It looks like there will be another Polaris-based graphics card coming our way. According to rumours, Radeon is planning to release a new graphics card by the end of this year called the RX 490. It is said that the new graphics card will be made to play most games at 4K fairly smoothly – something that isn’t quite possible with all other previously introduced “RX” graphics card.
During the Polaris Tech Day event that was held two months ago, we asked an AMD representative if there would be a more powerful Polaris GPU compared to the one used in the Radeon RX 480. Obviously, AMD said no. Knowing this, most of us would probably be left with the thought “what GPU will the Radeon RX 490 be using then?” It couldn’t be Vega because based on the recent Radeon event held in Australia, the company still maintained its plans of releasing the Vega GPU in 2017 in its updated GPU roadmap.
What about the release date? How do we know that Radeon is planning to release the RX 490 in 2016 instead of 2017? Well, based on the “accidental” RX 490 listing on AMD’s official website, gamers that’ve bought a AMD-based PC/laptop from the 15th of February until the 31st of December with selected Radeon graphics cards (that once included the RX 490) will be eligible for a reward from its campaign. There’s got to be a reason why the RX 490 was listed there right? Sapphire had “accidentally” listed the graphics card in its website too.
So, the only possible way a Polaris-based graphics card would be more powerful than the Radeon RX 480 would be one that has two Polaris GPUs – like the Radeon Pro Duo for example. This makes sense because ever since its inception, Radeon Technologies Group have been aiming for a sharper focus on providing better multi-GPU options for consumers. However, it seems rather odd that AMD has decided to not unveil the RX 490 alongside other Radeon RX graphics cards last month.
As usual, treat this one with a tiny bit of scepticism because rumours aren’t always true. That aside, it would be interesting to see how the Radeon RX 490 will be priced, if it comes out that is.
(Source: WCCFtech)
