AMD Tonga gets the same power consumption as the Radeon R9 270X

The transition to 20 nanometers is delayed, instead AMD and Nvidia are forced to develop new graphics circuits with already existing 28 nanometers. Nvidia has already launched the first graphics processor GM107 according to the architecture Maxwell, which despite the older manufacturing technology has managed to push down power consumption significantly.

AMD will also take a similar step as Nvidia, but in a higher performance segment than the Geforce GTX 750 and GTX 750 Ti. SweClockers has previously reported that the Tonga graphics circuit will be a direct successor to Tahiti, which is used in the Radeon R9 280 and R9 280X, among others.

Further details are now available. According to SweClockers, Tonga will not only match the Radeon R9 280X in performance, but will also have similar power consumption as the R9 270X. This is achieved, among other things, through a completely redesigned power supply with more phases, which provides more fine-grained control over the graphics card’s power consumption.

Much of the specifications for the Tonga are still shrouded in obscurity. What is known is a 256-bit memory bus, which can be compared to 384-bit bus width in Tahiti. To compensate, AMD plans to use faster memory modules, perhaps in 7.0 GHz GDDR5 or more.

The information also states that Tonga with associated graphics cards from partners is almost complete. The delay in the launch is attributed to the fact that AMD wants to sell out of the current stock of Radeon R9 280 (Tahiti Pro) and R9 280X (Tahiti XT), which is estimated to take around two months.

The launch is thus expected to take place during the third quarter of the year, ie in August or September.