Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
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Ohio USA
GPU sale prices today are lowest I've seen for a while. Maybe GPU prices are in the process of dropping significantly -- these sales being a harbinger.
GTX1080 gamer's card $550, RX570 gamers card $280, GTX1060 gamers card $260. Over list price; but, maybe not completely ridiculous anymore (on this one-day sale).
AMD cryptocurrency mining card ostensibly marked down from $1300 to $484. I assume that means miners aren't buying them -- even though AMD cards are preferred for mining.
[Up to now] Coffee Lake was generally regarded as the better gaming CPU in most cases. This appears to have dreastically changed with the Ryzen 7 2700X, which has managed to outperform the i7 8700K in no less than 7 out of 10 gaming tests conducted.
The $329 Ryzen 7 2700X absolutely dominates [lower core count Intel] in multi-threaded tests like wPrime, Cinebench R15 and x264 transcoding, all whilst maintaining a maximum temperature of ~65c, thanks to the incredible Wraith Prism cooler.
Finally we come to the overclocking performance of the chip, the reviewers managed to push it to 4.3GHz on all 8 cores using an H80i GT.
All-in-all the Ryzen 7 2700X appears to be all things to all people. It absolutely excels at multi-threaded performance with 8 cores and 16 threads, the six core Coffee Lakes simply can’t keep up.
At $329, it also undercuts Intel’s i7 8700K to win the bang for buck contest. The Ryzen 7 2700X appears to have hit the holy trifecta of silicon, superior overall performance, performance per watt and performance per dollar compared to the competition..
A couple pre-release articles have noted that the often included Wraith cooler (on 2700X) is actually quite good.
Needs the new model AMD 470 chipset gaming motherboard to accomplish all this.
Article reads like its written by an AMD fan (maybe it is). We'll see when more test reports hit the wires over the next few days (April 19 official release date).
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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AMD 600 Series GPU Project “Zen” Detailed – Radeon on Steroids to Amp Clock Speeds & Efficiency
..we reported that AMD is working on a mainstream 7nm Navi GPU with GTX 1080 class performance to debut in 2019 at around ~$250.
AMD Assembles Zen Team of Engineers For Radeon Project “Zen”
The new team has been put in place to inject the company’s upcoming GPU products with a dose of engineering steroids so to speak and leapfrog the company’s original GPU roadmap.
We’re told that this project was put in motion under the direct orders of CEO Su, who expects results in as early as this year
if what we’ve been hearing about Radeon Project Zen is also accurate, we might see some of the new team’s results with the Radeon 600 series, much earlier than 2020.
Looks like AMD is "Zen supercharging" GPU development. They're playing catch-up with Nvidia GPUs -- just like they did successfully catching Intel CPUs with the "Zen/Ryzen" CPUs.
The faster/power-efficient/cheaper Zen GPUs are at least many months away -- but, maybe a lot sooner than I was planning.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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The Crypto Conundrum – Regulatory Pressures for Cryptocurrencies
Is [cryptocurrency] meant to be (as its name implies), a currency? Or is it an investment vehicle in the traditional sense like any other security?
..it is clear that SOME cryptocurrencies at least ASPIRE to be currencies, although they are clearly not there yet..
..there are also some cryptocurrencies which are very clearly a security rather than a currency and yet companies are trying to circumvent some of the investor protections.
Article summarizes the current legal status of cryptocurrencies in general.
Right now, they are unregulated in the west and prohibited in some eastern countries. However, in the west, they are slowly heading towards regulation.
Regulation will probably make mining less profitable. Thing is, mining becomes more difficult and less profitable nearly every week and may no longer be worth the cost of the equipment (GPUs) used (depending on which cryptocurrency is being mined). As noted above in this thread, Bitcoin profitability dropped by a factor of 6 since mid December according to one nominally objective source.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
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Ohio USA
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AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Gaming Benchmarks vs 1700 at 4GHz, 10% Faster on Average
The productivity benchmarks are not any less impressive with the Ryzen 7 2700X showing performance improvements of up to 13% at stock clocks versus the overclocked Ryzen 7 1700. First generation Ryzen simply can’t keep up, even with a hefty 4.0GHz overclock and a custom liquid cooling loop.
This demonstrates that second generation Ryzen isn’t just an overclocked 1000 series Ryzen CPU, and even with the 2700X running at stock clocks, an overclocked first generation part will not be able to match it in performance.
Only one review. But, it does indicate Ryzen 2000 series really is a slightly re-designed 1000 -- not merely an overclocked 1000.
