AMD: Southern Islands (7*** series) Speculation/ Rumour Thread

[A1xLLcqAgt0qc2RyMz0y]

Quote: I can’t think of one reason to recommend 7990 to a friend

Interesting article on the 7990.

Radeon HD 7990 In CrossFire: The Red Wedding Of Graphics
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-crossfire-overheat,3539.html

What we discovered was that two 7990s behave quite a bit differently than one, and adding space between them only prolongs the time it takes for them to get there. While we typically see Tahiti GPUs top out in the 84-degree Celsius range, whether they’re on single-chip boards like the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition or dual-GPU boards like the Radeon HD 7990, three or four minutes in Unigine’s Heaven sees CrossFire’d 7990s slamming up against the processor’s 102-degree protection point. Far Cry 3 outright crashes after heating up to 98 degrees (or, if you stay in the game’s menu too long, it’ll jump up to 102 degrees as well). And 10 runs through Metro: Last Light’s benchmark has the top card’s GPUs at 97 degrees.

I have the utmost respect for the company's technical marketing team. They've always been polite, gracious, and helpful. In this case, they earnestly claim the what I'm seeing is not mirrored in their lab. They also say they're seeing up to 1.8x performance scaling with a second card, which would be amazing, given our experiences with scaling beyond two of any GPU. But after testing single- and dual-space setups, reversing case fans to experiment with intake and exhaust, maxing out the speed of the HAF X's coolers, and swapping three different cards around to make sure no one board is unfairly maligned, I don't see any way that my observations can be wrong.

According to Kelt, his team saw the same issues as me, with temperatures as high as 104 degrees.

Kelt continues, "This is only measuring surface temps in an open chassis, but you can clearly see one GPU getting much hotter than the others. This is the GPU that we saw hitting 102+ Celsius. It’s important to note that this hotspot stays where it is, even if you swap the cards. So, the problem is not with a particular 7990, it’s Radeon HD 7990s in CrossFire."

When it launched, a generous eight-game bundle had me on the fence about the 7990’s prospects. But after spending time evaluating its thermals and acoustics (to say nothing about its crashes and performance hiccups in CrossFire, which could become a story unto itself), I can’t think of one reason to recommend 7990 to a friend. And, at the end of the day, that’s what this job is all about.

 

[Homeles]

You linked to the wrong article.

 

[A1xLLcqAgt0qc2RyMz0y]

You linked to the wrong article.

Thanks, Fixed now.

 

[Homeles]

That's a really interesting, albeit unfortunate problem. It's really bizarre that the two cards are interacting like that.

 

[A1xLLcqAgt0qc2RyMz0y]

Interesting comments from system builders on the 7990

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-crossfire-overheat,3539-3.html

Jon Bach of Puget Systems was the first to answer back. His team hasn’t seen any demand for single-card 7990-based configs yet

The folks at iBuyPower chimed in next, reporting that dual Radeon HD 7990s are not available due to driver issues encountered during qualification. Additionally, they drew the same conclusion as I did in my launch coverage: 7990s are simply not designed to play well with other components in the same enclosure. Even one Radeon HD 7990 requires a chassis with good airflow.

Kelt Reeves of Falcon Northwest sent out the third (and most detailed) feedback message, stating that Falcon hasn't qualified single- or dual-card Radeon HD 7990 configurations because they failed on the bench. His response warrants a quote:

"For single-card, the issue had to do with the cards warping after heating up, causing their cooling fans to rub on the shroud and creating an awful racket. We don’t know if that issue was limited to our samples, and that probably could’ve been fixed with a retention bracket we asked AMD for. That issue became moot, though, because four-way CrossFire is really the only configuration our clientele want a 7990 for. In a dual-GPU setup, two 7970s are slightly faster and exhaust properly, so they are a better option."

 

[A1xLLcqAgt0qc2RyMz0y]

That's a really interesting, albeit unfortunate problem. It's really bizarre that the two cards are interacting like that.

I wonder if it is crossfire software issue that causes that upper right GPU to overheat or if it is some kind of negative air pressure that causes that fan to have a low amount of air at its intake.

