The mid-range AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is not supposed to have 16 GB of video memory, but the same hardware modders from Brazil behind the recent GeForce RTX 2080 16 GB mod, had other ideas for the card. They have not only increased the memory size to 16 GB through memory chip replacement, but also succeeded in widening its memory bus to 256-bit. The RX 5600 XT was launched in 2018 with 6 GB of 14 Gbps GDDR6 memory over a 192-bit memory interface. The card is cut down from the 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon powering the RX 5700 series, by enabling 36 out of 40 compute units (the same count as the RX 5700), but with a truncated 192-bit memory bus wired to 6 GB of memory (and so 25% lower memory bandwidth).

Paulo Gomes and Ronaldo Buassali pulled off the daring Radeon RX 5600 XT memory mod, which involves not just increasing the memory size from 6 GB to 16 GB, but also widening the memory bus from 192-bit to 256-bit. Since the RX 5600 XT is based on the same "Navi 10" GPU as the RX 5700, custom-design graphics cards tend to reuse PCB designs from the RX 5700 series, and have two vacant memory pads that are sometimes exposed and even balled. The mod involves three key stages—to replace the six 8 Gbit GDDR6 memory chips with eight 16 Gbit ones; to add the required electrical SMDs and VRM components for the two additional memory chips; and lastly, to give the card a modified BIOS that can let it play with the new memory configuration. The "Navi 10" silicon also powers certain Radeon Pro graphics cards with 16 GB of memory using 16 Gbit memory chips, so that could be the starting point for the BIOS mod.

AMD's third smallest silicon based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture, the Navi 23, has more transistors than its largest GPU based on RDNA, the Navi 10. This according to a leak detailing key physical specs of the silicon. The Navi 23 silicon will feature in the desktop Radeon RX 6600 series, mobile Radeon RX 6600M series, and the Radeon Pro W6600. The Navi 23 silicon has a transistor count of 11.06 billion, compared to 10.3 billion on the Navi 10 silicon that powers the Radeon RX 5700 XT, and has a die size of approximately 237 mm², compared to 251 mm² of the older chip.

Built on the same 7 nm silicon fabrication node as the other RDNA2 chips, Navi 23 physically features 32 compute units, working out to 2,048 stream processors. Other specs include 128 TMUs, and possibly 32 ROPs. The RDNA2 compute unit features Ray Accelerators, so the chip has 32 of them. The memory sub-system is interesting. The memory bus width is 128-bit, addressing GDDR6 memory, but this interface is cushioned by 32 MB of on-die Infinity Cache memory. This cache could be contributing significantly to the chip's overall transistor count. The chip features PCI-Express 4.0 host interface, although there's no clarity on whether this is PCI-Express 4.0 x8 or x16.Many Thanks to DeathtoGnomes for the tip

Back in February, NVIDIA has announced its GPU SKUs dedicated to the cryptocurrency mining task, without any graphics outputs present on the chips. Today, we are getting information that AMD is rumored to introduce its own lineup of graphics cards dedicated to cryptocurrency mining. In the latest patch for AMD Direct Rendering Manager (DRM), a subsystem of the Linux kernel responsible for interfacing with GPUs, we see the appearance of the Navi 12. This GPU SKU was not used for anything except Apple's Mac devices in a form of Radeon Pro 5600M GPU. However, it seems like the Navi 12 could join forces with Navi 10 GPU SKU and become a part of special "blockchain" GPUs.

Way back in November, popular hardware leaker, KOMACHI, has noted that AMD is preparing three additional Radeon SKUs called Radeon RX 5700XTB, RX 5700B, and RX 5500XTB. The "B" added to the end of each name is denoting the blockchain revision, made specifically for crypto-mining. When it comes to specifications of the upcoming mining-specific AMD GPUs, we know that both use first-generation RDNA architecture and have 2560 Stream Processors (40 Compute Units). Memory configuration for these cards remains unknown, as AMD surely won't be putting HBM2 stacks for mining like it did with Navi 12 GPU. All that remains is to wait and see what AMD announces in the coming months.

