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Rumour claims RX 500 series will be based on Polaris 20 XTX and Polaris 12

AMD's next batch of graphics cards are on the way and as we have previously heard, they are set to be based on refreshed Polaris chips. We already knew that AMD had found a way to increase the performance per watt of Polaris towards the latter half of 2016 and now with the RX 500 series, we are likely going to get to see Polaris 12 and Polaris 20.

The current rumour is that AMD is planning on releasing its RX 500 series towards the middle of April. Now, a report from wccftech seems to name the new Polaris revisions we can expect to see, listing off Polaris 20 XTX for the RX 580, Polaris 20 for the RX 560 and Polaris 12 for a lower end RX 550.

According to the report, the top-end RX 580 will feature 2304 stream processors 144 TMUs and 32 ROPs. Aside from that, there is said to be a 1340 MHz boost to bump overall compute performance to 6.17 TFLOPS. We'll see 8GB of GDDR5 memory return, alongside the $199 price tag that made the RX 480 so popular. The RX 570 is based on a cut down version of this same chip, so it will feature 2048 stream processors instead, along with a lower 1244MHz boost clock.

This pattern will continue for the rest of the Polaris lineup. However, we have yet to hear much in regards to performance per watt or TDP, which judging by previous reports will be a focus point for AMD with this refresh.

KitGuru Says: The RX 500 series might not be the most exciting release of the year but it does pave the way for the RX Vega, which is set to boost AMD's position in the high-end GPU market. That said, if you are looking at getting an RX 400-series GPU at the moment, perhaps hold off a few weeks as it seems the 500-series is just around the corner and will offer a few benefits. 

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13 comments

  1. Its starting to feel like Samsungs 14nm LPP node is being a stone around AMD’s proverbial neck atm. Any high end product is having to push past the nodes sweet spot to be competitive, but ultimately still fails to reach high clock speeds anyway.

    Those midrange products though are sweet. 1700 being an 8 core for 65w? Bloody hell. But yeah, AMD really needs to split its processes IMO.

  2. shame on them still trying to milk a falure of a chip

  3. How so? The 480 is faster than the 1060 which is in the same pricing bracket.

  4. In some games, yes. But overall the 1060 is about 5% faster than the 480 according to Computerbase and TPU, both of whom test multiple games for a more accurate average.

    I have an RX 480 and a FreeSync display. Also I can find the 480 for noticeably less than the 1060 on Newegg today. Lower cost and FreeSync support more than negate the 5% performance acreage of the 1060, IMO, but let’s not pretend that the 480 is faster. It has other strengths.

  5. That 5% performance in DX11 games has evaporated with November drivers btw. The only lead the 1060 has now is in GameWorks and OpenGL.

    http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/73945-gtx-1060-vs-rx-480-updated-review.html

  6. The 5% figure that I quoted was overall. Here are the overall scores:

    * TechPowerup – https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1060_Armor/30.html – Shows GTX 1060 ahead by 4.3% at 1080p, 2.1% at 1440p, and 1.0% at 4k.
    * ComputerBase – https://www.computerbase.de/thema/grafikkarte/rangliste/ – Shows GTX 1060 ahead by 5% at 1080p, 6% at 1440p, and does not show 4k results.

    You can cite any reason that you want, but actual data shows that the GTX 1060 is the (marginally) faster card in today’s latest games. As I stated, the RX 480 has other advantages over the 1060, which is why I have a 480.

  7. TPU still references launch testing (which wasn’t my argument, my argument was the November driver set improved performance for the 480 so it now beats the 1060 a majority of the time).

    And I can’t read German so can’t confirm that there. So I’m purely going off Hardware Canucks re-testing with November driver that showed the 480 beating the 1060 in a majority of DX11 games now as well.

  8. > TPU still references launch testing

    This is incorrect. TPU udates their charts when there are material changes to their test setup, either in hardware (new CPU, memory, mobo, etc.), or software (new drivers, new games, or game patches). The current results use Crimson 16.12.2. If you looked at their launch results the 1060 has a much larger lead. AMD has significantly narrowed the gap, but they haven’t fully closed it.

    Either you didn’t know how they test, or you lied to back up your point. I’ll let you decide which applies.

    > And I can’t read German so can’t confirm that there.

    Then look at the chart. The numbers are in a format that you can understand. They use a similar method as TPU in that they test a multitude of games and average the percentages to get a composite.

    > So I’m purely going off Hardware Canucks re-testing with November driver that showed the 480 beating the 1060 in a majority of DX11 games now as well.

    You mean this?
    http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/73945-gtx-1060-vs-rx-480-updated-review.html

    You REALLY should read the test methodology. They compared the
    Nitro+ OC, which is the HIGHEST clocked RX 480. This card is in the results for Computerbase as well and smokes the reference cards from both AMD and Nvidia. They compared it to a moderately clocked GTX 1060 rather than one of the higher end cards. While they dialed both cards back to reference clocks, they didn’t touch power limit which is the main benefit to the Nitro over reference (225W vs. 165W, which means the GPU doesn’t throttle). Basically, they kneecapped the 1060, but not the 480.

    And the results? In DX 11 the 1060 is still ahead at 1080p (2%) and tied at 1440p, while the 480 takes the lead in DX 12.

    So let’s recap.
    – You didn’t like TPU, so you literally lied about how they test
    – You used ignorance as an excuse for not using Computerbase
    – You cited a test where the 480 came out ahead (marginally) because they tested the fastest 480 against one of the slowest 1060s, by kneecapping one card over the other.

    Sorry man, one mistake is understandable. But ALL of that is deliberate. You have zero credibility with me. Be a big man and prove me wrong, but I bet you won’t.

  9. The RX 470 4gb already costs $200 here… I hope they lower the international prices soon

  10. Zygimantas Sereda

    Well in UK so far you can get a RX 480 4gb asus model for £164.99… It’s the best value GPU you can possibly buy today.

  11. Where? Give me a link.

  12. Zygimantas Sereda

    http://www.awd-it.co.uk/asus-radeon-dual-rx-480-gddr5-4gb-oc-vr-gaming-graphics-card.html here you go fanboy. 🙂

  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa8i06YucGs

    480 rekt, plus draws way less power