Several Entry-thru-mid Radeon HD 7000 GPUs Mere Rebrands

[btarunr]

Want a new graphics card this shopping season? Is news of Radeon HD 7000 series arriving late this year or early next year holding you back from purchasing current-generation? Don't let it, go grab that graphics card you had your eyes on. Fairly reliable sources point out that a bulk of Radeon HD 7000 series graphics cards will be based on rebranded current and previous generation GPUs. This bulk mostly spans across the entry-thru-mid range of the product lineup. Familiar GPU codenames such as Cedar, Caicos, and Turks, make a comeback with Radeon HD 7300 series, HD 7400 series, HD 7500 series, and HD 7600 series.

Moving up the ladder, the source postulates two possibilities for Radeon HD 7700 series. First, and more plausible, is that the series is based on Juniper (a hop across two previous generations!); the second is that these make use of rechristened GPUs from a slightly higher market position from the previous generation. Perhaps Barts, perhaps even highly crippled Cayman. The only real next-generation GPU is codenamed "Tahiti", but we're hearing that graphics cards based on it are said to not follow the Radeon HD 7000 series nomenclature altogether.



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[cheesy999]

Want a new graphics card this shopping season? Is news of Radeon HD 7000 series arriving late this year or early next year holding you back from purchasing current-generation? Don't let it, go grab that graphics card you had your eyes on. Fairly reliable sources point out that a bulk of Radeon HD 7000 series graphics cards will be based on rebranded current and previous generation GPUs. This bulk mostly spans across the entry-thru-mid range of the product lineup. Familiar GPU codenames such as Cedar, Caicos, and Turks, make a comeback with Radeon HD 7300 series, HD 7400 series, HD 7500 series, and HD 7600 series.

isn't re-branding GPU's normal now?

 

[btarunr]

isn't re-branding GPU's normal now?

Governments screwing us over is normal, too.

 

[cheesy999]

Governments screwing us over is normal, too.

That's been going on for a lot longer then graphics card rebranding

 

[FreedomEclipse]

That's been going on for a lot longer then graphics card rebranding

Its also a lot more serious the graphics card rebranding too - it can seriously change lives....Or end them too depending what country leaders choose to invade, but thats for another topic.

 

[General Lee]

Rebranding isn't something that has only happened lately, it's been around for god knows how long. The low range is filled with cards that have been renamed a dozen times over with little or no changes at all.

 

[btarunr]

That's been going on for a lot longer then graphics card rebranding

That doesn't change the fact that rebranding GPUs is both "normal" and malicious like governments screwing us over.

 

[H82LUZ73]

You guys did read that they are for APU cpu only right ?Well if I was AMD I would re-brand a card 6550/7550 to pair with a APU with a 6550 already would t you ? These are the low end Who gives a flying crud cards anyways,I want 7950/ 7970/7990 Yeah I would be mad as hell if they re-branded them......

 

[cheesy999]

Rebranding isn't something that has only happened lately, it's been around for god knows how long. The low range is filled with cards that have been renamed a dozen times over with little or no changes at all.

that's my point, it's what we're expecting them to do anyway, i was just pointing out the article made it seem like a surprise

 

[Damn_Smooth]

If I cared about the low end cards at all, this might upset me. I'm only looking at high end for the 7000 series and my 6850s should hold out until then.

 

[DaJMasta]

So my HD5750 needs a new sticker and then I'll have a state-of-the-art part in 2012? It's more than 2 years old now....

I like that graphics cards are getting faster and that my card is still considered good in terms of features and efficiency....

Well, I suppose it's not necessarily my version, we shall see.

 

[erocker]

Disappointing, BUT! Without advancement in software that uses this technology, advancement in the hardware technology isn't needed. Looks like we are stuck so a big hearty thanks to all of those who buy/game on consoles. That being said, I'm not putting any stake in this graph.

 

[qubit]

Fairly reliable sources point out that a bulk of Radeon HD 7000 series graphics cards will be based on rebranded current and previous generation GPUs.

Crap, just like nvidiagate a few years ago.

 

[Suhidu]

With the APU's "Dual Graphics" being as much a selling point as its been thus far for AMD, it would be confusing for many to break compatibility so soon with the HD 7000 series.
Not that I know what all goes into maintaining CrossfireX ability despite major architectural changes, and not that the HD 6000 series would disappear overnight.

Along with that, the increasing power of APUs is making low-mid grade discrete GPUs a less worthwhile thing to invest much development on.

 

[newtekie1]

That doesn't change the fact that rebranding GPUs is both "normal" and malicious like governments screwing us over.

Normal, yes. Malicious, not so much.

 

[btarunr]

Normal, yes. Malicious, not so much.

