AMD Polaris 10 "Ellesmere" Die Shot Confirms Max Shader Count

[btarunr]

An AMD Polaris 10 "Ellesmere" based graphics card (RX 470 or RX 480) was taken apart down to its die, for science. Close up die-shots of the silicon reveal that 36 GCN compute units is all that the silicon has, and that the RX 480 indeed maxes out this stream processor count, with 2,304 stream processors at its disposal.

The die is fabbed by GlobalFoundries, on its swanky new 14 nm FinFET process. Redditors good at pattern-recognition could make out 36 "structures" spread across four quadrants, deducing them to be the GCN compute units. Each of these CUs feature 64 stream processors. Roadmaps reveal that the next high-end GPUs by AMD could be based on its newer "Vega" architecture.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[natr0n]

That's a nice wallpaper.

 

[Chaitanya]

There is also the Polaris XT thats been mentioned couple of times in past.

 

[HD64G]

Great find. Good to know that RX480 is the full chip.

 

[medi01]

What about die size, is it actually 230mm?

 

[dj-electric]

Great find. Good to know that RX480 is the full chip.

How is that great in any way?
Wouldn't you be glad for a stronger 2560SP chip paired with faster memory to make a faster card?

 

[Random Murderer]

How is that great in any way?
Wouldn't you be glad for a stronger 2560SP chip paired with faster memory to make a faster card?

That would be Vega, which has not been released yet.

 

[HD64G]

How is that great in any way?
Wouldn't you be glad for a stronger 2560SP chip paired with faster memory to make a faster card?

Killing or confirming rumors is nice thing imho. A rumor isn't the truth. Now we know the truth at least. And RX-485 might come later with mature process with less power consumption and better clocks.