AMD CPU speculation... and expert conjecture

[jdwii]

Imagine what an APU or even a FX 8350 could do with this (talking about the cooler)

http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.tw/2013/05/ln2-ram-coolers-released-but-couple-of.html

And about that Nvidia console... Imo, it's gonna be a phenomenal hand held device, but it's not good enough to replace a PC. Even though you can hook it up some how to a 660 or higher GPU.

Ok there comes a point in time when someone has to say this. Its cool.

palladin9479, i do however agree with you about consoles at least Nintendo ones as well as some Sony games sorry i love those kiddy adventure games kill me, To me its more fun than shooters.
Main reason i love the PC more is i read a lot on it and i use it for my Movies/shows and music as well as video encoding and of course gaming(usually 3 hours a day if not less). I find it easier to spend a lot at once instead of spending 60$ on game after game when i can just game on the PC and get that game in months for 20-30$.

Also Nvidia is getting beaten pretty bad by qualcomm i think the Iphone uses Terga but if it wasn't for the Iphone qualcomm would be beating them even more. Amd should've never gave away the graphics for this.

 

[amdfangirl]

I have a HTC with Tegra cores, I really hope you don't have to travel long distances because that battery ain't gonna hold up. On just gaming alone the battery is good for an hour if that. Handhelds are good enough for boredom passing and travel occupation but they lack titles and the content console and PC/notebooks have, not to mention battery life.

They are good and engaging enough for casual gamers. Some people blame it for the death of Wii/handheld gaming.

 

[cowboy44mag]

Thought I would share this:

http://hexus.net/gaming/news/android/55317-nvidia-project-shield-launch-date-price-announced/

Nvidia's handheld console "Shield" will launch supposedly this year. It's android based and runs on Tegra4.

Tegra 4 is a decent chip but no way that thing will sell at that price. It would have to be close to the Nintendo DS ($150) to get any traction at all. They're toys to keep your kids occupied in the car. Parents won't spend $349 for that.

^+1 hand held console systems are fine when your trying to keep your kids amused or have some time to kill when your away from home. The minute you get home and have a choice of gaming systems your going for the "big boy toys". No hand held unit can match the power of even a console system, let alone a gaming PC. The games are worlds apart when it comes to graphics, physics and depth.

The hand held units are great for keeping your kids, or yourself, entertained while away from home but will never replace a real gaming system.

I can't really agree with this, their designed for different things. I'm was absolutely in love with my DS XL and now with my 3DS XL (don't use the 3D part, it's sh!t). Handheld gaming is for exactly that, playing games while being able to move from point A to point B. My PS3/360/Wii setup at home is wired into my home theater, that's not exactly a portable concept. And honestly ... lately most games for those systems have been complete sh!t, just more military shooter clones. On the flip side I've immensely enjoyed playing Mario Card, Super Mario World, the Castlevania's, Zelda: Orcana of Time, and several "virtual console" titles. Graphically they may not be anywhere near the same, but game play wise their heads and shoulders over everything else. Really game producers these days have focused entirely too much on graphics instead of gameplay (Torthlight II vs Diablo III).

I can see what you are saying, and I totally agree that there have been a lot of really sorry games released for Playstation, Xbox, and PC. Some games were just down right horrible. I also know that as my son grows there are a lot more kid friendly games for Nintendo console and hand held devices, so I'm sure I will have to go into them, and to be honest the kid titles are fun to play. For serious gaming though, they fall way short. The Elder Scrolls series, Crysis series, Battlefield series, Total War series, Bioshock series, Mass Effect series, ect, ect.... These were great games that are still on going and can't be played without serious hardware (Playstation, Xbox, best solution gaming PC). Sooner or later Mario gets boring, and you want something a little more hardcore, realistic, and well the graphical detail is worlds apart. That is why I was saying high end gaming consoles and especially gaming PCs won't be replaced anytime soon, there are way too many true hardcore gamers out there who want the high end titles.