April 19 release and lots of independent test reports is only a couple days away.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
As noted previously, Nvidia worked "under the table" to force manufacturers to stop selling AMD GPUs with popular/established gaming designations (that had been used on both Nvidia and AMD GPUs).
ASUS has found a good way to handle that without having Nvidia "cut them off".
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ASUS AREZ Radeon Graphics Cards Production Has Started – No Features Lost In Transition From ROG
As many of you undoutedly know, NVIDIA’s GPP program is causing some serious branding changes (and some alleged anti-trust concerns) in the graphics industry at large. Pretty much all Radeon graphics cards will no longer be shipped under the same gaming brand as GeForce tagged cards. This means that the Republic of Gamers (ROG) branding from ASUS is no longer a viable home for the Radeon series.
Faced with this condition from NVIDIA, ASUS decided it is going to be launching a new brand that is dedicated to AMD Radeon cards: AREZ. MSI has already removed their GAMING branding from AMD Radeon cards (and received significant backlash for it)..
The official ASUS website also now has the AREZ series category added, confirming all the rumors ... We reached out to some contacts in ASUS and they had the following to say:
“AREZ cards production started today. Will take a month or two to completely change the packaging with new one”
ASUS ROG Strix will become AREZ Strix [-- etcetra]...
this is probably the best possible outcome that consumers could have seen from a company forced to pariticipate in GPP [Nvidia's program]: a different brand with no features lost in the transition.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
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Ohio USA
Nvidia's GeForce Partners Program (GPP) was in the last post. Its a "program" designed to remove AMD GPUs from gamer's minds as top-end gaming solutions.
Its not described that way by Nvidia. However, the IT news media does describe it that way. Intel and Nvidia have done this before -- using questionable tactics to stifle competition. Its why, even though Intel/Nvidia make great products, I support AMD.
Now, AMD has responded verbally to Nvidia's GPP. Lots of articles out there today -- Google "nvidia gpp".
Here are the usual (for this thread) highlights from only one article. I try to pick articles that read "even handed" and as an accurate depiction (it may not always seem that way).
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AMD indirectly blasts Nvidia’s GeForce Partners Program in open letter
After the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and European Union Commission began responding to complaints surrounding the anti-competitive nature of Nvidia’s GeForce Partner Program (GPP), rival graphics chip-maker AMD has released its own statement on the matter. ... Scott Herkelman, AMD Radeon Technologies Group vice president and general manager, wrote in an open letter, highlighting the company’s commitment to open innovation, transparency, partnerships, and goal in expanding the PC gaming ecosystem.
“We pledge to put premium, high-performance graphics cards in the hands of as many gamers as possible and give our partners the support they need without anti-competitive conditions,"..
Nvidia’s GeForce Partner Program originally came under fire as a result of a HardOCP report suggesting that the company was encouraging its graphics card partners to not sell AMD products as part of their gaming brands, in order to get a preferential supply of GPUs. It’s been reported that MSI and Gigabyte dropped AMD cards from their lineup to fulfill GPP obligations. It’s also been reported that PC-makers Dell and HP refused to join Nvidia’s program over the restrictions..
The original HardOCP report on the matter is the most damning, but other sites have also been doing their research and have uncovered some similar evidence of their own..
Even if the FTC EU do look into this matter, however, any response is unlikely to be swift..[in the mean time, GPP will raise prices for consumers]
Again, this is not the bash Intel/Nvidia thread. Its the "..Future.. of AMD" thread. These activities by Nvidia constrain AMD's future -- so relevant articles are highlighted here when they involve new or updated information.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
Since my next major purchase will be an AMD Vega or Navi graphics card, I'm following graphics card prices. I don't want to pay a premium over a "normal" list price (i.e. before Cyptocurrency mining raised prices) to replace my current card that works for everything.
Prices are still high. But, there has been a noticeable downward trend very recently (at least at Newegg and Amazon where I look most often).
The high prices on a given model are still ridiculous. But, the "special sale" prices are merely high compared to a reasonable "list price".
Custom RX 560 should sell for about $90-$100 is $125 on special sale today. Roughly 30 percent too high. But, in absolute dollars, its not bad if one needs a new low end card.
Custom RX Vega 64 should sell for a list price of about $550-575 (my opinion). The cheap one is $700 today -- roughly 25 percent too high.