New Linux patches seem to point towards a cryptocurrency-focused graphics card from AMD. First spotted by Phoronix, the patches add descriptions for a "navi10 blockchain SKU" - it's a pretty self-describing, well, description. The device ID is reported as 0x731E, and Phoronix says that the major difference between this graphics card and the other Navi 10 offerings in the market (namely RX 5700XT and RX 5700) is the absence of Display Core Next (DCN) and Video Core Next (VCN) engines. Whether these are absent from the silicon, or simply disabled by other means is currently unclear. Their absence, however points towards cards with no graphical outputs, a lapalissian practicality for cryptocurrency-focused graphics mining products.

Phoronix estimates a release of no sooner than early 2021, considering the timing of the patch information on Linux. While the market for GPU-accelerated cryptocurrency mining isn't what it used to be (luckily), there is still a market opportunity to be taken advantage of here - while ASICs have become more commonplace, there are still many GPU-mining alternatives within the realm of crypto. A crypto-focused product might steer users away from gaming-oriented consumer products, thus easing strain on supply for AMD's upcoming RX 6000 series - especially if this Navi 10-based GPU (or should we call it a CHU - Cryptocurrency Hashing Unit?) features some voltage and power adjustments to increase power efficiency on these workloads.

AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards, based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture, will see the introduction of the company's first DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics cards (featuring features such as real-time raytracing). A VideoCardz report sheds light on the specifications. The 7 nm "Navi 21" and "Navi 22" chips will power the top-end of the lineup. The flagship part is the Radeon RX 6900 XT, followed by the RX 6800 XT and RX 6800; which are all based on the "Navi 21." These are followed by the RX 6700 XT and RX 6700, which are based on the "Navi 22" silicon.

The "Navi 21" silicon physically features 80 RDNA2 compute units, working out to 5,120 stream processors. The RX 6900 XT maxes the chip out, enabling all 80 CUs, and is internally referred to as the "Navi 21 XTX." Besides these, the RX 6900 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface, and engine clocks boosting beyond 2.30 GHz. The next SKU in AMD's product stack is the RX 6800 XT (Navi 21 XT), featuring 72 out of 80 CUs, working out to 4,608 stream processors, the same 16 GB 256-bit GDDR6 memory configuration as the flagship, while its engine clocks go up to 2.25 GHz.

Update, October 7th 2020: AMD has confirmed it has ceased production for the RX 5700, but that RX 5700 XT manufacturing will be ongoing at least until 1Q2021. It's unclear what this means for the company's RDNA2 launch plans; it could be speculated the company will be releasing halo products first, with lower tiers being launched at a later time, in line with NVIDIA's usual launch cadence. This would justify the RX 5700 being kept in fabrication, since with a substantial price cut, it could become a mainstream AMD product).

A report originated from Cowcotland paints AMD as having ceased production on the Navi 10-powered RX 5700 XT and RX 5700. No reference or custom designs are currently being manufactured for either of these GPUs. AMD having ceased production on these cards makes sense, considering the upcoming announcement for the RX 6000 series scheduled for October 28th. This serves as a way for the supply channel to keep draining its supply of RX 5700 cards ahead of the upcoming RDNA 2 solutions. Them being discontinued means that AMD is looking to replace them - at least price-wise - on their product stack.

Interestingly, it appears that the RX 5600 XT is still being manufactured - it's likely AMD reduced manufacturing of Navi 10 so as to feed only this GPU, which should, as such, remain in the market for a little while until AMD launches an RDNA 2 equivalent - if those are the company's plans. TSMC capacity is freed for additional wafers for other AMD product requirements - which, with both Zen 3, next-gen consoles, and RDNA 2 all launching between the same time frame - should tend towards infinity.

Raijintek today unveiled the MORPHEUS 8057, a large graphics card air-cooler. The cooler consists of a gargantuan aluminium fin-stack heatsink that's ventilated by a pair of 120 mm fans (not included). The heatsink features a large mirror-finish copper base, from which six 6 mm thick heat pipes emerge in either direction of the base (Raijintek for some reason counts this as 12 heat pipes), conveying heat to a large fin-stack with 112 aluminium fins that have ceramic coating.

The MORPHEUS 8057 heatsink measures 254 mm x 100 mm x 44 mm (WxDxH), weighing 515 g. Among the secondary heatsinks included are 12 heatsinks of various sizes for memory and VRM components; thermal pads, retention clips, and some thermal paste. Among the graphics cards supported are AMD "Navi 10" based graphics cards (RX 5700 series and RX 5600 series); and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080/SUPER, RTX 2070/SUPER, and RTX 2060/SUPER. The company didn't reveal pricing.

