• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

AMD "Hawaii" R9 290X GPU Specifications Revealed

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Here are the first set of specifications for AMD's next high-end GPU silicon, on which the company will no doubt carve out several SKUs from. Codenamed "Hawaii," and slated for unveiling on the 26th in, well, Hawaii, the 28 nm chip is what AMD will take NVIDIA's GK110 silicon head-on with. It is based on AMD's second-generation Graphics CoreNext micro-architecture.

With an estimated die-area of 430 mm² (18% bigger than "Tahiti,") the chip physically features 2,816 stream processors (SPs) spread across 44 clusters with 64 SPs each (a 37.5% increase over "Tahiti"). The chip features four independent raster engines, compared to two independent ones on "Tahiti." This could translate into double the geometry processing muscle as "Tahiti," with four independent tessellation units. The memory interface of the chip is expected to be 384-bit wide, based on the GDDR5 specification. Given the way TMUs are arranged on chips based on this architecture, one can deduce 176 TMUs on the chip. The ROP count could be 32 or 48. The chip will feature hardware support for DirectX 11.2, including the much hyped shared resources (mega-texture) feature.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,662 (0.34/day)
Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card
Wow, 2816 SP was a lot more than I was expecting. I guess they weren't exaggerating about die area efficiency. Early specs had 2304 and the TPU GPU database (which seems to be ahead of the curve) only had 2560 predicted.

Just for comparison:
Tahiti has 2048 SP in 365mm^2 -> 5.61 SP/mm^2
Hawaii has 2816 SP in 430mm^2 -> 6.55 SP/mm^2

That means Hawaii is about 17% more die area efficient than Tahiti. Granted, most of the auxiliary logic like the memory controller and PCI express controller don't increase in size with the number of SP, but it's still a nice improvement.
 
Last edited:

T4C Fantasy

CPU & GPU DB Maintainer
Staff member
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
2,562 (0.59/day)
Location
Rhode Island
System Name Whaaaat Kiiiiiiid!
Processor Intel Core i9-12900K @ Default
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Elite AX
Cooling Corsair H150i AIO Cooler
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA @ Default
Storage Samsung 970 PRO 512GB + Crucial MX500 2TB x3 + Crucial MX500 4TB + Samsung 980 PRO 1TB
Display(s) 27" LG 27MU67-B 4K, + 27" Acer Predator XB271HU 1440P
Case Thermaltake Core X9 Snow
Audio Device(s) Logitech G935 Headset
Power Supply SeaSonic Platinum 1050W Snow Silent
Mouse Logitech G903 Lightspeed
Keyboard Logitech G915
Software Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores FFXV: 19329
I am shocked also, and a bit happy.
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
6,680 (1.43/day)
Processor 7800x3d
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling Custom Water
Memory GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s) MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s) HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case ThermalTake P3
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687
Sounds impressive. I can't wait for reviews.
 
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
3,881 (0.89/day)
Just what I suspected.

AMD wanted to be the first with full hardware support for Windows 8.1. Not that it had to worry since its competitor is still doing only doing half compliance with software on DX 11.1.
 

T4C Fantasy

CPU & GPU DB Maintainer
Staff member
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
2,562 (0.59/day)
Location
Rhode Island
System Name Whaaaat Kiiiiiiid!
Processor Intel Core i9-12900K @ Default
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Elite AX
Cooling Corsair H150i AIO Cooler
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 ULTRA @ Default
Storage Samsung 970 PRO 512GB + Crucial MX500 2TB x3 + Crucial MX500 4TB + Samsung 980 PRO 1TB
Display(s) 27" LG 27MU67-B 4K, + 27" Acer Predator XB271HU 1440P
Case Thermaltake Core X9 Snow
Audio Device(s) Logitech G935 Headset
Power Supply SeaSonic Platinum 1050W Snow Silent
Mouse Logitech G903 Lightspeed
Keyboard Logitech G915
Software Windows 11 Pro
Benchmark Scores FFXV: 19329
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,662 (0.34/day)
Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card

Hopefully the 900MHz core clock means that the chips are power limited (like GK110) and can be clocked higher with proper power delivery and cooling, not that AMD is having problems with achieving higher clock speeds.

