The first AMD Radeon graphics cards based on the company's "Polaris" architecture are slated for a late-May launch, according to Thai tech-site Zolkorn. The company is reportedly planning an elaborate launch event in Macau, China, days ahead of the 2016 Computex trade-show in Taipei. AMD has reportedly already sent invites to media outlets, although to a very limited number (in comparison to, say, NVIDIA's GTX 1080 event in Austin, US). The event could see a paper-launch of the first Radeon R9 400 series graphics cards based on the 14 nm "Ellesmere" and "Baffin" chips, with AIB-branded cards being exhibited at Computex, and market-availability following shortly after.

107 Comments on AMD to Launch First "Polaris" Graphics Cards by Late May

1 to 25 of 107 Go to Page 12345 PreviousNext

#1 Xzibit

I think AMD needs to 1up Nvidia and say Polaris is 3x faster then Hawaii in VR.



How awkward would it be if its on the 27th Posted on May 9th 2016, 8:24 Reply

#2 INSTG8R

Vanguard Beta Tester Please don't make my Fury irrelevant....Please don't make my Fury irrelevant...:( Posted on May 9th 2016, 8:44 Reply

#3 Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop Honestly I'm way more excited about the new AMD cards. The low-mid range is where the interesting stuff happens. Also I could never bring myself to buy a GPU for more than €200. Posted on May 9th 2016, 8:46 Reply

#4 hojnikb

Yes AMD, i will take ~980Ti performance for 300€. Posted on May 9th 2016, 9:20 Reply

#5 Fluffmeister

hojnikb Yes AMD, i will take ~980Ti performance for 300€. Please don't make INSTG8R mad. Please don't make INSTG8R mad. Posted on May 9th 2016, 9:24 Reply

#6 GhostRyder

Well...will be interesting at least to see which one gets launched first and how it does. My money is on the R9 490. Posted on May 9th 2016, 9:41 Reply

#7 ZoneDymo

Frick Honestly I'm way more excited about the new AMD cards. The low-mid range is where the interesting stuff happens. Also I could never bring myself to buy a GPU for more than €200. This, for the function it has (running games every now and then) I could not justify for myself spending more. This, for the function it has (running games every now and then) I could not justify for myself spending more. Posted on May 9th 2016, 9:51 Reply

#8 bug

hojnikb Yes AMD, i will take ~980Ti performance for 300€. Me too, but economics says "never sell for less than you can get away with". Thus, if it's €300, it will most likely not perform anywhere near 980Ti. It may reach its performance in select, synthetic benchmarks, but overall it will lag. Me too, but economics says "never sell for less than you can get away with". Thus, if it's €300, it will most likelyperform anywhere near 980Ti. It may reach its performance in select, synthetic benchmarks, but overall it will lag. Posted on May 9th 2016, 10:19 Reply

#9 ShurikN

Which one is Ellesmere and which one is Baffin (Polaris 10/11)? Posted on May 9th 2016, 10:23 Reply

#10 The Quim Reaper

INSTG8R Please don't make my Fury irrelevant....Please don't make my Fury irrelevant...:( Polaris is NOT a replacement for Fury, that will come in 2017 with Vega cards.



Polaris is low-mid end, 390X performance for $200-$300. Polaris is NOT a replacement for Fury, that will come in 2017 with Vega cards.Polaris is low-mid end, 390X performance for $200-$300. Posted on May 9th 2016, 10:34 Reply

#11 fynxer

INSTG8R Please don't make my Fury irrelevant....Please don't make my Fury irrelevant...:( Dude, you must have known that Fury was a half baked experiment. HBM Gen 1 (only 4GB), 28nm and basically unchanged architecture. I am just curious why you bought Fury, you must have known that 28nm product cannot come close to 14nm and the architectural improvements would be like 2x next gen. The jump from 28nm to 14nm is a two generations jump since they skipped 20nm.



Just saying be prepared to be amazed by Polaris, sorry to say it will make your Fury obsolete.



