AMD HD7990 (reference card) is going to be a reality!

[iZoneSG]

In its GDC press-briefing on Tuesday, AMD previewed the reference-design Radeon HD 7990 dual-GPU graphics card. The company dragged its feet over such a product throughout 2012, and allowed its AIB partners to launch graphics cards with their own designs. Among the two that made it to the market were a PCS+ board by TUL, sold under the PowerColor, VTX3D, and Club3D brands, and the ASUS ROG ARES II. While those cards had different company codename, "New Zealand," the new HD 7990 is being referred to internally, as "Malta."

AMD's belated move to launch the Radeon HD 7990 reference design could reiterate the company's long-haul strategy with the Radeon HD 7000 series, which could sail the company through the crucial Summer sales season, over to Q4 2013, when the company is expected to launch its next GPU generation. AMD's reference design HD 7990 enjoys an edge over current market offerings: dual-slot thickness. It uses three 90 mm fans to cool a complex heatsink cooling the two GPUs, the bridge chip, and the VRM to feed them all. AMD didn't speak much about the card, but mentioned that its triple-fan approach is paying dividends. "It's whisper quiet," commented Matt Skynner, general manager of AMD's graphics business unit.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

I just don't understand what's taking them so long to crossfire 2 Tahiti XT chips when it is supposedly even tougher to crossfire 2 Cayman XT chips for their higher TDP.

 

[Ark Law]

Imo the way AMD just stuck 3 fans flat like that on a 100% plastic shroud chassis, doesn't signify confidence in the product and for me, lacks refinement & craftsmanship compared to (nvidia's) competing products

 

[MoneyFace =p]

Imo the way AMD just stuck 3 fans flat like that on a 100% plastic shroud chassis, doesn't signify confidence in the product and for me, lacks refinement & craftsmanship compared to (nvidia's) competing products

Also don't have bling bling LED-lit words on the side too. Lack of sincerity in bringing quality-looking, top-end performing card to potential customers, who are usually the affluent group.

 

[shehchao]

Imo the way AMD just stuck 3 fans flat like that on a 100% plastic shroud chassis, doesn't signify confidence in the product and for me, lacks refinement & craftsmanship compared to (nvidia's) competing products

It may not look nice but it works much much better than a noisy single fan card.

I own the 6990 before, its a nightmare......

If you compared a GTX690 and 6990 noise level, guru3d measure GTX690 to be 43dbA while 6990 46dbA.

 

[iZoneSG]

Imo the way AMD just stuck 3 fans flat like that on a 100% plastic shroud chassis, doesn't signify confidence in the product and for me, lacks refinement & craftsmanship compared to (nvidia's) competing products

AMD existing chips are hotter and power hungry than Nvidia's Kepler chips. One reason why AMD is dragging so long because they are trying to solve that with whatever scraps they have.
It's obvious that this round's match AMD is losing. That's why they are pushing very hard by promoting their AMD Gaming stuff in many 2013 games now to save their skin.
Let's hope the next generation, AMD can make a better architecture design to even out the competition.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

AMD existing chips are hotter and power hungry than Nvidia's Kepler chips. One reason why AMD is dragging so long because they are trying to solve that with whatever scraps they have.
It's obvious that this round's match AMD is losing. That's why they are pushing very hard by promoting their AMD Gaming stuff in many 2013 games now to save their skin.
Let's hope the next generation, AMD can make a better architecture design to even out the competition.

Last gen Cayman chips were even hotter than Tahiti ones and HD 6990 using one fan shroud some more.

 

[iZoneSG]

Last gen Cayman chips were even hotter than Tahiti ones and HD 6990 using one fan shroud some more.

Hmm... my guess is probably they pre-overclocked the two chips beyond standard clock speeds? Let's wait for the full specs to determine how this goes!

 

[shaoz2388]

is it me or the card looks extremely long?

