Thursday, August 26th 2010

ATI Radeon HD 6000 Series GPU Codenames Surface

Aug 26th, 2010 17:39 Discuss (53 Comments)

Even as NVIDIA is taking its own sweet time to complete building its lineup of DirectX 11 compliant GPUs to target all market segments, AMD, which got a 6 months' headstart into releasing its lineup, which ended up targeting all market segments in a span of 5 months, is readying the Radeon HD 6000 series for launch well within this year. Just as the Radeon HD 5000 series GPU family was codenamed Evergreen with its members codenamed after evergreen trees (such as Cypress, Juniper, Redwood, Cedar), the Radeon HD 6000 is codenamed "Southern Islands", with its members codenamed after islands in the Caribbean (not islands in the Mediterranean).

"Bart" (after Saint Barthélemy island) is the codename for the performance/upper-mid segment GPU, a successor to the "Juniper" Radeon HD 5700 series. "Cayman" (after Cayman Islands) is the enthusiast GPU, successor to Cypress, and will go into making SKUs that succeed the Radeon HD 5800 series. Finally, the king of the hill is codenamed "Antilles" (after Antilles Islands), it is the dual-GPU SKU that makes use of two Cayman GPUs, successor to the Radeon HD 5970 "Hemlock". AMD partners will be in a position to sell graphics cards based on these by November 2010. The Radeon HD 6970 "Antilles" should be out by December 2010. The lower-half of the family will likely release next year.

Source: DonanimHaber

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53 Comments on ATI Radeon HD 6000 Series GPU Codenames Surface

#26

JATownes

The Lurker

mastrdrver6000 series isn't going to be S.I. based. N.I. will come before S.I.

Truth right here.

I believe you are incorrect. 6000 series will be SI based, and NI will follow next year.

#27

dj-electric

so... the NI stands for?

i believe the 40NM HD6000 will be NI and the 28NM will be SI, i think

#28

my_name_is_earl

This sounded like a refresh. Meaning more power use and heat. Hopefully it's doesn't require too much, otherwise I'll stick with current HD5x. My HD5870 went out because of the stupid Zalman VF3000a HS. I'm surely interesting in picking up an HD6x.

#29

Bjorn_Of_Iceland

Wow this year? cant wait for this one

#30

mastrdrver

JATownesI believe you are incorrect. 6000 series will be SI based, and NI will follow next year.

Uh no

AMD originally planned to have its next-generation GPUs using 32nm process and codenamed the chips Northern Islands,.............. In response AMD adjusted its plans and decided to continue adopting a 40nm process, while changing the product's codename to Southern Islands, the sources explained.

Next generation GPU had their name changed from N.I. to S.I. We know that 6 series is not next generation.

edit: Driver list

I see:

BLACKCOMB, WHISTLER, and SEYMOUR are laptop. They are the only ones without a GL version. They are also 3 mountain peaks in Canada. No desktop has a LP version which laptops do.

Gemini versions make me think of Bobcat (LP) and Llano (XT, Pro). Gemini was name for Apple's Mega II. I don't remember it but seems to be a similar idea at the time from what Wikipedia has.

Turks and Caicos are the desktop 66xx, 65xx, and 64xx. Caspian and Onega are maybe non gddr5 versions.

#31

crow1001

Hope they come with decent drivers and not like the last four sets that have been complete shit. :cry:

#32

micksh

AlienIsGODCan't wait till some specs start to trickle out...

JATownesCannot wait for these!!! Looks like I will skip the 5000 series all together.

Bjorn_Of_IcelandWow this year? cant wait for this one

Yes, you can. And you will. Just examine yourself in the next weeks and you will see what you are capable of.
BTW, all says it will be very minor performance improvement. Maybe 10% or so. It could be that the major goal of this release is efficiency, reducing die size to maximize profit. Their major improvements were targeted for 28nm process but it is not available.

