AMD Readies Radeon R9 380X, XFX Ready with Card

AMD is readying a new SKU to take advantage of the vast pricing gap between the GeForce GTX 960 and GTX 970, and to bolster its sub-$300 lineup, with the Radeon R9 380X. This SKU will be based on the 28 nm "Tonga" silicon, which implements the latest Graphics CoreNext 1.2 architecture. The R9 380X could max out the specifications of the "Tonga" silicon, offering 2,048 stream processors spread across 32 compute units, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding either 3 GB or 6 GB of memory.

Another equally plausible theory pins the R9 380X as a chip with 2,048 stream processors, but the same 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface of the R9 380, with 4 GB of memory, letting AMD keep the costs low. XFX appears to be ready with a "Double Dissipation" card based on the R9 380X. The card's new-generation Double Dissipation cooler features an aluminium fin-stack heatsink with four 8 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes, and a pair of 100 mm spinners, which are easily detachable, letting you clean the heatsink underneath. Mass-production of the R9 380X is reportedly underway, so a launch is to be expected rather soon.

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