 

[Cazalan]

I can't really agree with this, their designed for different things. I'm was absolutely in love with my DS XL and now with my 3DS XL (don't use the 3D part, it's sh!t). Handheld gaming is for exactly that, playing games while being able to move from point A to point B. My PS3/360/Wii setup at home is wired into my home theater, that's not exactly a portable concept. And honestly ... lately most games for those systems have been complete sh!t, just more military shooter clones. On the flip side I've immensely enjoyed playing Mario Card, Super Mario World, the Castlevania's, Zelda: Orcana of Time, and several "virtual console" titles. Graphically they may not be anywhere near the same, but game play wise their heads and shoulders over everything else. Really game producers these days have focused entirely too much on graphics instead of gameplay (Torthlight II vs Diablo III).

I hear what you're saying but the 3DS was a disaster until they dropped the price from $249 to $169. History has shown that form factor to be very price sensitive regardless of it's capability.

On top of that Project Shield is rather bulky in comparison. The 3DS folds up relatively flat.

 

[anxiousinfusion]

http://wccftech.com/amd-richland-apu-prices-leaked-scheduled-launch-4th-june/

Richland pricing, June 4th release.

 

[mlscrow]

So, I've been checking the web every day for AMD Kaveri/Steamroller news and I must say, AMD, this time around, is being annoyingly quiet about their upcoming arch performance. I understand that they made a huge mistake with marketing BD the way they did prior to launch and maybe they are trying to do the exact opposite this time, which is reasonable, but damn, I'm really getting frustrated not knowing anything.

Richland is upon us now, and although I see nice improvements in the PD arch, it's really the SR arch that I've been dying to get some info on. I currently am running a quad-core Stars cpu and have been wanting an upgrade for years. I've skipped BD, waited for PD, but was a bit let down, passed on Sandy (dumb, I should have gotten a 2600k), passed on IB (delidded a 3570K with a friend and used Liquid Metal Pro for the TIM = best), and now I'm being teased with Haswell. I might just break and end up buying a 4770K and building an Intel system, something I didn't want to do, because I've been an AMD supporter for jeez...almost a decade now. I'd like to see them survive and thrive and I'm glad they won the consoles, I think it will keep them alive, but unless I can at least get some numbers regarding SR now, and it was close enough to Intel performance, I may just end up switching to the dark side.

I do hope they bring back their 10-core idea. We were supposed to have a 10-core Vishera, but they cancelled that idea back in 2011 and only released the 8 core.

Are all of you going to buy a Kaveri APU when it comes out or will you wait for the SR-FX chip (if they make one)?

Will there be much of a difference with the FX series (L3-Cache, no iGPU)? If AMD has decided to get rid of L3 cache altogether, and Kaveri cores will be the same as FX cores, then I might as well just get Kaveri, if they make an 8-core+ model. What do you think?

And I wish AMD changed the names of their arch's around a bit. Excavator should have come first (clears out the area around the old structure), then Bulldozer to take down and clear out the old structure, then Piledriver to lay down foundation, then Steamroller to smooth out the area after it's all done. Then they all need to combine to form Devastator (not Centurion). Seriously, if AMD came out with a chip named "Devastator" after Excavator, I will sell my soul to AMD for life.

 

[Cazalan]

Are all of you going to buy a Kaveri APU when it comes out or will you wait for the SR-FX chip (if they make one)?

Depends if Kaveri comes out with 6 core variant. I think that's the minimum I would buy going forward.

 

[anxiousinfusion]

So, I've been checking the web every day for AMD Kaveri/Steamroller news and I must say, AMD, this time around, is being annoyingly quiet about their upcoming arch performance.

I hear ya. It's not only annoying but incredibly frustrating trying to plan out a potential build on so little information. I recall an interview where an AMD representative stated that they are in a "quiet period". It probably has to do with their restructuring plus the fact that they were skimming the treetops financially.

Are all of you going to buy a Kaveri APU when it comes out or will you wait for the SR-FX chip (if they make one)?

I'm only throwing in with Kaveri if it has six cores and can be crossfired with 7750 (or 8750).

 

[jdwii]

If anything Amd should me when their quiet its not a good thing. Every Time they have a product that creams the competition they rush it out and they show benchmarks left and right. Although i feel Amd is improving at a faster rate than Intel i must admit steamroller will let people down and make others happy luckily for me i'm sticking to what Amd actually said and that's 15% better performance per watt compared to piledriver.

