AMD Radeon 300 Series Pricing Confirmed – Very Aggressive Performance Per Dollar Focused Positioning
Pricing for AMD’s entire Radeon 300 series has been leaked and it’s showing major performance per dollar improvements across the board. Today’s leak is a little bit different, we’re bringing you an exclusive look at the pricing for the red team’s upcoming 300 series of discrete graphics cards. We’ve managed to confirm these prices directly through our own sources. . In fact we’re confident enough in the legitimacy of the information which our sources have provided that we’ve decided to drop the rumor tag.The pricing structure is very different from the one that we’ve seen with the Sweclockers rumor that we had covered five days ago. In fact the previously rumored prices were so irrationally high, that they prompted me to dedicate an entire paragraph to underline my skepticism. It has now become evidently clear that my doubts were not misplaced. But I digress, so without any further delay let’s take a look at the actual pricing structure for the Radeon 300 series as they were confirmed through our sources.
AMD Radeon 300 Series Pricing Confirmed – Very Aggressive Performance Per Dollar Focused Positioning
For anyone that’s paid attention to the discrete graphics business, even if for short a while, an aggressive performance per dollar focus from the red team will not surprise you at all. In fact many would argue that it’s been the mantra for Radeon. Providing users with performance that would otherwise only be accessible for a significantly larger premium from the green team.
| Segment | Graphics Card | GPU | MSRP |
| Enthusiast | R9 390X 8GB | Enhanced Hawaii XT | $389 |
| Enthusiast | R9 390 8GB | Enhanced Hawaii Pro | $329 |
| Performance | R9 380X 3GB/6GB (NOT CONFIRMED) | Tonga XT | - |
| Performance | R9 380 4GB | Tonga Pro | $235 |
| Performance | R9 380 2GB | Tonga Pro | $195 |
| Performance | R7 370 4GB | Pitcairn | $175 |
| Performance | R7 370 2GB | Pitcairn | $135 |
| Performance | R7 360 2GB | Bonaire | $107 |
AMD’s Hawaii is returning with higher clock speeds and double the VRAM. The R9 390X, replacing the R9 290X, will undoubtedly be faster than its predecessor. The higher clock speeds for the GPU core will likely enable the card to completely close the gap with the GTX 970 at 1920×1080. The doubling of memory capacity and the faster GDDR5 VRAM frequencies will enable the card to distance itself even further from the GTX 970 at higher resolutions in which the R9 290X is already ahead.
The fact that Nvidia has yet to show any interest in introducing 8GB versions of its GM204 based GTX 980 and GTX 970 cards means that users who need the higher memory capacity for multi-GPU setups driving high resolution monitors will find solace in the R9 390 series. Combine all of these advantages and a $389 price tag for the R9 390X 8GB actually creates a worthwhile proposition. It’s priced close enough to the GTX 970 for users to contemplate moving up to the R9 390X. And it’s noticeably less expensive than the GTX 980 for users to consider the more attractive value proposition. A better deal however is perhaps the R9 390 8GB which is even less expensive at $329.
The card replaces current R9 290 4GB cards, of which there are no 8GB variants. Hawaii Pro only contains 9% fewer stream processing units compared to the fully unlocked Hawaii XT powering the R9 390X/290X cards. However despite that, and the lower clock speed, the chip actually performs much closer to its fully unlocked variant than you’d think. Often only trailing Hawaii XT by 5-6%. Couple that with a $60 / 15% price differential and you’ve got a major performance per dollar winner.
Going further down the food chain we find Tonga, AMD’s most recent GPU to date. Tonga Pro, the cut down variant with 1792 GCN stream processors, will debut at $195 as a direct competitor to the GTX 960. If you’re wondering how this card is going to perform all you need to do is take a quick look at the R9 285’s performance and add 5-10% to it thanks to the higher clock speeds.
The R9 285 has already put on a good show, especially when put against its main competition the GTX 960. But more interesting is Tonga XT, the fully unlocked variant with 2048 GCN stream processors and a 384bit interface. AMD never launched this chip under the Radeon 200 series so we may finally see it with the 300 series. Although we were not able to confirm whether AMD’s going to launch this chip at their E3 event next week or not. So we’ll have to wait and see.
Tonga is actually a very capable chip and a fully unlocked version would be very desirable. AMD introduced significant improvements to the GCN microarchitecture with Tonga which enabled the chip to outperform its predecessor, Tahiti, despite having a lower clock speed and 33% less memory bandwidth. An R9 380X with a 384bit interface, 2048 SPs and a clock speed north of 1000Mhz will hold its own. Especially considering that it can address the huge $130 market gap that exists between the GTX 970/R9 390 and the GTX 960/R9 380.
Moving on to the R7 series. We have Pitcairn at $139 and Bonaire at $107. Currently these price points are occupied by Nvidia’s GM107 in the form of the GTX 750 Ti and GTX 750. Both of which are significantly slower than Pitcairn and Bonaire respectively. This is a vitally important segment for many of the growing markets especially in Asia and South America. So we’re sure to see a reaction from Nvidia in that segment soon, likely through price cuts.
We’re actively working towards confirming pricing on AMD’s more exciting upcoming products. The Fiji based, 3D stacked High Bandwidth Memory / HBM fed, brand new Fury graphics cards. So stay tuned for that. In the meantime leave your thoughts in a comment below on the pricing for the soon to arrive Radeon 300 series.
Source: Wccftech
