# AMD Polaris GPU - Discussion Thread



## Darren

Looks like the official specs for "Polaris 10" and "Polaris 11" have been unveiled. Feel free to discuss AMD's latest generation of Graphics Cards in this thread. I'll do my best to keep it up to date. I'll also attempt to keep this is accurate as possible but sources and rumors are still all over the place.

So far this is what I've been able to compile from various sources.

*Unveiling predicted from various sources at Computex to be May 26-29 with products on sale in June

Revealed specs for Polaris 10 and 11 both seem to indicate that they are "mobile" cards. I'm wondering if this will change. *

*Polaris 10 / R9 480X(?)*

*5.5 TFLOPS*
*8GB GDDR5*
*TDP <= 150 watts*
*1350MHz (40% above 380X)*
*MSRP $299*
*Roughly equivalent performance to 390/390X in a mobile GPU*
*For reference a 290X makes near identical TFLOPS (5.5/5.6) while consuming twice the power*
*Polaris 10 appears to be the mainstream card (380X ish replacement), with the high end cards coming later.*


*Polaris 11 / R7 460X(?)*

*2.5 TFLOPS*
*4GB GDDR5*
*TDP <= 50 watts*
*1400MHz (27% above 260X)*
*Current specs and info are for a mobile GPU...?*
*System TDP at 86 watts in Battlefront - http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AMD-Polaris-16.jpg*
*"Polaris 11" seems to just indicate their lower end cards, likely the R7 line and those found in laptops*

Sources

http://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/radeon-polaris#
http://wccftech.com/amd-r9-480x-470x-specs-allegedly-revealed/
http://wccftech.com/amd-launching-polaris-10-gpu-june-1st-computex/


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## Darren

AMD's officially stated that Polaris will be unveiled at Computex on June 1st. Also will be unveiling the new APU's. 

http://ir.amd.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=74093&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2170028


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## beers

Le gasp.

If you can't crossfire a midrange card at exacting performance as a dGPU with this rendition of APU then I'm calling it a wasted effort (again).  I imagine a smaller process should give them a huge amount to gain in the iGPU space though.


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## Darren

Some benchmarks of the 480 and 480X, although I'd take them with a grain of salt.

Also keep in mind this is a DirectX11 test and AMD cards typically perform better in DirectX12 titles.







http://videocardz.com/60253/amd-radeon-r9-480-3dmark11-benchmarks


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## Intel_man

Meh, I don't know man... I'm really leaning towards a GTX 1070 at this rate.


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## C4C

Here's a chart for some of the new Nvidia cards to compare.. This one is using Fire Strike instead so the numbers are different.

The big thing is the lower TDP for Polaris.. Something Radeon cards aren't know for lol






1080p, 1440p, and 2160p respectively.

You can kind of see where the 480/X will fit in here.... and that is quite surprising.
If anybody is looking to build an AMD rig this Fall, you're in luck cause Zen is coming out too!

http://videocardz.com/60265/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1070-3dmark-firestrike-benchmarks


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Meh, I don't know man... I'm really leaning towards a GTX 1070 at this rate.



The 1070 is of course faster, these cards aren't trying to compete with that. The 390 and 970 were direct competitors but these cards are going to be the 480 and 480X, which is a step below that. The high end cards for Polaris are coming out later this year. October I think. The 480 will likely be priced at or slightly above $200 and the 480X more around the $250-275 mark. The 1070 is way more expensive than that.


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## Intel_man

Yea but when you think about it, the 1070 isn't THAT expensive when you're basically getting Titan X performance for $379.

The 1080 however... has a stupid price.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Yea but when you think about it, the 1070 isn't THAT expensive when you're basically getting Titan X performance for $379.
> 
> The 1080 however... has a stupid price.



That's irrelevant though. If you have 275 to spend on a GPU, you have 275 to spend. Whatever is out of your budget is irrelevant since you can't afford it. Getting performance that's knocking on the door of an R9 Fury and faster than a 980 is a pretty good deal for $275. Assuming that's the price they are, which is probably a somewhat accurate guess. Meanwhile the previous gen 390 costs $320 or more and is noticeably slower, that's a pretty good jump. 

We shall see, hopefully more benchmarks will be unveiled on the 1st at Computex when they launch the cards.


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## spirit

Recent buyers of Fury X, 980 Ti and Titan X cards are kicking themselves now seeing that all three are beaten by the GTX 1070! This generation is clearly a big upgrade from the last!


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> That's irrelevant though. If you have 275 to spend on a GPU, you have 275 to spend. Whatever is out of your budget is irrelevant since you can't afford it. Getting performance that's knocking on the door of an R9 Fury and faster than a 980 is a pretty good deal for $275. Assuming that's the price they are, which is probably a somewhat accurate guess. Meanwhile the previous gen 390 costs $320 or more and is noticeably slower, that's a pretty good jump.
> 
> We shall see, hopefully more benchmarks will be unveiled on the 1st at Computex when they launch the cards.


But that's not irrelevant. You just went on and compared the 480X to the R9 Fury for a lower price. I just did that at a higher price bracket.

Yea sure, the benchmark shows it being on par with a R9 Fury, that's fantastic. $500 - $275 = $275 delta. Or a 45% price difference.

a GTX 1070 being on par with a Titan X is $1000 - $379 = $621 delta. Or a 62% price difference.

I understand where the 480/480X targets in the market of video cards, but if you're going to be looking into grabbing high performance video cards like these, you'll be stupid not to consider going for the 1070 at the cost of $100 extra. Just don't grab the founders edition cards because that's just dumb.