#33

inferKNOX

I'm hoping to get my hands on a HD6850, assuming ATi didn't become lax on issues such as heat and power due to the Fermi's extremes not putting pressure on them to stay low.
Very excited indeed.
Just wish that AMD/ATi would rev-up their marketing engines and start showing them off already... or at the very least give us sneak peaks. Maybe they're trying not to overhype them for some reason? Hopefully not, but I'm having doubts from their 'silence' :p

#34

buggalugs

inferKNOXJust wish that AMD/ATi would rev-up their marketing engines and start showing them off already... or at the very least give us sneak peaks. Maybe they're trying not to overhype them for some reason? Hopefully not, but I'm having doubts from their 'silence' :p

Ya, if they are due in October they must be in the factories getting built by now but i can see ATI's reason for keeping it quiet. People will stop buying the 5 series and wait for the 6 series.

Well, thats a guess but there would be some business decision behind it. Hopefully we'll see one in a couple of weeks.

#35

inferKNOX

buggalugsHopefully we'll see one in a couple of weeks.

Yeah, but for now, looks like we're stuck guessing on things like this: forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=129668

#36

pantherx12

I'm expecting a 20% performance increase in terms of frame rates, but AA and Tessellation getting a nice boost along with open CL performance.

With any luck even lower power requirements and TDP.

Also I'm hoping for some games to come out around the same time that support open-cl based physics D:

#37

mdsx1950

I'm impatient after seeing the thread "GPU-Z and HD 6800" :p I hope someone leaks out some more details on the cards.

#38

wolf

Better Than Native

well, theyre bold enough to give the whole lineup new codenames, that makes me excited for the possibility that it could well be much faster than 5000 series.

#39

yogurt_21

wolfwell, theyre bold enough to give the whole lineup new codenames, that makes me excited for the possibility that it could well be much faster than 5000 series.

yeah i was quite sure the 5xxx series wasn't gettign a refresh due toi lack of competition from nvidia. From the get go I though the 6k series was supposed to be new arch, not another refresh. the 5xxx series was supposed to be the last refresh of the r600 tech.

plus you have to realize that it's been a year since the 5xxx launched, typical refreshes are out way before a year is up.

edit: this site seems to think 6k is a new arch as well.

powergpu.com/2010/07/ati-6000-series/

AMD is working on 2nd generation DX11 line-up and it will be based on completly new GPU architecture.

#40

wolf

Better Than Native

yogurt_21yeah i was quite sure the 5xxx series wasn't gettign a refresh due toi lack of competition from nvidia. From the get go I though the 6k series was supposed to be new arch, not another refresh. the 5xxx series was supposed to be the last refresh of the r600 tech.

plus you have to realize that it's been a year since the 5xxx launched, typical refreshes are out way before a year is up.

yeah both very good points, my best guess at this stage is teething out this new architecture on the now mature 40nm process, then they can get a 28nm shrink underway and possibly even be able to double up like they have been with R600 architecture.

#41

grunt_408

Will be interesting to see some specs on this.

#42

JATownes

The Lurker

mastrdrverUh no

I guess I am confused. I thought HD6000 would be SI based with NI to follow next year.

Regarding Southern Islands:

...the Radeon HD 6000 is codenamed "Southern Islands", with its members codenamed after islands in the Caribbean (not islands in the Mediterranean).

Source - This news story

Though the ATI Radeon HD 5970 is, at present, the most powerful video board on the market, as far as reference models go at least, ATI seems to be getting ready to reveal its successor, a dual-chip board based on the Southern Island Architecture that will supposedly come out before the end of 2010.

Source

In response to its rival’s Fermi GPU rollout, AMD’s graphics brand is readying its next generation of video cards, the Radeon 6000 series (code-named Southern Islands), for release in November.

Source

TSMC remains the major contract supplier of AMD`s 40nm Southern Island graphics chip, which will hit the market in the fourth to further fortify its leading position in discrete graphics card market over Nvidia

Source

Regarding Northern Islands:

Southern Islands graphics processors will be hybrids that will contain elements of Evergreen as well as elements of the actual next-generation hardware (some call it Northern Islands)

Source

AMD is set to launch their next gen of chips, codenamed “Southern Islands,” around September of this year. Unfortunately, “Southern Islands” will remain on TSMC’s 40nm process and the generation following it, “Northern Islands,” is slated to be the first produced on GF’s 28nm process.

Source

Sources close to both companies indicate that the revised upcoming generation of graphics cards will most likely be made for the Taiwanese manufacturer’s established 40nm process and will feature design elements from both Northern Islands and Evergreen architectures....the new hybrid architecture, dubbed Southern Islands, could feature the shaders design of the Evergreen HD5000-series combined with the uncore parts of the Northern Islands architecture.