The Forbes interview indicated that they could achieve higher clock speeds at 28nm than 20nm, so that makes me wonder if either this 900mhz clock is too low or if the 20nm process is that bad. I tend to believe the latter.
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
2,785 (0.61/day)
Location
New Zealand
System Name MoneySink
Processor 2600K @ 4.8
Motherboard P8Z77-V
Cooling AC NexXxos XT45 360, RayStorm, D5T+XSPC tank, Tygon R-3603, Bitspower
Memory 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600C8
Video Card(s) GTX 780 SLI (EVGA SC ACX + Giga GHz Ed.)
Storage Kingston HyperX SSD (128) OS, WD RE4 (1TB), RE2 (1TB), Cav. Black (2 x 500GB), Red (4TB)
Display(s) Achieva Shimian QH270-IPSMS (2560x1440) S-IPS
Case NZXT Switch 810
Audio Device(s) onboard Realtek yawn edition
Power Supply Seasonic X-1050
Software Win8.1 Pro
Benchmark Scores 3.5 litres of Pale Ale in 18 minutes.
37.5% increase in core count for an 22% (w/o packaging. 17.8% as package) increase in die size...on the same process node?
Even if AMD managed a transistor density ~Pitcairn, that seems a little out of balance.
Wow, 2816 SP was a lot more than I was expecting. I guess they weren't exaggerating about die area efficiency. Early specs had 2304 and the TPU GPU database (which seems to be ahead of the curve) only had 2560 predicted.
Just for comparison:
Tahiti has 2048 SP in 365mm^2 -> 5.61 SP/mm^2
Hawaii has 2816 SP in 430mm^2 -> 6.55 SP/mm^2

That means Hawaii is about 17% more die area efficient than Tahiti. Granted, most of the auxiliary logic like the memory controller and PCI express controller don't increase in size with the number of SP, but it's still a nice improvement.
Kind of puts Pitcairn's 6.04 SP/mm^2 to shame if that is indeed the case.
The Forbes interview indicated that they could achieve higher clock speeds at 28nm than 20nm, so that makes me wonder if either this 900mhz clock is too low or if the 20nm process is that bad. I tend to believe the latter.
Might be a case of transistor density translating into higher localised heat (i.e. the Ivy Bridge and Haswell effect)
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
4,012 (0.75/day)
Location
Sarasota, Florida, USA
System Name Awesomesauce 4.3 | Laptop (MSI GE72VR 6RF Apache Pro-023)
Processor Intel Core i7-5820K 4.16GHz 1.28v/3GHz 1.05v uncore | Intel Core i7-6700HQ @ 3.1GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-X99-UD5 WiFi LGA2011-v3| Stock
Cooling Corsair H100i v2 w/ 2x EK Vardar F4-120ER + various 120/140mm case fans | Stock
Memory G.Skill RJ-4 16GB DDR4-2666 CL15 quad channel | 12GB DDR4-2133
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Hybrid SC2 11GB @ 2012/5151 boost | NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB +200/+500 + Intel 530
Storage Samsung 840 EVO 500GB + Seagate 3TB 7200RPM + others | Kingston 256GB M.2 SATA + 1TB 7200RPM
Display(s) Acer G257HU 1440p 60Hz AH-IPS 4ms | 17.3" 1920*1080 60Hz wide angle TN notebook panel
Case Fractal Design Define XL R2 | MSI
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster Z | Realtek with quad stereo speakers and subwoofer
Power Supply Corsair HX850i Platinum | 19.5v 180w Delta brick
Software Windows 10 Pro x64 | Windows 10 Home x64
If this information is true, I think I might be buying one or more. I'll be waiting for the reviews first, of course.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,662 (0.34/day)
Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card
37.5% increase in core count for an 22% (w/o packaging. 17.8% as package) increase in die size...on the same process node?
Even if AMD managed a transistor density ~Pitcairn, that seems a little out of balance.

Kind of puts Pitcairn's 6.04 SP/mm^2 to shame if that is indeed the case.

