8000 series speculation thread.

cageymaru

cageymaru

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Apr 10, 2003
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So I was browsing the net and saw that the first speculative reports are for the 8970 to sport 6GB of memory and be 35% faster than the 7970. Which sounds pretty sick to me as I need more speed for 3D. But I also see the rumor is for a $599 price tag :eek: so I guess it's a good time to start saving. What was really interesting was the disparity between the 8970 and 8950. No more 7950 value card type performance. :(

http://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-hd-8000-series-reportedly-launching-q3-2013-specifications-revealed/

If this is old information or if there is another 8000 series thread I apologize. :)
 
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I think I will wait for them to make a cut down version of the 8970 since the 8950 isn't the same chip, kinda like what they did with the 7870 XT (7930) adding it later in the game. With how many chips they have that wont make the cut for a 8970 you know in time they will be doing this. I would imagine the price will be VERY competitive with the performance.
 
2403 stream processors seems low for the space they have at the new node, maybe playing it safe, with an optimized core in the following gen?
 
I can't remember what site, but I heard the specs of the 8970 will be basically double-everything of the 7970. Then again, total rumor at this point :p
 
I will take a stab at this.....

AMD will finally fix their damn drivers.
 
AMD Volcanic Island series "9000" will not be 20nm now or what is happening-did they get pushed back for re-branded 8000 series? I was under the Impression the next Gpu's for PC would be called the 9000 series and that there would be massive gains in performance.
 
filip said:
AMD Volcanic Island series "9000" will not be 20nm now or what is happening-did they get pushed back for re-branded 8000 series? I was under the Impression the next Gpu's for PC would be called the 9000 series and that there would be massive gains in performance.
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They are still planning on calling it the 8000 series, its just that the current 8000 series SKUs were rebrands for OEMs to look like they are offering "new" cards to their customers..This is very common in the OEM space, especially mobile on both AMD and Nvidia's side..
 
35% faster than the 7970 puts this a little ahead of 780GTX's? At $599 it could be an interesting price point.
 
35% is pretty unheard of for single generation impovement. Usually 10-15%
 
Apparently being released sometime in Q3, so can we expect price cuts on the 7000 series?
 
Flopper said:
die shrink.
same node, seldom much improvement.
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I realize but isn't the next series from AMD is rumored for 20nm? Unless things have changed...

Edit: I guess this site is claming otherwise, but to be honest, earlier rumors sounded far more credible than this.
 
Am I the only one who thinks an increase of 35% isn't really impressive?

But yes, AMD needs to release a new generation because the 7900 series launched at 2011 and they currently have no card to go up against NVIDIA's current offerings (Not counting the 7990)
 
x3sphere said:
I realize but isn't the next series from AMD is rumored for 20nm? Unless things have changed...

Edit: I guess this site is claming otherwise, but to be honest, earlier rumors sounded far more credible than this.
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its likely to be same as now, maybe a high end hawaii on 20nm.
none knows atm.
 
Probably better off waiting for 20nm. These mid gen refreshes typically don't add a whole lot of performance. My 7870 should hold me over until then.
 
Well, if you've waited THIS long (the 7970 has been out forever it seems) you might as well wait for 20 nm.
 
cageymaru said:
Ha ha 4CHAN rumor. Posted for the lulz.

http://wccftech.com/rumor-amd-radeon-hd-8970-pictured-features-curacao-xt-core-2304-sps/
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A little late to offer a refresh. Can't imagine a significant boost to come close to the GTX 700 Series, but maybe close enough to bridge the gap between the HD 7xxx and the GTX 7xx to where it might make more sense to stay AMD + Never Settle Bundle to further boost sales.

Right now AMD needs to focus on Volcanic Islands and they are in dire need of a break in the 20nm process that wont lead until the end of the year, beginning of next year to mass produce. Right now AMD cards are kicking ass when it comes to price for performance. Anything to knock Nvidia's ridiculously high priced cards down a bit is welcome.
 
striker444 said:
I think I will wait for them to make a cut down version of the 8970 since the 8950 isn't the same chip, kinda like what they did with the 7870 XT (7930) adding it later in the game. With how many chips they have that wont make the cut for a 8970 you know in time they will be doing this. I would imagine the price will be VERY competitive with the performance.
Click to expand...

You mean like a Radeon 8960? Could make sense. Because the gap from $599 to $399 is pretty huge if you think about it. My question is how well will 8970 compete with the 780. If it cannot compete on the same level performance-wise, AMD is in big trouble to release a chip later in the game that is slower. I love the 6GB of rumored VRAM though.

AMD has a lotta catching up to do!
 
I'm thinking AMD needs a $550-$600 X970 with a big-assed mem bus that trades blows with Titan, which would put it solidly ahead of the 780. In order for AMD to start making up market share, they need to keep doing what they're doing with gaming bundles, price their 'competitor' GPUs just under (not too far) Nvidia's, and start pushing the performance envelope.