If someone upgrades between HD 5770 and HD 7770, he will be screwed over. Sure, he's paying for not being informed, but that still betrays bad intent by GPU vendors, when either NVIDIA or AMD resort to it.

 

[theubersmurf]

It looks as if the higher end parts may be getting some kind of refresh, as these are all "Entry level" gpus they're detailing...

 

[Suhidu]

If someone upgrades between HD 5770 and HD 7770, he will be screwed over. Sure, he's paying for not being informed, but that still betrays bad intent by GPU vendors, when either NVIDIA or AMD resort to it.

The 7700 series and up is still pure speculation. No one said these are high-end cards that aren't (or are minimally) changing, just the lower-end ones that are great for APU "Dual Graphics" (Which the 6700 series is incapable of.). In a worst-case abuse of anything, yeah, the result is that people get screwed. I think it greatly changes what this news even means if you mention the *700 series and up.

 

[the54thvoid]

Crap, just like nvidiagate a few years ago.

Nvidiagate?

It was 'Bump'gate. An issue with the solder components causing things to melt and stop working. Hypothesised reason why Apple turned to ATI. Cost NV a lot of money that did as they had to set aside some huge amount for RMA's etc.

The Nvidia rebranding was pretty systemic but a lot stemmed from the huge success if the 8800GTX chip (G80 on a 90nm process?) which the pretty much regurgitated until Fermi.

Feel free to correct me, my mind is a bit fuzzy on that.

 

[Athlon2K15]

sounds good your the only one that made sense

 

[cheesy999]

The Nvidia rebranding was pretty systemic but a lot stemmed from the huge success if the 8800GTX chip (G80 on a 90nm process?) which the pretty much regurgitated until Fermi.

G92 was the massively rebranded one, covering the 8800GS, 8800GT,8800GTS 512MB, 9600GSO, 9800GT, 9800GTX, 9800GTX+, 9800GX2 and GTS 250

G80 was the 8800GTX with the 768MB of ram

 

[newtekie1]

If someone upgrades between HD 5770 and HD 7770, he will be screwed over. Sure, he's paying for not being informed, but that still betrays bad intent by GPU vendors, when either NVIDIA or AMD resort to it.

Will he be screwed over? He is getting what he is getting the performance he is paying for, end of story. If he buys based on name alone, and doesn't get what he thinks he is getting, the graphics card company isn't screwing him over, he gets exactly what he pays for. Besides that, the HD5770 was $160+ when it was new. If he bought a $160 graphics card a year ago, and decides today to buy a sub-$90 graphics card and expect an upgrade, you're an idiot.

There is no bad intent by the graphics card manufacturers, they aren't doing anything malicious. People are still getting the performance per $ that should be getting(if they weren't they would be buying a different product). So, people need to stop blaming their un-informed buying on the people selling the products.

G92 was the massively rebranded one, covering the 8800GS, 8800GT, 9600GSO, 9800GT, 9800GTX, 9800GTX+, 9800GX2 and GTS 250

G80 was the 8800GTX with the 768MB of ram

A lot of those weren't rebrands. The only rebrands were the 8800GS to 9600GSO(done because no one was buying the 8800GS) and 8800GT to 9800GT(done because the 8800GT was released with the expectation that ATi would keep their x2900 naming scheme, but when ATi jumped to a next generation naming scheme, nVidia had to also to keep their products looking fresh in marketting, and nVidia actually proposed using a tri-SLI capable PCB with this card at first but the AIBs shot it down). Some can argue the GTS250 was a rebrand of the 9800GTX+ too, but IMO the massive changes to the reference PCB made it more than a rebrand, despite using the same core configuration. The rest were just variants of the core, just like every core is used in different variants of cards in different configurations.

 

[MikeMurphy]

I don't mind.

It makes a lot of sense from a manufacturing perspective. They are still good cards.

 

[fullinfusion]

Hasn't Nvidia been doing this for years?

Also better get out your tinfoil hats ppl lmao

 

[phanbuey]

This debate has been going on forever. Yes its shady - but only because it is so misleading. And the only reason it is misleading is that the precedent has been set that those numbers are meaningful for performance. The notion that some guy in marketing is going "f&*Y it, put an 8 in the front, that'll REALLY make it sell" is what pisses people off.

No one is expecting the GFX comany to make an entirely new product line every time a new card is introduced. But we do expect some sort of honesty from vendors about what we are buying.

I understand the need to keep your product naming scheme constant:

"yes this will also be our Gen 7 offering for midrange, yes it is a Gen 6 part, no we are not making another part - gen 6 with higher clocks will do the job"

In this case board partners are more responsible than the company. Although AMD could easily require them to put a little graph there that shows performance of the chip in respect to current and past gen offerings.

They should just make the names all arbitrary, then no one will complain that "Angry Beaver" has the same chip as "Aggravated Ferret".