The SP section of the Hawaii die may have the same density as Pitcairn; it's just that since the size of the other logic on the die is relatively fixed, as you add more SP then the efficiency increases.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
468 (0.08/day)
System Name It does stuff
Processor Ryzen 3600
Motherboard B550 Gaming X V2
Cooling Stock
Memory 16GB DDR4 3600
Video Card(s) RX 6700XT
Storage Too much
Display(s) 27" & 21.5"
Case Antec 300
Audio Device(s) ASUS Xonar DGX / Sony MDR-XB500s
Power Supply Corsair 750W
Software Win10 64
Looking forward to seeing what the 97xx / 98xx are like :)
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
2,785 (0.61/day)
Location
New Zealand
System Name MoneySink
Processor 2600K @ 4.8
Motherboard P8Z77-V
Cooling AC NexXxos XT45 360, RayStorm, D5T+XSPC tank, Tygon R-3603, Bitspower
Memory 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600C8
Video Card(s) GTX 780 SLI (EVGA SC ACX + Giga GHz Ed.)
Storage Kingston HyperX SSD (128) OS, WD RE4 (1TB), RE2 (1TB), Cav. Black (2 x 500GB), Red (4TB)
Display(s) Achieva Shimian QH270-IPSMS (2560x1440) S-IPS
Case NZXT Switch 810
Audio Device(s) onboard Realtek yawn edition
Power Supply Seasonic X-1050
Software Win8.1 Pro
Benchmark Scores 3.5 litres of Pale Ale in 18 minutes.
The SP section of the Hawaii die may have the same density as Pitcairn; it's just that since the size of the other logic on the die is relatively fixed, as you add more SP then the efficiency increases.

Wouldn't the uncore ( memory controllers and GDDR interface, I/O, thread dispatch etc) be more in line with Tahiti than Pitcairn- the latter after all requiring a smaller amount of die real estate from its 256-bit bus width? AFAIW, memory control/interface still makes up the largest part of the uncore
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
1,926 (0.46/day)
Location
UK
System Name TITAN Slayer / CPUCannon / MassFX
Processor i7 5960X @ 4.6Ghz / i7 3960x @5.0Ghz / FX6350 @ 4.?Ghz
Motherboard Rampage V Extreme / Rampage IV Extreme / MSI 970 Gaming
Cooling Phanteks PHTC14PE 2.5K 145mm TRs / Custom waterloop / Phanteks PHTC14PE + 3K 140mm Noctuas
Memory Crucial 2666 11-13-13-25 1.45V / G.skill RipjawsX 2400 10-12-12-34 1.7V / Crucial 2133 9-9-9-27 1.7V
Video Card(s) 3 Fury X in CF / R9 Fury 3840 cores 1145/570 1.3V / Nothing ATM
Storage 500GB Crucial SSD and 3TB WD Black / WD 1TB Black(OS) + WD 3TB Green / WD 1TB Blue
Display(s) LG 29UM67 80Hz/Asus mx299q 2560x1080 @ 84Hz / Asus VX239 1920x1080 @60hz
Case Dismatech easy v3.0 / Xigmatek Alfar (Open side panel)
Audio Device(s) M-audio M-track / realtek ALC 1150
Power Supply EVGA G2 1600W / CoolerMaster V1000 / Seasonic 620 M12-II
Mouse Mouse in review process/Razer Naga Epic 2011/Razer Naga 2014
Keyboard Keyboard in review process / Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2014/Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2011
Software Windows 7 Ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate / Windows 7 ultimate
Benchmark Scores cinebench 15.41 3960x @ 5.3ghz Wprime32m 3.352 3960x @ 5.25ghz Super PI 32m: 6m 42s 472ms @5.25ghz
So now I can go look for a buyer for my 7970
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
I'd love to see a pre-release (sale) review... and a price. Though, if I'm not mistaken I thought I heard something that they'll be under $600. So that probably means $599 but you never know.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,662 (0.34/day)
Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card
Wouldn't the uncore ( memory controllers and GDDR interface, I/O, thread dispatch etc) be more in line with Tahiti than Pitcairn- the latter after all requiring a smaller amount of die real estate from its 256-bit bus width? AFAIW, memory control/interface still makes up the largest part of the uncore

You're right - I just did the math and my original statement couldn't be correct (that most of the increase in area efficiency could just be due to the increased number of SP). If I assume that the die area occupied by everything other than the SPs is identical between Hawaii and Tahiti, then a set of linear equations can be formed:

2816x + y = 430
2048x + y = 365

where x is the die area per SP and y is the die area occupied by everything other than the SPs.