I will wait for the real power GPUs that will arrive with HBM2 first half 2017. I can't see a need for a new gpu 2016 for me since it wont be any games out this year that will be made for DX12 only anyways and also VR really need more power than what the first simple 14nm will offer. Dude, you must have known that Fury was a half baked experiment. HBM Gen 1 (only 4GB), 28nm and basically unchanged architecture. I am just curious why you bought Fury, you must have known that 28nm product cannot come close to 14nm and the architectural improvements would be like 2x next gen. The jump from 28nm to 14nm is a two generations jump since they skipped 20nm.Just saying be prepared to be amazed by Polaris, sorry to say it will make your Fury obsolete.I will wait for the real power GPUs that will arrive with HBM2 first half 2017. I can't see a need for a new gpu 2016 for me since it wont be any games out this year that will be made for DX12 only anyways and also VR really need more power than what the first simple 14nm will offer. Posted on May 9th 2016, 10:37 Reply

#12 The Quim Reaper

fynxer Just saying be prepared to be amazed by Polaris, sorry to say it will make your Fury obsolete. Stop posting crap, Polaris is not the replacement for Fury level cards. Stop posting crap, Polaris is not the replacement for Fury level cards. Posted on May 9th 2016, 10:41 Reply

#13 Readlight

I want to know how these cards perform on old cpu, ten years amd and single core, on the past best games. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:05 Reply

#14 fynxer

The Quim Reaper Stop posting crap, Polaris is not the replacement for Fury level cards. Serious, the GTX1080 (16nm) is far more powerful than Titan X and 980Ti. You really think AMD will hold back Polaris just so Fury owners can fell good about them self.



The name of the game is to beat nvidia and if they make an product that is inferior to Fury AMD is doomed. They cannot compete with a 28nm product against 16nm, AMD have to make an 14nm GPU that is at least as powerful as GTX1080, in other words make the Fury obsolete. Serious, the GTX1080 (16nm) is far more powerful than Titan X and 980Ti. You really think AMD will hold back Polaris just so Fury owners can fell good about them self.The name of the game is to beat nvidia and if they make an product that is inferior to Fury AMD is doomed. They cannot compete with a 28nm product against 16nm, AMD have to make an 14nm GPU that is at least as powerful as GTX1080, in other words make the Fury obsolete. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:07 Reply

#15 rruff

GhostRyder Well...will be interesting at least to see which one gets launched first and how it does. My money is on the R9 490. I'd take that bet. Even AMD is only touting VR spec (970/390) for Polaris which would be 480. And I gotta think they'd rather have a few months of the mid range on 14nm to themselves rather than go toe to toe with Nvidia. I'd take that bet. Even AMD is only touting VR spec (970/390) for Polaris which would be 480. And I gotta think they'd rather have a few months of the mid range on 14nm to themselves rather than go toe to toe with Nvidia. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:15 Reply

#16 The Quim Reaper

fynxer You really think AMD will hold back Polaris just so Fury owners can fell good about them self. And you don't understand the market AMD are after with Polaris, cheap cards good enough for VR costing ~$300.



They are NOT interested in the furthering the high end ($500-$600) market right now in 2016. And you don't understand the market AMD are after with Polaris, cheap cards good enough for VR costing ~$300.They are NOT interested in the furthering the high end ($500-$600) market right now in 2016. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:18 Reply

#17 cdawall

where the hell are my stars Readlight I want to know how these cards perform on old cpu, ten years amd and single core, on the past best games. It will be cpu limited. Next question? It will be cpu limited. Next question? Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:20 Reply

#18 G33k2Fr34k

fynxer Serious, the GTX1080 (16nm) is far more powerful than Titan X and 980Ti. You really think AMD will hold back Polaris just so Fury owners can fell good about them self.