AMD's RDNA2 graphics architecture, which sees real-time ray-tracing among other DirectX 12 Ultimate features, could see the company double the amount of stream processors generation-over-generation, according to a specs leak by _rogame. The increase in stream processors would fall in line with AMD's effort to increase performance/Watt by 50%. It may appear like the resulting SKUs finally measure up to the likes of the RTX 2080 Ti, but AMD has GeForce "Ampere" in its competitive calculus, and should the recent specs reveal hold up, the new "Navi 21" could end up being a performance-segment competitor to GeForce graphics cards based on the "GA104" ("TU104" successor), rather than a flagship-killer.

The RDNA2-based "Navi 21" GPU allegedly features 80 RDNA2 compute units amounting to 5,120 stream processors. AMD might tap into a refined 7 nm-class silicon fabrication node by TSMC to build these chips, either N7P or N7+. The die-size could measure up to 505 mm², and AMD could aim for a 50% performance/Watt gain over the "Navi 10." AMD could carve out as many as 10 SKUs out of the "Navi 21," but only three are relevant to the gamers. The SKU with the PCI device ID "0x731F: D1" succeeds the RX 5700 XT. The one bearing "0x731F: D3" succeeds the RX 5700, with a variant name "Navi 21 XL." The "Navi 21 XE" variant has a PCI ID of "0x731F: DF," and succeeds the RX 5600 XT.

Besides Alienware, Dell maintains a gaming notebook line under its main brand, with the G3 and G5, both endowed with 15.6-inch displays. The G5 15 SE is AMD-powered, featuring 15.6-inch Full HD 144 Hz displays, processor options that include the Ryzen 9 4900H, Ryzen 7 4800H, and Ryzen 5 4600H. This is the first notebook from Dell to feature the Radeon RX 5600M graphics based on "Navi 10." This notebook's Intel+NVIDIA alter-ego is the G15-5500, which comes with processor options that include the i5-10300H and i7-10750H; and various NVIDIA GeForce GPU options ranging from the GTX 1650 Ti to the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q. Memory options range between 8 GB to 32 GB; and storage between 128 GB to 1 TB NVMe SSD.

The G3 is Dell's entry-level gaming-grade notebook line. It offers 15.6-inch displays with Full HD resolutions, ranging between 60 Hz to 144 Hz, processor options that include the i5-10300H and i7-10750H, and graphics options ranging between the GTX 1650 and RTX 2060 (mobile). Memory options are either 8 GB single-channel or 16 GB dual-channel, both DDR4-2933. Dell has upped the game, doing away with HDD based storage options. The G3 starts with a 128 GB NVMe SSD, with capacities ranging up to 1 TB, and option for a second NVMe drive. Networking options include Killer 802.11ax and 1 GbE.

AMD is finally coming around to launching the Radeon RX 5600M and RX 5700M based on its 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon. The company has, until now, only shipped mobile GPUs using the smaller "Navi 14" chip. A scoop by Komachi Ensaka points to an upcoming notebook combining a Ryzen 4000-H processor an "Navi-10M" GPU. With the right combination of clock speeds and memory configuration, the RX 5600M could offer performance rivaling (or beating) the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (mobile), and possibly on par with the RTX 2060 (mobile). The RX 5700M could compete with the upcoming RTX 2060 Super (mobile) and RTX 2070 (mobile). The RX 5600M could be a particularly important solution, as its desktop compatriot is designed for higher refresh-rate 1080p gaming. Much of the gaming notebook scene still revolves around 1080p, with innovations in the areas of refresh rates.

AMD gave both the RX 5600M and RX 5700M identical GPU core configurations to their desktop variants. The RX 5600M has 2,304 stream processors, 144 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 192-bit GDDR6 memory interface holding 6 GB of memory; while the RX 5700M tops it with 256-bit wide memory bus and 8 GB of memory. Both the RX 5700M and RX 5600M are configured with 12 Gbps memory frequency. The RX 5600M ticks at 1190 MHz (game), and 1265 MHz (boost), while the RX 5700M does 1620 MHz (game) and 1720 MHz (boost). Coming back to Komachi's leak about the Renoir + Navi 10M notebook, we predict a working implementation of AMD SmartShift technology. The company even made marketing graphics of this.

AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su, in her Q4-2019 and FY-2019 earnings call, confirmed that the company debut its second-generation RDNA graphics architecture in 2020. "In 2019 we launched our new architecture in GPUs, it's the RDNA architecture, and that was the Navi-based products. You should expect those will be refreshed in 2020, and we will have our new next-generation RDNA architecture that will be part our 2020 lineup."

Second-gen RDNA, or RDNA2, is expected to leverage the new 7 nm+ (EUV) silicon fabrication process at TSMC, to dial up transistor-counts, clock-speeds, and performance. Among the two anticipated feature additions are VRS (variable rate shading) and possibly ray-tracing. The fabled "big Navi" silicon, a GPU larger than "Navi 10," is also on the cards, according to an earlier statement by Dr Su. More details about these upcoming graphics cards are expected to be put out in March, at the 2020 AMD Investor Day conference.

ASUS is keeping its Radeon RX 5600 XT graphics card lineup trim, with just two SKUs, both of which are factory-overclocked. The lineup is led by the ROG Strix Radeon RX 5600 XT O6G, while its affordable sibling is the TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO. ASUS hasn't finalized the clock-speeds for either, as it's rumored that AMD is working with its partners to increase them across the board, to make the RX 5600 XT competitive against the GeForce RTX 2060. Both ASUS RX 5600 XT graphics cards are largely based on its RX 5700-series board designs as the RX 5600 XT is carved from the same 7 nm "Navi 10" ASIC.

The ROG Strix RX 5600 XT O6G features the company's premium triple-slot DirectCU III cooling solution with three Axial-Tech fans, idle fan-stop, plenty of RGB bling on the cooler shroud and metal back-plate, and a high-grade VRM solution that pulls power from a combination of 8-pin and 6-pin PCIe power connectors. The TUF Gaming X3 RX 5600 XT EVO, on the other hand, also features a triple-slot design, the TUF X3 cooling solution with three Axial-Tech fans (the one in the middle is smaller than the others); idle fan-stop, and a metal back-plate. This card pulls power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, unlike the ROG Strix.

At a Q&A session with the tech press in Las Vegas, AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su raised hopes of a high-end graphics card based on its "Navi" family of GPUs. Responding to a specific question by Gordon Ung from PC World on whether there will be a high-end competitor in the discrete graphics space, Dr Su stated that one should expect a "high-end Navi." Dr Su states: "I know those on Reddit want a high end Navi! You should expect that we will have a high-end Navi, and that it is important to have it. The discrete graphics market, especially at the high end, is very important to us. So you should expect that we will have a high-end Navi, although I don't usually comment on unannounced products."

For months now, it's been speculated that AMD has been working on a larger GPU die than "Navi 10." In 2020, AMD is expected to release the "Navi 20" familly of GPUs built on 7 nm+ (EUV) node, based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture. The key design goals of RDNA2 are expected to be support for at least tier-1 variable-rate shading (VRS), and possibly hardware-accelerated ray-tracing. It's possible that "high-end Navi" belongs to this family of GPUs.

Here's the first press-shot of an upcoming Radeon RX 5600 XT custom-design graphics card, this one from ASRock. The RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming OC appears to combine a compact PCB with a long triple-fan cooling solution that's 29 cm in length. The cooling solution features an aluminium fin-stack heatsink that's ventilated by a trio of 80 mm spinners. The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, indicating a significantly lower power draw target than the RX 5700-series. The card's box confirms 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, and factory-overclocked speeds, which according to VideoCardz are 1560 MHz gaming.

From an older report, we know that the RX 5600 XT is designed to compete with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. It's armed with 2,304 stream processors, 144 TMUs, possibly 48 ROPs, and a 192-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface holding 6 GB of memory, which ticks at 12 Gbps. The RX 5600 XT appears to be carved from the 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon, with a quarter of its memory interface disabled. AMD is expected to debut the card at its International CES 2020 presser, later this month.

AMD in the second half of 2020 could outpace Apple as the biggest foundry customer of TSMC for its 7 nm silicon fabrication nodes (DUV and EUV combined). There are two key factors contributing to this: AMD significantly increasing its orders for the year; and Apple transitioning to TSMC's 5 nm node for its A14 SoC, freeing up some 7 nm allocation, which AMD grabbed. AMD is currently tapping into 7 nm DUV for its "Zen 2" chiplet, "Navi 10," and "Navi 14" GPU dies. The company could continue to order 7 nm DUV until these products reach EOL; while also introducing the new "Renoir" APU die on the process. The foundry's new 7 nm+ (EUV) node will be utilized for "Zen 3" chiplets and "Navi 2#" GPU dies in 2020.