Source

I have read the 10.8 drivers had code names included which include NI in the name (which could mean Northern Islands, but IDK), but I think it would be a huge leap of faith to think GF or TSMC would have the 28nm process ready for retail already. But who knows.

I just have followed the SI and NI lines for a while now, and from everything I have read, SI will be a hybrid of NI and Evergreen built on 40nm, with a full NI version to follow next year on 28nm process.

#43

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

Dj-ElectriCso... the NI stands for?

i believe the 40NM HD6000 will be NI and the 28NM will be SI, i think

North island - New Zealand
Nicobar island - Bay of Bengal, India
Northern islands - vague :)

:cool:

So November now not October, so might, just might actually be on shelves in sufficient quantaties for Christmas if we are lucky.

#44

mastrdrver

JATownesI have read the 10.8 drivers had code names included which include NI in the name (which could mean Northern Islands, but IDK), but I think it would be a huge leap of faith to think GF or TSMC would have the 28nm process ready for retail already.

The names have changed. N.I. was suppose to be on 32nm, new architecture. TSMC dropped 32nm and skipped to 28nm. Instead of wait ATI took parts of the new architecture added the Evergreen shaders and are doing it on 40nm while still calling it N.I. All the new architecture parts get put together on 28nm.

If you want some reading to do jump over to this Beyond 3D thread. I found page 30 to be able the place to start reading from so as to follow along.

#45

erocker

JATownesI guess I am confused. I thought HD6000 would be SI based with NI to follow next year.

Regarding Southern Islands:

Source - This news story

Source

Source

Source

Regarding Northern Islands:

Source

Source

Source

I have read the 10.8 drivers had code names included which include NI in the name (which could mean Northern Islands, but IDK), but I think it would be a huge leap of faith to think GF or TSMC would have the 28nm process ready for retail already. But who knows.

I just have followed the SI and NI lines for a while now, and from everything I have read, SI will be a hybrid of NI and Evergreen built on 40nm, with a full NI version to follow next year on 28nm process.

mastrdrverThe names have changed. N.I. was suppose to be on 32nm, new architecture. TSMC dropped 32nm and skipped to 28nm. Instead of wait ATI took parts of the new architecture added the Evergreen shaders and are doing it on 40nm while still calling it N.I. All the new architecture parts get put together on 28nm.

If you want some reading to do jump over to this Beyond 3D thread. I found page 30 to be able the place to start reading from so as to follow along.

Neither of you are correct at this point. AMD hasn't stated what these cards are officially called, so no point in arguing about your naming theories.

#46

a_ump

not officially.......but it's been just understood that NI is after this SI, with is also best understood as a stepping stool inbetween Evergreen n NI. There were 2 huge ass thread about this a good bit back and all the info in it stated what i just said. as well as what a few others have said with the evergreen shaders but NI features or something.

#47

fullinfusion

Vanguard Beta Tester

AphexDreamerBut if your 5000 series card can handle pretty much every game out there, why pay more for a 6 series card (assuming not for the ePeen)

I actually plan to skip the 6 series but I do hope (as I usual do) it kicks ass. :rockout:

Coming from a guy that dropped a grand on a ROG gpu! (you lacking something down under Aphex? ) lol. jk

Its for benchmarks !!!!

#48

buggalugs

inferKNOXYeah, but for now, looks like we're stuck guessing on things like this: forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=129668

hmmm interesting. 1600Mhz vram? Nice.

#49

dj-electric

they need to call it GDDR6 :P (like GDDR4 compere to 3) :D

#50

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

If the 6870 has the punch (or greater than) of the GTX 480, that would be swell. But it also needs to remain in a conservative power envelope and an acoustical one too. The two reasons i didnt buy Fermi (three sorry) were: Power/Noise and Delays.

If the 6xxx series keep the power and noise down then it's very very bad news for NV. Furthermore, if NV have no answer to it (unknown at this point) developers will more likely look more and more to ATI for 'affiliation'.

Which could be very bad for prices.......

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ATI Radeon HD 6000 Series GPU Codenames Surface

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