AMD: Sea Islands R1100 (8*** series) Speculation/ Rumour Thread

[iMacmatician]

What was it, as it's now deleted?

Google Cache.

I looked at the original page a few days ago, I thought it said 1792 SPs… maybe I misread or it changed since the cache was made.

 

[raghunathan]

This is true.

I cannot ever remember seeing TPU being the source for leaked GPU spec rumours. The specs they listed could be made-up by almost anyone in this forum or basically anyone who follows GPU specifications.

Here again we see GCN 2.0 products due for launch in Q3 2013 . all 28nm products.

http://www.chiphell.com/thread-755237-1-1.html

TSMC in Q1 2013 earnings call said that Q2 2014 would be the first quarter when 20nm production volume would be 2% of total production volume. Q4 2010 was the first quarter when 28nm volume was 2%. HD 7970 launched on Jan 9, 2011. I don't see 20nm chips launching before June or July 2014. that means definitely AMD has 28nm chips planned for this year to compete at the high end.

Curacao and Hainan have been talked about for a long time.

http://videocardz.com/34981/amd-radeon-hd-8870-and-hd-8850-specifiation-leaked

http://videocardz.com/39041/meet-ar...d-bonaire-the-codenames-radeon-hd-8000-series

AMD cannot be sitting idle letting Nvidia refresh their product stack and beat AMD at every price point. Its been 17 months since HD 7970 launched and by this July it would be more than 18 months. Its tough to believe that AMD won't have a updated GCN 2.0 based product out soon.

HD 8950 specs looks to be wrong. according to videocardz HD 8870 was Hainan XT and HD 8850 was Hainan Pro. Also it does not make sense to use Hainan chip for HD 8950. the Curacao chip is a much larger chip (420 sq mm) and needs a salvage part for yields.

this is what i would think is logical

HD 8970 - 2304 sp, 3 geometry engines, 8 ACE 2.0, 48 ROP, 6 GB GDDR5, 384 bit memory (1100 / 7000) for USD 600.
HD 8950 - 2048 sp, 3 geometry engines, 8 ACE 2.0, 48 ROP, 3 GB GDDR5, 384 bit memory (1000 / 6000) for USD 400 - 450.
HD 8870 - 1792 sp, 2 geometry engines, 8 ACE 2.0, 32 ROP, 2 GB GDDR5, 256 bit memory (1200 / 7000) for USD 300
HD 8850 - 1536 sp, 2 geometry engines, 8 ACE 2.0, 32 ROP, 2 GB GDDR5, 256 bit memory (1100 / 6000) for USD 230
HD 8830 - 1280 sp, 2 geometry engines, 8 ACE 2.0, 32 ROP, 2 GB GDDR5, 256 bit memory (1000 / 6000) for USD 200

also the 8 ACE 2.0 is already present in PS4. so looks like GCN 2.0 was done and ready a long time back.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Q4 2010 was the first quarter when 28nm volume was 2%. HD 7970 launched on Jan 9, 2011.

Barely worth mentioning, but you need to add a year to those dates.

Interesting to see what AMD does and when, it wouldn't hurt to get something out soonish.

 

[raghunathan]

Barely worth mentioning, but you need to add a year to those dates.

Interesting to see what AMD does and when, it wouldn't hurt to get something out soonish.

yeah sorry typing mistake. Q4 2011 was the first 28nm quarter of production at TSMC and HD 7970 launched on Jan 9, 2012.

 

[lanek]

Its not for saying, but all of thoses was allready in the rumors we was read and hear since sept 2012 if not even last summer. ( the +35% performance include too, with Fudzilla and sites like BSN was predíct an +50-60% for Nvidia 780 vs only +35% increase over the 7970, predicting a win for the 700 series of Nvidia vs AMD.. ( in fact they was both wrong, the 780 or even titan are not 60% faster of the 7970ghz ).

I cant say if they just reharsh the "Info / rumor / leaks " of this period or if they have got news recently about it.

We was all think, AMD will release a new series of gpu for the end of 2012, Q1 2013.. just in between, on the start of 2013, AMD have annonce they have change their plan.

What AMD is planning now, is quite a mistery..

yeah sorry typing mistake. Q4 2011 was the first 28nm quarter of production at TSMC and HD 7970 launched on Jan 9, 2012.

You forget you need to ramp up the production, it take in general some months for do it, and so this mean the production are ready quite before. AMD had the mass production after the ramp up ready current december ( and started on end of november ). the 9th release in shop was mostly due, you cant use the channel on the end of the year from Asia ( Its the only period, specially in China where there's stop all ).. it was better to show the product, and wait they are able to get the product in th chanel then. If you dont have your product in shops the 20 decembers in US, Europe, you can forget to make them got the cards before the second week of January. AMD had surely planned to get the card launched on the first weeks of december, they had got 1-2 week of delay, who have kill their plan if they was not able to get the cards on shop before the 20th december.

 

[jimbo75]

They have to be going big. They could easily have had 15% on current gen out by now which is well out of reach for GK104, but for me they're going to go with a big 28nm die that just falls short of Titan.

 

[lanek]

They have to be going big. They could easily have had 15% on current gen out by now which is well out of reach for GK104, but for me they're going to go with a big 28nm die that just falls short of Titan.

If we believe this rumor at HainanXT and this 35% more perf.. This could end in line with Titan. priced between 780 and 770.. ( 550-580$ or accordingly to performance ).. they are in good position.

 

[raghunathan]

AMD might have waited for Nvidia to launch their GTX 700 series so as to better position their cards against the competition. We saw Nvidia do that very well when they launched GTX 680 / GTX 670.