Until the flagship Polaris cards come out in what you say is October, the 1070 hits the ultimate sweet spot in $/performance right now.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> But that's not irrelevant. You just went on and compared the 480X to the R9 Fury for a lower price. I just did that at a higher price bracket.
> 
> Yea sure, the benchmark shows it being on par with a R9 Fury, that's fantastic. $500 - $275 = $275 delta. Or a 45% price difference.
> 
> a GTX 1070 being on par with a Titan X is $1000 - $379 = $621 delta. Or a 62% price difference.
> 
> I understand where the 480/480X targets in the market of video cards, but if you're going to be looking into grabbing high performance video cards like these, you'll be stupid not to consider going for the 1070 at the cost of $100 extra. Just don't grab the founders edition cards because that's just dumb.
> 
> Until the flagship Polaris cards come out in what you say is October, the 1070 hits the ultimate sweet spot in $/performance right now.



Okay now I see what you mean. I thought you were saying the 1070 is the way to go simply because it's faster, not the dollar to performance ratio. You're right, the 1070 is an insanely good card for the money.


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## Laquer Head

I'm leaning towards the 1070 also, I think it will crush whatever thing I do and the 1080 might just be too over the top for my needs


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## beers

Laquer Head said:


> I'm leaning towards the 1070 also, I think it will crush whatever thing I do and the 1080 might just be too over the top for my needs


Unless your needs involve having a large e-peen, then anything less just isn't as fulfilling


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## Intel_man

Or if he plans on running anything past 1440p... he'll need the 1080.


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## Origin Saint

spirit said:


> Recent buyers of Fury X, 980 Ti and Titan X cards are kicking themselves now


 #rubbingitin


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## spirit

Origin Saint said:


> #rubbingitin


When did you get your 980 Ti? 

If you got it in the past few weeks... you're an idiot.


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## Origin Saint

I got it in January of this year (tax return gift to myself).  Really disappointed I was unaware that the 1000 series was so close.  I knew it was coming, but I had no clue it'd even be in the same year.  Good news is, I still have a while of max settings @ 60 FPS since I only play at 1080p.  Still disappointed though


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## spirit

Origin Saint said:


> I got it in January of this year (tax return gift to myself).  Really disappointed I was unaware that the 1000 series was so close.  I knew it was coming, but I had no clue it'd even be in the same year.  Good news is, I still have a while of max settings @ 60 FPS since I only play at 1080p.  Still disappointed though


That was 5 or 6 months ago, long before the spec of the new generation was announced. I wouldn't murder yourself just yet and it's still a badass card.


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## Intel_man

But now he has to live with the fact that his card's performance is only equal to $379.


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## spirit

Intel_man said:


> But now he has to live with the fact that his card's performance is only equal to $379.


That's technology for you I'm afraid.  

You could've bought a 7970 GHz Edition in 2013 just before they stopped making them for however many hundreds of dollars they were back then and then see the price of the R9 280X which was basically the same card that came out after the 7970 was discontinued and cried for the rest of time.


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## Darren

I'm dubious of this, but the RX 480 will be $200. No longer R9 series. Crossfired supposedly competes with the 1080 at a much lower price. Also these are 150w TDP and perform around 390(x) level. 

https://twitter.com/AMDRadeon/status/737833572346781696


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## spirit

Darren said:


> I'm dubious of this, but the RX 480 will be $200. No longer R9 series. Crossfired supposedly competes with the 1080 at a much lower price. Also these are 150w TDP and perform around 390(x) level.
> 
> https://twitter.com/AMDRadeon/status/737833572346781696


I'm more interested to see how a single flagship GPU compares.


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## Intel_man

Yea... crossfire is great and all... but holy **** that's going to generate a lot of heat. And they got the price wrong, the 1080 is going to be $600 for the non founders edition. soooooooooooooooooooo


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## beers

Intel_man said:


> but holy **** that's going to generate a lot of heat


It sounds pretty mild compared to like 2x 290s  

I'll probably buy one if they crossfire with a 290.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Yea... crossfire is great and all... but holy **** that's going to generate a lot of heat. And they got the price wrong, the 1080 is going to be $600 for the non founders edition. soooooooooooooooooooo



They're 150 watts each. My 390 probably pushes 250-300 watts on its own...? Not sure why you think these are going to be super hot.

The point to be taken here is that this card is only $200 (for the 4GB version) and equals or even eclipses the 390/970 in performance and in some benchmarks (previous page) is on par with the GTX 980. That combined with the VR marketing is going to make this incredibly popular.

https://gfycat.com/SmugLeanAsianwaterbuffalo


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## Intel_man

Because I've had a SLi setup before. 2 GTX 260's in SLi infact. Theyre rated at ~180W TDP and they push SOOOOOO MUCH HEAT under load.

You see, unless you want to watercool that setup, the top card's going to be eating hot air from the 2nd card.


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## Origin Saint

"Let’s say it again, because it’s borderline mind-boggling: The first Polaris-based Radeon graphics card will cost only $200, and it will deliver roughly GTX 980-level performance according to AMD."

Obviously taking this with a grain of salt, but the possibility of a $200 card with 980 level performance is _insane_.  As the article goes on to say, in the high end of things, there's no reason to go AMD, as cards like the Fury X don't stand up well to something like the announced performance of the 1070 at it's price point, but at the same time, with something this ceiling-crushing looming with such a low price-point, nVidia's lower-end cards now can't hold up.  If this goes the way it looks like, AMD has pulled off a damn good move with the Polaris lineup.

EDIT: Not to mention, if AMD manages to race this out the door before the 10xx series launches, they can kill nVidia's sales.  Once you've bought a 480, you could simply get one more and squeeze ahead of a 1080.  Only downside would be the CrossFire compatibility problems that will end up arising with some games.