Currently, the top-5 customers for TSMC 7 nm are Apple, HiSilicon, Qualcomm, AMD, and MediaTek. Barring AMD, the others in the top-5 build mobile SoCs or 4G/5G modem chips on the node. AMD is expected to top the list as it scales up orders with TSMC. In the first half of 2020, TSMC's monthly output for 7 nm is expected to grow to 110,000 wafers per month (wpm). Apple's migration to 5 nm in 2H-2020, coupled with capacity-addition could take TSMC's 7 nm output to 140,000 wpm. AMD has reportedly booked the entire capacity-addition for 30,000 wpm, taking its allocation up to 21% in 2H-2020. Qualcomm is switching to Samsung for its next-generation SoCs and modems designed for 7 nm EUV. NVIDIA, too, is expected to built its next-gen 7 nm EUV GPUs on Samsung instead of TSMC. These moves by big players could free up significant foundry allocation at TSMC for AMD's volumes to grow in 2020.

AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 5600 XT graphics card features the same exact stream processor count as the $350 RX 5700, according to a leaked specs sheet of a an AIB partner's custom-design graphics card. With a stream processor count of 2,304, it's safe to assume that the RX 5600 XT is based on the same 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon as the RX 5700 series. What set the RX 5600 XT apart from the RX 5700, besides lower clock-speeds, is the memory subsystem, which is severely stripped down. The Radeon RX 5600 XT will be equipped with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface. What's more, the memory ticks at 12 Gbps, compared to 14 Gbps on the RX 5700 series.

With these specs, the RX 5600 XT has 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth at its disposal, same as NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. In contrast, with 8 GB of 256-bit GDDR6 running at 14 Gbps, the RX 5700 enjoys 448 GB/s. The specs sheet suggests that AMD has also dialed down the engine clock-speeds (GPU clocks) a bit, with up to 1620 MHz boost, up to 1460 MHz gaming, and 1235 MHz base. With these specs, it's highly likely that the RX 5600 XT outperforms the GTX 1660 Ti and gets close to the RTX 2060. It all boils down to pricing. The RX 5500 XT is a decent GTX 1650-series alternative with a lukewarm price thanks to NVIDIA's aggressive product-stack management by getting its partners to lower prices of the GTX 1660 and GTX 1660 Super. It would be interesting to see if AMD can outfox NVIDIA in the sub-$300 market.

AMD's upcoming RX 5600 XT will bring about a much needed power increase over the current baseline RX 5500 series, slotting smoothly between it and the mainstream, high-performance RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT. New benchmarks spotted by Videocardz place AMD's upcoming graphics card (which could feature a 6 GB VRAM with higher capacities likely to be offered as well) some 35% ahead of the RX 5500, as well as on the overall performance level of AMD's RX Vega 56. That AMD card debuted at $399 and now has performance 8% to 15% higher than NVIDIA's current GTX 1660 SUPER, exactly where AMD would want the RX 5600 XT's performance to land.

Other details come courtesy of another publication, where Igor Wallosseck over at Igor's Lab says that AMD could be looking at harvesting the Navi 10 dies that power the company's RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 by disabling one of four Asynchronous Compute Engines (ACEs). These four ACEs are found two each on one of Navi's Shader Engines (SEs), and disabling one ACE and subordinate hardware from the full Navi 10's 40 RDNA Units, 2,560 Stream Processors (SPs), 160 texture mapping units (TMUs) and 64 render output units (ROPs) would make up for an RX 5600 XT with 30 RDNA CUs, 1,920 SPs, 120 TMUs, 48 ROPs and expected 3 MB of L2 cache. AMD could be looking to position the AMD RX 5600 XT in the $249 price range, since top tier RX 5500 XT tend to go for $200.

PowerColor is readying a small form-factor friendly custom-design Radeon RX 5700 graphics card, called simply the PowerColor RX 5700 ITX. With a length of 17.5 cm, standard 11 cm height, and strictly 2-slot thickness, the card uses a dense aluminium fin-stack heatsink with four 6 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes that make direct contact with the GPU at the base, ventilated by a single 80 mm fan. More interestingly, the card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector (225 W max power input for the connector + PCIe slot).