Of course, long term as cryptocurrency mining declines, prices for models that have been on the market 6 months or more should be below list when on sale. Don't know when that might happen.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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AMD Hints at Faster Ryzen 7 2800X to Counter Intel’s 8 Core Coffee Lake
reviews [have] shown .. in many workloads the Ryzen 7 2700X is a good chunk faster than Intel’s fastest consumer CPU, the six core Coffee Lake i7 8700K. .. And at $330, the 2700X happens to be sitting at that [cost] sweet-spot ..
A Ryzen 7 2800X will likely serve as a halo product and a prideful retort to Intel [8 core Coffee Lake coming later this year]..
Although the 2800X increase in performance over my 1800X will be too small to "see" (only measure it), I may buy one. At least, I'm glad to see they will be coming later this year -- to keep AMD "competitive" with Intel's best 8 core shot (also coming later this year).
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
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Ohio USA
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Intel’s 10nm Cannonlake CPU Based Crimson Canyon NUCs Will Be Shipping With AMD Radeon RX 500 Discrete GPUs
Intel’s 10nm process has been a disaster of epic proportions with countless delays and still no product in sight. Promised to appear in 2017, there’s still no consumer grade product..
Anyways, coming to the NUC, the details show that new NUCs are coming soon and will feature two unusual things, a chip with no integrated graphics .. the discrete graphics will actually be an AMD Radeon RX 500 series GPU..
As noted previously in the thread, AMD and Intel are actually working together on a couple products. AMD is supplying the graphics.
They are 35W units, it is said. They run about 0.3GHz slower than the 65W versions, it is said. The published information is not clear yet regarding prices, intended use, etc.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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NVIDIA and AMD Graphics Card AIBs Are Expecting A Plunge In Demand Of Up To 40% In April
NVIDIA and AMD add-in-board manufacturers including Gigabyte, MSI and TUL are expecting their shipments to drop by as much as 40% in April .. based on the assumption that cryptocurrency mining demand is going to continue to fall.
..some mining operations have stopped purchasing graphics cards and are actually trying to unload their inventory in anticipation of China’s Bitmain in the third quarter of 2018..
To put it simply the high end of the market segment has started declining, and the channel distributors will be forced to go back into sales promotion mode for gamers..
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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Zen man Jim Keller leaves Tesla for Intel
Jim Keller, the former AMD chip executive behind the Zen roadmap, has left Tesla for Intel and joining fellow AMD .. Raja Koduri to help Chipzilla sort out of its manufacturing stall of the last few years..
Intel is trying to get from 14nm to 10nm for the last four years, and with Koduri and Jim Keller, things might finally work out.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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AMD results show marked improvement
AMD has surprised Wall Street .. reporting better than expected first quarter results.
.. AMD revenue in the first quarter jumped 40 percent year over year, AMD said. .
CEO Lisa Su said on a conference call with analysts after the earnings report came out that AMD expects that companies will come out with 60 systems based on its Ryzen PC chip architecture by the end of the year..
With its Epyc server chips, AMD has been trying to gain share in a market dominated by Intel. The chipmaker continues to expect to have mid-single-digit server chip unit share by the end of the year, Su said..
..big companies operating large data centres have been testing out an AMD Radeon graphics card for accelerating artificial intelligence workloads..
Blockchain [cyptocurrency mining] represented 10 percent of the company's revenue in the quarter..
In the first quarter, AMD gained share from Nvidia in the graphics card market and took share from Intel in the desktop chip market..
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,839
Ohio USA
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7nm Radeon Vega Instinct reaches AMD labs
The die shrink is likely to increase the clock speed and power efficiency. This evaluation at AMD labs could be a decisive factor whether to bring 7nm Vega to Radeon RX family.
Possibly out by the end of this year, if it works as well as they hope. Not perfectly clear if first models are for industrial AI calculations or for Games.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
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Ohio USA
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AMD’s Zen & Athlon64 CPU Architect Jim Keller Joins Intel
Keller was the mastermind behind the most successful and competitive CPU microarchitectures in AMD’s history. ..
Athlon64 was the first consumer x86 64bit CPU and a massive success for the company in the early to mid 2000s. In fact the K7 and K8 designs were so competitive, that it eventually allowed AMD to take nearly half of all x86 CPU share at its peak in 2005.
This is the third recent AMD upper management type (but he was currently head of AI hardware at Tesla) to go Intel.
Thinking is that Intel really is in danger of falling behind. If so, the blame lies with the current Intel staff. I has been speculated that the recent personnel moves are to get folks on Intel staff who know what they are doing.
Interesting that the folks tasked with getting Intel right are former AMD folks.