Tuesday, December 20th 2016
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AMD "Polaris 12" Surfaces in Linux Drivers
Apparently AMD is working on a third GPU based on its "Polaris" (4th generation Graphics CoreNext) architecture, dubbed "Polaris 12." Snooping into the code of AMDGPU DRM kernel driver, PCI-IDs 0x6980, 0x6981, 0x6985, 0x6986, 0x6987, and 0x699F, were pointing to a descriptor "Polaris 12." There are no other known specifications of this chip.
Going by convention of Polaris 11 (Radeon RX 460) being a smaller chip than Polaris 10 (RX 470, RX 480), it's likely that Polaris 12 could be an even smaller chip. On the other hand, a chip slower than Polaris 10 makes very little sense, because it would compete with "free" integrated graphics. Another possibility is that Polaris 12 is a Polaris 10 refresh on an improved process, or even made at TSMC, in which case the higher number would mean that it's a newer chip.
Source:
Phoronix
Going by convention of Polaris 11 (Radeon RX 460) being a smaller chip than Polaris 10 (RX 470, RX 480), it's likely that Polaris 12 could be an even smaller chip. On the other hand, a chip slower than Polaris 10 makes very little sense, because it would compete with "free" integrated graphics. Another possibility is that Polaris 12 is a Polaris 10 refresh on an improved process, or even made at TSMC, in which case the higher number would mean that it's a newer chip.
24 Comments on AMD "Polaris 12" Surfaces in Linux Drivers
My guess is this is only a refresh with possibly some new features.
AMD needs bigger chips, not smaller ones.
Actually, amd makes even shitter gpus for laptops, which makes absolutely no sense with good igpus. But they still sell them and you see designs with them.
Hopefully polaris 12 will be bigger, better and more efficient than present desktop polaris gpus.
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Polaris 12 seams much weaker than RX 460 ...
Ellesmere and Baffin have been added to Linux drivers under these designations no later than March 2016 yet the cards themselves were only released in August.
I believe the bits of code (PCIe device defines) have actually been added earlier (omitting the names and any other Polaris references).
Bridgman confirms it's not an apu.
If I have to guess, it's a chip which goes to matrox graphics cards. And maybe lowest end(RX 450, Radeon 4/40/50/60) with capable of hybrid crossfire with apus. Do look the new naming scheme from amd