AMD to launch their first 7nm GPU this quarter - increases investment in graphics hardware

AMD continues to invest in their graphics hardware and software

| Source: AMD Financial Earnings Call Author: Mark Campbell

AMD to launch their first 7nm GPU this quarter - increases investment in graphics hardware

AMD is on track to become the first company to manufacture 7nm graphics hardware, ahead of their rivals Nvidia. As part of their Q3 2018 earnings call, AMD's Lisa Su confirmed that the company is on track to release "the industry's first 7nm Datacenter GPU this quarter", which means that we can expect to hear more about AMD's 7nm graphics products within the next few months.



This 7nm product is almost certainly their 7nm Vega graphics card, which was showcased at Computex 2018, boasting support for "New Deep Learning Ops", "Hardware Virtualization" and a new "High-Speed Interconnect". AMD has claimed that they have already secured multiple datacenter wins and shipments in Q4, which will grow AMD's Datacenter GPU revenues in the coming quarter.



AMD has also stated that they plan to continue increasing their investments into both GPU hardware and software, with plans to develop " industry-leading products" that will " drive growth in the gaming, professional, and datacenter markets".







Back at Computex, AMD 7nm Vega GPU design was claimed to offer a 2x boost in power efficiency, a greater than 1.35x boost in performance as well as a 2x increase in transistor density, showcasing the obvious benefits of using TSMC's 7nm process node. In time, AMD will produce 7nm graphics cards which will cover a wider range of use cases, which will no doubt include the PC gaming segment.



At this time AMD's 7nm Vega graphics technology is not expected to be used to develop gaming products, which means that PC gamers will likely need to wait for the company's planned Navi graphics architecture before we see something that is next-gen from Radeon on the gaming side.







Over recent months I have seen more than a few comments which have stated that AMD should abandon Radeon, something which I would claim is a foolish proposition. CPU manufacturers need GPU IP to survive, with Intel's planned entry into the discrete GPU in market highlighting the need for both CPU and GPU leadership from both Intel and AMD.



Yes, AMD's Radeon Technologies Group is going through some hard times, but that doesn't mean that Radeon is any less useful to AMD than it was before. AMD relies on Radeon for their console-based Semi-Custom business and acts as a major selling point for the company's Raven Ridge APUs. Continued investment into Radeon will be vital for AMD's future, especially now that Intel has shifted more of their focus onto the discrete graphics market.



Radeon is an asset to AMD, not a liability, making AMD's increased investments into a Radeon a hugely positive move for the company as a whole. AMD needs to invest their newfound profits into continues research if they want to remains successful, with Radeon acting as one of the company's most lucrative growth vector outside of the x86 CPU market.



You can join the discussion on AMD's 7nm GPU plans and their increased investments into Radeon on the OC3D Forums.

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