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## Intel_man

I'd rather save my valuable PCI-e slots for other expansions. 

I have an old board.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Because I've had a SLi setup before. 2 GTX 260's in SLi infact. Theyre rated at ~180W TDP and they push SOOOOOO MUCH HEAT under load.
> 
> You see, unless you want to watercool that setup, the top card's going to be eating hot air from the 2nd card.



I've never been a fan of Crossfire/SLI setups. They're hot, take a lot of power, and are more finicky than a single faster card. You're not saying anything new that every single Crossfire/SLI setup doesn't suffer from.

I included that picture as a rough indicator of how they perform in Crossfire. Not going all "hur dur AMD shits all over the 1080 in Crossfire". I regret posting it now because clearly you're focused on that and not what @Origin Saint just stated and what I believe is the real takeaway here. This card (just one) is an absolute insane performance to cost ratio. Of course, we'll reserve judgement until we have more concrete benchmarks but even if the marketing is somewhat accurate the 480 is going to be a very hard card to turn down.


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## Origin Saint

Darren said:


> This card (just one) is an absolute insane performance to cost ratio.





Darren said:


> 480 is going to be a very hard card to turn down.



This.

CrossFire/SLI typically results in more problems than it seems like it's worth.  But the real thing here is a $200 card (by itself) performing as well as last generations ~$500 top-tier card.


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> I've never been a fan of Crossfire/SLI setups. They're hot, take a lot of power, and are more finicky than a single faster card. You're not saying anything new that every single Crossfire/SLI setup doesn't suffer from.
> 
> I included that picture as a rough indicator of how they perform in Crossfire. Not going all "hur dur AMD shits all over the 1080 in Crossfire". I regret posting it now because clearly you're focused on that and not what @Origin Saint just stated and what I believe is the real takeaway here. This card (just one) is an absolute insane performance to cost ratio. Of course, we'll reserve judgement until we have more concrete benchmarks but even if the marketing is somewhat accurate the 480 is going to be a very hard card to turn down.


Wait what? Let's back the **** up here for a moment.

All I said was that crossfire setup is going to generate a lot of heat. You asked why, and I gave you a reason why it will produce a ton of heat.

I never once doubted the performance of these things under a crossfire environment nor have I compared the quoted crossfire performance figures and compared it to anything. I literally JUST said, these will be massive heaters.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Wait what? Let's back the **** up here for a moment.
> 
> All I said was that crossfire setup is going to generate a lot of heat. You asked why, and I gave you a reason why it will produce a ton of heat.
> 
> I never once doubted the performance of these things under a crossfire environment nor have I compared the quoted crossfire performance figures and compared it to anything. I literally JUST said, these will be massive heaters.



Fair. I apologize, I took your focus on the Crossfire setup as dismissing the card as a whole. You're right. My bad.


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## Darren

WE'VE GOT BENCHMARKS BOYS


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## spirit

Darren said:


> WE'VE GOT BENCHMARKS BOYS


That moment you realise it's 1 FPS difference!  Such scale, very big, wow! 

Nice that a mid-range card has equal performance to last generation's top dog, if these benchmarks are to be believed!


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## Origin Saint

Darren said:


> Angry Birds



Umm... lol 

Nice try, Darren 

It's FPS competing with my card is impressive though, given it's price point, even if it is in _Angry Birds_.


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## spirit

Origin Saint said:


> Umm... lol
> 
> Nice try, Darren
> 
> It's FPS competing with my card is impressive though, given it's price point, even if it is in _Angry Birds_.


Yeah I thought 'hmmm Angry Birds?' too. 

Can we have some real benchmarks?


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## Darren

Tough crowd...



I'm sure that bench is entirely made up and simply a joke.


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## spirit

Darren said:


> Tough crowd...
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure that bench is entirely made up and simply a joke.


Looking at the scale I think it was made by an AMD fanboi too!


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## Darren

spirit said:


> Looking at the scale I think it was made by an AMD fanboi too!


Credit to /r/pcmasterrace.


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## Origin Saint

@Darren, can I play this game too!?


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## Laquer Head

Origin Saint said:


> @Darren, can I play this game too!?



HOLY CRAP!!! NOW THOSE ARE SOME SPECS I CAN GET BEHIND.... NVIDIA FOR THE WIN...*SWISH*


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## Darren

Origin Saint said:


> @Darren, can I play this game too!?



No benchmark listed or settings even. Try harder bub.


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## Origin Saint

Darren said:


> No benchmark listed or settings even. Try harder bub.


FTFY


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## Laquer Head

Origin Saint said:


> FTFY



WHAAAAAAT? 48FPS IN MINESWEEPER??!?! BRO..I HEREBY DECLARE ALL OTHER TECHNOLOGY TOTALLY MEANINGLESS..


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## Darren

Origin Saint said:


> FTFY



_*Team green here I come!!!!!*_


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> _*Team green here I come!!!!!*_


Now you just need to wear blue as well and ditch red altogether.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Now you just need to wear blue as well and ditch red altogether.



I'm wearing blue and white right now and blue is actually my favorite color. My computer is all blue and white even.


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## Origin Saint

Relevant


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## Intel_man




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## Origin Saint

In all seriousness, good read: http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-480-3d-mark-benchmarks/


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## Laquer Head

Nice touch with the jester hat... really drives home the point....


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## Darren

Laquer Head said:


> Nice touch with the jester hat... really drives home the point....



http://www.computerforum.com/threads/the-lol-thread.184456/page-381#post-1967094

Your about a year late. 



