HPC

The New Radeon Vega Frontier Edition - At A Quick Glance

June 29, 2017
5 min read
Radeon-Vega-Frontier-Edition-Featured-Image.jpg

Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Overview

AMD has been shaking things up this year with its recent technological advancements. First, they unveiled their new 16 core, 32 thread count Ryzen Threadripper central processing unit (CPU). Following the Threadripper announcement, AMD launched their newest workstation graphics processing unit (GPU), the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. This new GPU utilizes the new Vega architecture which is both more powerful and energy-efficient compared to the previous generation architecture, Polaris. It is important to note that this new GPU is primarily meant for workstation applications. However, the new card is plenty capable of handling any new video games on with ease as well as other consumer applications.

Who Will Be Using This Card?

AMD's business model has always been to provide the latest technology hardware at very attractive price points. They are applying this same strategy with the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition GPU and marketing it towards the Deep Learning, Media & Entertainment, and Design & Manufacturing markets. This means they are supplying an accessible option for those looking for the best price per performance from their GPUs.

Radeon-Vega-Frontier-Edition-GPU.png

Specification Comparison

AMD's previous reigning champion card was the Radeon Pro Duo. While it may initially appear that Vega specifications are only slightly higher than the Pro Duo, the Duo is technically two GPUs on a single card. So the fact that the new card is able to beat essentially two previous-generation GPU's is an impressive feat. The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition tops the Pro Duo by having both a higher base and boost clock, which equates to higher overall TeraFLOPs performance, especially at half-precision. While the Vega card technically has lower memory clocks, those looking to buy should keep in mind that it is utilizing the new High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) interface. HBM2 memory has a higher memory bus width that results in double the total memory bandwidth. The full specification comparison can be seen below:

Radeon Vega Frontier EditionRadeon Pro Duo (Polaris)Radeon Pro WX 7100
Radeon Fury X
Stream Processors
4096
2x 2304
2304
4096
Texture Units
-
2x 144
144
256
ROPs
64
2x 32
32
64
Base/Typical Clock
1382MHz
N/A
N/A
N/A
Peak/Boost Clock
1600MHz
1243MHz
1243MHz
1050MHz
Single Precision
13.1 TFLOPS
11.5 TFLOPS
5.7 TFLOPS
8.6 TFLOPS
Half Precision
26.2 TFLOPS
11.5 TFLOPS
5.7 TFLOPS
8.6 TFLOPS
Memory Clock
1.89 Gbps HBM2
7 Gbps GDDR5
7 Gbps GDDR5
1 Gbps HBM
Memory Bus Width
2048-bit
2x 256-bit
256-bit
4096-bit
Memory Bandwidth
483 GB/sec
2x 224 GB/sec
224 GB/sec
512 GB/sec
VRAM
16 GB
2x 16 GB
8 GB
4 GB
Typical Board Power
<300W
250W
130W
275W
GPU
Vega (1)
Polaris 10
Polaris 10
Fiji
Architecture
Vega
Polaris
Polaris
GCN 1.2
Manufacturing Process
GloFo 14nm
GloFo 14nm
GloFo 14nm
TSMC 28nm
Launch Date
06/2017
05/2017
10/2016
06/24/15
Launch Price
Air: $999
Liquid: 1499
$999
$649
$649

Conclusion

If ever there was a time to reinvest in AMD products, whether it be the new CPU or GPU products, there is no better time than now. AMD has made an outstanding effort to revitalize its hardware offerings this year, with price points that make them fiercely competitive. For anyone still on the fence about purchasing a Ryzen CPU or a Vega GPU, these new offerings require thorough consideration. Initial performance figures and specifications indicate that these new architectures are sure to impress and help secure more market share.

Topics

Radeon-Vega-Frontier-Edition-Featured-Image.jpg
HPC

The New Radeon Vega Frontier Edition - At A Quick Glance

June 29, 20175 min read

Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Overview

AMD has been shaking things up this year with its recent technological advancements. First, they unveiled their new 16 core, 32 thread count Ryzen Threadripper central processing unit (CPU). Following the Threadripper announcement, AMD launched their newest workstation graphics processing unit (GPU), the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. This new GPU utilizes the new Vega architecture which is both more powerful and energy-efficient compared to the previous generation architecture, Polaris. It is important to note that this new GPU is primarily meant for workstation applications. However, the new card is plenty capable of handling any new video games on with ease as well as other consumer applications.

Who Will Be Using This Card?

AMD's business model has always been to provide the latest technology hardware at very attractive price points. They are applying this same strategy with the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition GPU and marketing it towards the Deep Learning, Media & Entertainment, and Design & Manufacturing markets. This means they are supplying an accessible option for those looking for the best price per performance from their GPUs.

Radeon-Vega-Frontier-Edition-GPU.png

Specification Comparison

AMD's previous reigning champion card was the Radeon Pro Duo. While it may initially appear that Vega specifications are only slightly higher than the Pro Duo, the Duo is technically two GPUs on a single card. So the fact that the new card is able to beat essentially two previous-generation GPU's is an impressive feat. The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition tops the Pro Duo by having both a higher base and boost clock, which equates to higher overall TeraFLOPs performance, especially at half-precision. While the Vega card technically has lower memory clocks, those looking to buy should keep in mind that it is utilizing the new High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) interface. HBM2 memory has a higher memory bus width that results in double the total memory bandwidth. The full specification comparison can be seen below:

Radeon Vega Frontier EditionRadeon Pro Duo (Polaris)Radeon Pro WX 7100
Radeon Fury X
Stream Processors
4096
2x 2304
2304
4096
Texture Units
-
2x 144
144
256
ROPs
64
2x 32
32
64
Base/Typical Clock
1382MHz
N/A
N/A
N/A
Peak/Boost Clock
1600MHz
1243MHz
1243MHz
1050MHz
Single Precision
13.1 TFLOPS
11.5 TFLOPS
5.7 TFLOPS
8.6 TFLOPS
Half Precision
26.2 TFLOPS
11.5 TFLOPS
5.7 TFLOPS
8.6 TFLOPS
Memory Clock
1.89 Gbps HBM2
7 Gbps GDDR5
7 Gbps GDDR5
1 Gbps HBM
Memory Bus Width
2048-bit
2x 256-bit
256-bit
4096-bit
Memory Bandwidth
483 GB/sec
2x 224 GB/sec
224 GB/sec
512 GB/sec
VRAM
16 GB
2x 16 GB
8 GB
4 GB
Typical Board Power
<300W
250W
130W
275W
GPU
Vega (1)
Polaris 10
Polaris 10
Fiji
Architecture
Vega
Polaris
Polaris
GCN 1.2
Manufacturing Process
GloFo 14nm
GloFo 14nm
GloFo 14nm
TSMC 28nm
Launch Date
06/2017
05/2017
10/2016
06/24/15
Launch Price
Air: $999
Liquid: 1499
$999
$649
$649

Conclusion

If ever there was a time to reinvest in AMD products, whether it be the new CPU or GPU products, there is no better time than now. AMD has made an outstanding effort to revitalize its hardware offerings this year, with price points that make them fiercely competitive. For anyone still on the fence about purchasing a Ryzen CPU or a Vega GPU, these new offerings require thorough consideration. Initial performance figures and specifications indicate that these new architectures are sure to impress and help secure more market share.

Topics