AMD Radeon HD 7900 to Utilize New XDR2 Rambus Memory
AMD is set to launch its next-generation graphic processors this coming fall and it is shaping up to be more than expected with use of XDR2 memory interface.
Based on a leaked road-map, AMD will be releasing their new GPUs in Q4 for the upcoming holiday season. The GPUs will start with four different GPUs based on the 28nm version of the VLIW4 (Very Long Instruction Word) architecture. The four GPUs will be equipped with 768 to 1536 Radeon cores (stream processors) and GDDR5 memory.
| Graphics card | Radeon HD 7870 | Radeon HD 7850 | Radeon HD 7670 | Radeon HD 7570 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Node | TSMC 28nm HPL | TSMC 28nm HPL | TSMC 28nm HPL | TSMC 28nm HPL |
| Architecture | VLIW4 | VLIW4 | VLIW4 | VLIW4 |
| GPU | Thames XT | Thames Pro | Lombok XT | Lombok Pro |
| Radeon cluster | 24 | 22 | 12 | 12 |
| Radeon cores | 1536 | 1408 | 768 | 768 |
| GPU frequency | 950 MHz | 850 MHz | 900 MHz | 750 MHz |
| Texture units | 96 | 88 | 48 | 48 |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 | 16 | 16 |
| Graphics memory | 2GB GDDR5 | 2GB GDDR5 | 1GB GDDR5 | 1GB GDDR5 |
| Memory frequency | 5800 MHz | 5200 MHz | 5000 MHz | 4000 MHz |
| Memory interface | 256 bit | 256 bit | 128 bit | 128 bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 186 GB/s | 166 GB/s | 80 GB/s | 64 GB/s |
| Power consumption | 120 watt | 90 watt | 60 watt | 50 watt |
The fun begins when you start to look at the new high-end GPUs codenamed "Tahiti", which is expected to see a Q1 2012 release. The "Tahiti" will make use of PCIe Gen3 interface, which has a massive bandwidth of 32 GB/s. The 7900 series is set to utilizes new AMD's Graphics CoreNext GPU architecture. The GCN is expected to boost performance per square millimeter die area to improve upon the VLIW4 architecture .
The most interesting change is AMD's decision to go with XDR2 memory interface from Rambus over previous generation DDR5 memory interface. Rambus claims the XDR2 is twice as fast as DDR5, while offering 30 percent less power consumption.
Read more about Rambus' claim.
Additional information leaked has the Radeon HD 7970 series with, 2048 Radeon Cores, GPU frequency of 1000 MHz and XDR2 memory at 8000 MHz, which would result in a memory bandwidth of 256 GB/s over a 256-bit memory interface. This compared to the 176 GB/s in Radeon HD 6790 with GDDR5 memory at 5500 MHz. All this power will be packed within an estimated power consumption of 190 watts
| Graphics card | Radeon HD 7970 | Radeon HD 7950 | Radeon HD 6970 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node | TSMC 28nm HP | TSMC 28nm HP | TSMC 40nm |
| Architecture | GCN | GCN | VLIW4 |
| GPU | Tahiti XT | Tahiti Pro | Cayman XT |
| Radeon cluster | 32 | 30 | 24 |
| Radeon cores | 2048 | 1920 | 1536 |
| GPU frequency | 1000 MHz | 900 MHz | 880 MHz |
| Texture units | 128 | 120 | 96 |
| ROPs | 64 | 64 | 32 |
| Graphics memory | 2GB XDR2 | 2GB XDR2 | 2GB GDDR5 |
| Memory frequency | 8000 MHz | 7200 MHz | 5500 MHz |
| Memory interface | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 256 GB/s | 230 GB/s | 176 GB/s |
| Power consumption | 190 watt | 150 watt | 250 watt |
There looks to be some interesting times ahead for AMD in the coming months for us to keep watch. AMD will be releasing its new "Bulldozer" architecture, along with the new GCN architecture for the 7900 series GPUs (if the information leaked is accurate).
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Maybe this would also be the technology aligned with the third generation APU, where cores and instruction sets are heterogenous with the CPU...
Maybe its really worth the waiting...
Bring on the new gpus, want to replace the Gtx 480 sometime, just give me an excuse AMD! I think I like this whole Preditor thing, hehe.
Bring on the new gpus, want to replace the Gtx 480 sometime, just give me an excuse AMD! I think I like this whole predator thing, hehe.
I hope this ends up being as awesome as it sounds. I could use a GPU upgrade.
I'm really looking forward to some benchmarks for these. Even moreso than Bulldozer.
