A Closer Look

The AMD heatsink does not use any heapipes. A large block of metal with a copper core sits in the airflow generated by the fan. You can also see thermal pads that provide cooling for the VRM circuitry and memory chips.


AMD is using one additional 6-pin power connector. This input configuration is specified for up to 150 watts of power draw.


We've seen the IR3567 voltage controller on several designs from AMD before. It has support for I2C voltage control and advanced monitoring.


The GDDR5 memory chips are made by Samsung and carry the model number K4G80325FB-HC25. They are specified to run at 2000 MHz (8000 MHz GDDR5 effective).


AMD's Ellesmere graphics processor introduces the company's Polaris architecture. It is produced on a 14 nm process at Globalfoundries, USA, with a transistor count of 5.7 billlion and a die size of 232 mm².