Oh, and keep feeding the driver dev guys whatever you're feeding them. It's working.

Having said that, I just bought two 2GB 680s with water blocks. Even though it was at a killer price and we have no guarantee of when the next gen AMD cards will launch, or how good drivers will be at launch, I'm still considering reselling them if they launch by Q3. Any later than that and I might as well hang onto these for a bit since two 680s should run me fine on 120hz 1080p for some time.
 
is the 8970 going to be faster than the 770 gtx? if it is I am going to get the 8970 for sure.
 
andre1992 said:
is the 8970 going to be faster than the 770 gtx? if it is I am going to get the 8970 for sure.
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I have no reason to see why it wouldn't be since the GTX 770 is nothing more than a re-branded GTX 680 which the 7970 fairs pretty well against. Any slight tweaking would easily put it slightly ahead most likely. The question is whether they are still planning a Sea Islands refresh or jumping straight to Volcanic Islands, which nobody knows for sure at this point. I'm assuming a 8970 Volcanic Island chip would put it well ahead of the 770 and probably even 780 since it would be foolish for AMD to go 2 years without releasing a new product only to release something slower than the competition, even if it's cheaper.
 
andre1992 said:
is the 8970 going to be faster than the 770 gtx? if it is I am going to get the 8970 for sure.
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well even the 7970 ghz is faster overall at 2560 and is barely slower overall at 1920 so of course the 8970 would be faster.
 
Liger88 said:
I have no reason to see why it wouldn't be since the GTX 770 is nothing more than a re-branded GTX 680 which the 7970 fairs pretty well against. Any slight tweaking would easily put it slightly ahead most likely. The question is whether they are still planning a Sea Islands refresh or jumping straight to Volcanic Islands, which nobody knows for sure at this point. I'm assuming a 8970 Volcanic Island chip would put it well ahead of the 770 and probably even 780 since it would be foolish for AMD to go 2 years without releasing a new product only to release something slower than the competition, even if it's cheaper.
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Well the 6970 came after the gtx 580, and it was slower. By looking at the specs, I'm guessing the 8970 will trade blows with the 780, and it'll end up being slightly faster at stock.

From the rumors, nothing indicates this will be volcanic islands based. Then again, nothing is confirmed.
 
tonyftw said:
Well the 6970 came after the gtx 580, and it was slower. By looking at the specs, I'm guessing the 8970 will trade blows with the 780, and it'll end up being slightly faster at stock.

From the rumors, nothing indicates this will be volcanic islands based. Then again, nothing is confirmed.
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Well, there is a pretty major difference between the 6970 vs 580, that is a month. Really that was marketing brilliance on Nvidia's part since both were well tapped out and ready to go. AMD hasn't released anything significant since the 7970 dropped late 2011 - Jan 2012 besides minor revisions. Already at over 1 1/2 years and hitting that 2 year mark most likely before they release GCN 2.0 given end of the year has been predicted for mass ramp up of 20nm parts. Can't see them trying to milk 28nm at this point with a refresh that should have come 6 months ago.

They've been behind since the 600 Series, although not large enough to warrant a major refresh it appears since they are capitalizing on profits from excellent marketing right now. Overall that means they'll have a lot of ground to make up even though the 700 Series is mostly BS with product re-branding and only really a Titan and Titan LE (780) being the main difference.

Markets see competitor releases two new generations of cards to your one. Investors see decent sales and a inconsistent road map. People see AMD having been behind since March 2012 (GTX 680). All these issues play a major factor, especially with a fragile AMD right now. They really can't afford to wait 2 years only to release a card that can barely keep up, or falls behind a chipset from their competition that was simply a minor refresh,or even what some call the original GTX 680 that was held back.

All speculation right now as only time will tell what comes of it. I have faith that AMD will surprise people since their graphics department is really the only thing shit hot at AMD right now.
 
Liger88 said:
Well, there is a pretty major difference between the 6970 vs 580, that is a month. Really that was marketing brilliance on Nvidia's part since both were well tapped out and ready to go. AMD hasn't released anything significant since the 7970 dropped late 2011 - Jan 2012 besides minor revisions. Already at over 1 1/2 years and hitting that 2 year mark most likely before they release GCN 2.0 given end of the year has been predicted for mass ramp up of 20nm parts. Can't see them trying to milk 28nm at this point with a refresh that should have come 6 months ago.

They've been behind since the 600 Series, although not large enough to warrant a major refresh it appears since they are capitalizing on profits from excellent marketing right now. Overall that means they'll have a lot of ground to make up even though the 700 Series is mostly BS with product re-branding and only really a Titan and Titan LE (780) being the main difference.

Markets see competitor releases two new generations of cards to your one. Investors see decent sales and a inconsistent road map. People see AMD having been behind since March 2012 (GTX 680). All these issues play a major factor, especially with a fragile AMD right now. They really can't afford to wait 2 years only to release a card that can barely keep up, or falls behind a chipset from their competition that was simply a minor refresh,or even what some call the original GTX 680 that was held back.

