Fudzilla enjoys a track record of being one of the more reliable sources despite their contrary name; and it turns out, they have some very interesting news (read: rumor) on the AMD front. The Fiji XT core is the much hyped flagship game changer of the generation and will allegedly feature 8GB worth of HBM memory. Interestingly however, the pub claims that the top unit will actually be a dual GPU.

AMD readies Fiji XT; a Dual GPU Flagship - Working on a sub 20nm GPU as well

Simply put the report states that the Fiji flagship will have not one - but two GPU cores. Consequently, it will have 2 interposes and 2 HBMs for a grand total of 8GB HBM (which is technically 4GB x2). The Fiji XT based card was previously thought to be named the AMD Radeon R9 390X but if this report is true then that might not be the case! You heard it here first folks.

The source then goes on to mention about AMD's recent ventures in the VR industry and the recent Oculus Rift Crescent bay demo that was running on an "unannounced Radeon flagship". It references the Liquid VR slides which showed features such as Affinity Multi GPU and the requirement of two GPUs for asynchronous rendering. Here is a quote to refresh our reader's memory:

"Affinity Multi-GPU for scalable rendering, a technology that allows multiple GPUs to work together to improve frame rates in VR applications by allowing them to assign work to run on specific GPUs. Each GPU renders the viewpoint from one eye, and then composites the outputs into a single stereo 3D image. With this technology, multi-GPU configurations become ideal for high performance VR rendering, delivering high frame rates for a smoother experience. "

So the question we must now ask ourselves is - is VR the new gold rush in terms of emerging markets? AMD and Nvidia certainly seem to think so. It is worth mentioning that even though this lowers the chances of a single GPU flagship - they do not negate the possibility completely. We still will probably see a single Fiji based GPU sometime down the road. AMD is also apparently working hard on a next generation card that is based on a node smaller than 20nm. The exact memory type (HBM1 or HBM2) is not known.

Keeping in mind all these hints of Dual GPUs, the Crescent bay demo and Liquid VR itself, I must say that the rumor seems very plausible to me. Whats more, I have heard some rumblings about there "being no such thing as an R9 390X". While I chalked it up to the usual secrecy, maybe, just maybe, there is more to it this time.