Monday, January 7th 2013
AMD "Sea Islands" and "Solar System" GPU Families Codenames Detailed
There has been quite some confusion over the codenames of AMD's next generation Radeon HD 8000 series GPUs. A new article, published by 3DCenter.org sought to dispel some of that. To begin with, the "Solar System" family, whose members are named after planets in the solar system, make up AMD's Radeon HD 8000M series mobile-GPUs. Some of these parts could even be featured in contraptions such as all-in-one desktops and compact nettops, owing to space-constraints. The "Sea Islands" line of GPUs, form the center of AMD's desktop discrete GPU lineup, the Radeon HD 8000 series, which make up graphics cards you can buy in the retail channel. Parts in this lineup are named after tropical islands.
AMD's Radeon HD 8000 series introduces refinements to its Graphics CoreNext micro-architecture, marked by the press as "GCN2." Not all parts are based on GCN2, with the already-announced Radeon HD 8000M "Mars" GPU being based on older GCN micro-architecture. The codenames for both lines are listed below.
Sea Islands
As mentioned before, Sea Islands consists of parts that will make up AMD's desktop discrete GPU lineup. Parts in the lineup are codenamed after tropical islands.
While older lines of Radeon mobile GPUs lagged behind their desktop counterparts in adoption of micro-architectures, partly because AMD kept re-branding its lower-end silicons, with the new "Solar System" family, AMD looks to make long-overdue amends.
Source:
3DCenter.org
AMD's Radeon HD 8000 series introduces refinements to its Graphics CoreNext micro-architecture, marked by the press as "GCN2." Not all parts are based on GCN2, with the already-announced Radeon HD 8000M "Mars" GPU being based on older GCN micro-architecture. The codenames for both lines are listed below.
Sea Islands
As mentioned before, Sea Islands consists of parts that will make up AMD's desktop discrete GPU lineup. Parts in the lineup are codenamed after tropical islands.
- Oland: An entry-level part based on the first-generation Graphics CoreNext micro-architecture. Packs 384 stream processors, 24 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide memory interface. Could go into making Radeon HD 8500 and HD 8600 series models
- Bonaire: A mainstream part based on second-generation Graphics CoreNext, possibly succeeds "Cape Verde," could go into making cetain Radeon HD 8600 to HD 8700 series parts.
- Hainan: A performance part based on second-generation Graphics CoreNext, possibly succeeds "Pitcairn," could go into making Radeon HD 8800 series
- Curacao: A high-end part based on second-generation Graphics CoreNext, possibly succeeds "Tahiti," could go into making Radeon HD 8900 series.
- Aruba: A dual-GPU graphics card based on a pair of "Curacao" GPUs, possibly succeeds "New Zealand"
While older lines of Radeon mobile GPUs lagged behind their desktop counterparts in adoption of micro-architectures, partly because AMD kept re-branding its lower-end silicons, with the new "Solar System" family, AMD looks to make long-overdue amends.
- Mars: Identical to "Oland," makes up entry-thru-mainstream parts
- Sun: Mainstream part based on second-generation GCN, similar in specifications to "Bonaire," goes into making Radeon HD 7700M series
- Neptune: Upper-mainstream part that's possibly similar in specifications to higher-configurations of "Bonaire," could go into making Radeon HD 7800M series
- Venus: Performance-segment part that's similar in specifications to "Hainan," high-performance Radeon HD 7900M series parts could be based around it
21 Comments on AMD "Sea Islands" and "Solar System" GPU Families Codenames Detailed
Where does this compare to the 7xxx series.
Its going to be interesting to see what happens with the 8 series.
I think the Sea Island parts are technically and production wise are fully vetted, although with the competition today so close AMD needs to dwindle down exist stock without having to undermine the pricing struture. I think it will be March before we see any new 8000 GPU from AMD, and then I’m hoping they go with the mainstream 8850 and 8870. That would set Nvidia back on their heels with GTX660 (GK106) and GTXTi (GK104) pricing, and really cause the reassignment of those prices to drag down the GTX670.