This works out to be y (uncore die area) = 192 mm^2 and x (die area per SP) = 0.0846 mm^2. This would mean that if Tahiti's SP's were identical to the ones in Hawaii then Tahiti would be 52% uncore. But just looking at die pictures of Tahiti shows that this is obviously untrue.

So some serious optimizations have to had been done. Credit is due to AMD for making such a die area efficiency gain without reducing the process size. Where performance lines up is yet to be told though.

EDIT: this increase in efficiency not be true, see my post below

I'd love to see a pre-release (sale) review... and a price. Though, if I'm not mistaken I thought I heard something that they'll be under $600. So that probably means $599 but you never know.

The R9 290X is clocked 16% lower than the 7970 GHz Edition but has 37.5% more SP. If the performance of Hawaii scales linearly with SP and clock speed with respect to Tahiti, then based on the TPU performance chart the R9 290X should be 97% as fast as GTX 780. If a dynamic boost mode is implemented (ala 7790) as has been rumored then they should be neck and neck in performance, possibly with the R9 290X being a little faster if it can boost over 1GHz consistently. However, as with any product the price is what will really determine a winner. But even if the R9 290X is priced the same as GTX 780, the R9 290X should be the better buy.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
2,785 (0.61/day)
Location
New Zealand
System Name MoneySink
Processor 2600K @ 4.8
Motherboard P8Z77-V
Cooling AC NexXxos XT45 360, RayStorm, D5T+XSPC tank, Tygon R-3603, Bitspower
Memory 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600C8
Video Card(s) GTX 780 SLI (EVGA SC ACX + Giga GHz Ed.)
Storage Kingston HyperX SSD (128) OS, WD RE4 (1TB), RE2 (1TB), Cav. Black (2 x 500GB), Red (4TB)
Display(s) Achieva Shimian QH270-IPSMS (2560x1440) S-IPS
Case NZXT Switch 810
Audio Device(s) onboard Realtek yawn edition
Power Supply Seasonic X-1050
Software Win8.1 Pro
Benchmark Scores 3.5 litres of Pale Ale in 18 minutes.
The R9 290X is clocked 16% lower than the 7970 GHz Edition but has 37.5% more SP. If the performance of Hawaii scales linearly with SPs and clock speed with respect to Tahiti, then based on the TPU performance chart the R9 290X should be 97% as fast as GTX 780. If a dynamic boost mode is implemented (ala 7790) as has been rumored then they should be neck and neck in performance, possibly with the R9 290X being a little faster if it can boost over 1GHz consistently.
Which would also account for the measured statement from Matt Skynner that highlighted perf/mm^2 rather than outright performance
However, the price is what will really determine a winner.
Hopefully:
1. AMD and Nvidia don't reach some kind of unwritten (and non verifiable) understanding, and
2. Yields and production ramp is sufficient to make 1. unnecessary.

BTW: I Googled the Tahiti die shot image you posted, and a poster at B3D (fellix) cleaned up the image (or one very similar) which should make calculations easier....assuming of course that there isn't a radical difference in architecture which I think would be unlikely
 

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Messages
12,944 (2.61/day)
Location
Loveland, CO
System Name Ryzen Reflection
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling 2x EK PE360 | TechN AM4 AMD Block Black | EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G | 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage WD SN850 500GB (OS) | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s) Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS | Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS | Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case Lian Li PC-011D XL | Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s) FiiO K7 | Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
If these still have 32ROPs that is going to kill the performance if this GPU. Needs at least 48.
 