Unsurprisingly, the PowerColor RX 5700 ITX sticks to AMD-reference clock-speeds of 1465 MHz base, 1625 MHz gaming, and 1725 MHz boost, with the memory ticking at 14 Gbps (GDDR6-effective). Despite its compact cooling solution, the card does not skimp on idle-fan-off. Display outputs include two DisplayPort 1.4, and one HDMI 2.0. Based on the 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon, the RX 5700 features 2,304 stream processors across 36 RDNA compute units, 144 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface, holding 8 GB of memory. PowerColor didn't reveal pricing of the card, as it will formally launch it later this month.

AMD's Radeon RX 5600-series could see the company take on the top-end of NVIDIA's GeForce 16-series, such as the GTX 1660 Super and the GTX 1660 Ti. A report from earlier this month pegged a December 2019 product announcement for the RX 5600-series and subsequent availability in the weeks following. Regulatory filings by AMD AIB (add-in board) partners with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) shed more light on the product differentiation within the RX 5600 series. The filings reveal that the RX 5600 and RX 5600 XT feature 6 GB and 8 GB sub-variants.

The regulatory filing by ASUS references products across its ROG Strix, TUF Gaming, and Dual lines of graphics cards. As mentioned in the older report, we expect AMD to carve the RX 5600 series out of the larger "Navi 10" silicon, by disabling many more RDNA compute units than the RX 5700, and narrowing the GDDR6 memory bus to 192-bit for the 6 GB variants. AMD has an opportunity to harvest "Navi 10" chips down to stream processor counts such as 1,792 (28 CUs) or 2,048 (32 CUs). It also has the opportunity to use cost-effective 12 Gbps GDDR6 memory chips.

AMD is expected to bolster its mid-thru-performance segments of graphics cards with a few new product announcements in December. To begin with, the Radeon RX 5500 XT, which maxes out the 24 RDNA compute units on the "Navi 14" silicon, could see an early-December announcement, possibly ahead of the mid-December release of the RX 5500 to the AIB (add-in board) retail channel. Next up, is the new RX 5600 series, which enables AMD to capture $200-$300 price-points, competing with the likes of the GeForce GTX 1660 Super and GTX 1660 Ti.

There's no word on how what silicon the RX 5600 series is based on, but VideoCardz reports that the series topping RX 5600 XT has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface. We expect that the RX 5600-series will carved out of the "Navi 10" silicon by disabling many RDNA compute units and narrowing its memory bus. Given that the RX 5500 XT has 1,536 stream processors and the RX 5700 has 2,304, AMD's wiggle room is somewhere between the two, with stream processor counts of 2,048 or 1,920 being plausible for the RX 5600 XT, and 1,792 for the RX 5600, if it exists. Availability of the RX 5600 series is slated for January 2020.Image Courtesy: PCGamesN

NVIDIA's add-in card partners are ordering fresh stocks of GeForce RTX 2070 graphics chips even as the performance-segment of the GPU market has changed with AMD's introduction of its Radeon RX 5700 series "Navi," according to a Gamers Nexus report citing sources among NVIDIA partners. NVIDIA partners are expecting a slump in AMD's RX 5700 series graphics card inventories, particularly that of the RX 5700 XT, to create a price-point at which to sell the RTX 2070. NVIDIA partners expect RX 5700 XT inventories to run slim as supply of the 7 nm "Navi 10" chips from foundry-partner TSMC may not satiate the SKU's reportedly high demand.

NVIDIA's current product stack has the original RTX 2060 at $349, the RTX 2060 Super at $399, and the RTX 2070 Super at $499. The RTX 2070, which is outperformed by the $399 Radeon RX 5700 XT, was practically phased out from NVIDIA's product-stack as it was succeeded by the RTX 2070 Super at its $499 price-point. With the RTX 2070 making a comeback, it would be interesting to see what its price-point will be. There is a gap between the $399 RTX 2060 Super, and the $499 RTX 2070 Super, although the performance gap between the RTX 2060 Super and the RTX 2070 is a paltry 4 percent, which is easily closed by moderately overclocking the RTX 2060 Super. As of this writing, both pricing and availability of the RX 5700 XT appear normal.