Origin Saint said:


> In all seriousness, good read: http://wccftech.com/radeon-rx-480-3d-mark-benchmarks/



This makes me happy that my 390 isn't totally useless now. It's just a really power hungry 480! 

Seriously though, this is insane. The R9 380 was a pretty noticeable step down in performance from the 390 tier and now the 480 is that price if not cheaper. My (ex)roommate has a 380 and plays games at 1080p. I run games at higher settings and higher frames than him while at 1440p with my 390. He bought his 380 about 5 months ago for over $200. :/


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## Laquer Head

Darren said:


> http://www.computerforum.com/threads/the-lol-thread.184456/page-381#post-1967094
> 
> Your about a year late.



to be fair, my D-Blocker (darren block) app is working stunningly well..


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## Darren

Laquer Head said:


> to be fair, my D-Blocker (darren block) app is working stunningly well..



This is hugely ironic since your responding to me in my own thread. Might want to check out the D-Blocker.


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## Laquer Head

Darren said:


> This is hugely ironic since your responding to me in my own thread. Might want to check out the D-Blocker.



The app was down for maintenance...bugger off!


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## Darren

I'm again dubious, I've heard less than stellar reviews of this site but if this is true then holy sheeiiittt

http://wccftech.com/amd-rx-480-faster-than-nano-980/


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## Origin Saint

Darren said:


>



It confuses the ever-living shite out of me when they don't include the 980Ti in benchmarks like this.
Anyway, that's some extremely impressive performance for a $200 card  (provided the article/benchmarks aren't a sham).


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## spirit

Benchmarks are going to depend a lot on the game and the resolution and settings used. Some games/benchmarks may be more optimised for NVIDIA and others AMD. Would be amazing if we are looking at performance like that though. $200 and faster than the GTX 980 and not far off the R9 Fury X. @Origin Saint this RX 480 might be about the same speed or a little slower than the GTX 980 Ti given its performance in relation to the 980 and the Fury X in these benchmarks. This would be one of the biggest generational leaps we've ever seen!

We will have to wait to wait for the card to be released and see what the benchmarks are like then.


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## Intel_man

When it's released and all the benchmark tests are done, it'll be interesting to see what it's strengths and weaknesses are.


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## Origin Saint

Intel_man said:


> When it's released and all the benchmark tests are done, it'll be interesting to see what it's strengths and weaknesses are.


The jealous, overly-sensitive part of me wants it to flop and perform terribly and hot and loud and eat up 13 Jiga-Watts of power every 10 seconds. 

But the more rational side of my brain that is capable of forgiving myself for purchasing a 980Ti in January, hopes this thing gets a home run in the performance category and really fills out the entry-level cards nicely.


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## spirit

...then there's most of us who just don't care and will buy it because it's the best.


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## Laquer Head

Origin Saint said:


> The jealous, overly-sensitive part of me wants it to flop and perform terribly and hot and loud and eat up 13 Jiga-Watts of power every 10 seconds.
> 
> But the more rational side of my brain that is capable of forgiving myself for purchasing a 980Ti in January, hopes this thing gets a home run in the performance category and *really fills out the entry-level cards nicely.*



bwahahahahahahahaha


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## Darren

Laquer Head said:


> bwahahahahahahahaha


Ya know. The market that's got the largest amount of consumer and thus profit BY FAR. How dare AMD want to make money as a business. IMO Nvidia is shooting themselves in the foot by not launching a competing mid range card (although the 1060 is coming I know). People left right and center are going to be going for the RX 480 and below because that's the kind of money people actually have. 

Pretty much everyone on this forum is pushing hardware that's in the top tier of what the vast majority of people game with.


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## Laquer Head

Darren said:


> Ya know. The market that's got the largest amount of consumer and thus profit BY FAR. How dare AMD want to make money as a business. IMO Nvidia is shooting themselves in the foot by not launching a competing mid range card (although the 1060 is coming I know). People left right and center are going to be going for the RX 480 and below because that's the kind of money people actually have.
> 
> Pretty much everyone on this forum is pushing hardware that's in the top tier of what the vast majority of people game with.



Y U M@d Bro!?


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## Darren

Laquer Head said:


> Y U M@d Bro!?


Because you're making fun of a company for having good business tactics.


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## Intel_man

I think he was laughing at the fact that it is called "entry-level". Those are more lower-mid level than entry level. At least that's what I saw.


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## spirit

I'm kind of lost in the AMD range now. Will the RX 480 be a competitor with the 'GTX 1060' or is it more of a GTX 1070 competitor?


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## Darren

spirit said:


> I'm kind of lost in the AMD range now. Will the RX 480 be a competitor with the 'GTX 1060' or is it more of a GTX 1070 competitor?


1060, same as last gen with the 380 vs 960


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## Intel_man

If the 1060 is super affordable and performance is on par with the numbers on the RX 480... I might get 2 of those over a 1070.

But I don't expect anything NVidia to be affordable.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> If the 1060 is super affordable and performance is on par with the numbers on the RX 480... I might get 2 of those over a 1070.
> 
> But I don't expect anything NVidia to be affordable.



Got benches? I haven't heard much about them. 

Weren't you complaining a few posts back about how hot Crossfire/SLI is?


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## Intel_man

They do get hot. It's absurdly hot, but hopefully a lower die size will produce less heat. 

We'll see... PCI-e lanes for me are very expensive real estate as I have other plans that require the use of them.


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## Origin Saint

http://imgur.com/gallery/N0sx7

Leaked images + benchmark and temp gun reading.


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## spirit

Origin Saint said:


> http://imgur.com/gallery/N0sx7
> 
> Leaked images + benchmark and temp gun reading.


