Wednesday, October 28th 2020
AMD Radeon RX 6000 "Big Navi" RDNA2 Graphics Card Launch Liveblog
After thoroughly appetizing us with its "Where Gaming Begins: Episode 1" event announcing the Ryzen 5000 series "Zen 3" processors that offer up to 19% IPC gains, in the second Episode, we see the company announcing its next-generation Radeon RX 6000 "Big Navi" graphics cards based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture that introduce full DirectX 12 Ultimate readiness, including real-time raytracing hardware. In the run up to the RX 6000, NVIDIA is already reportedly preparing product-stack updates. In this liveblog, we uncover what has NVIDIA riled up, and whether AMD can pull off better pricing and availbility than the RTX 30-series.
Update 15:59 UTC: It is time! Welcome to the Radeon RX 6000 Series live blog.
Update 16:01 UTC: AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su takes centerstage, fresh off a good quarterly results announcement, and that big Xilinx acquisition announcement.
Update 16:03 UTC: FarCry 6 seems like an AMD optimized title.
Update 16:03 UTC: Possibly the flagship product.
Update 16:04 UTC: AMD is where gaming begins because next-gen consoles trust it. - Dr Su
Update 16:05 UTC: 50% generational improvement in perf/W.
Update 16:06 UTC: 26.7 billion transistors, almost as big as GA102
Update 16:07 UTC: RDNA2 has a breakthrough high-speed design.
Update 16:08 UTC: AMD RDNA2 compute unit 30% more energy efficient.
Update 16:09 UTC: InfinityCache works to significantly improve memory bandwidth, based on the Zen L3 cache. More than 2.17x bandwidth gain despite 256-bit.
Update 16:10 UTC: 30% higher frequencies on the same 7 nm node.
Update 16:10 UTC: DirectX 12 Ultimate and DirectStorage support.
Update 16:11 UTC: Over 2X performance gain over RX 5700 XT.
Update 16:11 UTC: The RX 6800 XT!
Update 16:12 UTC: 4K Gaming from AMD is here! Matches RTX 3080!!!
Update 16:13 UTC: Hello competition!
Update 16:14 UTC: Welcome back ATI Rage, as the AMD Rage Mode.
Update 16:15 UTC: When paired with Ryzen, you get a gaming performance boost, 13% perf increase.
Update 16:15 UTC: AMD introduces its take on the NVIDIA Reflex, announcing latest Radeon Lag and Radeon Boost. No special API needed.
Update 16:16 UTC: Full DX12 Ultimate support, including ray-tracing. Woirking on a DLSS-rival.
Update 16:18 UTC: AMD is leveraging studios working on Xbox Series X / PS5 devs to integrate its Radeon features on the PC.
Update 16:18 UTC: FarCry 6, DiRT 5, WoW Shadowlands (which gets raytracing), RiftBreaker, are AMD-optimized.
Update 16:21 UTC: Available Nov 18, starts, $649
Update 16:21 UTC: Also announcing RX 6800 : faster than RTX 2080 Ti, 4K + raytracing ready
Update 16:22 UTC: $579, November 18 availability for the RX 6800.
Update 16:22 UTC: Lisa gets ready for a "one more thing"
Update 16:23 UTC: Radeon RX 6900 XT: 80 CUs, 65% perf/Watt over 5700 XT.
Update 16:25 UTC: RTX 3090 BEATEN!!!!
Update 16:26 UTC: December 8 for the RX 6900 XT, priced $999.
Update 16:26 UTC: OOF, we cannot wait to test these cards out!
Update 17:08 UTC: The press-release can be found here.
Update 17:19 UTC: The complete AMD slide deck follows.
Update 16:03 UTC: Possibly the flagship product.
Update 16:05 UTC: 50% generational improvement in perf/W.
Update 16:15 UTC: AMD introduces its take on the NVIDIA Reflex, announcing latest Radeon Lag and Radeon Boost. No special API needed.
Update 16:18 UTC: FarCry 6, DiRT 5, WoW Shadowlands (which gets raytracing), RiftBreaker, are AMD-optimized.