 

[sarinaide]

Its all about the APU now and thats really all that matters. The FX mantra will remain but the traditional x86 processor will exist no more by AMD. SR will be the last of them and some may want to buy into that novalty. Thereonafter it's all about the APU.

 

[colinp]

I keep seeing this rumour that Kaveri will be released in September. I seriously doubt this, since Richland has barely made it to market for laptops and is still not released on desktop. AMD aren't going to release a new product in much less than 12 months after their previous generation, never mind 3 months.

 

[sarinaide]

If you look at Richland as just another Trinity SKU update then its not really another line so the turn of year is about right for Steam Roller.

 

[kettu]

And considering the performance differences which we're likely going to see Richland will be the low&midrange chip and Steamroller is the high-end chip. And after a while we'll see SR variants populate the lower tiers as Richland is phased out. So I don't see the launch of Kaveri as a disruptive event for their product stack just a complementary one.

Edit: I'm not so sure Kaveri is launching in september. Only official statements from AMD that I have seen say that Kaveri is "shipping to customers in 2H/13. Actual retail availability is anyones guess.

 

[colinp]

Look at it another way: Why would AMD bother with a product launch if it is only going to be their current product for 3 months?

If Kaveri is released before Q2 2014, then I'll bake a hat-shaped cake and eat it.

 

[lilcinw]

Haha... Pics or the cake is a lie!

 

[jdwii]

If amd Gets rid of traditional CPU's with no L3 cache and so on i'm afraid they might get rid of their mid-range and just make pure low-end processors, it would be mean if anyone wants a gaming CPU people would have to go with intel, Could they possibly ever beat an I7(or a I5) with a APU? i guess its not a complete impossible task even though history has Intel in its favor.

 

[Cazalan]

Look at it another way: Why would AMD bother with a product launch if it is only going to be their current product for 3 months?

If Kaveri is released before Q2 2014, then I'll bake a hat-shaped cake and eat it.

They have per quarter commitments to buy from Global Foundries. If they don't buy they pay more fees. The fees look high enough to be better off stockpiling extra chips they can write down later for the tax man. Also new product is better than no new product, even if it's quite similar.

 

[sarinaide]

If amd Gets rid of traditional CPU's with no L3 cache and so on i'm afraid they might get rid of their mid-range and just make pure low-end processors, it would be mean if anyone wants a gaming CPU people would have to go with intel, Could they possibly ever beat an I7(or a I5) with a APU? i guess its not a complete impossible task even though history has Intel in its favor.

From what I gather Kaveri has L3, though although we already know that's not what will make it fast

 

[cowboy44mag]

If amd Gets rid of traditional CPU's with no L3 cache and so on i'm afraid they might get rid of their mid-range and just make pure low-end processors, it would be mean if anyone wants a gaming CPU people would have to go with intel, Could they possibly ever beat an I7(or a I5) with a APU? i guess its not a complete impossible task even though history has Intel in its favor.

I can see this going a couple of ways. With AMD being so incredibly tight lipped about Steamroller it seems like its either going to be incredibly good or they are having problems they don't want anyone to know about. AMD after going head on against Intel for so long may be happy with making lower midgrade and low end processors. It is possible they figure its their nitche. Howerver if test Kaveri APUs are going toe to toe with Ivy Bridge or Haswell i5 or even rivaling i7 then AMDs decision to phase out FX and go with APU only is a good one. Why spend the resources on two separate lines if APUs are performing that well.

Another thing to consider is if Steamroller APUs and Steamroller FX come out of the gate rivaling i5 and i7 Haswell, or even besting them at a lower price, you may see a renewed AMD. AMD announced the end of the FX line when they were in deep financial trouble, their situation has improved somewhat, and if Steamroller FX is a resounding success they may just continue the line. You may see a renewed AMD featuring Excavator FX in the future, if Steamroller is a resounding success vs Intel.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Guys, single threaded, its a huge mountain to climb, closer than today yes, multi threaded, yes, but overall single thread?

 

[8350rocks]

So, I've been checking the web every day for AMD Kaveri/Steamroller news and I must say, AMD, this time around, is being annoyingly quiet about their upcoming arch performance.

