Friday, November 12th 2010

Radeon HD 6900 Series Officially Postponed to Mid-December

by
btarunr
 Discuss (52 Comments)
Originally poised for a November 22 launch, and plagued by reported delays, the Radeon HD 6900 series from AMD is indeed staring down at a three-week delay. According to a new release by AMD circulated to press sites, AMD is pinning the new launch date to be "in the week of" December 13, 2010. AMD tried to explain that the Radeon HD 5800 series is still in strong demand, and the Radeon HD 5970 is still maintaining performance leadership, perhaps blaming congestion in inventories for the delay, and not anything to do with manufacturing.

The first part of the explanation is unconvincing. If AMD did not want to disturb Radeon HD 5800 series sales, there wouldn't be Radeon HD 6800 series, which was launched with the idea of giving HD 5800-like performance at more affordable prices. The second part, however, is hard to dispute. AMD signed off its release saying that enthusiasts will find the products worth the wait. December 13, however, could disturb some gifting (or self-gifting) plans for Xmas. Given the swamped courier and logistics services at that time, it will be tough to get a Radeon HD 6900 series product in time for the celebrations.

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52 Comments on Radeon HD 6900 Series Officially Postponed to Mid-December

#1
f22a4bandit
Not too surprising. I'd have been surprised if it were delayed until after January, but mid-December seemed like the more likely scenario.
Posted on Reply
#2
function69
This still gives people 2 weeks before Christmas, so if you order right after reading the reviews on the 13th - you'll be fine. Unless the supply is short and there's simply not enough cards for everyone.
Posted on Reply
#4
LAN_deRf_HA
At this point there's been so many rumors the only way we'll ever know the real reason for the delay is if AMD tells us.... but then we'll not be sure if they're bs'in.... argh the inscrutable nature of it all!
Posted on Reply
#5
Paintface
with the 6870 kicking butt, and the 580gtx going for $550...... AMD has all the time of the world to do it right.
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#6
983264
Too bad, looks like they've anticipated of the release of GTX 580 and making some revisions in their card... Only in my own opinion...
Posted on Reply
#7
Fourstaff
983264Too bad, looks like they've anticipated of the release of GTX 580 and making some revisions in their card... Only in my own opinion...
That might be the case.
Posted on Reply
#8
function69
983264Too bad, looks like they've anticipated of the release of GTX 580 and making some revisions in their card... Only in my own opinion...
At this point it's prolly too late to make any hardware changes, just in software (drivers) and you can only do so much with those.
Posted on Reply
#9
Lionheart
AAAh bollux, you suk AMD, get your shit together and release your stupid beast :(
Posted on Reply
#10
983264
function69At this point it's prolly too late to make any hardware changes, just in software (drivers) and you can only do so much with those.
That's possible too...
Posted on Reply
#12
motasim
... I am not red nor green; I just speak my mind; and what I think is that AMD has been surprised by the unexpected launch and performance of the GTX 580, as everyone else have ... we were only expecting a dual GF104 Chip or a fully-enabled GF104 GPU from nVidia and no one was expecting a "proper" GF100 (i.e. GF 110) chip GPU, but nVidia managed to keep a good secret long enough to surprise competition. Now, the ball is in AMD's court; AMD has had a year now since they launched the 5870 & 5970 and has no excuse in my opinion not to build single-chip GPUs that can outperform the GTX 580, but if they couldn't, that'll definitely mean that 2011 is going to be nVidia's year, especially that the GTX 560 & GTX 570 should be on the way ...
Posted on Reply
#13
Flanker
not pressing the panic button just yet...
Posted on Reply
#14
Unregistered
motasim... I am not red nor green; I just speak my mind; and what I think is that AMD has been surprised by the unexpected launch and performance of the GTX 580, as everyone else have ... we were only expecting a dual GF104 Chip or a fully-enabled GF104 GPU from nVidia and no one was expecting a "proper" GF100 (i.e. GF 110) chip GPU, but nVidia managed to keep a good secret long enough to surprise competition. Now, the ball is in AMD's court; AMD has had a year now since they launched the 5870 & 5970 and has no excuse in my opinion not to build single-chip GPUs that can outperform the GTX 580, but if they couldn't, that'll definitely mean that 2011 is going to be nVidia's year, especially that the GTX 560 & GTX 570 should be on the way ...
nah, i think ati will be find especially they have antiles and after seeing how great the HD 6870 was on CF. even if they release the antiles with HD 6870 X2 they still can get the fastest card on earth