AMD have been awfully quiet for a long time. Oland (384 sp) in notebook segment and Bonaire HD 7790 (896 sp) in desktop segment have already launched. AMD just needs the 2 remaining chips (Hainan and Curacao) to fill out their next gen product stack.

HD 8600 seres - Oland
HD 8700 series - Bonaire
HD 8800 series - Hainan
HD 8900 series - Curacao

 

[lanek]

AMD might have waited for Nvidia to launch their GTX 700 series so as to better position their cards against the competition. We saw Nvidia do that very well when they launched GTX 680 / GTX 670.

AMD have been awfully quiet for a long time. Oland (384 sp) in notebook segment and Bonaire HD 7790 (896 sp) in desktop segment have already launched. AMD just needs the 2 remaining chips (Hainan and Curacao) to fill out their next gen product stack.

HD 8600 seres - Oland
HD 8700 series - Bonaire
HD 8800 series - Hainan
HD 8900 series - Curacao

Yes, but still, i can imagine something have changed in the middle of the road. i dont think it is linked to Nvidia cards, this was way early .. This could be due to many reason, and im affraid AMD will keep his mouth close about their next generation of cards the most late possible.

 

[Kaotik]

could it be as simple as TSMC having 20nm ready earlier than planned, allowing similar or even earlier launch window than 7970 had with 28nm?

 

[jimbo75]

AMD would also have to be anticipating that, what's the chances given TSMC's track record?

 

[Wynix]

could it be as simple as TSMC having 20nm ready earlier than planned, allowing similar or even earlier launch window than 7970 had with 28nm?

No, 20nm is not happening in 2013.

 

[raghunathan]

No, 20nm is not happening in 2013.

yeah thats correct. TSMC have confirmed 20nm will only be ramping in Q2 2014. and cards would launch sometime in June - July 2014. thats a year away. definitely AMD has some 28nm chips ready to replace Pitcairn and Tahiti.

 

[Kaotik]

These news and TSMC don't agree with you:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/..._Is_Ahead_of_Its_Own_20nm_Roadmap_Report.html

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will begin to install manufacturing equipment that will be utilized to make chips using 20nm process technology later in April, around two months ahead of TSMC’s own schedule. In case all goes well, then TSMC will be able to manufacture 20nm chips in commercial volumes starting late this year.

http://www.eetimes.com/design/programmable-logic/4411189/TSMC-expected-to-begin-20-nm-line-early

LONDON – Foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Hsinchu, Taiwan) is reportedly going to start installing equipment for 20-nm CMOS production at its Fab 14 on April 20, two months earlier than previously planned.

TSMC would then be able to begin volume production at the end of the second quarter and ramp 20-nm production in the second half of 2013 a Focus Taiwan report said referencing unnamed sources.

http://www.cadence.com/Community/bl...-20nm-16nm-finfet-and-3d-ic-technologies.aspx

While TSMC has four "flavors" of its 28nm process, there is one 20nm process, 20SoC. "20nm planar HKMG [high-k metal gate] technology has already passed risk production with a very high yield and we are preparing for a very steep ramp in two GIGAFABsTM," Sun said.

 

[Wynix]

http://www.cadence.com/Community/bl...-20nm-16nm-finfet-and-3d-ic-technologies.aspx

From your own source:

K Wang (left) provided an update about TSMC's formidable manufacturing capability. He noted that the company currently has one 6" fab, six 8" fabs, and three 12" fabs. TSMC is continuing its capacity expansion at the 12" fabs. Mass production for 20nm is planned for the first half of next year.

 

[Kaotik]

From your own source:

Mass production doesn't mean the same as any commercial production in meaningful quantities to my understanding, they're saying that they're already past the "risk production" phase in the very same article.

 

[jimbo75]

The cost of the wafers so early is prohibitive, and the early silicon isn't always very good, which can lead to situations like they had with Tahiti.

They won't keep making this same mistake. If they do they deserve what's coming.

 

[Dave Baumann]

HD 8950 specs looks to be wrong. according to videocardz HD 8870 was Hainan XT and HD 8850 was Hainan Pro. Also it does not make sense to use Hainan chip for HD 8950. the Curacao chip is a much larger chip (420 sq mm) and needs a salvage part for yields.

Wow. Just wow.

What depresses/frustrates me more is that this is B3D.

 

[raghunathan]

Wow. Just wow.

What depresses/frustrates me more is that this is B3D.

the codenames might be different. whether its sea islands (Curacao / Hainan) or volcanic islands (Hawaii / Reykjavik ) doesn't matter. but I am sure AMD has 28nm chips planned to compete with GK110 (GTX 780 / Titan) and GK104 (GTX 770 / GTX 760 Ti). There are updates to Tahiti and Pitcairn, the exact details of which only an AMDer knows.

Given 20nm chips are not going to be available in volume production till Q2 2014 I think AMD definitely has something but are very quiet. Maybe they want to surprise Nvidia. I know you won't say a word now. But sooner rather than later I expect a strong product stack refresh.

btw whatever is happening AMD should have known this would happen.

http://www.chiphell.com/thread-755237-1-1.html

http://www.overclock.net/t/1395229/chiphel-new-specs-of-radeon-hd8000-leaked

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35069961

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

 

[nutball]

the codenames might be different. whether its sea islands (Curacao / Hainan) or volcanic islands (Hawaii / Reykjavik ) doesn't matter. but I am sure AMD has 28nm chips planned to compete with GK110 (GTX 780 / Titan) and GK104 (GTX 770 / GTX 760 Ti). There are updates to Tahiti and Pitcairn, the exact details of which only an AMDer knows.

You are aware I hope that the person you're responding to is an AMDer??