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Messages
531 (0.11/day)
Location
Inside a mini ITX
System Name ITX Desktop
Processor Core i7 9700K
Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Pro WiFi Z390
Cooling Arctic esports 34 duo.
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming OC White PRO
Storage Samsung 970 EVO Plus | Intel SSD 660p
Case NZXT H200
Power Supply Corsair CX Series 750 Watt
the R9 290X should be 97% as fast as GTX 780.

I don't think AMD will release a flagship card that is slower than 780. If they can't beat their competitor's previous generation card, it will be a fail.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,662 (0.34/day)
Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card
Which would also account for the measured statement from Matt Skynner that highlighted perf/mm^2 rather than outright performance

Hopefully:
1. AMD and Nvidia don't reach some kind of unwritten (and non verifiable) understanding, and
2. Yields and production ramp is sufficient to make 1. unnecessary.

BTW: I Googled the Tahiti die shot image you posted, and a poster at B3D (fellix) cleaned up the image (or one very similar) which should make calculations easier....assuming of course that there isn't a radical difference in architecture which I think would be unlikely

Thanks for that - it makes things a lot clearer. By some rough cropping I just calculated by pixels that since the entire die in that image is 1283058 pixels and the shaders are 622400 pixels. That brings up a startling revelation. That would mean the non-shaders is 51.5% of the die, which is exactly in line what what I said earlier. So maybe what AMD did is just tacked on 768 more shaders to Tahiti without any major reworking and called it a day. The only way the that die efficiency could possibly increase is if there were 48 ROPs squeezed onto the Hawaii die instead of 32 in Tahiti, which would mean everything else would have to be smaller.

I don't think AMD will release a flagship card that is slower than 780. If they can't beat their competitor's previous generation card, it will be a fail.

It all depends on the boost algorithm and how it is implemented. As I said, if it can consistently boost past 1GHz then it should be faster than GTX 780 (by about 10% in that case).
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
468 (0.08/day)
System Name It does stuff
Processor Ryzen 3600
Motherboard B550 Gaming X V2
Cooling Stock
Memory 16GB DDR4 3600
Video Card(s) RX 6700XT
Storage Too much
Display(s) 27" & 21.5"
Case Antec 300
Audio Device(s) ASUS Xonar DGX / Sony MDR-XB500s
Power Supply Corsair 750W
Software Win10 64
It's a newer GCN revision too though, so just comparing numbers of shaders isn't good enough to judge performance.
 
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
2,516 (0.50/day)
Location
Canada
System Name m1dg3t | DeathBox | HairPi 3
Processor 3570k @ 4.0 1.15v BIOS | q9550 @ 3.77 1.325v BIOS
Motherboard Asrock z77e iTX | p5q Dlx 2301 BIOS
Cooling Custom Water | D-14 & HR-03gt | Passive HSF
Memory Samsung MV-3V4G3D 4g x 2 @ 1866 1.35v | OcZ RpR 2g x 4 @ 1067 2.2v
Video Card(s) MSi 7950 tf3 @1000 / 1350 | Asus 5870 V2 @ 900 / 1275
Storage Adata sx900 256Gb / WD 2500 HHTZ | WD 1001 FALS x 2
Display(s) BenQ gw2750hm | 46" Sharp Quatron
Case BitFenix Prodigy - m0dd3d | Antec Fusion Remote MAX
Audio Device(s) Onboard Toslink > Yamaha HTR 6290 | Xonar HDAV1.3 > Yamaha DSP z7
Power Supply Ocz mXp700w | Ocz zx850w | Cannakit 5v 2.5a
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G9x - Cable Repaired
Keyboard TT Meka G1 - Black w Cherry Blacks| Logitech G11
Software Win7 Home | Xp sp3 & Vista ultimate | Raspbian
Benchmark Scores Epeen!! Who needs epeen??
If these still have 32ROPs that is going to kill the performance if this GPU. Needs at least 48.