and tbh this time its like GTX 260 vs HD 4870 where the GTX 260 was replaced with GTX 470 and HD 4870 with HD 6870

but if ati manage to release the cayman on time this year, it can be like 9800 GT VS HD 3870
#15
Paintface
6970 doesnt have to beat the 580gtx to be the best buy, just as the 5870 was the better buy compared to the 480gtx.

Even if the 6970 doesnt beat the 580gtx in performance, i doubt we will see it above the 450 dollar mark , since the 6990 which will roll the 580gtx no doubt, will be in the 550-600price range
Posted on Reply
#16
motasim
wahdangunnah, i think ati will be find especially they have antiles and after seeing how great the HD 6870 was on CF. even if they release the antiles with HD 6870 X2 they still can get the fastest card on earth

and tbh this time its like GTX 260 vs HD 4870 where the GTX 260 was replaced with GTX 470 and HD 4870 with HD 6870

but if ati manage to release the cayman on time this year, it can be like 9800 GT VS HD 3870
... thanks for the history wahdangun, but although it repeats it self some times, that is not necessarily the case here ... secondly; although the "fastest GPU crown" has a moral (and definitely some marketing) value; the fastest most expensive GPUs sell in modest quantities compared to the gamers' sweet spot & enthusiasts' sweet spot GPUs, since there where the market is ...

... maybe I'm just being skeptical but I find it hard to believe that AMD are facing component shortage which is going to delay Cayman release and probably lose the significant pre-Christmas sales, although they've had a year to work on the successors of the 5870 % 5970 GPUs, it's silly right? ...
Posted on Reply
#17
entropy13
motasim... thanks for the history wahdangun, but although it repeats it self some time, that is not necessarily the case here ... secondly; although the "fastest GPU crown" has a moral (and definitely some marketing) value; the fastest most expensive GPUs sell in modest quantities compared to the gamers' sweet spot & enthusiasts' sweet spot GPUs, since there where the market is ...

... maybe I'm just being skeptical but I find it hard to believe that AMD are facing component shortage which is going to delay Cayman release and probably lose the significant pre-Christmas sales, although they've had a year to work on the successors of the 5870 % 5970 GPUs, it's silly right? ...
What's silly? Delays due to component shortage?

The 5850, 5870 and 5970 successors were already in development even during the last half of the development stage of those cards.
Posted on Reply
#18
motasim
Flankernot pressing the panic button just yet...
... keep your hand there nevertheless :nutkick: ...
entropy13What's silly? Delays due to component shortage?

The 5850, 5870 and 5970 successors were already in development even during the last half of the development stage of those cards.
... so they finalized the design six months ago, requested the necessary components for mass production, announced that 22.11.2010 is going to be the official release date, then suddenly now, 15 days before the official release date, they find out that they'll face component shortage? THAT is silly ...
Posted on Reply
#19
pantherx12
I think it's due to the 6970 due to being pretty much the same as 480, so they're re clocking all the cards to pull an extra 5% out their ass.
Posted on Reply
#20
Sihastru
The thing is, rumours about the delay appeared some time ago, and they stated that it was a GPU shortage problem, just like nVidia first had with their very large GF100 GPU. AMD doesn't have the experience nVidia now has with large monolithic GPUs, so I think they messed up something there, and their yields were not that good... they waited for a new chip revision from TSMC and as we speak their revised cards are being manufactured and their stock is almost up to release levels, but not quite there yet for the originaly planned release date.