All speculation right now as only time will tell what comes of it. I have faith that AMD will surprise people since their graphics department is really the only thing shit hot at AMD right now.
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Hmm? The 7970 is on par with the 680, and the 7970Ghz Edition is faster :|

TBH AMD has been ahead since the performance drivers last year, until Titan was released, where NV clearly took back the crown. but at what cost? $600 more for a Titan,or $300 more for a GTX 780 over a 7970Ghz Edition card. I Can't complain, AMD did the same thing with the 7970 on release.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
Hmm? The 7970 is on par with the 680, and the 7970Ghz Edition is faster :|

TBH AMD has been ahead since the performance drivers last year, until Titan was released, where NV clearly took back the crown. but at what cost? $600 more for a Titan,or $300 more for a GTX 780 over a 7970Ghz Edition card. I Can't complain, AMD did the same thing with the 7970 on release.
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I think Nvidia has been doing better work with their drivers than AMD. I've seen several claims over the lifespan of these HD7000 parts similar to yours, and every time I look into it comparing with Nvidia's latest drivers, turns out people were wrong at the time of their post. Could be different now. It has been back and forth (not saying AMD hasn't been faster, more like several times I've seen people say AMD's driver put AMD back ahead but the information was already out of date by the time the user had posted that). But still, the fact that it's been back and forth says that they are close enough in competition.

We used to have 2 new GPUs a year, but as technology improves, R&D keeps getting more and more expensive, to the point that if we still had 2 new GPUs a year, it wouldn't even be worth it for Nvidia or AMD to do the research required.
 
Picture is fake obviously, copper heatsink above fan near power connectors is the same as the 7990 heatsink between the dies for VRMs(?). Definitely just shopped.

7990-6b.jpg


Little copper bit in the upper middle look familiar?
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
Hmm? The 7970 is on par with the 680, and the 7970Ghz Edition is faster :|

TBH AMD has been ahead since the performance drivers last year, until Titan was released, where NV clearly took back the crown. but at what cost? $600 more for a Titan,or $300 more for a GTX 780 over a 7970Ghz Edition card. I Can't complain, AMD did the same thing with the 7970 on release.
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Except, the 7970 isn't competing with the GTX 680 any more. If we compare the models it's the 7970 vs 780 and there is a huge difference there. If we go for the price range of $400 then that's GTX 770 territory, which despite being a rebranded GTX 680, it has been tweaked enough that in half the tests the 7970 Ghz Edition barely keeps up and the other half it just loses. The game bundles are helping woe potential customers now, but it wont take long for people to decide which is the better deal longevity wise. A new card is absolutely necessary well before the end of the year (Fall, not Summer most likely).

Driver support has been slowly getting better, but Nvidia has a release cycle that AMD has so far been unable to keep up with. I would go as far as to say AMD has tweaked the 7xxx drivers just about as far as they can. The cards been out long enough that developers have had ample time to optimize for either platform before a game ships, minus SLI/Crossfire support.
 
owned my 7970 a year now, cant say I im a need to replace it anytime soon.
or my 2 year old rig.
tech slowed down to much.
 
Liger88 said:
Except, the 7970 isn't competing with the GTX 680 any more. If we compare the models it's the 7970 vs 780 and there is a huge difference there. If we go for the price range of $400 then that's GTX 770 territory, which despite being a rebranded GTX 680, it has been tweaked enough that in half the tests the 7970 Ghz Edition barely keeps up and the other half it just loses. The game bundles are helping woe potential customers now, but it wont take long for people to decide which is the better deal longevity wise. A new card is absolutely necessary well before the end of the year (Fall, not Summer most likely).

Driver support has been slowly getting better, but Nvidia has a release cycle that AMD has so far been unable to keep up with. I would go as far as to say AMD has tweaked the 7xxx drivers just about as far as they can. The cards been out long enough that developers have had ample time to optimize for either platform before a game ships, minus SLI/Crossfire support.
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you do realize I was replying to your post.

They've been behind since the 600 Series, although not large enough to warrant a major refresh it appears since they are capitalizing on profits from excellent marketing right now. Overall that means they'll have a lot of ground to make up even though the 700 Series is mostly BS with product re-branding and only really a Titan and Titan LE (780) being the main difference.
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You said they have been behind since the 600 series, I was just correcting that, the 7970 has been faster since the GHZ edition and perf driver.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
you do realize I was replying to your post.



You said they have been behind since the 600 series, I was just correcting that, the 7970 has been faster since the GHZ edition and perf driver.
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Yeah I see what you were saying. I was referring to the 7970 Ghz Edition which came out after the 600 Series dropped. The 600 Series initially pulled ahead when it dropped, then the 7970 Ghz Edition came out to even things out and driver support had increased performance for AMD parts.

I should have specifically mentioned launch day stats since I'm sure most buyers don't follow things on a regular basis to know that GPU's improve constantly after release day.
 
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