AMD Launches RX 580 2048SP for Chinese Market

AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

[H]ard|Gawd
Staff member
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Messages
1,713
AMD launched a cut down version of the RX 580 with only 2048 stream processors instead of 2304. Curiously, it has the exact same core configuration, base clock, and memory bandwidth as the RX 570. The only thing separating the RX 580 2048SP from the 570 a 40Mhz boost clock bump. According to Extremetech, its only bound for the Chinese market now.

It's not unheard of for manufacturers to make subdivisions like this, as mentioned above. Back when Nvidia launched its Tesla line of GPUs (GT200, not its line of HPC accelerators and add-in boards), it quickly realized it had miscalculated. The GTX 280 and GTX 260 both got substantial price cuts just weeks after launch once AMD’s HD 4870 and HD 4850 proved to be faster and far better priced. In addition, Nvidia introduced a "GeForce 260 Core 216" edition of the GeForce GTX 260 (the original flavor had just 192 cores). And AMD has been down this road before with Polaris. Last year, it permitted OEMs to sell RX 560 cards with just 892 cores, as opposed to the 1,024 standard. AMD’s justification for this has been that offering more flexible solutions helps OEMs sell more graphics cards to their customers at specific price points. Sure. That’s the reason companies subdivide markets in the first place. If the only GPUs you sold were priced at $100 and $1,000, you’d wind up missing an awful lot of buyers.
 
Space_Ranger said:
What??? In the actual??? FUCK?!??! THIS is what they've been working on?? I don't blame nVidia for acting the way they are acting with THIS ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Click to expand...

I wonder if there's still a big mining craze in China, since that's where a lot of the exchange companies seem to be based. If so, it makes sense to give a watered-down version because I would speculate that GPUs don't sell for as much in China as they do in other big-market segment countries...
 
They did this with the RX560 too, but with a bios flash (at least on mine) you could undo their shenanigans.
 
It would be okay if they named them separately so as to not deceive customers. AMD have a temporary 'moral high ground' over Nvidia right now ( yes there both cut-throat corporations in the end) but they could easily squander this with underhanded tactics.
 
OK did they do it to validate a new process? would not be the first time they have done this....
 
Expect them to popup on eBay for the unsuspecting international market .

"oh , you didn't know what the 'SP' means? not my problem"
 
DejaWiz said:
I wonder if there's still a big mining craze in China, since that's where a lot of the exchange companies seem to be based. If so, it makes sense to give a watered-down version because I would speculate that GPUs don't sell for as much in China as they do in other big-market segment countries...
Click to expand...

I'm betting this is exactly what its for.
 
Why not give them new numbers? 575 for example. Why release the same 'model' with small details like this? It's easy enough to differentiate between 4gb and 8gb models for example, but in this case it's barely better than a 570. It has no business being called a 580 ANYTHING, call it a 570+ or 571, or just finish stripping it down and sell it as a 570 since it's 95% of the way there anyway.
 
DejaWiz said:
I wonder if there's still a big mining craze in China, since that's where a lot of the exchange companies seem to be based. If so, it makes sense to give a watered-down version because I would speculate that GPUs don't sell for as much in China as they do in other big-market segment countries...
Click to expand...

I'm no source of vetted information but the last thing I saw was China dropping the hammer on farmers for wasting enormous amounts of energy. I'm not sure how any of that played out, or if there was any effect.
 
arnemetis said:
Why not give them new numbers? 575 for example. Why release the same 'model' with small details like this? It's easy enough to differentiate between 4gb and 8gb models for example, but in this case it's barely better than a 570. It has no business being called a 580 ANYTHING, call it a 570+ or 571, or just finish stripping it down and sell it as a 570 since it's 95% of the way there anyway.
Click to expand...

Because 8 is a lucky number in China?

It sounds ridiculous, but advertisers in Chinese markets skip numbers and emphasize others all the time. Chinese elevators skip certain floor numbers, and IIRC, Huawei used to plaster "8 core" over everything they could for some time.
 
Space_Ranger said:
What??? In the actual??? FUCK?!??! THIS is what they've been working on?? I don't blame nVidia for acting the way they are acting with THIS ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Click to expand...

Cool your jets, you have ZERO idea about what AMD is working on, or what they will release...
 
I usually have a higher regard for AMD, but this is just plain bullshit.

So they are muddying the waters by selling a 570, with a slightly higher clock as a 580, when it will perform much worse than a 580.

It may only be destined for the Chinese market, but it is unacceptable either way.

The only reason to do something like this is to trick consumers into thinking are getting something more than they are. Customers across China will be reading reviews of the 580, seeing how it performs and think that is what they are getting when they buy this.

It is shameful. AMD, you are better than this.
 
Space_Ranger said:
What??? In the actual??? FUCK?!??! THIS is what they've been working on?? I don't blame nVidia for acting the way they are acting with THIS ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Click to expand...
The way you say it makes it sound like this was some sort of high priority/high resource project at AMD.
Definitely agree with others here though that they shouldn't have named it a 580.
 
serpretetsky said:
The way you say it makes it sound like this was some sort of high priority/high resource project at AMD.
Definitely agree with others here though that they shouldn't have named it a 580.
Click to expand...

Just take a closer look at the box. It says right there in bold they had their best men working on it.
 
That is the EXACT SAME spec as the RX 570.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-570.c2939

At least you could justify the RX 560 rebrand (because that's how many cores the 460 had). We have already had this cut available for two and a half years as the "70".

If you're looking to rebrand, redo the entire lineup with boosted clocks, and make them the 600 series.
 
Last edited:
Here comes the GPU white knight...
pBFLafK.gif
 
Dan_D said:
I don't fully understand that as that's almost totally died off here aside from events like Quakecon.
Click to expand...

Gaming rigs and high-speed internet service could be prohibitively expensive in many Asian countries where LAN cafes are popular. Even if you can afford a decent rig and internet service the price of games then become the barrier. If you're a gamer that barely make much, paying a small hourly fee to play WoW or Overwatch is your only option.
 
Dan_D said:
I don't fully understand that as that's almost totally died off here aside from events like Quakecon.
Click to expand...

Its still big in Asia. Took a month long trip this summer and while Internet is cheap in a lot of asian countries most people can't quite afford a PC that can play games, or they like the social aspect of it. But a lot of these places charge less than .50 for an hr in the poorer asian countries and have A/C.
 
  • Like
Reactions: N4CR
like this
Argh. I can't wrap my head around why companies keep doing this. SO. MUCH. STUPID.
 
I don't like these underhanded naming schemes but it also seems stupid for AMD to squander some of the perception advantage they hold right of being viewed as less unethical than the competition(I hesitate to call any publicly traded company more ethical because at best they are amoral).

It's good that they won't be on the shelves here but as someone else mentioned I'm sure they'll be popping up on Ebay.
 
China only? Might as well happen to every region in the future. Heard some rumor about RX590 that actually just an overclocked RX580 though build based on 12nm node. The RX570 then become RX580 due to this new naming scheme.
 
renz496 said:
China only? Might as well happen to every region in the future. Heard some rumor about RX590 that actually just an overclocked RX580 though build based on 12nm node. The RX570 then become RX580 due to this new naming scheme.
Click to expand...

Different markets have different demands. I remember the GeForce 4 Mx days well so it's not outside of the realm of possibility they try this kind of stuff here... but as always, caveat emptor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top