Rumor: AMD's Tonga GPU Will Be Efficient; Arriving Soon

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By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

We might be seeing a more efficient mid-range GPU from AMD within about three months.

There is a report out on the web that AMD is working on a new graphics card. Originally, this was thought to be a new flagship GPU, though we were skeptical. In light of our skepticism, it now seems that rather than building a new high-end GPU, AMD is working on a smaller GPU focused at being more power efficient – sort of like Nvidia's first Maxwell graphics cards, the GTX 750 and the GTX 750 Ti. The codename for this specific GPU is "Tonga."

The graphics card is rumored to be the AMD Radeon R9 275X. That's just a rumored name and could be completely meaningless. It wouldn't surprise me if AMD was to make it one of the first 3xx series cards, though given that the card is expected to come out between two and three months from now, it would be a little early to start the Rx 3xx-series of graphics cards. This card is expected to carry just 2 GB of memory, though. Hopefully, there will be custom solutions with more memory.

There are no exact details available yet, and that's not surprising. The rumor is still in its early stages. VideoCardz.com reports that it might be "GCN redesigned once again," meaning that it'll bring along an architectural change. Of course, it is expected that the GPU will still support the AMD's TrueAudio and Mantle technologies.

Do note though, this is all still just a rumor in a very early stage, so do be sure to take it all with a grain of salt. Hopefully, we'll know more at Computex 2014.

Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

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20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Stimpack
    This sounds more like a low-end card, rather than mid-range. I always considered the 760 to be more of the mid-range card.
    Reply
  • patrick47018
    This sounds more like a low-end card, rather than mid-range. I always considered the 760 to be more of the mid-range card.

    Maybe it will be like the 750(Ti) and show off the new architecture in a low end card before the big guns are brought out
    Reply
  • anthony8989
    If it really is the R9 275x that would put it's performance between the former 7870 GE and the 7950 . That's not really a low-end card.
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    20nm?
    Reply
  • Stimpack
    13323048 said:
    This sounds more like a low-end card, rather than mid-range. I always considered the 760 to be more of the mid-range card.

    Maybe it will be like the 750(Ti) and show off the new architecture in a low end card before the big guns are brought out

    Here's to hoping. Really wouldn't mind seeing the next generation of cards this year.
    Reply
  • DannyBoy312
    "This card is expected to carry just 2 GB of memory..." Why would you want more VRAM on a mid-range card that most likely won't be able to handle more than 1080P and maybe 1440P (if you're lucky) anyway? I'm speaking in gaming terms of course. Perhaps if you intend to drive more than 3 monitors just for general computing?
    Reply
  • koolkei
    Tonga. Reminds me of tenga. Heehee.
    That aside. I wonder how 'efficient' it will be, since amd is known to hog more power than nvidia. Ive been using them and love them for their price to performance ratio. But for a mobile chips, that is a big nono from my experience
    Reply
  • texasti
    It's going to be hard for AMD to beat 750ti efficiency using the overhyped GCN arch. I own a 750ti card, the performance/watt is just nothing short of remarkable given that it's still based on TSMC 28nm process. I would love to see much better efficiency, whoever can achieve that, Intel, Nvidia, AMD, ARM, etc, I don't care. That's what matters most given market trend. I hope soon we reach the 750ti performance level within the mobile power envelope.
    Reply
  • Shodoman
    This sounds more like a low-end card, rather than mid-range. I always considered the 760 to be more of the mid-range card.
    I actually feel offended by your comment and may i say this, it's a snobby comment. Though it gives me comfort to think that you felt the need to make it.
    Reply
  • knowom
    In summary Maxwell kicked AMD right square in the nuts and if you can't beat em join em.
    Reply