R600 delayed

[Ace Pace]

The source

Our sources confirm that AMD's next generation R600 GPU has been further delayed to Q2 2007 and, sadly, they didn't mention April 1st as the likely ETA. In fact, our understanding is that we're likely looking at late April as a minimum here. Other reports on the net, as of the time of writing, also claim they have official statements from AMD confirming the new Q2 release goal.

AMD is indicating that the reason for the delay is that they want to target a broader audience with R600, implying they've probably decided they need something to compete against the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MiB. On a related note, we haven't heard anything implying RV610 or RV630 have been similarly delayed; thus, at this point, a combined launch doesn't seem out of the question. That would depend on how much R600's launch has been pushed back, and whether they'd be willing to not hard-launch the entire family if they aren't all ready at exactly the same time.

Jesus, It won't be R600 VS G80, it'll be R600 VS G81 and I doubt nVidia would let the G81 come out without competing directly with the R600.

[InnocentBystander]

Were there rumors that it was going to be delayed past April circulating, because I'm pretty sure I heard this somewhere else weeks ago.

[Ace Pace]

Were there rumors that it was going to be delayed past April circulating, because I'm pretty sure I heard this somewhere else weeks ago.

Yes, apprently, AMD wants to get the new respins into stores, to have good stock before release, but it dosn't explain this large a delay. Unless only their recent respin(A18) is valid for shops?

[Arrow]

The R600 is rumored to be 10% than 8800. But the but the 8900 is supposed to be have 200 MHz more on the core clock and 300 to 400 MHz more on the memory, plus 25% more shader power (could be a clock speed increase, which makes the most sense, or additional shader units); so the 8900GTX could end up being 20 to 30% faster than the 8800GTX, possibly while using less power. AMD is going to be in world of hurt if Nvidia ships G81s in April/May (which is the timeframe I've heard).

[Arrow]

Were there rumors that it was going to be delayed past April circulating, because I'm pretty sure I heard this somewhere else weeks ago.

Yes, apprently, AMD wants to get the new respins into stores, to have good stock before release, but it dosn't explain this large a delay. Unless only their recent respin(A18) is valid for shops?

I'd wager either they found a fault with board hardware (like Nvidia did with the regulators on the first 8800GTXs) or the driver software isn't ready. The later would easily explain the delay.

[Ace Pace]

The R600 is rumored to be 10% than 8800. But the but the 8900 is supposed to be have 200 MHz more on the core clock and 300 to 400 MHz more on the memory, plus 25% more shader power (could be a clock speed increase, which makes the most sense, or additional shader units); so the 8900GTX could end up being 20 to 30% faster than the 8800GTX, possibly while using less power. AMD is going to be in world of hurt if Nvidia ships G81s in April/May (which is the timeframe I've heard).

AMD is in a world of hurt anyway, anyone holding AMD stock should probably drop it when Q1 earnings come around, they just wasted another quarter when they practically promised the R600 in Q1 come hell or high water.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

If there's no technical reason to hold it back, it really screams FX 5800 all the louder. Perhaps they know it can't compete against NVidia's high-end, so they're waiting to release the whole line so they can gain the mid-ground where most of the consumer dollars are spent. Still, NVidia has held the middle pretty firmly for multiple generations, now. The 6600 GT was absolute dynamite, and the 7600 GT was amazingly good. If they can follow up with an equally good 8600 GTS (or whatever they call it), it will be pretty hard to beat. The 6600 GT was faster than an FX 5950 Ultra, and the 7600 GT was faster than a 6800 Ultra, so hopefully the 8600 GT will be faster than a 7900 GTX.

[InnocentBystander]

Are Nvidia mid-ranges coming out in April, or is that further down the road still?

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

No idea, but I'd guess it would be around that time.