AMD: 7nm ‘Navi’ GPU & 'Rome' CPU to Launch in Q3
by Ryan Smith & Anton Shilov on April 30, 2019 5:44 PM EST
Offering a brief update on the state of future products as part of its post-earnings conference call this afternoon, AMD has confirmed that both their upcoming Rome (Zen 2) CPU and their first Navi architecture GPU will launch in the 3rd quarter of this year.
AMD's Rome of course needs no introduction. The first product out of AMD based on their Zen 2 architecture, the chip is built on TSMC's 7nm process and should offer some interesting performance and power efficiency improvements. Of particular note, the chip incorporates a new-to-AMD chiplet based design approach, using separate I/O and CPU dies to simplify manufacturing and allow for easier chip customization.
As AMD's second-generation EPYC processor, we're expecting Rome to be the big server fight for AMD – whereas first-generation EPYC was mostly to test the waters and prove AMD’s readiness, Rome will be where AMD can finally start winning major customer orders. Overall, AMD says that the CPU will be sampling this quarter and launching in Q3; though if it’s anything like Intel’s server CPU launches, then the ever-hungry major hyperscalers may end consuming all of the initial supply.
Meanwhile Navi is the codename architecture for AMD’s next generation of GPUs. The first Navi GPU, which is also being built on TSMC’s 7nm process, is set to launch in Q3 of this year. It should be noted that Navi isn’t a single GPU, but rather should be a family of GPUs (as is traditional for GPUs), so it’s not clear which exact model is launching – if it’s high-end, mid-range, or otherwise.
In other comments on their conference call, AMD did say that Navi will be priced lower than the Radeon VII, but at $699 for what's their most expensive consumer card, this doesn't really narrow things down. Overall, Q3 will be 2 years since AMD’s Vega GPU architecture launched and longer still since Polaris, so AMD’s entire GPU stack is potentially up for a refresh during the Navi generation.
In terms of technology we know very little about the Navi architecture thus far. But if there’s a Q3 launch then this will no doubt soon be changing.
Related Reading:
- AMD's 7nm CPUs & GPUs To Be Fabbed by TSMC, on Track for 2018 - 2019
- AMD Tech Day at CES: 2018 Roadmap Revealed, with Ryzen APUs, Zen+ on 12nm, Vega on 7nm
- AMD Unveils GPU Architecture Roadmap: After Polaris Comes Vega
Source: AMD
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
38 Comments
View All Comments
Cryio - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
Q3? So July-September. Sad. I was eagerly awaiting an upgrade to Navi+Ryzen 3000 in ~June. Most likely will happen in September at this point.Sigh.
RaV[666] - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
Well, remember this whole 7/7 thing, thats in Q3 isnt it.I expect soft launch with preorders (yuck) and with 2-3 weeks from general availability
Averant - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
I too was disappointed that I was going to miss the Zen2 launch when I finally finished building my latest build. But with that said, I am very pleased with my Zen+ TR2 2920X. And I think I'll be good with it for some time to come.Alexvrb - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
Plus you could always upgrade it at some point. :)Samus - Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - link
High probability a 4xx chipset will run 7nm processors. AMD is often pretty good about that. You will obviously need a firmware update, further incentivising the need to purchase a current-gen CPU - even if a basic 2200G to get you by - to POST the board and flash the BIOS with.RSAUser - Sunday, May 5, 2019 - link
High chance it will be 6nm as TSMC stated that it's an easy move from 7nm.MonkeyPaw - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
Ryzen 2000 launched about 1 year ago, so we aren’t too far off from a strict annual release cycle from AMD, and the last 2 releases have been meaningful upgrades. Seems like 3000 won’t disappoint, so I think the wait is forgivable. I’m just glad they keep pushing even when Intel is struggling.sorten - Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - link
Q3 is consistent with all of the rumors I've read. I figure we'll be hearing about it from Computex in 3 weeks and they'll start shipping in early July.tokyojerry - Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - link
I think that is a fairly accurate assessment. 7nm on 7/7 to follow. Computex starting on May 28th.Santoval - Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - link
If the launch rumors hold any water the soft launch (with preorders) should be in early - mid June and the hard launch will take place in 7/7.