GIGABYTE has filed regulatory filings with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) for several Radeon RX 5500-series graphics cards, including as many as six models based on the range-topping RX 5500 XT. The filing confirms that the RX 5500 XT is real, and that all six models from GIGABYTE feature 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The RX 5500 XT, or Navi 10 XTX is rumored to feature 24 RDNA compute units, making up 1,536 stream processors, and a 128-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface, holding 8 GB of memory. AMD possibly hopes to capture sub-$250 price points with this SKU, given that NVIDIA preempted it with the $230 GeForce GTX 1660 Super.

Among the six models, going by GIGABYTE naming conventions, are cards based on the company's WindForce 2X cooler, the Gaming OC SKU that possibly has the larger WindForce 3X cooler, and simpler models that stick to reference clock-speeds. GIGABYTE has been rather restrained with its AMD "Navi" graphics card series, with only two custom-design RX 5700-series graphics cards so far. The same EEC filing also references several additional RX 5700-series SKUs from the company, including some based on its coveted Aorus Gaming brand.

Today we released the latest version of TechPowerUp GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility. Version 2.26.0 adds support for new GPUs, introduces new features, and fixes problems with existing ones. To begin with, support is added for AMD Radeon RX 5500 and RX 5500M, TU104-based NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (non-Super), and Quadro P520. Fake detection has been added for various "Kepler" based GTX 10-series knockoffs.

With this release we fixed an application crash during BIOS extraction on nearly all NVIDIA GPUs. Another crash that appears when the application is launched on machines with AMD "Navi" GPUs without drivers installed. The ASUS ROG skin has been fixed to properly show the "Close" button in the bottom. We also improved the memory junction temperature tooltip on AMD "Navi" to denote that the hottest chip's junction temperature is being reported, and not an average across all chips. Last version's AMD Navi fan-stop fix has been reverted since AMD fixed the issue since their 19.9.1 drivers. PCIe and CrossFire state detection has been fixed for AMD "Navi" and "Vega 20" based graphics cards. Grab it from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.26.0The change-log follows.

The third known implementation of AMD's "Navi" generation of GPUs with RDNA architecture is codenamed "Navi 14." This 7 nm chip is expected to be a cut-down, mainstream chip designed to compete with a spectrum of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16-series SKUs, according to a 3DCenter.org report. The same report sheds more light on the larger "Navi 12" GPU that could power faster SKUs competing with the likes of the GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Super. The two follow the July launch of the architecture debut with "Navi 10." There doesn't appear to be any guiding logic behind the numerical portion of the GPU codename. When launched, the pecking order of the three Navi GPUs will be "Navi 12," followed by "Navi 10," and "Navi 14."

"Navi 14" is expected to be the smallest of the three, with an estimated 170 mm² die-area, about 24 RDNA compute units (1,536 stream processors), and expected to feature a 128-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface. It will be interesting to see how AMD carves out an SKU that can compete with the GTX 1660 Ti, which has 6 GB of 192-bit GDDR6 memory. The company would have to wait for 16 Gbit (2 GB) GDDR6 memory chips, or piggy-back eight 8 Gbit chips to achieve 8 GB, or risk falling short of recommended system requirements of several games at 1080p, if it packs just 4 GB of memory.

AMD's next-generation "Renoir" APU, which succeeds the company's 12 nm "Picasso," will be the company's truly next-generation chip to feature an integrated graphics solution. It's unclear as of now, if the chip will be based on a monolithic die, or if it will be a multi-chip module of a 7 nm "Zen 2" chiplet paired with an enlarged I/O controller die that has the iGPU. We're getting confirmation on two key specs - one, that the iGPU will be based on the older "Vega" graphics architecture, albeit with an updated display engine to support the latest display standards; and two, that the processor's memory controller will support the latest LPDDR4X memory standard, at speeds of up to 4266 MHz DDR. In comparison, Intel's "Ice Lake-U" chip supports LPDDX4X up to 3733 MHz.

Code-lines pointing toward "Vega" graphics with an updated display controller mention the new DCN 2.1, found in AMD's new "Navi 10" GPU. This controller supports resolutions of up to 8K, DSC 1.2a, and new resolutions of 4K up to 240 Hz and 8K 60 Hz over a single cable, along with 30 bits per pixel color. The multimedia engine is also suitably updated to VCN 2.1 standard, and provides hardware-accelerated decoding for some of the newer video formats, such as VP9 and H.265 at up to 90 fps at 4K, and 8K up to 24 fps, and H.264 up to 150 fps at 4K. There's no word on when "Renoir" comes out, but a 2020 International CES unveil is likely.