPU roadmap. It’s tasked with bringing expertise from the original Zen CPU project to the GPU side as well as to innovate in two key areas in an effort to make upcoming GPU products more competitive than originally planned.
 
Looks like the rumor says they are having some influence on Navi. I am curious how much they can improve it before it gets released which rumors state this year.

Vega was already designed with Zen in mind in a sense it can be placed on Infinity Fabric with it. I expect Navi is exactly the same, but with itself.
 
Hyperbole aside, direction from the top of the company can do wonders for opening up opportunities to add features to a product that might not have had a positive business case previously. Perhaps now all the wonderful ideas to make amd gpus better will show up.
 
Fake.

There is a project to develope a GCN replacement, but it sure as hell isn’t called Zen
 
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I think the key take away is that they are leveraging engineering talent that brought us the CPU Zen architecture to provide support to pull off something similar on the GPU side. It makes sense to try to get some synergy going now that they are generating healthy cash flow from the CPU side of the business. That said, the timeline seems aggressive. But, this is the first promising / hopeful thing I've heard about re: RTG in quite a while, so fingers crossed that they can make some solid progress.
 
Sharps97 said:
I think the key take away is that they are leveraging engineering talent that brought us the CPU Zen architecture to provide support to pull off something similar on the GPU side. It makes sense to try to get some synergy going now that they are generating healthy cash flow from the CPU side of the business. That said, the timeline seems aggressive. But, this is the first promising / hopeful thing I've heard about re: RTG in quite a while, so fingers crossed that they can make some solid progress.
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The biggest progress so far is getting rid of Raja.
 
Derangel said:
"According to Wccftech"

There really needs to be a ban on using this site as a source for rumors. They make shit up most of the time or just report on any rumor they supposedly hear no matter how dubious it is.
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I love reading WCCFTech only because it's clear that every article is published as quickly as humanly possible, with zero regard for accuracy, clarity, or editing. It can produce some rather entertaining paragraphs and typos. I also love it when they profusely claim they have exclusive information, as if anyone of consequence is really reading their article without ingesting a mountain of salt first.
 
I try and look at it from a logical, non.. "geeky"? Perspective really (and yes, granted about wccftech's "impartiality", lol, but this notwithstanding)

- you had a certain number of people that wanted more(tm). Maybe they got fed up, maybe the grass was literally greener, maybe they felt under-appreciated, doesn't matter, they wanted more(tm). Cliques are a bad thing to have within any corporation; you ever worked in one, you'd know just how bad.
- you had a certain person that somehow decided financing the GPU department just wasn't the smart thing to do, further cutting down on a budget that, compared to the competition's, was peanuts; before the cuts mind :)
- you had certain very serious issues to solve regarding fabrication, yields, exclusivities or lack thereof, etc.
- despite all that, you produce something that has a novel feature or two, is the groundwork for future upgrades/expansion (major this) and is on a par with the second fastest GPU on the planet (1080).

(a small pause here, as apparently the above reeks of 'fail' to some.. at which point one wonders if such individuals have ever had a real job in their lives, but that would be digressing)

- whatever the catalyst, you have a major restructuring, with a clear reconceptualising of how and what and why needs to be done; and in what order.
- unsurprisingly, because organising and strategising is key, you get some very logical goals coming out. We keep afore mentioned groundwork (IF, multi chip mentality, etc), see if we can cut down on power consumption, maybe refine it, keep most of the new team focused on the next big thing.

Anyone here finds something illogical so far? No? O.K.

So rather than rushing to say the next one will suck/be awesome, why not stick to the fact that maybe, just maybe, they've somehow managed to get this department back on track? Or at the least are really, seriously trying to?
'Cause that's what i care about; i, the normal everyday user. No, it's not 8K, it's not synthetic benchmarks.
It's knowing i will have options, that there is competition in the GPU market; major thing that, with all the positive things it entails. For us. Nvidia fans included.

* the above is read on a monitor driven by a GTX 1080. No bias here, either way.
 
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The Radeon teams kept piling more and more unused tech into the GPU without just focusing on getting more performance out of what they already had. The former could theoretically increase performance a lot, if they could get the driver team and developers on board.
 