48 ROPs with 512bit and i'd start touching myself
 

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Messages
12,944 (2.61/day)
Location
Loveland, CO
System Name Ryzen Reflection
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling 2x EK PE360 | TechN AM4 AMD Block Black | EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G | 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage WD SN850 500GB (OS) | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s) Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS | Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS | Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case Lian Li PC-011D XL | Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s) FiiO K7 | Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
48 ROPs with 512bit and i'd start touching myself

It was said in another specification reveal that it'll be 384 bit bus with 3GB of memory again like the 7970.
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
2,785 (0.61/day)
Location
New Zealand
System Name MoneySink
Processor 2600K @ 4.8
Motherboard P8Z77-V
Cooling AC NexXxos XT45 360, RayStorm, D5T+XSPC tank, Tygon R-3603, Bitspower
Memory 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600C8
Video Card(s) GTX 780 SLI (EVGA SC ACX + Giga GHz Ed.)
Storage Kingston HyperX SSD (128) OS, WD RE4 (1TB), RE2 (1TB), Cav. Black (2 x 500GB), Red (4TB)
Display(s) Achieva Shimian QH270-IPSMS (2560x1440) S-IPS
Case NZXT Switch 810
Audio Device(s) onboard Realtek yawn edition
Power Supply Seasonic X-1050
Software Win8.1 Pro
Benchmark Scores 3.5 litres of Pale Ale in 18 minutes.
It's a newer GCN revision too though, so just comparing numbers of shaders isn't good enough to judge performance.
If anything, the real estate taken up by the cores (and by extension the Compute Units) should either be relatively static, or increase for a given node where performance increases.

What precisely would AMD cull to decrease size? Cache ? Vector and texture units ? the number of load/store units ?
The other alternatives are AMD have made some breakthrough in transistor density...or Tahiti was a badly laid out chip.
 
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
289 (0.06/day)
Processor i5 4670K @4.4GHz 1.239V
Motherboard Asus Z87M-PLUS
Cooling High Pressure Fan System
Memory 24GB DDR3 2400MHz
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290 4GB
Storage 256GB Samsung 830, 500gb WD Blue 7200rpm
Display(s) 23inch Dell LCD
Case Silverstone Sugo SG10B
Power Supply Antec TP-750
Software Windows 10
This gets my hopes up for something on par with the 780, if so and it doesnt costs stupid amounts I'm going to upgrade form my HD 6950 2GB that I bought on release. I missed to 7000 series due to the huge bump in price at release (much more sensible now at £270 for an HD 7970 GHZ) so lets hope they undercut Nvidia with the same performance.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
1,662 (0.34/day)
Location
State College, PA, US
System Name My Surround PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard ASUS STRIX X670E-F
Cooling Swiftech MCP35X / EK Quantum CPU / Alphacool GPU / XSPC 480mm w/ Corsair Fans
Memory 96GB (2 x 48 GB) G.Skill DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Suprim X 24GB
Storage WD SN850 2TB, 2 x 512GB Samsung PM981a, 4 x 4TB HGST NAS HDD for Windows Storage Spaces
Display(s) 2 x Viotek GFI27QXA 27" 4K 120Hz + LG UH850 4K 60Hz + HMD
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Sony MDR-7506 / Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x 1 kW
Mouse Patriot Viper V560
Keyboard Corsair K100
VR HMD HP Reverb G2
Software Windows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores Mellanox ConnectX-3 10 Gb/s Fiber Network Card
It's a newer GCN revision too though, so just comparing numbers of shaders isn't good enough to judge performance.

Remember, 7790 was a newer revision of GCN as well. But that meant nothing in terms of increased performance. To quote Anandtech on the 7790

In this new microarchitecture there are some changes – among other things the new microarchitecture implements some new instructions that will be useful for HSA, support for a larger number of compute work queues (also good for HSA) and it also implements a new version of AMD’s PowerTune technology (which we’ll get to in a bit) – but otherwise the differences from Southern Islands are very few. There are no notable changes in shader/CU efficiency, ROP efficiency, graphics features, etc. Unless you’re writing compute code for AMD GPUs, from what we know about this microarchitecture it’s likely you’d never notice a difference.

So if this is the same revised GCN architecture as the 7790, which it probably is, I wouldn't expect anything noticeable in efficiency improvements. The biggest improvement would be the boost algorithm, which is what would put this card over the GTX 780's performance instead of matching it.
 
Top