So since RAMBUS got taken over by Apple as the lead patent troll they are now actually starting to make something? About time! I did like their memory for p4 line back in the day but cost was astronomical; I hope this isn't going to be the case where memory will cost 80% of the card and make it too costly. Wait and see I guess.
Now if only they still made PC games.. I just don't understand how these companies survive with almost no PC games anymore. Who needs this much HP for WOW?
Get that dirty Rambus away from my AMD GPU.
Rambus huh...that is a tech I never thought I would see resurrected from the grave.
aww such a tease hd 7xxx come to daddy pls
WAT?
So since RAMBUS got taken over by Apple as the lead patent troll they are now actually starting to make something? About time! I did like their memory for p4 line back in the day but cost was astronomical; I hope this isn't going to be the case where memory will cost 80% of the card and make it too costly. Wait and see I guess.
Cost astronomical and implementation stupid. You needed two modules, the terminating module and the normal module. That was in a world where multiple channel memory systems still didn't exist.
If this XDR2 lives up to what promises it will break a lot of banks
Now AMD has to bring support for dual GPU cards on their AMD APP SDK and an HD 7990 would
make wonders on number crunching tasks.
Rambus huh...that is a tech I never thought I would see resurrected from the grave.
Yes. and it just can't die... no matter how you kill it...
screw RAMBUS!..does anyone remember how they bad hurt memory the industry about 10 years back suing all the memory manufacturers?.. Then not to mention the BS ram that was on intel motherboards about the same time. I will never buy anything with Rambus on board
Seems like these new video cards may have impressive performance.
Can't wait to see the realworld benchmarks.
Yeah yeah, of course Rambus would say that. They argued that DDR was inferior when it wasn't... but I'm happy to give them a second chance this time around.
Notice the change in ratio of texture units:ROPs from 3:1 in the 6970 and 7870 to 2:1 in the 7950 and 7970? Put simply, the 7970 is a sizeable improvement over the 6970 before we even look at memory bandwidth.
screw RAMBUS!..does anyone remember how they bad hurt memory the industry about 10 years back suing all the memory manufacturers?.. Then not to mention the BS ram that was on intel motherboards about the same time. I will never buy anything with Rambus on board
Do you not remember how Rambus out performed DDR back then either?
hmm,looks really interesting. Can't wait for benchies
It looks like its time to upgrade from my 4870 512MB to that 7980 2GB for battle file 3
7850 looks like the best deal.
Could Radeon HD 7670 replace the 5670/6670 at just 60 W?
And where would you say will be placed in the monthly graphics card Hierarchy Chart? Next to the HD 5770/6770 or closer to the GTS 450?
What about pricing? Hmmm... Still 128 bits... I was thinking about getting a HD 6670 but I guess I should wait and see.
field*
Amazing power consumption.
Yeah! I can't wait for the benchmarks either. Although it will be interesting to find out what the retail prices will be for this new tech ideas. Every body will be astonished at how high the prices will be.
Do you not remember how Rambus out performed DDR back then either?
that was all smoke and mirrors. DDR was the furure. The only reason their memory was being used was so a few people could line their pockets
Basing my info on this link.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4296 [...] 00-rebadge
It has a few less shaders clocked a bit higher. Same number of ROPs, but 8 more texture units. Same memory bus but clocked 200MHz faster. I'm going to say it will be around a 5770/6770, probably even more like the 6790. 4870/4890 performance with no PCIe plug? Well done.
Edit: I should say that it has more shaders and not less. The 5770 is still a VLW5 card, and this is 4. The total number might be lower, but due to the 3.4 utilization it actually has more working. Should be faster then a 5770 while needing no PCIe plug.
the PS3 only has 256mb of XDR ram, im interested in seeing the things we can do with 2g of XDR2.... hmmmm - assuming this is true i have to barter a guess as to i think i know where the next gen consoles are gonna get there ram
Holy smokes the Radeon HD 7970 look like a killer card.
CANNOT WAIT FOR BENCHMARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any word on how big this card actually is? Am I gonna have to cut a hole in the back of my case to fit this in?
From the Rambus link in the article:
"The XDR™2 memory architecture is the world's fastest memory system solution capable of providing more than twice the peak bandwidth per device when compared to a GDDR5-based system. Further, the XDR 2 memory architecture delivers this performance at 30% lower power than GDDR5 at equivalent bandwidth."
Awful lot of wiggle room in their speed and power consumption claims. Very possibly a V12 Jag stuck on a 65 mph highway. And what is up with that "Datarate per pin" graph? That is certainly a common metric.
Ha ha, looks like I made a full circle. I replaced my 7900 with a 4870x2 and from the looks of it I'll replace it again with a 7900. :-)