Items tagged with Na'vi
We're beginning to hear a little bit more about Microsoft's next-generation Xbox gaming hardware. Although we don't have an official name for the console, the device is currently being developed under the codename Scarlett according to various reports. So, what will Scarlett bring to the tablet? Well, according to Microsoft Insider Brad Sams, it will be based on AMD's upcoming 7-nanometer Zen 2 microarchitecture, which should be no surprise. Zen 2 forms the basis of Rome-based EPYC server processors, and will also underpin AMD's third-generation Ryzen 3000 Series mainstream...
Read more...
AMD is investing heavily into 7-nanometer manufacturing technology, both for its CPUs and GPUs, only one of which currently competes at the high end of the market. That would be AMD's processor family, and specifically its Ryzen, Threadripper, and Epyc chips. What about graphics? AMD has mostly focused on the mid-range and low-end sectors with several refreshes to its Polaris GPU architecture, but is not willing to concede the high-end market to NVIDIA. "We believe, we will be very competitive overall and that includes the high-end of the GPU market. Obviously there are new products out there from...
Read more...
Figuratively and literally, AMD is putting all of its chips into 7-nanometer designs, an all-in move that could have a big payoff. On that GPU side, that includes a 7nm version of Vega due out later this year, and its next-generation Navi GPU. An early sample of the latter reportedly already exists, and has even been benchmarked. There are not many details surrounding Navi just yet, just lots of rumors and speculation. For example, it was rumored more than a year ago that Navi would be the first GPU from AMD to feature circuitry dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) operations. Former Radeon...
Read more...
Is it too early to starting thinking about past Navi? Of course not, provided you're willing to take any and all early information with a few grains of salt. As you might already now, Navi is slated to arrive sometime in 2019. There are still many questions surrounding Navi, but looking even further down the road, the codename for Navi's successor might be Arcturus. Let's talk about Navi for a moment before getting to Arcturus. It remains to be seen what kind of performance Navi will bring to the table, though rumor has it the next-gen GPU architecture will be more of a mid-range product. Compared...
Read more...
AMD made two big announcements after the closing bell today that affects its hardware business. There is some executive shuffling on the personnel side, and some changes with regards to 7nm production. On the personnel side, Jim Anderson, who served as AMD's General Manager and Senior Vice President of Global Computing and Graphics Sales, is leaving the company effective September 4th. Anderson decided to leave his post to take a position as President and CEO of Lattice Semiconductor. This is quite the move up the corporate latter for Anderson, who will also serve on the company's board of directors....
Read more...
There was a lot of hype and excitement surrounding Vega, the latest GPU architecture from AMD, spearheaded by former Radeon Technologies Group boss Raja Koduri (who is now at Intel where, among other things, is working on a discrete gaming GPU). When it arrived, Vega brought parity to NVIDIA's Pascal architecture, which at the time had been on the market for a year. Looking ahead, there is chatter that AMD's next GPU architecture codenamed Navi will not propel the company ahead of NVIDIA in graphics, either. Navi's existence is not a secret by any means, though most of the details surrounding the...
Read more...
This has been a big year for AMD, there is no doubt about that. Having launched a new CPU and GPU architectures (Zen and Vega, respectively), the company thrust itself back into relevancy in the high-end market, whereas previously the top shelf was the exclusive domain of rival Intel. So, what's next? On the GPU side, AMD is expected to roll out its Navi architecture sometime next year, with references to its next generation GPU already showing up in driver code. Over on Beyond3D's forums, there is a thread titled, "AMD: Navi Speculation, Rumors, and Discussion." Just as it sounds, the thread is...
Read more...
We are just a few days away from the comsumer launch of AMD’s next generation Vega graphics architecture, which will underpin the Radeon RX Vega family. However, there is already talk about what’s coming after Vega; and that is Navi. Up until this point, not much has been said about Navi architecture, other than vague descriptions citing “scalability” and “next generation memory”. Other than that, we’ve been told that Navi will be built on a 7nm FinFET process when it launches next year. Today, however, a new report is suggesting that Navi will be the first GPU from AMD with circuity that is dedicated...
Read more...
If you thought the competition between AMD was Intel was already reaching a fever pitch, hang onto your hat, the best is yet to come. With Ryzen, AMD put itself back into contention in the high-end market where enthusiasts like to loiter. But Ryzen is not the end game for AMD, it is just the beginning. Looking ahead, AMD is planning a die shrink to 7 nanometers for its Zen 2 CPUs, which it will tape out later this year. A tape out is when a company like AMD finalizes its semiconductor design before sending it off for manufacturing. Since we are already approaching the halfway mark of 2017, AMD...
Read more...
The big news yesterday from the AMD camp was with the official announcement of the Radeon Pro Duo, which was previously known as the Radeon R9 Fury X2. The water-cooled graphics card features two R9 Fury GPU cores clocked at 1GHz all operating within a 350W power envelope. But of course, we’re always looking to see what’s right around the corner, and in AMD’s case, that means Polaris. Polaris is destined to arrive about mid-way through 2016 and will move from a 28nm to a 14nm FinFET (Global Foundries) manufacturing processes. The move to FinFET allows for a radical decrease in power consumption...
Read more...
Fans of James Cameron's Avatar were undoubtedly thrilled with the movie's appearance on DVD and Blu-ray last week, but cat lovers who purchased the HD version of the film have been heared yowling discontentedly in the bushes. In a deeply ironic twist, the story of the nature-loving, free-spirited Na'vi is only available to humans whose Blu-ray players have been updated to support the latest DRM schemes. You won't find that mentioned in much of the official discussion of the problem—Fox likened the problem to the need for a software update, "the same way computer programs such as browsers, Microsoft...
Read more...
