Wednesday, January 16th 2019

AMD's Initial Production Run of Radeon VII Just 5,000 Pieces, Company Denies it

More news coming in on AMD's upcoming high-end graphics card, the Radeon VII, with Chinese media reporting that AMD's initial production run for the card is set to ship just 5,000 pieces worldwide. This comes hot on the heels of another report that the Radeon VII won't come in custom-designs by AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners, and that only the reference design will be repackaged and sold by them. What's worse, the source which leaked this production size also revealed that AMD is selling the card below cost-price, i.e., with each card sold, AMD is losing money. This probably explains Wall Street's cold response to the Radeon VII launch, but with a batch size of just 5,000 (roughly $3.5 million in sales at $699 a piece), this card has a negligible impact on AMD's bottom-line.

AMD posted a swift denial to both pieces of news, the size of its production run and the product's profitability. In a statement to MyDrivers, AMD said (translated): "We will not release production figures, but when released on February 7, AMD.com official website and AIB vendor partners will have products on sale, and we expect the supply of Radeon VII to meet the needs of gamers." In short, Radeon VII is shaping up to be the card you'd want to buy if you've sworn a blood-oath never to buy an NVIDIA product, and you need something to play games in 2019 at 4K with.
Sources: MyDrivers, MyDrivers (2)
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124 Comments on AMD's Initial Production Run of Radeon VII Just 5,000 Pieces, Company Denies it

#26
hyp36rmax
The question is where did this 5000 number come from?
Posted on Reply
#27
Captain_Tom
Really curious to see 8K benchmarks of this card.

I know 8K doesn't really matter, but it will be interesting to see if there are scenarios where that 16GB 4096-bit bus really gets a chance to flex its muscles.
Posted on Reply
#28
Kaotik
hyp36rmaxThe question is where did this 5000 number come from?
Random rumor, just like the 20k before it
Posted on Reply
#29
Casecutter
When right now Egg has the SAPPHIRE "stickered" reference blower RX Vega 64 for $400, or ASUS AREZ RX Vega 64 (AREZ-STRIX-RXVEGA64-O8G-GAMING) for $470, while even a PowerColor "stickered" Reference Water-cooled RX VEGA 64 for $500; how folks worry that AMD or AIB's are selling them with no profit.

*No-Rebates* includes the 3 Free Games
Posted on Reply
#30
jabbadap
Vya DomusAMD gets wafers with Vega 20s on them in X quantities, TSMC doesn't care nor do they have any control over what happens with them after that. These 5000 units or whatever wont change anything with regards to how much TSMC charges AMD.
Yup, in perfect yields amd would get about 380 working dies on one TSMCs 7nm 450mm² wafer. Best ones will go to MI60s, second best ones to MI50 rest of them Radeon VII and some might not even qualify to anything.
Posted on Reply
#31
Casecutter
jabbadapsome might not even qualify to anything
There might be some 56CU/3584SP parts they could harvest, wouldn't those be interesting if they turned them into Nano's. 15% above a V64 @ 175 TDP for $550, we can dream...
Posted on Reply
#32
toyo
KaotikSeriously @btarunr ? How biased can you be? You're actually blatantly saying on TPU frontpage that only reason anyone would buy Radeon VII is some oath never to buy NVIDIA?
It was the correct statement for what we know at this moment.
Posted on Reply
#33
Nkd
CasecutterThere might be some 56CU/3584SP parts they could harvest, wouldn't those be interesting if they turned them into Nano's. 15% above a V64 @ 175 TDP for $550, we can dream...
Thats not the problem. Vega needs bandwidth to get that performance. Yes you could go with lower CUs but it would have to have 4 stacks of ram for the bandwidth that really helps Vega. So cost of HBM2 will likely hold them back from anything smaller. Now if Navi, as rumored, is giving you 2070 performance I don't see the need for them releasing one with less CUs and with 16gb of HBM2. Cost of it won't make sense.
Posted on Reply
#34
Captain_Tom
toyoIt was the correct statement for what we know at this moment.
Yeah there is no other possible reason right? Must only be for those with a "bloodoath." Man check out all of the Journalism going on around here. LMAO!
KaotikSeriously @btarunr ? How biased can you be? You're actually blatantly saying on TPU frontpage that only reason anyone would buy Radeon VII is some oath never to buy NVIDIA?
This is to be expected from the "tech press" these days. At this point most people have migrated to midsized reviewers on youtube.

I am still holding out hope this website won't go Full Tomshardware lol.
Posted on Reply
#35
Nkd
Its truly crazy how alot of the sites are totally pro nvidia now. I guess that NDA must have required signing off everything. Gotta geep them review cards coming I guess. That's why I respect hardocp now. They already knew if they signed NVidia NDA it was like signing off your integrity pretty much. Instead, they bought all the Turing cards to review.
Posted on Reply
#36
EarthDog
NkdIts truly crazy how alot of the sites are totally pro nvidia now. I guess that NDA must have required signing off everything. Gotta geep them review cards coming I guess. That's why I respect hardocp now. They already knew if they signed NVidia NDA it was like signing off your integrity pretty much. Instead, they bought all the Turing cards to review.
:laugh::laugh::laugh: :slap:
Posted on Reply
#37
Xzibit
I think it has more to due with generating traffic to provide revenue to keep sites relative.

Some site take a huge dip (TPU is not exempt) in traffic when there is no releases, some down 35-50%.
Posted on Reply
#38
Chenxccc
Being Chinese living in China, one thing I can tell you guys is do not, for a nano second, believe anything that comes from a Chinese media, which never has a source of what they publish. And I don’t mean political propaganda. Large amount of our news media has zero integrity or moral. I mean at least Fox News has consistency. We don’t have that either. Chinese news source=no source=crap.
Posted on Reply
#39
lexluthermiester
KaotikSeriously @btarunr ? How biased can you be? You're actually blatantly saying on TPU frontpage that only reason anyone would buy Radeon VII is some oath never to buy NVIDIA?
That's not how I read what was said. Maybe your bias is leaking through a bit?

