No 20nm GPUs for 2014- When will the next generation come?

[WYP]

Last month I reported on Nvidia's delaying their migration to the 20nm process until 2015. Now I can tell you all that there will in fact be no 20nm GPUs released by AMD either.

Will 2014 be a dark, upgrade-less year for PC gamers?

According to the transcript from AMD’s CEO said that they will stick to 28nm process in 2014, he said that the company is in the process of designing its 20nm architecture and it will then move to Samsungs/ Globalfoundaries 14nm FinFET process further down the line.

Lisa Su - SVP and General Manager of Global Business Units
Sure, Chris. So let me take that and give you a little bit of our thinking.

So in terms of product and technology selection, certainly we need to be at the leading-edge of the technology roadmap. So what we've said in the past is certainly this year all of our products are in 28-nanometer across both, you know, graphics client and our semi-custom business. We are, you know, actively in the design phase for 20-nanometer and that will come to production. And then clearly we'll go to FinFET. So that would be the progression of it.

Relative to the competitiveness of the products, we feel very good about the competitiveness of the products, to vary in terms of total compute, what we're able to do across the stack with our Beema product line and our graphics capability.

Mark Lipacis - Jefferies & Co.
That's very helpful, Rory. Thank you. And then a follow-up question, on the manufacturing process roadmap, Lisa, the -- it looks like your -- Global Foundries signed a partnership or announced a partnership with Samsung to license their technology on fully depleted 14-nanometer FinFETs. You talked about your roadmap to FinFETs, Global Foundries, if they are using fully depleted technologies, is that different than the technology they're currently using? And would that require additional investment by you guys to try to get to that ultimately?

Lisa Su - SVP and General Manager of Global Business Units
Sure, Mark. So let me comment on that. So if we look at the overall relationship that Global Foundries signed with Samsung, I think we view that as a good thing. I think it's good for the industry and it's good for AMD relative to collaboration and getting FinFETs to market sooner.

Relative to investment side, I think from that standpoint, we have a roadmap to go to FinFETs, it's a very important technology for us, and I wouldn't see that disagreement, changes or affects that in any way.

So long story short there will be no 20nm GPUs this year, so please do not believe any rumours that say otherwise. AMD and Nvidia will both move to 20nm in 2015, then the future will be based on Samsungs 14nm FinFETs.

What this means for any upcoming releases for both chip makers remains uncertain, perhaps this year will be filled with refreshes... again.

What are your opinions on this? Do you mind the wait for 20nm or the possibility of any GPU refreshes in the not too distant future? Please comment below.

Source - SeekingAlpha

 

[Dicehunter]

Seeing as this year is all about going watercooling for me this has no effect on me anyway but good to know they aren't rushing their 20nm process to market

 

[Zoot]

Except for AMD's Kaveri which is cool in its own right, although not Earth shattering, there's no new hardware this year really.

Saves me blowing more money on PC hardware.

 

[SeekaX]

Well, i didn't want to upgrade this year anyways. Too bad, i intended to wait 2 generations till i move on from my 770, now it seems like the 8xx will be in time for an upgrade.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I'd rather they not rush out 20nm when its not ready. Just causes high prices and low yield rates. Plus my 7950 maxes everything out i play now so no reason to upgrade.

 

[badkeegan63]

If it improves performance I am all for it. If this goes the way of Intel's Haswell, I will be selling the popcorn.

 

[Dicehunter]

I can see Maxwell 28nm coming out in the form of an 880 etc... but nothing really world changing like going from a 580 to a 780 Ti.
I'm waiting on the 9xx series, That's when it will get interesting

 

[QuietOne]

I can see Maxwell 28nm coming out in the form of an 880 etc... but nothing really world changing like going from a 580 to a 780 Ti.
I'm waiting on the 9xx series, That's when it will get interesting

They will bring out the Titan XXL with 128GB VRAM and you would need to remortgage the house to get one.

 

[lAnimal]

nVidia don't really need to refresh, and I wouldn't like to see it (though they probably will, cos money), but I think AMD could make some big improvements this year before 20nm...

 

[Wraith]

No rush AMD but please sort out the ipc while you're taking your time! It'd be a real shame to waste all that development time to get slapped by Intel again. So I'm now in 2 minds, either wait to see what comes in 2015 or continue with my A-series project.... mmm decisions decisions.

 

[NeverBackDown]

No rush AMD but please sort out the ipc while you're taking your time! It'd be a real shame to waste all that development time to get slapped by Intel again. So I'm now in 2 minds, either wait to see what comes in 2015 or continue with my A-series project.... mmm decisions decisions.

The IPC is fine its just how the arcitecture handles single threaded tasks terribly which makes the IPC seem low, but if it was a multithreaded task the IPC works very well.

I think 20nm is a desperate need for AMD more so than NVidia. Will help them on the CPU/APU/GPU side and make the investment more worthwhile.

 

[Wraith]

The IPC is fine its just how the arcitecture handles single threaded tasks terribly which makes the IPC seem low, but if it was a multithreaded task the IPC works very well.

I think 20nm is a desperate need for AMD more so than NVidia. Will help them on the CPU/APU/GPU side and make the investment more worthwhile.

Arh true that, it's a good thing though taking their time with this fabrication process better than slapping more rushed crap out onto the market.

Slowly slowy catchy monkey (Intel) :lol:

 

[Meladath]

AMD have something to do with 14nm stuff now, can't remember where I saw it but about a week ago I read an article on it. Maybe they will skip 20nm entirely? (Sorry for the vagueness, but I know I skimmed an article about AMD and 14nm a couple of days ago, I just can't remember anything about it right now)

 

[barnsley]

AMD are partnered with someone for 14nm stuff, can't remember where I saw it but about a week ago I read an article on it. Maybe they will skip 20nm entirely?

Samsung.

If its been in development for ages AMD won't want to drop it as they spent alot of money on it.

 

[Meladath]

Samsung.

If its been in development for ages AMD won't want to drop it as they spent alot of money on it.

This is true. I am really interested in what is going to happen. It's a strange time for PC hardware right now.

 

[Dicehunter]

My bet is that both companies will deliver 20nm by Q1 2015 and then up to 6 months later AMD will release 14nm products ahead of Nvidia to be 1 step in front of the competition.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Nvidia are going to have to really catch up if the 14nm node performance and efficiency rumors are true. 20nm is expected to be a small jump in all areas. Only thing is they might have a cost advantage because making 20nm chips is a lot easier than 14nm, plus they can be produced faster. Nice to have all the advances nonetheless.