AMD Arcturus Might Be The Codename Succeeding Navi

[Michael_S]

I agree with this ideea with one condition. You have to believe you can deliver a chip which can compare with Nvidia's greatest.

Vega 64 was not that chip. AMD's luck was the crypto boom and that the chip was good at it. If AMD can't do a chip that can beat at least the 2080, than there's no point to it.

In the CPU market, AMD Ryzen does well by offering 80-90% of Intel performance at greatly reduced cost. I think the same strategy could work for GPUs - it would be best if they have something to match the GTX 2080, but it wouldn't be bad to have something that comes close but is 30% cheaper.

[valici]

If you're speaking of high end cards, I suspect there's a strong case that halo cards drive sales of low end cards. Maybe Nvidia genuinely makes massive profits from the GTX 1080 Ti and new GTX 2080 and so forth. But I suspect instead the best benefit from having those cards and selling them to a small volume of enthusiasts is that it causes hundreds of thousands of other enthusiasts to buy a GTX 1060 or GTX 1070.

So an improved Vega 64 successor could lose money for AMD on its own but still be worthwhile by driving sales of the RX580 and its successor.

I agree with this ideea with one condition. You have to believe you can deliver a chip which can compare with Nvidia's greatest.

Vega 64 was not that chip. AMD's luck was the crypto boom and that the chip was good at it. If AMD can't do a chip that can beat at least the 2080, than there's no point to it.

[valici]

They already did the same with customization for PS4 and PS4 pros APUs. As I understand it most if not all tech stays with AMD.
see for example the checkerboard-rendering, which is freaking great tech.

I does not matter what you think, especially since the GPUs used in PS5 will be bought by the millions. And again, the tech stays with AMD, so you will find improvements mandated or originated from Sony there. Potential with some clauses to keep Microsoft's fingers from them for a period of time.

Apparently both companies are fine with it, so whats the issue?
Sony has alot of expertise that can complement AMDs (the picture-processing in their TVs is market-leading, and their digital cameras are among the best), but does not have a market for GPUs outside the consoles.

https://wccftech.com/exclusive-amd-n...dmap-cost-zen/

1. I was speaking about a high eng >500 mm2 chip. Consoles do not have that GPU power.
Xbox one X has a 360 mm2 including the CPU part and is a little bigger than RX 580.

2. I don't think Sony can design a better GPU than AMD who has 20 years or more of graphics design experience.
All modern console graphic chips are derived from consumer GPU tech. It's not financially feasible to have 2 separate technologies. The same with Nintendo's Switch which I believe uses Nvidia's Maxwell graphics.

[Michael_S]

I think it's designed fully by AMD, but I think they are not so willing to invest tens of million of dollar in a chip not many will buy.

If you're speaking of high end cards, I suspect there's a strong case that halo cards drive sales of low end cards. Maybe Nvidia genuinely makes massive profits from the GTX 1080 Ti and new GTX 2080 and so forth. But I suspect instead the best benefit from having those cards and selling them to a small volume of enthusiasts is that it causes hundreds of thousands of other enthusiasts to buy a GTX 1060 or GTX 1070.

So an improved Vega 64 successor could lose money for AMD on its own but still be worthwhile by driving sales of the RX580 and its successor.

Cool.

I can't help but think of Arcturus StarCraft 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5FM4OPPlE&t=53s

Me too, I didn't know it was the name of a star either. Thanks for that, Ungweliante (by the way, is 'Ungweliante' a play on 'Ungoliant' from Tolkien's Silmarillion?)

[discordian]

I really don't like the idea. I mean AMD works with both Microsoft and Sony and as with PS4 and Xbox (GCN1 for first generation and Polaris for Pro and X), AMD will supply both with the same graphics solution. So why would Sony would help and pay to develop chips also used by Microsoft....

They already did the same with customization for PS4 and PS4 pros APUs. As I understand it most if not all tech stays with AMD.
see for example the checkerboard-rendering, which is freaking great tech.

I think it's designed fully by AMD, but I think they are not so willing to invest tens of million of dollar in a chip not many will buy.

I does not matter what you think, especially since the GPUs used in PS5 will be bought by the millions. And again, the tech stays with AMD, so you will find improvements mandated or originated from Sony there. Potential with some clauses to keep Microsoft's fingers from them for a period of time.

Apparently both companies are fine with it, so whats the issue?
Sony has alot of expertise that can complement AMDs (the picture-processing in their TVs is market-leading, and their digital cameras are among the best), but does not have a market for GPUs outside the consoles.

https://wccftech.com/exclusive-amd-navi-gpu-roadmap-cost-zen/

[ms178]

The next earnings release for Q3/2018 is scheduled for October 18th. I guess this might be one date to watch for some news snippets about future products. Especially if they want to target the Christmas season there is not much time left. And as the market is flooded now with special offers of Pascal cards, it is really tempting even for me... if I knew Navi or Vega Refresh were close, I would wait a bit longer. But there is currently a big hole in AMD's offerings between 250 and 400 EUR where these GTX 1070's offer great value.

[valici]

valici : Apparently Sony is highly involved with Navi, so it might be that they are behind keeping everything behind wraps for as long as possible.

I really don't like the idea. I mean AMD works with both Microsoft and Sony and as with PS4 and Xbox (GCN1 for first generation and Polaris for Pro and X), AMD will supply both with the same graphics solution. So why would Sony would help and pay to develop chips also used by Microsoft....

I think it's designed fully by AMD, but I think they are not so willing to invest tens of million of dollar in a chip not many will buy.

[L_A_G]

Seems like something found by or posted on Phoronix is in the (tech) news practically every couple of weeks... However working in the open as you have to do in open source it's kind of inevitable that the more resources you put into enabling upcoming hardware under open source systems, the more it's going to tell people about your upcoming hardware.

[discordian]

valici : Apparently Sony is highly involved with Navi, so it might be that they are behind keeping everything behind wraps for as long as possible.

[valici]

What interests me most if Navi will have an high end enthusiast card.
The rumors on the internets is that it will be more in the mainstream market, smaller die. Of course that's where most consumers buy from, but AMD need a halo card to say, Hey we're still here and kicking ass.
But so far no info from AMD about the new generation of graphics cards. I remember that we've got official info and demo of Polaris and Vega with at least 6 months before release during Raja's reign. But now, zip, nada.
It makes me think that AMD is keeping its cards close to its chest, or NAVI is at least 8months - 1 year away.

I'm hoping the first, but expecting the last. Of course there are people here who know...