AMD: R9xx Speculation

[mczak]

Yes, I've read that but I was wondering how it was being done. If there was more to it then clock rates.

I can't see how changing anything else apart from clock (and thus probably voltage) would make sense. Disabling simds but running at higher clock almost certainly will do worse in perf/w - turboclock switching to higher clock (and higher voltage) with some cores disabled only makes sense because there you still have single-threaded tasks (or let's call them low-threaded tasks).
What I'm wondering though is if it can finally lower memory voltage. That should have a quite good return in perf/w, since current AMD chips overvolt the memory. If it would lower memory clock just a bit it could likely lower memory voltage quite a bit more. But I guess the new dynamic switch stuff is only affecting the gpu, since changing memory clock / voltage takes too much time.

 

[NathansFortune]

And you believe one strangely written article....

It's not just the article, there are a lot of whispers saying 28nm is a lot more difficult to get right than either GF or TSMC figured on. GF are still struggling with 32nm High-K, Llano has been delayed a numbe of times since, the latest to H2 2011 (read late August sampling with October launch) because of issues with the 32nm process node at GF. Unless GF or TSMC stumble on some magical method to do 28nm reliably I wouldn't expect consumer products using it until mid 2012 if not late 2012.

 

[Mize]

So the 6970 slots in at $450 USD with the 580 GTX at $530 and the 570 GTX at $350.
I'm predicting a banner quarter for the 570 GTX

 

[Kaotik]

So the 6970 slots in at $450 USD with the 580 GTX at $530 and the 570 GTX at $350.
I'm predicting a banner quarter for the 570 GTX

The french listed prices are far far higher than that, 500€ for the 6970
Though it could be just some preorder let's rip'em off -price, too, of course

 

[NathansFortune]

So the 6970 slots in at $450 USD with the 580 GTX at $530 and the 570 GTX at $350.
I'm predicting a banner quarter for the 570 GTX

Depends on the performance and cost of the 6950, I hope it's powerful enough to get Nv to lower the 570 prices. Interesting times for all of us I suppose!

 

[mboeller]

Whatever, I get that you are from Germany, and somehow saying GF are going to delay 28nm is some kind of insult to Germans, but if the CEO of AMD is saying they don't expect to have 28nm products until 2012 then it means that GF are delaying 28nm.

feel free to point me to the relevant quote, but please no second-source. I was not able to find something in the latest analyst conference call:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/230...sses-q3-2010-results-earnings-call-transcript

 

[Mize]

What would be nice is to see the 6970 come in at $350 or thereabouts and get the 570 down to $299.

 

[Kaotik]

What would be nice is to see the 6970 come in at $350 or thereabouts and get the 570 down to $299.

Yeah, like that's going to happen
And you seem confident that 6970 won't be beating 580 based on that?

 

[mboeller]

It's not just the article, there are a lot of whispers saying 28nm is a lot more difficult to get right than either GF or TSMC figured on. GF are still struggling with 32nm High-K, Llano has been delayed a numbe of times since, the latest to H2 2011 (read late August sampling with October launch) because of issues with the 32nm process node at GF. Unless GF or TSMC stumble on some magical method to do 28nm reliably I wouldn't expect consumer products using it until mid 2012 if not late 2012.

again, not true according to the latest conference call

[edit] Bulldozer will come to market in April/May 2011 (look at the GF roadmap above for production @ 32nm: EndQ1/2011) and Llano will come to market End of Q2/2011 or beginning of Q3/2011

 

[Mize]

BTW, where have all the 5970s gone?

 

[Mize]

Yeah, like that's going to happen
And you seem confident that 6970 won't be beating 580 based on that?

I'm pretty confident that if the 6970 was on par or would beat a 580 then AMD would release it within 10% of the 580's current price ($530) which means $475 USD. Since the French leaked prices point to a USD price of closer to $450 I'm saying I think its likely slower. I hope to be (very) wrong, but I think pricing is the best prediction of performance at this point.

 

[Picao84]

In all of this, Im actually having a hard time believing HD6970 only has 1536 SPs. Would Fudo be sooooooo dumb in mistaking an HD6950 for and HD6970?

 

[TKK]

It's not just the article, there are a lot of whispers saying 28nm is a lot more difficult to get right than either GF or TSMC figured on. GF are still struggling with 32nm High-K, Llano has been delayed a numbe of times since, the latest to H2 2011 (read late August sampling with October launch) because of issues with the 32nm process node at GF. Unless GF or TSMC stumble on some magical method to do 28nm reliably I wouldn't expect consumer products using it until mid 2012 if not late 2012.

If the process was the only reason for the delay, why was Bulldozer pulled in?

In all of this, Im actually having a hard time believing HD6970 only has 1536 SPs. Would Fudo be sooooooo dumb in mistaking an HD6950 for and HD6970?

I wouldn't completely rule out that possibility.

 

[no-X]

Picao84: He's dumb, but he does copy/pasting quite well

 

[Kaotik]

I'm pretty confident that if the 6970 was on par or would beat a 580 then AMD would release it within 10% of the 580's current price ($530) which means $475 USD. Since the French leaked prices point to a USD price of closer to $450 I'm saying I think its likely slower. I hope to be (very) wrong, but I think pricing is the best prediction of performance at this point.

How on earth do you turn 500€ into $450?
500€ translates into $660, not $450 - sure it has taxes on it but they're not $210

 

[Mize]

How on earth do you turn 500€ into $450?
500€ translates into $660, not $450 - sure it has taxes on it but they're not $210

You obviously didn't read the thread.

Generally speaking EU prices include 20% VAT and then the usual translation for consumer electronics is not base on the dollar-to-euro exchange rate but basically 1:1.

So if $500 is VAT inclusive that's 500=price*1.20 so price=500/1.2=$416

 

[DavidGraham]

I wouldn't completely rule out that possibility.

Would Neliz be dumb too ?

Although I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he is tricking us by confirming Faud's rumor (he didn't answer my riddle !) , and then surprising us later , and possibly have a few laughs on the way .

 

[NathansFortune]

If the process was the only reason for the delay, why was Bulldozer pulled in?

It's a CPU so yield issues won't affect it as much as a 2000 ALU GPU or a 500 ALU APU.

 

[Razor1]

It's a CPU so yield issues won't affect it as much as a 2000 ALU GPU or a 500 ALU APU.

?

yields have to do with die size and silicon errors, not really how many ALU's you have.

 

[whocares]

I think that if Charlie rumour is true, the 1536 SP spec will be for the HD 6950, not 6970 because in this case HD 6950 has to have 20x16(320SP), which may be comparable to HD 5870 performance levels - VLIW 4 ~ VLIW 5 performance per SP .