This is clearly a fluff story to create buzz about the release, which it really doesn't need. This is a good step and will be a good GPU until Navi. Although, Radeon 7 does prove AMD is working to answer NVidia's new RTX hotness. Lovin the competition!

Edit: Jay had some interesting thoughts;
Posted on Reply
#40
steen
Captain_TomReally curious to see 8K benchmarks of this card.

I know 8K doesn't really matter, but it will be interesting to see if there are scenarios where that 16GB 4096-bit bus really gets a chance to flex its muscles.
Only for mem/bandwidth limited frames for which the work profile is constantly changing. The problem @ 8k is geometry limited front end & ROP limited back end. 1.8GHz helps & 1TB/s is nothing to sneeze at, but better memory compression/cache pipeline may give similar results without the headline specs.
Posted on Reply
#41
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
GasarakiDude. Don't say stuff you are not 100% sure about. It costs around $750 to make the Radeon7/Vega 20/Instinct card.
Erm don't make an ass out of yourself by making a baseless comment bucko.
Posted on Reply
#42
Captain_Tom
steenOnly for mem/bandwidth limited frames for which the work profile is constantly changing. The problem @ 8k is geometry limited front end & ROP limited back end. 1.8GHz helps & 1TB/s is nothing to sneeze at, but better memory compression/cache pipeline may give similar results without the headline specs.
I am not expecting any miracles, but again - I am curious. Actually I am really tempted to get one just to play around with overclocking.

HBM2, 4096-bit, 7nm..... The hardware nerd in me is tempted to play with cutting edge tech.... Even if it is half-baked lol
lexluthermiesterThat's not how I read what was said. Maybe your bias is leaking through a bit?

This is clearly a fluff story to create buzz about the release, which it really doesn't need. This is a good step and will be a good GPU until Navi. Although, Radeon 7 does prove AMD is working to answer NVidia's new RTX hotness. Lovin the competition!

Edit: Jay had some interesting thoughts;
LOL a Jayz2IQpoints video. My lord I cannot understand why people listen to someone who has failed basic benchmarking multiple times, and doesn't understand Supply-and-Demand. The guy is a straight up hack.
Posted on Reply
#43
lexluthermiester
Captain_TomLOL a Jayz2IQpoints video. My lord I cannot understand why people listen to someone who has failed basic benchmarking multiple times, and doesn't understand Supply-and-Demand. The guy is a straight up hack.
Wow. That's quite an opinion. Best you keep it to yourself.
Posted on Reply
#44
Midland Dog
5000 probs is enough "We will not release production figures, but when released on February 7, AMD.com official website and AIB vendor partners will have products on sale, and we expect the supply of Radeon VII to meet the needs of gamers." rip RTG RTX card with the same perf at rasterisation and immensely better at rtRT all for the same pice F
Posted on Reply
#45
Kaotik
Midland Dog5000 probs is enough "We will not release production figures, but when released on February 7, AMD.com official website and AIB vendor partners will have products on sale, and we expect the supply of Radeon VII to meet the needs of gamers." rip RTG RTX card with the same perf at rasterisation and immensely better at rtRT all for the same pice F
Yes, because rasterization and ray-tracing are the only two functions of a video card :rolleyes:
Both Radeon (VII) and RTX-series offers features the other doesn't
Posted on Reply
#46
Bytales
KaotikSeriously @btarunr ? How biased can you be? You're actually blatantly saying on TPU frontpage that only reason anyone would buy Radeon VII is some oath never to buy NVIDIA?
Dont dismiss the Statement. I took an oath never to be buying nvidia and Intel ever again. I have a 32 core Epyc 1st gen, and two Vega 64 watercooled frontier Editions. Making me two distinct Independent Windows PCs through virtualization, so i can Play games with friends when they come to me.

If i never had the frontier Editions, These would have been the Card to get, from my Point of view.
For now, im sitting confortably with my 1300 euro a Pop Video Cards. Ya, better 1300 on a vega Card, than 1300 on some nvidia Shill.

Nvidia, may the go bankrupt and disolve in the ether. So humanity can advance technologically !
unikinThe truth is AMD hasn't developed high end GPU for gamers, period. They have some Instinct MI50 GPUs with a defective compute unit or two and decided to push them to AMD gaming fan boys for free advertising purposes. R7 will sadly be collectors edition GPU and nothing more.
I thought my Yellow Watercooled Frontier Vegas are collectors Edition, you cant find them anywhere These days at reasonable Prices. Not that 1300 euro a Pop was anywehre Close to reasonable !
Posted on Reply
#47
medi01
jabbadapYup, in perfect yields amd would get about 380 working dies on one TSMCs 7nm 450mm² wafer. Best ones will go to MI60s, second best ones to MI50 rest of them Radeon VII and some might not even qualify to anything.
Is MI60/50 in that high demand?
btarunrRadeon VII is shaping up to be the card you'd want to buy if you've sworn a blood-oath never to buy an NVIDIA product
B for "not biased", cough.
Posted on Reply
#49
efikkan
The sources for these claims seems weak, it could easily be that Radeon VII will have a limited first batch.

But if it turns out that this card is a low volume production, then it really doesn't matter how good it is, because you can't get it…
Posted on Reply
#50
Kaotik
medi01Is MI60/50 in that high demand?
Well, apparently they had sold over $20 million worth of them before they even started sampling the cards to customers
Posted on Reply
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