Aenra said:
I try and look at it from a logical, non.. "geeky"? Perspective really (and yes, granted about wccftech's "impartiality", lol, but this notwithstanding)

- you had a certain number of people that wanted more(tm). Maybe they got fed up, maybe the grass was literally greener, maybe they felt under-appreciated, doesn't matter, they wanted more(tm). Cliques are a bad thing to have within any corporation; you ever worked in one, you'd know just how bad.
- you had a certain person that somehow decided financing the GPU department just wasn't the smart thing to do, further cutting down on a budget that, compared to the competition's, was peanuts; before the cuts mind :)
- you had certain very serious issues to solve regarding fabrication, yields, exclusivities or lack thereof, etc.
- despite all that, you produce something that has a novel feature or two, is the groundwork for future upgrades/expansion (major this) and is on a par with the second fastest GPU on the planet (1080).

(a small pause here, as apparently the above reeks of 'fail' to some.. at which point one wonders if such individuals have ever had a real job in their lives, but that would be digressing)

- whatever the catalyst, you have a major restructuring, with a clear reconceptualising of how and what and why needs to be done; and in what order.
- unsurprisingly, because organising and strategising is key, you get some very logical goals coming out. We keep afore mentioned groundwork (IF, multi chip mentality, etc), see if we can cut down on power consumption, maybe refine it, keep most of the new team focused on the next big thing.

Anyone here finds something illogical so far? No? O.K.

So rather than rushing to say the next one will suck/be awesome, why not stick to the fact that maybe, just maybe, they've somehow managed to get this department back on track? Or at the least are really, seriously trying to?
'Cause that's what i care about; i, the normal everyday user. No, it's not 8K, it's not synthetic benchmarks.
It's knowing i will have options, that there is competition in the GPU market; major thing that, with all the positive things it entails. For us. Nvidia fans included.

* the above is read on a monitor driven by a GTX 1080. No bias here, either way.
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To quote Sean Connery:

Loosers talk about working hard and trying their best...

Winners go home and f**k the prom queen.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
...at heating up the room and drowning out nearby conversations :ROFLMAO:
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317.png
 


I think the basis of this info comes from this video, the timestamp I linked it to, Suzanne Plummer, who previously led the Zen design team, apparently is now a CVP of RTG, she says that they have shifted some of the Zen design team to work in RTG now, focusing on stuff like frequency and power efficiency. Now, wccf says that this occurred in October, but checking Plummer's linkedin, well, it states that she was appointed in October. In my opinion, I think the basis of what wccf is saying is true, yes, AMD shifted Plummer and some Zen design engineers to RTG, with a intent to improve clock speeds and power, but I kinda feel like all they did was see the video i linked, check Plummer's linkedin, and then acted like they got the inside scoop, when in reality, its not a inside scoop at all. Add in some context dressing, and we have this clickbait article.
 
SighTurtle said:
I think the basis of this info comes from this video, .. its not a inside scoop at all. Add in some context dressing, and we have this clickbait article.
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So what, the information is true that they are working on the Radon with experienced Engineers at reducing power consumption. Twist it into clickbait or some conspiracy if you want. I still like the idea.
 
Mega6 said:
So what, the information is true that they are working on the Radon with experienced Engineers at reducing power consumption. Twist it into clickbait or some conspiracy if you want. I still like the idea.
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If you read the wccf article, they act like they got a inside scoop, info no one else knows about. The [H] brief summary stripped away that bullshit.

Edit: My intent wasn't implying what wccf said was bullshit, it was actually confirming that what wccf is true, while pointing out they are likely lying about being first to uncover this information, when the reality is that it was public for anyone to notice.
 
SighTurtle said:
If you read the wccf article, they act like they got a inside scoop, info no one else knows about. The [H] brief summary stripped away that bullshit.

Edit: My intent wasn't implying what wccf said was bullshit, it was actually confirming that what wccf is true, while pointing out they are likely lying about being first to uncover this information, when the reality is that it was public for anyone to notice.
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they are basically a web scraper tool. yeah i got that. someone didn't?

PS - I was checking the video.. I didnt read the wccf comments or ever really.
 
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SighTurtle said:
Look at some of the replies in this thread. (Not that they aren't correct about wccf being trash the vast majority of time)
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I don't get into website banter typically. I also get your agenda of trashing a scraper service. There are better uses of time. Not trying to be insulting, that's just my deal. It's like google news for techies, and yes - wccf is slanted toward its own agenda as well. So I filter it appropriately, like everything else.
 
Wow, so Raja’s GPU team are so bad that they need the experts from the CPU division to come down from their offices and sort the mess out!

At least we are starting to see why there has been no new GPU tech from AMD for so many years.

Good luck Intel.
 
Stimpy88 said:
Wow, so Raja’s GPU team are so bad that they need the experts from the CPU division to come down from their offices and sort the mess out!

