AMD RX 400 series (Polaris) MegaThread! FAQ & Resources

[Robert Cook]

Ok, this is going entirely off topic. Let's get back on the topic of AMD RX 400 series and take the BOINC/Folding conversation to another thread.

my apologies I replied not realizing this was the RX400 series thread.

For a new direction perhaps we could go back towards overclocking the RX480?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Ok, this is going entirely off topic. Let's get back on the topic of AMD RX 400 series and take the BOINC/Folding conversation to another thread.

Actually we have been given some leeway to recruit folders for the upcoming competition with AT.

 

[littleleo]

The AMD 480s are really moving well I think the 1060 not having the multi GPU deal is helping AMD.

Back to folding question:
I understand the whole competition between branches of the same company. Is this the same folding deal that is advertised on hardocp.com? If so perhaps you could make it a 3 way competition.

 

[Math Geek]

lots of sites have folding teams but doubt you'll get others involved. this one is based on the fact that both sites are owned by the same company. so they can direct the competition rather easily.

it is a worthwhile effort helping crunch the numbers for them, so it's worth doing even without a competition.

 

[kansaw]

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

 

[Robert Cook]

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

interesting, but at the same time I do not see the point, that card would fall in vega range. that makes no sense as vega is a different process and shadowing their own product seems odd. perhaps it will be dual 470s or something.

 

[Sakkura]

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

This rumor again?

Weird timing with Vega around the corner. I could have understood the dual Polaris idea in September, October... but not now.

 

[-Fran-]

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

This rumor again?

Weird timing with Vega around the corner. I could have understood the dual Polaris idea in September, October... but not now.

Not giving WTFBBQTech the benefit of the doubt, but in the spirit of having an open mind on things: AMD does need something for XMas season I would imagine? They do have good momentum with the 480 (sales have been good it seems), so why not just slap 2 of them together? Been there, done that, right?

I know AMD, Intel and nVidia usually don't care for "craze buying periods", but AMD seems to be under constant pressure from OEMs, so there could be something along the lines of a mob boss telling AMD to have something for them to sell. Saying "capisce" not included. Also, I am against the idea of one, but price and performance triumph any bias.

Cheers! 😛

 

[kansaw]

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

This rumor again?

Weird timing with Vega around the corner. I could have understood the dual Polaris idea in September, October... but not now.

At least we'll know if this rumor is accurate very soon!

1st Vega could be out June 30 next year with the other Vega cards to follow similar to Polaris this year, with dual Vega Christmas 2017 (?).

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

This rumor again?

Weird timing with Vega around the corner. I could have understood the dual Polaris idea in September, October... but not now.

Not giving WTFBBQTech the benefit of the doubt, but in the spirit of having an open mind on things: AMD does need something for XMas season I would imagine? They do have good momentum with the 480 (sales have been good it seems), so why not just slap 2 of them together? Been there, done that, right?

I know AMD, Intel and nVidia usually don't care for "craze buying periods", but AMD seems to be under constant pressure from OEMs, so there could be something along the lines of a mob boss telling AMD to have something for them to sell. Saying "capisce" not included. Also, I am against the idea of one, but price and performance triumph any bias.

Cheers! 😛

 

[kansaw]

RX 490 Tipped as Dual Polaris 10

http://en.yibada.com/articles/175108/20161123/amd-radeon-rx-490-confirmed-for-december-2016-release-flagship-gpu-tipped-as-dual-polaris-10-vr-focused-card-and-more.htm

 

[Sakkura]

At least we'll know if this rumor is accurate very soon!

1st Vega could be out June 30 next year with the other Vega cards to follow similar to Polaris this year, with dual Vega Christmas 2017 (?).

End of June? Doesn't seem likely. And WCCF has it rumored for December-January...

 

[TJ Hooker]

RX 490 Tipped as Dual Polaris 10
http://en.yibada.com/articles/175108/20161123/amd-radeon-rx-490-confirmed-for-december-2016-release-flagship-gpu-tipped-as-dual-polaris-10-vr-focused-card-and-more.htm

I like how the title of that article is "RX 490 Confirmed for December 2016 Release" (emphasis mine), but then proceeds to simply regurgitate rumours/speculation from wccftech. Nothing in that article I'd consider 'confirmation' of anything.