 

[jimbo75]

Well if you're gonna fuck up a graphics card at least it's good to make it the one nobody is buying anyway.

 

[lanek]

Something look really strange to me .. if it was my case and my setup i will think something is heating up on this point...

I try to explain: if it was a design problem, both cards who are working together at this time should show this exact same behaviour, or here only the right card is touched ( case look to be a vertical board design ).

More strange is when he said, when you switch the card the hot point dont move ( so they believe this is just a point.. )..

But if the problem was from the shroud conception, you should see it anyway on Both cards or at least something close. So i dont really know what to think about it.

 

[kalelovil]

It will soon be Q3 2013 and we are yet to see a mobile Bonaire-derivative, a GPU with impressive performance per Watt, per mm2 and relative to its memory bus width. I wonder why that is.

This has left a large product gap between the Cape Verde based 8870M and Pitcairn-based 8970M, and no direct competitors to Nvidia's 760m, 765m and 770m.

This AMD roadmap slide from beginning of this year suggested that in Q2 2013 we would see two product lines fill in the gap above the 8800M series. The top one is presumably the 8970M which was announced in May, the second would be a good fit for Bonaire but nothing has yet been announced.

 

[iMacmatician]

From Overclockers.ru: "Deliveries Radeon HD 7990: the beginning of the end" (original).

As we found out in the sources that you trust and supply Radeon HD 7990 graphics cards are now minimized. In fact, they barely have enough by the end of this quarter. There is reason to believe that AMD simply cleans up the place for a new leader, but the company can just as easily get rid of the not very favorable to the production of "graphic tandem."

Maybe for both of those reasons?

 

[UniversalTruth]

hmm

Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" Prices Slashed to $699, Targets GTX 780

 

[flopper]

hmm

Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" Prices Slashed to $699, Targets GTX 780

if the 7990 goes up agasint the 780 well then the 9970 should be a bit better up vs titan

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

I hope that's clearing inventory in advance of new cards.

 

[Alexko]

I don't know, with the 7970 GHz Edition selling for under $400, it pretty much had to happen for the 7990 to make any sense vs. a Crossfire of 7970 GEs.

 

[jimbo75]

I Interpret it as "the 7990 will no longer be worth $1K+ after the next series is released".

Of course the 7990 wasn't worth $1K+ anyway, so there's a good chance that's the reason instead.

 

[pjbliverpool]

I Interpret it as "the 7990 will no longer be worth $1K+ after the next series is released".

Of course the 7990 wasn't worth $1K+ anyway, so there's a good chance that's the reason instead.

If the first interpretation were true then I see no reason for them to do this before the next generation launches. If they're doing it now then it suggests the second interpretation is more accurate.

 

[UniversalTruth]

I really hope it is not clearing inventory but a serious business in order to sell more.

Probably questions arose as well, as why they have nothing in that particular price range (or at least I don't know which products of theirs can go there). And they decided to answer and fill the gap with something much more realistic.

 

[UniversalTruth]

AMD lowers prices for Radeon HD 7900 series

Radeon HD 7970 with from 9-14% price reduction;
Radeon HD 7950 with 14-15% price reduction;

 

[lanek]

I really hope it is not clearing inventory but a serious business in order to sell more.

Probably questions arose as well, as why they have nothing in that particular price range (or at least I don't know which products of theirs can go there). And they decided to answer and fill the gap with something much more realistic.

You mean a price range of 700$ ? wow ... Like this price was so common thoses last years ( lol, i see peoples are starting to like the 780 and his 700$ price and think it is a common price now ) .

- Seeing your post, this should confirm you .., they are completely cleaning the shop stocks for next cards ..

 

[UniversalTruth]

You mean a price range of 700$ ? wow ... Like this price was so common thoses last years ( lol, i see peoples are starting to like the 780 and his 700$ price and think it is a common price now ) .

- Seeing your post, this should confirm you .., they are completely cleaning the shop stocks for next cards ..

Sorry but your post doesn't make much sense to me.

They replaced the 700$ price tag with the awful 1000$ price tag.

So, what exactly are you speaking about?