Good luck Intel.
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Yeah I'm too wondering if it was Raja that messes the whole thing... An employee that over promises and truly believes they are way more capable than what they are can tank a whole project, with the bs and all that. I would say Vega at msrp is a fine card but is not a blowout, nor a revolution., if navi is more of the same, and great if price performance is good, but if its not a revolution, then really Raja is just full of it, these cards are probably what would have come out
of AMD anyway without 'special' employees . So was Raja fired or did he leave?
 
When u let someone go, they've fkd up. It wasn't like he said he's going to Intel, bye. It was like "get out" Amityville Horror House Style .


 
KazeoHin said:
Winners go home and f**k the prom queen.
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You went into all that trouble to tell me what? That you're only capable of shallow thoughts? That the panAmericana nu-culture has fried your brain? That you live in a glass bubble where the notion of relative or the tangible is nonexistent?
Grow up.. loads of people did fuck a prom queen; some can now be found on their knees, doing my plumbing.
 
I don't think AMD's graphics division is going to remain intact long enough to allow this project to come to fruition. It's too little, too late. AMD RTG is in for a world of pain for the next few years. They are stuck selling an expensive to manufacture part (Vega) as a value product. It doesn't work. And don't kid yourself. Vega is going to be up against the GTX 1160 very soon. AMD will be lucky to get $200 for them.
 
Aenra said:
You went into all that trouble to tell me what? That you're only capable of shallow thoughts? That the panAmericana nu-culture has fried your brain? That you live in a glass bubble where the notion of relative or the tangible is nonexistent?
Grow up.. loads of people did fuck a prom queen; some can now be found on their knees, doing my plumbing.
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The idea is a harsh reality: In a zero-sum game, there is the winner, and then there is everyone else. it doesn't matter if you're second place, it doesn't matter if you try hard. How good your heart is means absolutely nothing when it comes down to raw performance.

Do you know who Andre DeGrasse is? What about Yohan Blake? What about Sean Crawford? NO? Those are all people who came in second place against Usain Bolt. But you know who he is.

There's no "Guinness book of 2nd best records".
 
Derangel said:
"According to Wccftech"

There really needs to be a ban on using this site as a source for rumors. They make shit up most of the time or just report on any rumor they supposedly hear no matter how dubious it is.
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i mean we used fudzilla's article as a source and not a single person brought that up so what's the difference really? lol i'd still trust wccftech long before i ever trust a fudzilla article.

SickBeast said:
I don't think AMD's graphics division is going to remain intact long enough to allow this project to come to fruition. It's too little, too late. AMD RTG is in for a world of pain for the next few years. They are stuck selling an expensive to manufacture part (Vega) as a value product. It doesn't work. And don't kid yourself. Vega is going to be up against the GTX 1160 very soon. AMD will be lucky to get $200 for them.
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as long as Lisa Su is in charge i think they'll be fine. with ryzen doing as well as it is i don't see her going anywhere any time soon. now will they be able to do what she's asking them to only time will tell.
 
Aenra said:
loads of people did fuck a prom queen; some can now be found on their knees, doing my plumbing.
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Hey! Being a plumber is a respectable profession! Next time your shitter breaks, think about much you would hate to dredge through your own waste, then think of the guy or gal who signed up to do it. ;)
 
KazeoHin said:
The idea is a harsh reality
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Of which you appear to know nothing about;
You've got someone talking corporate environment (in which you've clearly never had what it takes to work in), reality, necessites, competition; and how it is beneficial to us, the customers, if it remains viable. Competition that being.

And what do you do? Quote me, only to respond to me with 'prom queens' and 'fucking'. I rest my case.
Read, think and grow; more. Leave forums and posting for a later period in your life. Your mind should take priority.

Krenum you have a point and i did not mean to be derogative in regard to the occupation per se.. should have perhaps phrased it a bit more delicately.. my apologies. And again, true enough :)
 
KazeoHin said:
The idea is a harsh reality: In a zero-sum game, there is the winner, and then there is everyone else. it doesn't matter if you're second place, it doesn't matter if you try hard. How good your heart is means absolutely nothing when it comes down to raw performance.

Do you know who Andre DeGrasse is? What about Yohan Blake? What about Sean Crawford? NO? Those are all people who came in second place against Usain Bolt. But you know who he is.
Click to expand...

Now use that same logic and put Usain Bolt on the African Savannah with a piece of raw meat in his hand and a cheetah on his tail, Zero sum games turn into environmental lessons.
 
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