Rumor: AMD's Single-GPU R9 390X Will Be Liquid Cooled
Is it possible that AMD's next flagship GPU will be liquid cooled out of the factory?
When the R9 290 and R9 290X came along, one of the biggest complaints about the cards was their cooler. The reference cooler was, simply, not good. It didn't allow the GPUs to run at their full potential, and it was very, very loud. On top of that, it let the GPUs run at 95 C, which a lot of users simply weren't comfortable with.
AMD addressed these issues when it built the R9 295X2, as it was cooled with both air and water. The result? A superb cooler, for which almost no vendors built aftermarket solutions. That last bit may have had something to do with vendor restrictions, but there simply wasn't a need – it kept both of the fully-enabled Hawaii GPUs running at their stock speeds, and it wasn't noisy while doing so.
Image credit: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3290317929?pn=1
There is now a rumor on the web, based off an image and an announcement from Asetek, that AMD is building its next Radeon R9 390X graphics card with a similar cooler. Yep, that's right; we might be looking at the first single-GPU reference design that's liquid cooled.
The image of the cooler shroud that was leaked on the Baidu forums is clear, although what isn't clear is the announcement from Asetek: the company announced on August 14 that it had secured the biggest design with 'an undisclosed OEM.' This win would result in $2 - $4 million dollars of revenue for this undisclosed OEM, and the undisclosed product in question would start shipping during the first half of 2015. The announcement did indicate that it would help Asetek's success in the graphics liquid cooling market. So take these two details, put them together, and we can say that there's a good chance that the R9 390X reference design will be partially liquid cooled. (One plus one equals, two, you know.) Of course, this is still a rumor, so do be sure to take it with a pinch of salt.
So, what do you think? Would you like to see this happen, or do you think it's going a little far for a single-GPU solution?
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NVidia will likely need a fire sale. The only NVidia card I have owned is the GTX 580 and it will very likely be getting replaced by the R9 290 or R9 390 line depending on pricing.
The best card I ever had for the money was the HD 4870 that I got in mid 2009 for $150 new.
It could be just overclocked/volted Hawaii, hence the need for liquid cooling.
Nvidia has found a way with their Maxwell GPUs so what happened at AMD to have them forget how to do the same?
NVidia will likely need a fire sale. The only NVidia card I have owned is the GTX 580 and it will very likely be getting replaced by the R9 290 or R9 390 line depending on pricing.
The best card I ever had for the money was the HD 4870 that I got in mid 2009 for $150 new.
Not at all. AMD is the one doing the "insane liquid cooled thing" because they no longer can compete with Nvidia on air and have to resort to extreme measures to keep their GPUs from melting.
NVidia will likely need a fire sale. The only NVidia card I have owned is the GTX 580 and it will very likely be getting replaced by the R9 290 or R9 390 line depending on pricing.
The best card I ever had for the money was the HD 4870 that I got in mid 2009 for $150 new.
We'll see I guess. AMD is not as forthcoming as to the delineations between new chips and new architecture. Or at least not as forthcoming as Nvidia, Fermi, Kepler, Maxwell for example. Those all had different chips GK110, etc. but you knew what architecture they were. So I don't know if they are coming out with a new architecture a year after whatever is in Hawaii
Actually that is to be determined. The biggest question is if it is using 22nm. If so, it can lower power draw and thermals while increasing the core count. The other side is that they might be using the liquid cooling closed loop system to their advantage since it is cheap enough to put out a single GPU card that will push NVidia harder. I am all for that as it will force NVidia to work harder as well.
Actually that is to be determined. The biggest question is if it is using 22nm. If so, it can lower power draw and thermals while increasing the core count. The other side is that they might be using the liquid cooling closed loop system to their advantage since it is cheap enough to put out a single GPU card that will push NVidia harder. I am all for that as it will force NVidia to work harder as well.
I agree about pushing Nvidia, but the 20 mn(22 is Intel) just got up to speed and was completely booked by mobile until the beginning of next year. So the 390X is either going to be delayed until then or come out on the 28 nm. The reason Nvidia is so late with the new cards is probably because they were waiting for the 20nm, which got delayed and then they decided to retool it for 28 nm as a stop gap for 20nm. There are even rumors that they'll skip 20 nm altogether and go with 16 nm.
Suppose it doesn't really matter to me though. If I got enough extra cash I might go into the R9 X80 cards but I wouldn't bother with anything higher. At that level its already enough performance to max out most games, and I'm not making a move to UHD till it becomes a lot cheaper so its not really needed unless your going overkill.
Nvidia has found a way with their Maxwell GPUs so what happened at AMD to have them forget how to do the same?
because nvidia has no problem ripping everything not gaming related out of their gpu and sticking it on their high end crap.
this is the high end of the high end, the single most powerful gpu the company makes, these are cards made for people who do not compromise their gaming experience and do stupid crap.
you literally barely need higher than a mid range (270-280) to play most games at max and close to if not 60fps at 1080p
they still run hot.
my brother has a custom loop, it took his 290X from 85-90c load and loud as hell down to 55c max and inaudible. now, make that card overclock from 55c to 85c as standard and you would have a beast of a card from the get go and at a fairly cheap price considering to get that speed normally you would need to oc on water anyway.
Good for us. More competition, price war. XD