Carrizo Announced!

[EagleEye]

I'm surprized I haven't seen this posted on Rage3D yet, but AMD just officially announced the Carrizo APU architecture, and it's looking good so far.

Here's the link:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8742/a...us-for-h1-2015

Some of the main points include:

-Will be released 1H 2015
-28nm fabrication process
-2-4 Excavator CPU cores
-GCN 1.2 GPU cores
-Integrated south bridge
-Full HSA 1.0 support (Kaveri didn't have this)
-AMD secure ARM coprocessor
-Optimized for improved power efficiency
-Carrizo and Carrizo-L are both using the same new FM4 socket
-Carrizo-L is actually the successor of Beema, using Puma+ CPU cores and GCN 1.2 GPU cores


There isn't any mention whether its going to use DDR3 or DDR4, so we'll have to wait and see on that. I'd like to point out that even if Carrizo stays with DDR3, there will still be a big improvement in effective memory bandwidth since GCN 1.2 has color delta compression. Considering the Radeon 285 and 280 comparison, it suggests that Carrizo could have a 30-35% performance improvement from memory efficiency alone. There isn't any mention of how many GCN cores Carrizo will have, but even if they stay with 512, there will still be a substantial performance improvement.

It's a shame they're staying with a 28nm fabrication process, but considering pretty much everyone except Intel and Apple are stuck at 28nm, its not very surprising. Since the 28nm node is so mature at this point, I bet AMD can get better power efficiency, higher clocks, and improved yields to reduce costs at least.

Looking forward to seeing the Carrizo SKU's detailed early next year!

[Dr. Zhivago]

They seem to keep executing well. Go AMD!

[noko]

Very interesting, hopefully these chips will come out sooner than later.

[bittermann]

Nope...mid 2015 for low power/mobile chips. No word on desktop versions at all. I've commented on this over at HardOCP so I won't rehash everything. Bottom line is this is not good news for people looking for updated desktop chips. And with a max of 65w I'll doubt we'll see anything close to the 7850K.

[noko]

Originally Posted by bittermann

Nope...mid 2015 for low power/mobile chips. No word on desktop versions at all. I've commented on this over at HardOCP so I won't rehash everything. Bottom line is this is not good news for people looking for updated desktop chips. And with a max of 65w I'll doubt we'll see anything close the 7850K.

I had much hopes for kaveri but looks like I will be going Intel with NVidia Maxwell solution. I just can't justify the price/performance in the end. Plus just too few laptops to choose from.

[Treeckcold57]

Wani is based on Pirate Islands, therefore it is newer than Tonga or Hawaii.
In fact Carrizo will be the first AMD chip to display Pirate Island capabilities

http://semiaccurate.com/forums/showp...&postcount=111

[EagleEye]

That's an interesting post. Maybe the new HSA 1.0 support requires updates to the GCN cores to work? Would be interesting to see what other features it may have. Maybe DX 11.3/12 compliance? Although I'd figure GCN 1.2 would have that as well

I do disagree with the poster about GCN 1.2 only being a slightly tweaked version. The bandwidth efficiency improvements are huge.

The pixel fill rate and tesselation improvements speak for themselves:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8460/a...-285-review/16

[The PyroPath]

Now the only thing we need is OEMs stuffing these inside laptops that aren't stupid configurations (e.g. only putting the lowest level models inside plastic craptops, or coupling it with crazy steep dGPU's in too expensive ultra book range laptops where the CPU can't deliver performance wise compared to i5/i7 pieces with dGPU's.) OEMs should make mid tier laptops with this and a decent dGPU (R7 M260 and up) for about €500-€550

[noko]

Originally Posted by The PyroPath

Now the only thing we need is OEMs stuffing these inside laptops that aren't stupid configurations (e.g. only putting the lowest level models inside plastic craptops, or coupling it with crazy steep dGPU's in too expensive ultra book range laptops where the CPU can't deliver performance wise compared to i5/i7 pieces with dGPU's.) OEMs should make mid tier laptops with this and a decent dGPU (R7 M260 and up) for about €500-€550

You said it. I bought an I7 laptop with Maxwell 860 4gb5, 1080p 14" IPS screen, 128gb SSD with 1TB HD, weights 3.56lbs and has longer battery life than the HP Elitebook 725 G2 or 755 G2with 1080P TN panel . Needless to say about the same price. The AMD configurations are just way too overpriced for consideration for what you get.

[badsykes]

So no update for desktop ... I am left only with Intel cpus to pair a 390 vga..