The name of the game is to beat nvidia and if they make an product that is inferior to Fury AMD is doomed. They cannot compete with a 28nm product against 16nm, AMD have to make an 14nm GPU that is at least as powerful as GTX1080, in other words make the Fury obsolete. The GTX1080 is not far more powerful than TitanX, it's ~25% faster than the TitanX in a best case scenario.

I think Nvidia is trying to strangle AMD by releasing these unnecessarily powerful cards and selling them at adequate prices. AMD wasn't probably expecting this, and had they known what Nvidia's was up to, they would have used their Polaris 10 chips very differently, by clocking them much more aggressively, which they most certainly could have given the rumored low power ratings of the Polaris 10 cards.



My guess is that AMD wanted the Polaris 10 cards to be a replacement for the 390/390X with slightly better performance and much better power ratings ( ~110W TDP ). The pricing they originally had in mind was ~$250 for Polaris 10 and ~$350 for Polaris 10 XT. This is obviously not going to work out because the GTX1070 is priced very close to the $350 price point. What AMD can do now is lower the pricing of the Polaris 10 cards down to ~$200 and ~$275, and try to bring forward the release date of their Vega based cards. The GTX1080 is not far more powerful than TitanX, it's ~25% faster than the TitanX in a best case scenario.I think Nvidia is trying to strangle AMD by releasing these unnecessarily powerful cards and selling them at adequate prices. AMD wasn't probably expecting this, and had they known what Nvidia's was up to, they would have used their Polaris 10 chips very differently, by clocking them much more aggressively, which they most certainly could have given the rumored low power ratings of the Polaris 10 cards.My guess is that AMD wanted the Polaris 10 cards to be a replacement for the 390/390X with slightly better performance and much better power ratings ( ~110W TDP ). The pricing they originally had in mind was ~$250 for Polaris 10 and ~$350 for Polaris 10 XT. This is obviously not going to work out because the GTX1070 is priced very close to the $350 price point. What AMD can do now is lower the pricing of the Polaris 10 cards down to ~$200 and ~$275, and try to bring forward the release date of their Vega based cards. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:32 Reply

#19 geon2k2

G33k2Fr34k ... AMD wasn't probably expecting this ... Somehow I also think it will be like a cold shower for them. The performance increase between 9 and 10 generation is staggering and I think justified if you think about node improvement, double the GPU frequency and double the memory bandwidth just due to DDR5X. And more than this the price also sounds good ... although I'm like somebody ahead of me, I could never spend more than 250$ on a GPU, especially as in 2-3 years I'll probably upgrade anyway. Somehow I also think it will be like a cold shower for them. The performance increase between 9 and 10 generation is staggering and I think justified if you think about node improvement, double the GPU frequency and double the memory bandwidth just due to DDR5X. And more than this the price also sounds good ... although I'm like somebody ahead of me, I could never spend more than 250$ on a GPU, especially as in 2-3 years I'll probably upgrade anyway. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:44 Reply

#20 cdawall

where the hell are my stars So whats the "massive increase" based on? The 1070 performs like the 980Ti and the 1080 outperforms the 980Ti. This is the same phenomenon that has happened with every GPU series in the past what 10 years?



And remember the video released show far shows a 1080 running 500mhz+ over the boost clocks nvidia has released so there is always a chance you were watching one cherry picked as hell review sample.



Also remember times when this card beats out the titan X have been super specific with phrases like "using VR". Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:50 Reply

#21 buggalugs

fynxer Serious, the GTX1080 (16nm) is far more powerful than Titan X and 980Ti. You really think AMD will hold back Polaris just so Fury owners can fell good about them self.

. How do you work that out? The only benchmark available shows the 1080 performing LESS than a 980Ti, or about 10% better than a FuryX. The 980Ti is missing from all the nvidia marketing slides.



Theres a difference between what 16nm is capable of, and what Nvidia is allowing for the 1080. They always leave something in the tank for a refresh or 2, and the Ti version of 1080.



The 1080 is fast, but it doesnt crush current highend cards. Put it this way, if you have 980Ti or FuryX, there is no point in upgrading.