Am I the only one who loves the 'boxy' stock cooler looks? That's how all Radeons should look! Reminds me of my good old HD 5870!

Too bad it's hard to get reference cards these days but I guess it's for the best since the aftermarket coolers provide better cooling, thus better overclocking potential etc.


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## Laquer Head

spirit said:


> Am I the only one *who loves the 'boxy' stock cooler looks? That's how all Radeons should look! Reminds me of my good old HD 5870!*



Did @Darren hijack your account???


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## beers

spirit said:


> Am I the only one who loves the 'boxy' stock cooler looks?


I was going to indicate that they really blow.


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## Origin Saint

Laquer Head said:


> Did @Darren hijack your account???


Simmah dahn nah (Kim == Laquer in this instance)


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## Laquer Head




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## StrangleHold

Don't know what's its worth. But a few people told me that right now AMD is all about getting market share back with the new GPUs and they will work on building profit back after when sales increase. Even the newer high end card coming out later will sell cheaper. Plus from what they told me, AMD has C/F nailed this time. Like even now with the 480, look what performance your getting with 2 200 buck cards.


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## Darren

StrangleHold said:


> Don't know what's its worth. But a few people told me that right now AMD is all about getting market share back with the new GPUs and they will work on building profit back after when sales increase. Even the newer high end card coming out later will sell cheaper. Plus from what they told me, AMD has C/F nailed this time. Like even now with the 480, look what performance your getting with 2 200 buck cards.



Hoorah somebody else speaks my language.  This is pretty much the conclusion I've reached on my own just from how they've been acting with their products this year. They've made some progress already both market share percentages and stock prices are going up for AMD in 2016.


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## Origin Saint

Hoorah, some actual substance here folks. 






JK.  Just a dude putting it in a tiny case, and then some _overwatching_ of a dude playing Overwatch with some typical musak.

Ugh.


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## Darren

Origin Saint said:


> Hoorah, some actual substance here folks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JK.  Just a dude putting it in a tiny case, and then some _overwatching_ of a dude playing Overwatch with some typical musak.
> 
> Ugh.



That vid started out way too seductively for my taste. The slow music and he just waltz in there and slides the screwdriver on the table like it pound town time.


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## Laquer Head

Darren said:


> That vid started out way too seductively for my taste. The slow music and he just waltz in there and slides the screwdriver on the table like it pound town time.



BOW CHICCA BOW BOW...


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## Calin

I wonder what these NDAs are for.... building up hype?


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## Darren

Calin said:


> I wonder what these NDAs are for.... building up hype?


That's how product releases work. If you're a company that's launching a new and potentially big product you want to be able to control the flow of information about it for a variety of reasons.


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## Calin

Darren said:


> That's how product releases work. If you're a company that's launching a new and potentially big product you want to be able to control the flow of information about it for a variety of reasons.


I'm pretty sure the main reason is to build up hype


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## spirit

So tomorrow we will have a new $200ish card that has similar performance to the $500 and $600 cards of today. 

I love how technology progresses!


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## Laquer Head

spirit said:


> So tomorrow we will have a new $200ish card that has similar performance to the $500 and $600 cards of today.
> 
> I love how technology progresses!



If they actually have stock for launch or shortly after, they will be head and shoulders above Nvidias sorry excuse for a new product roll out.


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## spirit

Laquer Head said:


> If they actually have stock for launch or shortly after, they will be head and shoulders above Nvidias sorry excuse for a new product roll out.


I see that all of the 1080s and practically all of the 1070s are out of stock!


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## Laquer Head

spirit said:


> I see that all of the 1080s and practically all of the 1070s are out of stock!



Yeah, I must have got lucky with my 1080


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## spirit

Laquer Head said:


> Yeah, I must have got lucky with my 1080


Indeed! I think NVIDIA must have underestimated the demand for these new cards. Let's hope that AMD doesn't! Maybe seeing this problem they will have acted wiser.

Stock is either out or very limited in the UK too with only a few models or even only a few examples from people like PNY being in stock with the major brands out of stock.


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## DonkeyPuncher

spirit said:


> Indeed! I think NVIDIA must have underestimated the demand for these new cards. Let's hope that AMD doesn't! Maybe seeing this problem they will have acted wiser.
> 
> Stock is either out or very limited in the UK too with only a few models or even only a few examples from people like PNY being in stock with the major brands out of stock.


I just checked ocuk and they have quite a number of different brands of 1080, each showing 10+ in stock. So as an estimate I would say they have at least 150+ 1080 gpu's in stock at this moment in time.


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## spirit

DonkeyPuncher said:


> I just checked ocuk and they have quite a number of different brands of 1080, each showing 10+ in stock. So as an estimate I would say they have at least 150+ 1080 gpu's in stock at this moment in time.


When I looked on Newegg yesterday they were all sold out and in the UK there were only a handful of brands that stock left. It was really limited stock though, like 1 or 2 left and usually on the more expensive models. Some on Amazon don't even dispatch for 1-3 weeks, presumably to get more stock.

Welcome to the forum by the way!


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## Intel_man

RX480 listings are out!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709 601203818


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## Calin

I've seen quite a bit of hate for the RX 480 on the internet today. No, it can't beat a 980 but the fact that it's on par with a 970 while costing 200$ is amazing.


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## Intel_man

It's not on par with a 970.. it's slightly better than a 970. It slots right between a 970 and a 980.


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## Calin

Well I've watched the Jayztwocents vid where the 970 barely wins. But he mentioned it was a factory overclocked one.


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## Intel_man

There are games that favour Nvidia cards, and games that favour AMD cards. You balance out the differences across the board, and what you'll see is the RX480 will punch right inbetween the 970 and 980.


