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> But AMD and Nvidia are treating the low end GPU market as some sort of a backwater Are they though? The GPU embedded in my ryzen 4900 seems to be just as go

by tw04 6y ago

> But AMD and Nvidia are treating the low end GPU market as some sort of a backwater Are they though? The GPU embedded in my ryzen 4900 seems to be just as good, if not better than this xe. The desktop version I would expect to show even better.

lliamander 6y ago
The iGPUs are great, but low-end discrete GPUs are largely ignored. The use case is for people who want HEDT CPUs but don't need high-end GPU power. Getting a modern low-power GPU allows you to still support modern codecs, modern display adapters, and high resolution displays.
- mrguyorama 6y ago
  So you're willing to pay $1000 for a HEDT CPU but not $150 for a modern GPU?
  - lliamander 6y ago
    The price range for HEDT really starts at about $500. That includes low-end Core-X, 2nd gen Threadripper, and Ryzen 9 CPUs (which is essentially HEDT for many use cases). As it stands, there is no GPU that: - consumes 75W or less of power (i.e. running only on PCIe power) - has a modern architecture (with the latest codecs, display adapters, good perf-per-watt, etc.) - has solid support from open source drivers. Understandably, it's a niche use case. But AMD hasn't launched a new GPU in that range for almost 4 years.
- tw04 6y ago
  But this isn't a discrete GPU for desktops... this announcement literally says it's for thin and light laptop applications. The desktop application is going to be OEM only and there's no indication at this point that it'll even be used to power external monitors vs. just a GPU offload for AI/ML workloads. https://www.anandtech.com/show/16211/intels-dg1-gpu-coming-to-discrete-desktop-cards-next-year-oemonly https://www.anandtech.com/show/16211/intels-dg1-gpu-coming-t...
  - lliamander 6y ago
    > But this isn't a discrete GPU for desktops... this announcement literally says it's for thin and light laptop applications. Yes, I know. This particular thread of conversation was started by my comment about my excitement for what this means when the desktop counterpart is released.
toast0 6y ago
AMD is barely selling the desktop 4000 series (zen2) apus. OEM sales only, in limited countries. I obtained two through aliexpress, but that's not for the faint of heart. With US retailers, you're limited to zen+, 4-core chips when zen3 cpus (with no gpu) are arriving shortly. Just because I don't want a high power GPU doesn't mean I want a CPU that old and limited.
- owowow 6y ago
  AMD sells these older designs on generation behind nodes (eg: 14nm) as they need to be on time and under budget to get OEM design wins. If they miss the timeline to get laptop chips out the door for back to school season, Dell, HP, Asus, etc will just go with Intel as the vat majority of laptop sales happen in one short period of the year. TSMC 7nm production is at capacity, Apple has the bulk of the wafers and AMD has to share the remainder with other customers on that 7nm process. Nvidia literally got no wafers allocated by TSMC, hence why they have been forced to use Samsung's half baked 8nm process that performs much worse.

by tw04 6y ago

lliamander 6y ago

The iGPUs are great, but low-end discrete GPUs are largely ignored. The use case is for people who want HEDT CPUs but don't need high-end GPU power. Getting a modern low-power GPU allows you to still support modern codecs, modern display adapters, and high resolution displays.

mrguyorama 6y ago
So you're willing to pay $1000 for a HEDT CPU but not $150 for a modern GPU?
- lliamander 6y ago
  The price range for HEDT really starts at about $500. That includes low-end Core-X, 2nd gen Threadripper, and Ryzen 9 CPUs (which is essentially HEDT for many use cases). As it stands, there is no GPU that: - consumes 75W or less of power (i.e. running only on PCIe power) - has a modern architecture (with the latest codecs, display adapters, good perf-per-watt, etc.) - has solid support from open source drivers. Understandably, it's a niche use case. But AMD hasn't launched a new GPU in that range for almost 4 years.
tw04 6y ago
But this isn't a discrete GPU for desktops... this announcement literally says it's for thin and light laptop applications. The desktop application is going to be OEM only and there's no indication at this point that it'll even be used to power external monitors vs. just a GPU offload for AI/ML workloads. https://www.anandtech.com/show/16211/intels-dg1-gpu-coming-to-discrete-desktop-cards-next-year-oemonly https://www.anandtech.com/show/16211/intels-dg1-gpu-coming-t...
- lliamander 6y ago
  > But this isn't a discrete GPU for desktops... this announcement literally says it's for thin and light laptop applications. Yes, I know. This particular thread of conversation was started by my comment about my excitement for what this means when the desktop counterpart is released.

toast0 6y ago

AMD is barely selling the desktop 4000 series (zen2) apus. OEM sales only, in limited countries. I obtained two through aliexpress, but that's not for the faint of heart. With US retailers, you're limited to zen+, 4-core chips when zen3 cpus (with no gpu) are arriving shortly. Just because I don't want a high power GPU doesn't mean I want a CPU that old and limited.

owowow 6y ago
AMD sells these older designs on generation behind nodes (eg: 14nm) as they need to be on time and under budget to get OEM design wins. If they miss the timeline to get laptop chips out the door for back to school season, Dell, HP, Asus, etc will just go with Intel as the vat majority of laptop sales happen in one short period of the year. TSMC 7nm production is at capacity, Apple has the bulk of the wafers and AMD has to share the remainder with other customers on that 7nm process. Nvidia literally got no wafers allocated by TSMC, hence why they have been forced to use Samsung's half baked 8nm process that performs much worse.