 

[Rogue Leader]

At least we'll know if this rumor is accurate very soon!

1st Vega could be out June 30 next year with the other Vega cards to follow similar to Polaris this year, with dual Vega Christmas 2017 (?).

End of June? Doesn't seem likely. And WCCF has it rumored for December-January...

I agree.

Its highly unlikely for Vega to take 7 months to arrive. While the 480 is doing well AMD has 0 of the high end market right now, and dragging it on 7 more months won't help. Based on what I've seen a concurrent or near concurrent release with Zen seems far more likely. They are likely hoping by March-ish reviewers can have an all AMD 4k gaming computer built to compete with the best Intel has to offer.

 

[renz496]

The AMD 480s are really moving well I think the 1060 not having the multi GPU deal is help AMD.

Back to folding question:
I understand the whole competition between branches of the same company. Is this the same folding deal that is advertised on hardocp.com? If so perhaps you could make it a 3 way competition.

the fact that 480 have 8GB VRAM (vs 6GB)and shown to have improved performance in DX12 probably help people choosing 480 more than 1060. doubt that 480 support CF making many people taking 480 over 1060.

 

[renz496]

Rumors of dual Polaris rx490 card next week:

http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-490-vr-4k-december/

haven't seen much rumor about this aside from wccftech. also why another dual gpu? sometimes i don't really understand AMD obsession with dual gpu when they themselves have trouble providing the support that very much needed with dual gpu.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I think end of June is accurate. Honestly stuff gets delayed so much with AMD anymore I have no confidence in their own confidence in their release dates.

 

[BurgerandChips66]

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2016/11/24/rumours-point-to-rx-490-december-launch/1?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bit-tech%2Fnews+%28bit-tech.net+News+Feed%29

The rumours are confusing to say the least. A Vega based dual-gpu? Launching December 2016? Targetting high end VR? That's a bit niche to say the least.

Although the release of 'something' in Dec/Jan makes a certain amount of sense looking at the famous roadmap slide that has been banded about for ages now, though that is about it.

A single gpu card to compete with the GTX 1070 would be a logical next step - as in terms of their 'new' RX 4XX offerings in 2016, the RX 480 competes against the GTX 1060 and that's all.

If I was AMD I would target the 1070's segment next and only then look at the GTX 1080/Ti/Titan XP/VR market afterwards.

As Vega is a new architecture it will no doubt have some of the usual issues in yield and performance we saw with early Polaris 10 chips. So a slightly cut down version of Vega that competes against the GTX 1070 coming out next would seem more logical. Not to mention it is a bigger market segment than that occupied by the 1080/Titan XP/Premium VR.

 

[-Fran-]

I think most of the links you guys are providing are regurgitating the WTFBBQTech article/thing.

That being said, and delving a bit deeper logically: the chance for AMD to get a dual GPU is not zero, so take that as you will. Does it make commercial sense to get something like that out? Probably... Like you have all pointed out it's a balance between having Vega on the shelves and now. If Vega is more than half a year away, AMD does need something to compete in the high end. Like it or not, nVidia has proven people (not Fanbois alone) are actually willing to go past the $300 mark for a video card, even if the bread and butter still seems to be in the $200 mark. AMD, like any company, wants to make money, so the easy cash-in they have at hand is putting a dual Polaris card until they can put Vega on the shelves around the price point nVidia proved to be actually profitable.

I can't remember who said it before (Rogue Leader?), but it could be similar to the RX480 4GB effect: just put something out there that looks like a great deal and put you in the map; not necessarily something you actually will make money with. And don't get this wrong, since I still believe the best Polaris versions are 4GBs, but they are very hard to find (or at least, they were; haven't checked nowadays).

Cheers!

 

[Rogue Leader]

I think most of the links you guys are providing are regurgitating the WTFBBQTech article/thing.