 

[fockyerdod3r]

is it me or the card looks extremely long?

even 6990 is extremely long! no doubt about 7990. by the way i think 7990 come a bit late, therefore gona see how AMD gona priced it. would be great if it cost around 1k to 1.2k SGD

 

[tUx]

And you will need terrific case cooling for that. Note where all the heat is going.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

by the way i think 7990 come a bit late

It takes them 1 full year to roll from New Zealand to Malta.

 

[Ark Law]

Also don't have bling bling LED-lit words on the side too. Lack of sincerity in bringing quality-looking, top-end performing card to potential customers, who are usually the affluent group.

AMD existing chips are hotter and power hungry than Nvidia's Kepler chips. One reason why AMD is dragging so long because they are trying to solve that with whatever scraps they have.
It's obvious that this round's match AMD is losing. That's why they are pushing very hard by promoting their AMD Gaming stuff in many 2013 games now to save their skin.
Let's hope the next generation, AMD can make a better architecture design to even out the competition.

These are the reasons why I feel the 7990 reference doesn't really represent the pinnacle of AMD's Southern Islands. Lack of quality refinement or an exclusive factor in the end product. The reference design just screams Gigabyte's tri-fan Windforce cooler imo

LTT said in a previous live stream that AMD just given up on a 7990 (due to it not being feasibly possible), handing over half completed designs to Powercolor. This is why I don't see confidence with this product. It looks like AMD are just being overly desperate to clear off lower-binned Tahiti chips/scraps, and they would, seeing that a 7990 would just be tuned-down Tahiti XT2s.

With that said, the affluent group (eg. koicafex) as said by Moneyface who are the target group of these flagship GPUs, I don't see much reason why they'd go with these reference ones, unless of course they support AMD. Because, if these people wanted a 7990, they'd spend on an Ares II. If they wanted the ultimate dual-GPU-single-card, they'd get 690s. If they wanted the ultimate GPU, they'd get Titans. If they want a smoother experience, they'd go with nvidia to avoid AMD's driver issues.

As much as I'd like to see AMD to do well, I just think that they should've just scrapped it. The focus should be on NS:R bundles, WHQL driver development, and 8000-series, not trying to salvage a project that has been stalled for so long

 

[NVDefender]

AMD existing chips are hotter and power hungry than Nvidia's Kepler chips. One reason why AMD is dragging so long because they are trying to solve that with whatever scraps they have.
It's obvious that this round's match AMD is losing. That's why they are pushing very hard by promoting their AMD Gaming stuff in many 2013 games now to save their skin.
Let's hope the next generation, AMD can make a better architecture design to even out the competition.

I beg to differ

AMD only lose at the top ends, i.e. 7970 Ghz Edition vs GTX680, 7970 vs GTX670. Going down a notch or two, AMD is pretty much comparable if not less power hungry than nVidia's counterparts; 7950 vs GTX660Ti, 7870 vs GTX660, 7850 vs GTX650 Ti Boost.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

With that said, the affluent group (eg. koicafex)

+1

His PSU may not be able to tahan though.

 

[Humster]

It takes them 1 full year to roll from New Zealand to Malta.

Look at the year of the graph... Looks as if AMD is going back to the past LOL....

From Q4 went back to Q1 2012.

 

[Felfirez]

I guess we should avoid xfire for the time being after the recent unveiling of the stuttering issues with the radeon cards.

 

[shehchao]

Hmm... my guess is probably they pre-overclocked the two chips beyond standard clock speeds? Let's wait for the full specs to determine how this goes!

FYI, the GPUs were underclocked to reduce power consumption.

 

[shehchao]

I guess we should avoid xfire for the time being after the recent unveiling of the stuttering issues with the radeon cards.

Actually, they have been around for a long long time and revealed by many websites. Just that no one put together an article like what anandtech did.

Btw, micro stuttering cannot be avoided for any crossfire/SLI configuration. It can be reduced by not eliminated. This is due to alternate frames being rendered each GPU.

It would be good if both GPUs combined to render each frame but it is way too complicated to implement.

 

[BL-inside]

Here's a quick look @ the HD 7990. Power Color has it already currently.

PowerColor Official Website - Graphics, Cases, Power Supply -- PowerColor HD7990 6GB GDDR5