AMD Radeon HD 7900 to Utilize New XDR2 Rambus Memory

[xtremeways]

[citation][nom]meat81[/nom]Do you not remember how Rambus out performed DDR back then either?[/citation]
that was all smoke and mirrors. DDR was the furure. The only reason their memory was being used was so a few people could line their pockets

 

[4745454b]

And where would you say will be placed in the monthly graphics card Hierarchy Chart? Next to the HD 5770/6770 or closer to the GTS 450?

Basing my info on this link.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4296/amds-radeon-hd-6770-radeon-hd-6750-the-retail-radeon-5700-rebadge

It has a few less shaders clocked a bit higher. Same number of ROPs, but 8 more texture units. Same memory bus but clocked 200MHz faster. I'm going to say it will be around a 5770/6770, probably even more like the 6790. 4870/4890 performance with no PCIe plug? Well done.

Edit: I should say that it has more shaders and not less. The 5770 is still a VLW5 card, and this is 4. The total number might be lower, but due to the 3.4 utilization it actually has more working. Should be faster then a 5770 while needing no PCIe plug.

 

[mouse24]

the PS3 only has 256mb of XDR ram, im interested in seeing the things we can do with 2g of XDR2.... hmmmm - assuming this is true i have to barter a guess as to i think i know where the next gen consoles are gonna get there ram

 

[cknobman]

Holy smokes the Radeon HD 7970 look like a killer card.

CANNOT WAIT FOR BENCHMARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[vertigo_2000]

Any word on how big this card actually is? Am I gonna have to cut a hole in the back of my case to fit this in?

 

[jabliese]

From the Rambus link in the article:

"The XDR™2 memory architecture is the world's fastest memory system solution capable of providing more than twice the peak bandwidth per device when compared to a GDDR5-based system. Further, the XDR 2 memory architecture delivers this performance at 30% lower power than GDDR5 at equivalent bandwidth."

Awful lot of wiggle room in their speed and power consumption claims. Very possibly a V12 Jag stuck on a 65 mph highway. And what is up with that "Datarate per pin" graph? That is certainly a common metric.

 

[Super_Nova]

Ha ha, looks like I made a full circle. I replaced my 7900 with a 4870x2 and from the looks of it I'll replace it again with a 7900.

 

[matt_b]

[citation][nom]pbrigido[/nom]Rambus huh...that is a tech I never thought I would see resurrected from the grave.[/citation]
More or less because this is an article about a patent being put to use instead of Rambus suing someone? Change is good, I still don't trust this company though, their days of lawsuit happiness doesn't sit well.

 

[back_by_demand]

I have upgraded my graphics every 4th generation buying top end each time, saves a bundle of cash in the long term and keeps performance as it ages.

My old HD4870 is still a pretty powerful warhorse, but struggles with some titles, I think I have had good value from it and it's time for an upgrade, the HD7900 looks sweet.

 

[enewmen]

I personally don't care if the RAM used on the card is EDO, Flash, DDR, or RAMBUS - As long the card is cheap, performs well, and I don't need to buy the RAM myself seperately.
I also hate RAMBUS. But if I don't see it hidden inside the card while it runs fast, I won't care how it does its dirty business.

 

[saturnus]

Clearly XDR2 is more expensive than GDDR5 otherwise they wouldn't have split it for mid/low-performance cards and hi-end cards.

What is most interesting to me is to finally see a shift in memory technique. Usually when GDDR memory moves a generation ahead that means a move in general memory technique isn't far behind.

When graphics moved from GDDR to GDDR2, general memory moved from SD RAM to DDR, when graphics moved from GDDR2 to GDDR3, general memory moved to DDR2, and when graphics moved from GDDR3 to GDDR5, general memory moved from DDR2 to DDR3.

So if the above holds true that means a move from DDR3 to DDR5 probably isn't far ahead which will bring a at least doubling in memory bandwidth.

Naturally AMD will try to force this switch as far as possible since they have years of experience designing DDR5 memory interfaces from their graphics cards which Intel naturally hasn't.

 

[Rizlla]

oo. Looks like I am going to wait until next year. Then I'm gonna upgrade to 7970 or 7950.

 

[meat81]

[citation][nom]__-_-_-__[/nom]I'm gonna love an article to unlock my (future) Radeon HD 7950 cores[/citation]

it was used in high end systems only that is why it was so expensive...it out performed DDR in DDR's beginning.

 

[ojas]

Good news from AMD.

I can bet there's going to be a "leaked" Nvidia slide within a week or two now.

 

[slabbo]

is Global Foundries holding AMD back? their video cards (GPU's) are on a smaller die than their CPU's. WTF? Fix Global Foundries AMD, get them up to speed to at least match TSMC.

 

[Guest]

This is awesome news. I hope AMD gets huuuge, and nVidia, then maybe the two can work together to light a fire under the game devs so they put all the horsepower to work. I think we have about two more years before we see a sizable leap in the quality of PC games (just my ignorant speculation). Need newer better engines from which to build.

About Rambus/Intel -- I really really disliked their business practices back in the day... introducing Rambus and pairing it with Pentium IIIs for insane prices when it did exactly squat. I suppose that was just to get the product out there, get exposure, and then try to wow everyone at how much more "awesome" it was with a Pentium IV. (This may or may not be accurate so please correct me if I'm wrong)

I wouldn't let any of this effect my choice of gpus, if the performance is there, its there.

 

[bak0n]

Can't wait to upgrade my gpu in my htpc and btx case! should be a good 20 to 30% extra performance with less power. Yummy.

 

[nikkidpartypooper]

These cards ain't like the bulldozer cpus,they'll blow a hole in my pocket.

 

[nforce4max]

[citation][nom]meat81[/nom]Do you not remember how Rambus out performed DDR back then either?[/citation]

RDRAM only out performed in burst only not throughput and DDR was a lot cheaper.

 

[dread_cthulhu]

Rambus... wow... I didn't think they even employed anyone anymore... Anyways, the old stuff was pretty decent, if ultra-proprietary and expensive, and if this is embedded on an AMD graphics board, we won't see any of that except the cost getting transferred on to us. And even then, enthusiasts tend to spend exorbitant amount of money on performance. Everyone whining about this tech being from Rambus should take a chill pill, because it doesn't matter who develops the RAM, as long as it works seamlessly with the other components in your system, and your OS won't have an issue addressing it.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Earlier this year I read about the new PCI-e 3.0 standard. Several ssd manufacturers indicated they were going to introduce PCI-e 3.0 based ssd's sometime during the last quarter of the year. At the time I wondered what the implications would be for graphic cards. Looks like we are going to find out within the next couple of months.

 

[megamanx00]

Putting faith in Rambus is a bad idea. You think AMD would learn that after seeing how it didn't work out so well for Intel with the P4 or Sony with the PS3. Oh well.

 

[tmax]

wow...

 

[shreeharsha]

These cards are 10 years ahead of today's consoles

 

[ibobarreiro]

I'll love higher resolution like 4K in the card, is there any monitor to support that resolution?