I hear ya. It's not only annoying but incredibly frustrating trying to plan out a potential build on so little information. I recall an interview where an AMD representative stated that they are in a "quiet period". It probably has to do with their restructuring plus the fact that they were skimming the treetops financially.

Are all of you going to buy a Kaveri APU when it comes out or will you wait for the SR-FX chip (if they make one)?

I'm only throwing in with Kaveri if it has six cores and can be crossfired with 7750 (or 8750).

Trinity/Richland, can now CF with HD 7750. It's in the newest Catalyst drivers in Beta right now. I think they're either about to release it or it recently released in full support form.

Additionally...

For those looking for hard numbers on steamroller...this is the most current information I have come up with, and it details quite a bit about the upcoming Kaveri.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2013/3/6/analysis-amd-kaveri-apu-and-steamroller-core-architectural-enhancements-unveiled.aspx

That was back in March 2013. AMD has mentioned somewhere a 6 core Kaveri APU as well, though the link escapes me at this moment.

 

[juanrga]

If anything Amd should me when their quiet its not a good thing. Every Time they have a product that creams the competition they rush it out and they show benchmarks left and right.

I think just the contrary and love AMD new marketing strategy of being quiet. In the past they were most loudly when lacked more competitive products.

Now AMD remains quiet and next surprises everyone with the announce of the fastest graphic card (HD 7990) on GDC, remains quiet and next surprises everyone with the PS4 bomb, remains quiet and surprises everyone with SoC Kaveri being sold in the embedded market, remains quiet and surprises everyone with Richland mobile being sold to OEMs, remains quiet and surprises everyone with ARM-based Opterons, remains quiet and surprises everyone with the GDDR5 support on kaveri for this year, remains quiet and surprises everyone with hUMA, remains quiet and surprises everyone with the new Radeon 2133 memory, remains quiet and surprises everyone with the A4-4000 being already available on some stores...

 

[anxiousinfusion]

That was back in March 2013. AMD has mentioned somewhere a 6 core Kaveri APU as well, though the link escapes me at this moment.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2013/3/6/analysis-amd-kaveri-apu-and-steamroller-core-architectural-enhancements-unveiled.aspx

"AMD Kaveri APU Processor will feature 4-6 Steamroller cores, Sea Islands GPU and Northbridge supporting DDR3, DDR3L and GDDR5 memory."

It is assumed that the compute units referred to in these slides are modules, of which there are 2-3.

 

[Cazalan]

If anything Amd should me when their quiet its not a good thing. Every Time they have a product that creams the competition they rush it out and they show benchmarks left and right.

I think just the contrary and love AMD new marketing strategy of being quiet. In the past they were most loudly when lacked more competitive products.

Now AMD remains quiet and next surprises everyone with the announce of the fastest graphic card (HD 7990) on GDC, remains quiet and next surprises everyone with the PS4 bomb, remains quiet and surprises everyone with SoC Kaveri being sold in the embedded market, remains quiet and surprises everyone with Richland mobile being sold to OEMs, remains quiet and surprises everyone with ARM-based Opterons, remains quiet and surprises everyone with the GDDR5 support on kaveri for this year, remains quiet and surprises everyone with hUMA, remains quiet and surprises everyone with the new Radeon 2133 memory, remains quiet and surprises everyone with the A4-4000 being already available on some stores...

Huh? You'd have to be living under a rock to have been surprised by any of those things. Maybe the AMD branded memory was a bit out of left field. And we still don't have details on any of that stuff. Beyond a couple in house benchmarks which are quite meaningless.

 

[palladin9479]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050086663%2040000147&IsNodeId=1&SubCategory=147&Manufactory=86663&SpeTabStoreType=1

The only thing different about "AMD" branded memory is they use AMP for easier setup. Intel owns the XMP standard and it's a 50/50 chance of the advanced DDR3 speeded memory working "out the box" on a AMD platform. What I've noticed is that when you plug in the memory it defaults to SPD #1 setting which tends to be DDR3-1333 or DDR3-1600. You then have to tinker with your BIOS to get it to ramp up to the higher speeds. Most of us have no issues going into the BIOS and setting some of the memory settings manually, but lots of other people do.