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## Origin Saint

Intel_man said:


> There are games that favour Nvidia cards, and games that favour AMD cards. You balance out the differences across the board, and what you'll see is the RX480 will punch right inbetween the 970 and 980.


At a price point significantly lower than both out of the gate, I might add.  Impressive.


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## Darren

Looking like 390Xish performance levels. They weren't BS'ing the marketing. Now to see how stock holds up. 

Butt ton of benchmarks here. 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r9_rx_480_8gb_review,21.html


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## C4C

spirit said:


> When I looked on Newegg yesterday they were all sold out and in the UK there were only a handful of brands that stock left. It was really limited stock though, like 1 or 2 left and usually on the more expensive models. Some on Amazon don't even dispatch for 1-3 weeks, presumably to get more stock.



Here goes the 6600K's iGPU until I can buy an RX480 that's in stock ;-;



Intel_man said:


> There are games that favour Nvidia cards, and games that favour AMD cards. You balance out the differences across the board, and what you'll see is the RX480 will punch right inbetween the 970 and 980.



^^ THIS


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## Origin Saint

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Radeon-RX-480-Review-Polaris-Promise


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## Intel_man

Uh oh. Looks like it's got some pretty interesting issues. They apparently draw more power from the PCI-E slot than from the 6-pin power in certain situations causing system instabilities on older/cheaper mobos.


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## C4C

Intel_man said:


> Uh oh. Looks like it's got some pretty interesting issues. They apparently draw more power from the PCI-E slot than from the 6-pin power in certain situations causing system instabilities on older/cheaper mobos.



Got me quite worried even though I have a newer Z170A board... Card is on back order and most likely won't get to me for at least another week. 

Still so, I've seen some "leaks" about the GTX 1060 and it's looking more convincing than the RX 480. Might have to make the switch


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## Intel_man

http://m.hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/94234-amd-radeon-rx-480-4gb-bios-unlockable-8gb-says-report/

RX480 4gb can be bios unlocked to 8gb. Lol


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## Origin Saint

Intel_man said:


> http://m.hexus.net/tech/news/graphics/94234-amd-radeon-rx-480-4gb-bios-unlockable-8gb-says-report/
> 
> RX480 4gb can be bios unlocked to 8gb. Lol


Fail for AMD, win for consumer?


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## Darren

Good guy AMD giving out card with too much VRAM. 

Scumbag Nvidia giving out cards with 4GB of VRAM but 3.5GB of actually functional VRAM. 

gg

/s


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## Darren

Just gonna leave this here.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10477/amd-posts-radeon-1671-drivers-fixes-power-consumption-issues


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## Darren

Soo... who's excited for Vega?


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## Intel_man

Not really... I already bought a Pascal.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Not really... I already bought a Pascal.


Yeah I'm really interested to see how this all plays out since the 1070/1080 competitors from AMD are going to come out several months yet. Should be interesting if they'll go for maximum performance or something that more competes with the 1070/1080 at a lower price. I'd expect the latter but who knows.


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## C4C

Darren said:


> Soo... who's excited for Vega?


asdfghjkl gonna be unlocking my 4GB card bios, and I guess I won't get a second RX 480 this fall lol

Still waiting for Newegg to notify me that the RX 480 is being shipped, because I'm sure there's hundreds of orders ahead of mine.
AMD claimed to have many more cards than Nvidia, but it's easier for me to get a GTX 10XX card right now if I had the money 

at least I can play CS:GO on the iGPU


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## Darren

C4C said:


> asdfghjkl gonna be unlocking my 4GB card bios, and I guess I won't get a second RX 480 this fall lol
> 
> Still waiting for Newegg to notify me that the RX 480 is being shipped, because I'm sure there's hundreds of orders ahead of mine.
> AMD claimed to have many more cards than Nvidia, but it's easier for me to get a GTX 10XX card right now if I had the money
> 
> at least I can play CS:GO on the iGPU



I'm sure there's a whole lot more 480's than the 10XX's. An exponentially larger amount of people can afford a $200-250 card versus a $400-900 card (or whatever they run these days). Actually just checked prices and hory sheit the 1070/1080 are even more than I thought. You could CFX 480's nearly for the price of a 1070.

I wonder if the vBIOS trick will work on all cards that have 8GB or if they'll stop it somehow.


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## Intel_man

The 1070 is a bit more "available" than the 1080 so far...


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## C4C

Darren said:


> You could CFX 480's nearly for the price of a 1070.
> I wonder if the vBIOS trick will work on all cards that have 8GB or if they'll stop it somehow.



Exactly what stopped me from buying the GTX 1070 or stalling for a GTX 1060 (it's going to be waaay overpriced).

I'm not sure. I doubt there's a way of stopping it from drivers, but aftermarket cooler brands may or may not allow it depending on what their chips look like.
Hoping my reference card has 8GB of RAM in it as I'll probably wing it.

I feel like for $40 in profits, it's not worth it for AMD to create a new production line.. If it's just the vBIOS then the 4GB card itself should be listed UNDER $200, which means they're already earning a sh!t ton off of the people who bought the 8GB model.


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> Yeah I'm really interested to see how this all plays out since the 1070/1080 competitors from AMD are going to come out several months yet. Should be interesting if they'll go for maximum performance or something that more competes with the 1070/1080 at a lower price. I'd expect the latter but who knows.


With the Titan P being around the corner from announcement, who knows what AMD will bring to the table.


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## C4C

So it's been over 2 weeks since I ordered my RX 480 and it's still on back-order. I called Newegg and they say they have no idea when the next shipment should be coming...