The way Nvidia is carefully crafting the marketing and PR around the 1080 launch, I wouldnt get carried away until real benchmarks are available. How do you work that out? The only benchmark available shows the 1080 performing LESS than a 980Ti, or about 10% better than a FuryX. The 980Ti is missing from all the nvidia marketing slides.Theres a difference between what 16nm is capable of, and what Nvidia is allowing for the 1080. They always leave something in the tank for a refresh or 2, and the Ti version of 1080.The 1080 is fast, but it doesnt crush current highend cards. Put it this way, if you have 980Ti or FuryX, there is no point in upgrading.The way Nvidia is carefully crafting the marketing and PR around the 1080 launch, I wouldnt get carried away until real benchmarks are available. Posted on May 9th 2016, 11:55 Reply

#22 geon2k2

cdawall So whats the "massive increase" based on? The 1070 performs like the 980Ti and the 1080 outperforms the 980Ti. This is the same phenomenon that has happened with every GPU series in the past what 10 years?



And remember the video released show far shows a 1080 running 500mhz+ over the boost clocks nvidia has released so there is always a chance you were watching one cherry picked as hell review sample.



Also remember times when this card beats out the titan X have been super specific with phrases like "using VR". www.techpowerup.com/222279/nvidia-announces-the-geforce-gtx-1080-faster-than-gtx-980-sli



1080 faster than 980 SLI ... should be pretty fast isn't it? 1080 faster than 980 SLI ... should be pretty fast isn't it? Posted on May 9th 2016, 12:02 Reply

#23 ZoneDymo

fynxer Serious, the GTX1080 (16nm) is far more powerful than Titan X and 980Ti. You really think AMD will hold back Polaris just so Fury owners can fell good about them self.



The name of the game is to beat nvidia and if they make an product that is inferior to Fury AMD is doomed. They cannot compete with a 28nm product against 16nm, AMD have to make an 14nm GPU that is at least as powerful as GTX1080, in other words make the Fury obsolete. Yeah...I would go to Nvidias own website and double check that...

In the Witcher the GTX1080 is 1.7 times faster then the GTX980....980 not 980Ti or TitanX.

and thats their own slide as well... Yeah...I would go to Nvidias own website and double check that...In the Witcher the GTX1080 is 1.7 times faster then the GTX980....980 not 980Ti or TitanX.and thats their own slide as well... Posted on May 9th 2016, 12:06 Reply

#24 MrGenius

I don't know what to think. AMD is sure holding their cards(no pun intended) close to their chest on this one. So far it's looking they're going to get a major beat down. If the GTX 1070 turns out to be as good and as cheap as it's supposed to be. Then AMD better be holding 5 aces. Because they're going to be screwed BIG TIME otherwise. Nobody in their right mind is going to buy the new batch of AMD cards unless they seriously kick ass and are priced seriously competitively. Not even me. As much as it pains me to say it. Because so far as I can tell these new AMD cards are going to be relatively weak. And almost certainly nowhere near Fury. But like I said, they could be keeping their secrets held tight for now. And maybe for good reason. It'd sure be a huge slap in Nvidia's face if they go all in(like they apparently are). And then, right as they think they've got it won, AMD pulls a platinum diamond encrusted rabbit out of their ass. Frankly it doesn't seem like a very likely scenario. But one never knows. It ain't over 'til... Posted on May 9th 2016, 12:07 Reply

#25 cdawall

where the hell are my stars geon2k2 www.techpowerup.com/222279/nvidia-announces-the-geforce-gtx-1080-faster-than-gtx-980-sli



1080 faster than 980 SLI ... should be pretty fast isn't it? You are missing the quote "in VR" or "under these specific circumstances" it doesn't have anything specifically listed as to when that happens. You are missing the quote "in VR" or "under these specific circumstances" it doesn't have anything specifically listed as to when that happens. Posted on May 9th 2016, 12:13 Reply