That being said, and delving a bit deeper logically: the chance for AMD to get a dual GPU is not zero, so take that as you will. Does it make commercial sense to get something like that out? Probably... Like you have all pointed out it's a balance between having Vega on the shelves and now. If Vega is more than half a year away, AMD does need something to compete in the high end. Like it or not, nVidia has proven people (not Fanbois alone) are actually willing to go past the $300 mark for a video card, even if the bread and butter still seems to be in the $200 mark. AMD, like any company, wants to make money, so the easy cash-in they have at hand is putting a dual Polaris card until they can put Vega on the shelves around the price point nVidia proved to be actually profitable.

I can't remember who said it before (Rogue Leader?), but it could be similar to the RX480 4GB effect: just put something out there that looks like a great deal and put you in the map; not necessarily something you actually will make money with. And don't get this wrong, since I still believe the best Polaris versions are 4GBs, but they are very hard to find (or at least, they were; haven't checked nowadays).

Cheers!

That was me thank you

I agree with you in principle that if Vega isn't coming to the summer it would make sense to get something out there to keep their name in the high end game. That said if they can't solve the "dual-gpu problem" in that despite being on the same card you still face all the trials and tribulations of Crossfire all they will do is piss people off. Nothing like buying a new "$350-$400" GPU thinking you're getting the AMD equivalent of a 1070 only to find half your games don't work right with it. People hate AMD enough already this would just add to the fire.

 

[-Fran-]

That was me thank you

I agree with you in principle that if Vega isn't coming to the summer it would make sense to get something out there to keep their name in the high end game. That said if they can't solve the "dual-gpu problem" in that despite being on the same card you still face all the trials and tribulations of Crossfire all they will do is piss people off. Nothing like buying a new "$350-$400" GPU thinking you're getting the AMD equivalent of a 1070 only to find half your games don't work right with it. People hate AMD enough already this would just add to the fire.

That is, by far, the greatest risk/threat of going with a Dual GPU on AMDs part IMO. So, justifying a "GPU sammich" to the board is not an easy thing to do given past experiences: they weren't bad, but they were no the home runs in marketing nor sales. I would hope they have taken this much time to polish the drivers to the point where it minimizes the risk as much as possible, but I still see threads from Polaris owners (RX480 and RX470 mostly) with driver issues; that doesn't paint a good landscape, taking some validity of that rumor.

As usual, the date can't come soon enough!

Cheers!

 

[kansaw]

I'm hoping for either a strong single card or a dual gpu card with major driver updates to make it actually work. A lot of anger out there for dual gpu cards.

Having a card that can drive VR 4K at a good price point is a positive.

 

[BurgerandChips66]

It's about time AMD developed a dual GPU card with full built-in hardware support for Crossfire/m-GPU that allowed the API to 'see' only one discrete GPU. So a controller chipset that handles all the dirty work! Something that, as a result, has much better compatibility and scaling than two cards.

I'm just dreaming though I suppose...?

 

[Rogue Leader]

It's about time AMD developed a dual GPU card with full built-in hardware support for Crossfire/m-GPU that allowed the API to 'see' only one discrete GPU. So a controller chipset that handles all the dirty work! Something that, as a result, has much better compatibility and scaling than two cards.

I'm just dreaming though I suppose...?

That would be the only way IMO this theoretical RX 490 would be acceptable to the mainstream. And I don't anticipate it happening at all.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

It's about time AMD developed a dual GPU card with full built-in hardware support for Crossfire/m-GPU that allowed the API to 'see' only one discrete GPU. So a controller chipset that handles all the dirty work! Something that, as a result, has much better compatibility and scaling than two cards.

I'm just dreaming though I suppose...?

I also have dreampt of this.

 

[manleysteele]

It's about time AMD developed a dual GPU card with full built-in hardware support for Crossfire/m-GPU that allowed the API to 'see' only one discrete GPU. So a controller chipset that handles all the dirty work! Something that, as a result, has much better compatibility and scaling than two cards.

I'm just dreaming though I suppose...?

If AMD can make a card that inherits the mantle of the R9 295 X-2, it would be the bully of the high end, as the 295 was before it. I personally believe it can be done, for whatever that is worth. Even though it is out of my price range, I would love to see it.