Hawaii wasn't just a bigger Tahiti, it did change, maybe not as much as keplar -> maxwell, but you can't compare it to that. Tonga is actually AMDs most recent GPU. Not that it really matters what's more 'advanced'. As for 'hot and thirsty', the most recent leaked benchmarks showed it using the same as a 290x, but you know, pinch of salt and all that. Though best to wait and see. As for Maxwell, imo it's power consumption has always been questionable. Mostly that's down to the fact that it's far more intelligent with it's resources than previous GPUs. If you look at techpowerup's Gigabyte 980 review, on a furmark test it actually uses more power than a 290X. And while no-one plays furmark, it's still interesting to see. Actually it just shows how good Maxwell is at controlling it's power and resources considering what the same card pulls while gaming. I'm pretty sure there was a slide from AMD about it's own power-gating technology, more in regards to the GPU in an APU, but I'd imagine that tech will come over at some point. So, hypothetically, if AMD did manage to get this tech into Fiji and it performs similarly to how well NVidia have done it, surely it could shave off a nice amount of power?
My point was that the 290x is hitting over the maximum PCI-E power spec at load already, and there was already a big hoo-haw over the card thermally throttling under normal gaming loads with the stock cooler. AMD have hit the limit of GCN 1.1, and (from the only sample we have, the Tonga Pro in the 285) GCN 1.2 doesn't make a significant dent in the problem. AMD have hit the push-the-current-des9gn-harder limit for their current GCN chips, and need a sea-change to put something up at the top end. double-chip cards, HBM (to alleviate some of the power constraints), a new architecture, or a new process. Double-chip they've already done and just makes the power issues worse. A new architecture takes time, and something is needed in the interim. Process shrinking has been a problem for everyone, and is simply not ready yet for big high-power chips. That leaves implementing HBM early to make some room in the power budget, even with the expense of going into production with a first-gen design.
AIO shouldn't bump up the price that much, look at those adapters you can buy now to cool gpu with CPU AIO. AIO cooler about £30-40 + frame, which would be simply redesigned air cooler cover. Full cover blocks cards have been always expensive which I never understood - it was always like £50 more than buying air cooled card + separate block. So this should be cheaper than those. Well, at least I hope it will be cheap...
Well, it’s a huge hunk of a very expensive metal (copper), which then has to be designed, lazer or water cut, electronically plated, and then shipped. All of this in small batches which add to the expense.
It's an economy of scale thing isn't it - if every PC in existence had watercooling then the parts would be cheap but they don't and so are more expensive (I imagine that only a tiny fraction are watercooled even amongst enthusiasts)
Yes, but what I'm saying is that you can buy this block and card separately and mount it yourself saving like £50-80.
True, but you're eating the install and QC (Does it leak water over my very expensive card? Is it getting good contact over the whole card? Is the card warping due to uneven pressure? Is there anything blocking flow inside the block?) labour costs yourself in that case, and you're also losing any warranty in most cases whereas a factory installed watercooler would be expected to be covered. As with any PC customisation, you save on raw part cost by supplying labour and support yourself.
This card has probably got me the most excited I've been about a new GPU. I'm hoping (praying) for a sub £500 card as I really want one of these to replace my 770, sick of Nvidia of late after having owned only nvidia GPU's for the last decade. Or at least sub £500 by the time I get the cash together to buy it ...........
If that is legit, that's pretty cool! My guess is that it is a dual slot due to the pump being inside there and possibly a fan to cool the pump and/or other parts of the card not under water as well. (Check the PCI bracket, it has a vent.)
It goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway Take a few buckets of salt with you when you read the following. AMD R9 390X, Nvidia GTX 980 Ti and Titan X Benchmarks Leaked , Unconfirmed GTX 9xx shows up http://techarx.com/amd-r9-390x-nvidia-gtx-980-ti-and-titan-x-benchmarks-leaked-unconfirmed-gtx-9xx-shows-up/ They also have supposed power consumption graphs that shows the 390x using less power than a 290x.
If true, we just have to hope that AMD price it around £100 less than the titan and get a price war going.