Could AMD be splitting production lines and creating both 4GB and 8GB cards to prevent people from unlocking with the BIOS?

Is that even a realistic guess? .... or am I just overwhelmed that I've gone a month with no dedicated graphics...


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## Intel_man

I'm surprised you got your order through Newegg as a "backordered" product. They normally dont' allow pre-ordering and just void your order until they have stock.


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## Darren

C4C said:


> So it's been over 2 weeks since I ordered my RX 480 and it's still on back-order. I called Newegg and they say they have no idea when the next shipment should be coming...
> 
> Could AMD be splitting production lines and creating both 4GB and 8GB cards to prevent people from unlocking with the BIOS?
> 
> Is that even a realistic guess? .... or am I just overwhelmed that I've gone a month with no dedicated graphics...



Hell at this point I'd just cancel your order and get a Sapphire version with aftermarket cooling rather than the reference vacuum cleaner.


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## C4C

Intel_man said:


> I'm surprised you got your order through Newegg as a "backordered" product. They normally dont' allow pre-ordering and just void your order until they have stock.



no kidding.. it's quite frustrating..



Darren said:


> Hell at this point I'd just cancel your order and get a Sapphire version with aftermarket cooling rather than the reference vacuum cleaner.


did it lol.. I don't know what day they go on sale but I'll have to be on it.

This is what it's looked like since June 30th...


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## Intel_man

Use this website. That's how I managed to snipe my 1080 off newegg. Register an account there, pick the ones you want to keep a lookout for and you'll either get the in browser alert, or you can get an email alert. The in browser alert is quicker to notify you though. 

https://www.nowinstock.net/computers/videocards/amd/rx480/


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Use this website. That's how I managed to snipe my 1080 off newegg. Register an account there, pick the ones you want to keep a lookout for and you'll either get the in browser alert, or you can get an email alert. The in browser alert is quicker to notify you though.
> 
> https://www.nowinstock.net/computers/videocards/amd/rx480/


You're doing God's work, son.


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> You're doing God's work, son.


How else did you think I managed to get a hold of my 1080? These things are still freaking sold out within minutes of listing.


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## C4C

Sapphire's Nitro RX480 launches sometime next week. I called Micro Center and they told me that there's no date listed, but they have over 100 cards (3 shipments for the one card next week) coming to the Denver store. Lady said to keep calling every morning when they open. First come, first serve, no limit. Hoping I can get one  

4GB at $216, 8GB at $269. Not sure which one I'm gonna get..

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3098...480-review-polaris-rethought-and-refined.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/sapphire-nitro-radeon-rx-480,32306.html


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## Intel_man

Grab the 1070. huehuehue


On a more serious note, just grab the 8gb one.


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## C4C

Intel_man said:


> Grab the 1070. huehuehue
> 
> 
> On a more serious note, just grab the 8gb one.



If the prices drop enough, and I save for a while I might be able to get one haha

I know Sapphire is making their 4GB cards with only 4GB (note reference card "scandal" here), but I'm only playing in 1080p and benchmarks show no difference until 1440p and 4K where it ends up only being at max 3-4 FPS.

I'll check out the 8GB model and I know it doesn't hurt but an extra $43 according to leaks doesn't seem like a good deal. I didn't even touch 5GB of the RAM on my R9 390 when I had it!


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## Intel_man

I'm at 6gb vram usage with Cities Skylines already.


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## C4C

Intel_man said:


> I'm at 6gb vram usage with Cities Skylines already.



geez you (and Darren I think?) never get a break with that game... That should be the new benchmark game


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## Intel_man

Not really... that game is terrible to benchmark GPU's because it barely uses it. The game does use about 8gbs of my RAM though and is using about 40% of my processor across 12 threads according to the Task Manager. GPU Usage is at a whopping 15%.


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## Darren

Posted this in my other AMD thread but it's more relevant here I guess. Didn't even know this was a thing.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10518/amd-announces-radeon-pro-ssg-polaris-with-m2-ssds-onboard


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## Intel_man

I'm not sure how that would work out. I've got my worries on a few things.

Heat is one of those questions. Current m.2 ssd's run rather hot sometimes, and being housed inside a GPU doesn't sound ideal or help.
This sounds to me like its purpose is to provide caching for workstation machines. Not sure how this will translate to consumer gaming level stuff.
Even with today's blazing fast m.2 ssd performance, it's still much slower than what DRAM can achieve. Is this a compromise?


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## Laquer Head

Intel_man said:


> How else did you think I managed to get a hold of my 1080? These things are still freaking sold out within minutes of listing.



Some of us don't need to stress, I literally snapped my fingers and MSI texted my private line within minutes...pretty much begging me to take a 1080 and even offering to have the CEO deliver it to my door.

Thats how the big dogs roll!


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## Intel_man

Laquer Head said:


> Some of us don't need to stress, I literally snapped my fingers and MSI texted my private line within minutes...pretty much begging me to take a 1080 and even offering to have the CEO deliver it to my door.
> 
> Thats how the big dogs roll!


That is the biggest lie ever.

You should feel bad.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> I'm not sure how that would work out. I've got my worries on a few things.
> 
> Heat is one of those questions. Current m.2 ssd's run rather hot sometimes, and being housed inside a GPU doesn't sound ideal or help.
> This sounds to me like its purpose is to provide caching for workstation machines. Not sure how this will translate to consumer gaming level stuff.
> Even with today's blazing fast m.2 ssd performance, it's still much slower than what DRAM can achieve. Is this a compromise?



Yeah this card seems more like a proof of concept than anything, and the article seems to agree with that sentiment.


