It’s not uncommon for current generation graphics cards to be tweaked, improved and rebranded to become part of the next-generation launch. This time around, it seems that the current line-up of Hawaii GPUs, such as the Radeon R9 290 cards, will be treated to an overclock and the addition of more VRAM However, it’s important to point out that any rebranded cards will not feature the upcoming HBM memory that the new flagship cards will feature.
It’s hard to nail down what new cards are what, as they’ve not yet been given a confirmed codename. We suspect that cards such as the R9 380 will be a rebrand of the current R9 285, but that information will no doubt become clearer closer to the launch. The Hawaii HX has a mild overclock, but a significant boost in memory speed, as well as a move from 4GB to 8GB of VRAM; the same goes for the Hawaii Pro.
Check out this list of expected 300 series cards below. It’s incomplete, but given that many of the cards aren’t confirmed yet, only rumoured and leaked, there’s still plenty more information to discover.
Personally, I’m happy to see the better picks from the current range get a boost, as they offer some great price vs performance ratios, while the bump in VRAM will help push 4K gaming into the mainstream. However, I’m personally sitting and waiting for the higher-end all-new cards with HBM, such as the R9 380X and 390X.
Thank you VideoCardz for providing us with this information.