This "component shortage" fantasy looks more like a half baked excuse to cover up the fact that they are now in the position nVidia was 1 year ago. The only difference is that TSMC now knows what to do since they learned it at nVidia's expense last year.
Posted on Reply
#21
Unregistered
motasim... thanks for the history wahdangun, but although it repeats it self some times, that is not necessarily the case here ... secondly; although the "fastest GPU crown" has a moral (and definitely some marketing) value; the fastest most expensive GPUs sell in modest quantities compared to the gamers' sweet spot & enthusiasts' sweet spot GPUs, since there where the market is ...

... maybe I'm just being skeptical but I find it hard to believe that AMD are facing component shortage which is going to delay Cayman release and probably lose the significant pre-Christmas sales, although they've had a year to work on the successors of the 5870 % 5970 GPUs, it's silly right? ...
i think "the fastest GPU crown" is quite important, just look at HD 3870 era, AMD didn't have anything as powerfull as 9800GT, and look what happen to them, their market share was drop like stone.

and same happen to maxtor, sis, and via they even barely survive right now (even tough sis have Graphic card that can compete with 9500 GT and priced lower than other)
#22
motasim
pantherx12I think it's due to the 6970 due to being pretty much the same as 480, so they're re clocking all the cards to pull an extra 5% out their ass.
SihastruThe thing is, rumours about the delay appeared some time ago, and they stated that it was a GPU shortage problem, just like nVidia first had with their very large GF100 GPU. AMD doesn't have the experience nVidia now has with large monolithic GPUs, so I think they messed up something there, and their yields were not that good... they waited for a new chip revision from TSMC and as we speak their revised cards are being manufactured and their stock is almost up to release levels, but not quite there yet for the originaly planned release date.

This "component shortage" fantasy looks more like a half baked excuse to cover up the fact that they are now in the position nVidia was 1 year ago. The only difference is that TSMC now knows what to do since they learned it at nVidia's expense last year.
... I tend to agree with pantherx12; they most probably were surprised with the GTX 580 and they want to bridge the performance gap between Cayman and the GTX 580 by increasing speeds ... may be also they needed to tweak some components in the last minute to achieve that and then they pumped into the components shortage, that's also a possible scenario ... only time will tell ...
Posted on Reply
#23
the54thvoid
Intoxicated Moderator
This:

The chaps over at vrzone report that AMD Radeon HD 6970 boards are delayed as AMD is facing yield issues with its upcoming flagship GPU. However, an insider has shared a contradicting piece of news: the card's delay is not due to yield issues - production is perfectly fine, but rather a shortage of a particular component from Texas Instruments (TI) is the root cause of the hold-up.

This TI component is an integrated driver-MOSFET (DrMOS) that was first used on AMD's Radeon HD 6800 Series. This DrMOS is so new to the point there is no information on it on the Web, not even from the manufacturer itself.

Supply of this DrMOS is limited, and since the Radeon HD 6800 Series and upcoming HD 6900 Series share the same VRM design, any (tight) supply from TI is shared between all the cards. This leads to a delay in HD 6970 card manufacturing, with partners receiving their final boards late as well.

It is interesting to note that AMD has also withheld the final BIOS from partners. It is an open question as to whether NVIDIA's just-launched GeForce GTX 580 flagship GPU and its performance figures has anything to do with this. That aside, the initial 22nd November date may be set to change; AIBs will only know the final launch date from AMD at the end of this week.

from here: www.guru3d.com/news/amd-radeon-hd-6970-delay-due-to-component-shortage/

Makes it look feasible for component over yield over fear of performance. But if it's not out on 13th, I'll be mighty pissed off.
Posted on Reply
#24
entropy13
"Component shortage" is a fantasy? Spend at least 15 minutes searching for the TI DrMOS and you'll find no information except for articles linking it to the component shortage.

So you'd rather believe that the new DrMOS doesn't exist (to support the "component shortage is a fantasy" notion)?
Posted on Reply
#25
mdsx1950
DAMMIT!

I was waiting to get a 6900 card before December. WTF?
Posted on Reply
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