AMD RX 490 Rumoured for December – We’re Not So Sure!

Today, the rumour mill is in full force and it’s been predicted that AMD will release a brand new graphics card during December. Apparently, the card will target high-end 4K gaming and offer an alternative to NVIDIA’s flagship Pascal products. According to WCCFTech, the GPU should employ a wider memory bus than 256-bit and retail around the GTX 1080’s price point. Additionally, the card will be a dual-GPU based on the Polaris 10 architecture or Vega 10. As you can imagine, this is a huge statement to make and it would be a surprising move based on the evidence I’ve been provided with from AMD and other partners. Sadly, WCCFTech fails to mention where the information comes from which makes it really difficult to know if the sources can be trusted. To be fair, insider sources might not want to reveal their identity because of the consequences.

Later in the article, they mention a shipping manifest which contains details of the RX 490. From my own experience speaking to AMD contacts in press briefings, the RX 490 mentions are simply an error and Polaris ends with the RX 480. However, the situation might have changed and they’ve reacted to the strong sales NVIDIA have in the high-end market. Honestly, I’m pretty doubtful about the RX 490 being a dual-GPU, given the fairly suspect scaling in modern games and AMD’s focus on efficiency. It’s possible that the RX 490 or whatever the final name used is for Vega 10 will launch sometime in Q1 2017. Whatever the case, I’d approach this rumour with a caution to prevent disappointment. After hearing this report, I reached out to AMD for comment and they said:

“AMD does not comment on rumour or speculation”

This is a policy adopted by all the hardware manufacturers and it’s not unexpected. Additionally, I spoke to two AIBs who said the information is “news to us” and “I’ve heard nothing”. This suggests the story is based on incorrect information. If we receive any more details, the article will be updated accordingly.

Do you think AMD could release an RX 490 in December?