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## Origin Saint




----------



## Laquer Head

Be strong for Lisa.....Bwhahahahahahaha

*“AMD is at our best when we are taking bold, calculated risks and aggressively pursuing the leading-edge technologies that change the world.”* - Dr. Lisa Su (President and Chief Executive Officer Advanced Micro Devices)


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## C4C

lolololololololol

guess the Sapphire Nitro+ is getting released tomorrow? There's no announced date so I'm still in the dark. Didn't get released today as far as i know. 

Cancelling my fishing trip to the local lake and pushing it to Saturday... let's hope all goes well tomorrow....


----------



## Intel_man

C4C said:


> lolololololololol
> 
> guess the Sapphire Nitro+ is getting released tomorrow? There's no announced date so I'm still in the dark. Didn't get released today as far as i know.
> 
> Cancelling my fishing trip to the local lake and pushing it to Saturday... let's hope all goes well tomorrow....


Why not go for the Asus ROG Strix RX480?


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## C4C

Intel_man said:


> Why not go for the Asus ROG Strix RX480?



The waiting game is killing me... Been without a GPU since June 22nd when I built this thing. I'd get the ROG but only if I knew I could receive it before I leave for school the 30th of August.


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## Intel_man

Just want to throw it out there...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127953

There's stock for the reference card.


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## C4C

Yeah I'm looking for an aftermarket model though. Cleaning would be a lot easier.

MicroCenter doesn't open until 10, and I wake up around 7 every morning to check the web. Tomorrow is the last day I'd expect them to release considering it was this week... 

If I can't get my hands on one, I'll just wait for the ROG. I like the dual boot feature on the Nitro+ too..


----------



## Darren

Intel_man said:


> Just want to throw it out there...
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127953
> 
> There's stock for the reference card.


....and it's gone


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> ....and it's gone


Not surprised... every new gen video card is being sold out.


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## C4C

Intel_man said:


> Not surprised... every new gen video card is being sold out.



Got the notification for the MSI card last night at 10:51pm MST and it was gone in 5 minutes.. My friend had great luck getting a GTX 1080 in person so I might as well try it with the Nitro+...


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## Intel_man

C4C said:


> Got the notification for the MSI card last night at 10:51pm MST and it was gone in 5 minutes..


That's nothing... The 1080's on launch were sold out at the speed of the Newegg checkout process. People were getting to the point of checking out within 30 seconds.


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## Darren

Intel_man said:


> That's nothing... The 1080's on launch were sold out at the speed of the Newegg checkout process. People were getting to the point of checking out within 30 seconds.


If I had money for a 1080 I'd have to write a script to order one ASAP. The performance out of those is nuts.


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## Origin Saint

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10530...x-460-specifications-shipping-in-early-august

Hot damn boys, we've got some specs and news!

Honestly, I don't think I'd ever personally buy into this bracket of the GPU market, but I know a few friends/family members that would benefit greatly from these kinds of solid cards in this price bracket.  Maybe I can convince my cousin to ditch Xbox and join the masterrace this year.

Pretty stoked to see some benchmarks and official pricing.


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## Intel_man

Darren said:


> The performance out of those is nuts.


I can confirm. The performance is indeed nuts.


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## Darren

Apparently the 470 is knocking on the door of the 480 in performance. Like, really close.

@C4C , tagging you so you see this and maybe advise against a 480.


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## C4C

Darren said:


> Apparently the 470 is knocking on the door of the 480 in performance. Like, really close.
> 
> @C4C , tagging you so you see this and maybe advise against a 480.



I'm actually considering it.... I've decided against holding out for a GTX 1070 just because it'll be more like 2-3 months before I can afford it. I'd rather upgrade down the line.

The Asus Dual edition 4GB RX 480 is $229 right now, the PowerColor Red Devil RX 470 is $199. The frame differences are just about 5-10% depending on the game, and I really don't mind playing in "high" settings. I already know most of the games I play will run maxed out.

Might be pulling the plug tonight so that it gets here before I leave for my road trip to my new home! 

* The Nitro+ RX 480 came out the one day I didn't call MicroCenter and was gone. They don't have it, or an update for another shipment. EVERY retailer is out of them.... Seems like Sapphire screwed up because I might just buy myself another PowerColor card


----------



## Intel_man

Not quite Polaris... but more like it's successor. Vega Pro was unveiled. I wonder how much this thing is going to cost. 

http://wccftech.com/amd-debuts-rade...ailed-die-shot-22-tflops-400gbs-8-16-gb-hbm2/

Performance wise, looks very very promising. MOAR COMPETITION FTW!


----------



## Origin Saint

Intel_man said:


> MOAR COMPETITION FTW!


Shh.  You keep that up and Intel will die from an anxiety attack because they have entirely forgotten how to deal with that.


----------



## Intel_man

A pretty good detailed Vega FE review.


----------



## Intel_man

AMD Vega FE when OC'd is pulling 400W at the rails. I repeat... this is not 400W for system load... this is 400W GPU load. 






Article: http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2986-amd-vega-hybrid-mod-results-overclocking-liquid-vs-air


----------



## Darren

I feel like it's not possible for AMD to be good at GPU's and CPU's simultaneously.


----------



## beers

RIP radeon technologies group.

Where's that Volta at


----------



## lucasbytegenius

Intel_man said:


> AMD Vega FE when OC'd is pulling 400W at the rails. I repeat... this is not 400W for system load... this is 400W GPU load.


Gotta get with the times man, like who doesn't run dual power supplies these days?


----------



## Darren

lucasbytegenius said:


> Gotta get with the times man, like who doesn't run dual power supplies these days?


Good thing my 8 core 16 thread CPU only sucks 65 watts. :3


----------