Update 16:21 UTC: Available Nov 18, starts, $649
Update 16:21 UTC: Also announcing RX 6800 : faster than RTX 2080 Ti, 4K + raytracing ready
Update 16:22 UTC: Lisa gets ready for a "one more thing"
Update 16:23 UTC: Radeon RX 6900 XT: 80 CUs, 65% perf/Watt over 5700 XT.
Update 17:08 UTC: The press-release can be found here.
Update 17:19 UTC: The complete AMD slide deck follows.
351 Comments on AMD Radeon RX 6000 "Big Navi" RDNA2 Graphics Card Launch Liveblog
I'd say RTRT too, but it's not clear how that fares.
-I mean $579 USD for RX 6800... No AI upscaling (DLSS), poorer RT implementation. You basically overpay $79 for 8 gigs of vram. Just awful.
-RX 6800 XT $649 USD, again no "DLSS", no RT benchmark comparison, the only reason for buying AMD is 6 gigs more GDDR6 and 50 bucks less. Not Enough by far.
-The only good GPU is 6900XT for $999.
AMD just shot itself in the foot again. This time without a reason. Rasterization performance is here, all AMD had to do was to substantially undercut Ampere Pricing (aka RX 6800 for $449 and RX 6800 XT for $599) and reviewers would have to say they're the smart buy option. As things stand today I expect NGreedia GPU division to grow market share even further into 90% mark at which point AMD being an underdog in discrete DIY GPU market becomes an understatement. So sad :(
In my view, AMD had made a better move to put this card with 8GB like the RTX 3070 and sold it below $500.
Wonder how things are in the nvidia crowd today
www.techpowerup.com/273934/amd-announces-the-radeon-rx-6000-series-performance-that-restores-competitiveness
- AMD Infinity Cache - A high-performance, last-level data cache suitable for 4K and 1440p gaming with the highest level of detail enabled. 128 MB of on-die cache dramatically reduces latency and power consumption, delivering higher overall gaming performance than traditional architectural designs.
- AMD Smart Access Memory - An exclusive feature of systems with AMD Ryzen 5000 Series processors, AMD B550 and X570 motherboards and Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards. It gives AMD Ryzen processors greater access to the high-speed GDDR6 graphics memory, accelerating CPU processing and providing up to a 13-percent performance increase on a AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card in Forza Horizon 4 at 4K when combined with the new Rage Mode one-click overclocking setting.
So Infinity Cache is on GPU die, Smart Access Memory is enabled on a 5000-series CPU, B550 or X570 board and a 6000-series GPU. Which means you shouldn't see a drastic decrease in base result on a non 5000 series CPU with similar performance.That said, I'm surprised they reached 3090 levels... but I'd like to see results without overclocking (Rage) and Infinifty Cache (AMD only)...Ty!
Sorry, there are like 3 threads going on here about this subject... The one birdie posted, the live blog, and then the summary...
So, basically, it is the latest and greatest to get that performance. Cool beans. Awesome for those going balls deep into the ecosystem, bad news for the majority of existing PC owners that won't get the boost at all because they are running Intel.
Decoy pricing is a fundamental marketing technique. It applies to both the low-end (why buy "small fries" when "medium fries" are just 10-cents more expensive for double the food?), as well as the high-end ($1500 is clearly not reasonable. So obviously $700 is a reasonable price).
------
Everyone does it. "i3" doesn't have enough features, "i7" is too expensive, clearly "i5" is the perfect CPU. Eventually, when Intel wants to sell more i7s, they invent the i9 so that the i9 can serve as the decoy and "nudge" people towards buying the i7.
Too many poor kids are talking about the next-gen GPU, yet their budget for a new PC is 3-4 times smaller than the actual flagship product.
And yeah, as a consumer I except seeing more the first day with later add-ons (XT/Ti's) and gimmicks (power limit unlock for example).
BTW how you say 90% flagship for Apple products ? It's actually a really variable procentage, depending on the time of the year...but as for the Q4 of every year, I see Apple leading the smartphone/tablet market any hour. Both single core and multi core performance...I mean it's their Christmas beast mode 100% 1500$ per purchase season
So both nvidia and amd wanna join the campus somehow.
I'm sure the 6700XT will be more interesting, so either buy a 3070 or a 6800XT, or wait for the 6700XT.
No further comments. Might switch for this.
Both intel and nvidia have the money to fight it, this will propel the tech game big time!