If you're holding out for an 8000 series GPU...you can stop :P

No New GPUs from AMD for the Bulk of 2013 | techPowerUp

So apparently we won't be seeing anything until at least the end of the year or more likely next year which I would assume would mean they will beef up the performance of them.

 

We will see mostly the same from nvidia too.

 

I think it is good to be honest, I don't like the fact that they release tech so fast....I mean new tech is good but just when you think you have the newest and your safe for awhile ...nope new stuff that is far better so I will be safe in the knowledge that my 7970 will remain at the top of AMD's list for awhile longer.

 

Awesome news for 7970M owners as they will get more driver updates, especially for the enduro mode.

 

Yeah nVidia may bump up 15-20% at best with their next Kepler iteration (780m?) but nothing of serious significance.

 

Less, from what I read.

I think both companies should skip a year. It would substantially increase revenue on their current cards, and all consumers will be happy with better drivers. The current cards can handle anything being thrown at them anyway...why waste our time with a measly 10%-15% increase in performance? Save them for later, make them even better. Then we will fork over the cash.

 

Well it's not like they haven't done this in the past, just a rebrand with slight bump in speed. Like the 8800m, 9800m, 280m with just slight improvements, although in the end were rather significant improvements with all said and done, just not nearly the jump from Fermi to Kepler. I think it's just the natural progression of things. There really isn't much investment on improving process. The quality of their yields will improve significantly with time, so they can run the silicon faster and/or run cooler. There's no reason NOT to provide benefits of that improved process, as it costs them the same, or less really, due to higher quality, less scrap. Whether they decide to rebadge the numbers or not is insignificant IMHO. Call it a 780m or 685m, it doesn't really matter, it's the same silicon and process.

Maxwell has been slated for Q2 2014 for over a year now, so I don't think this is any new news. If AMD were to "one up" nVidia's 680m I think they would have done it by now since the 680m has been out for nearly 8 months now, and the 7970m for about 10 months already. And for all intents and purposes the 680m is the faster card over the 7970m, even if by a little bit.

 

If this is the case I might upgrade my CPU. I'm on the hunt for some XM.

 

You can find an XM for about $600 on fleabay. I think they're ES chips, but should be fine. I'm tempted to bump up to a 17" and SLI 680m personally. But at this point almost want to wait for Haswell to see what it might bring.

 

I bought my 3920XM OEM on fleabay for $600 delivered. The guy had two for sale at the time. There are some good deals to be had out there, but you have to watch like a hawk and use the "Buy it Now" feature instead of trying to get lucky at winning an auction. They never last long. Most of them in that price range are ES or QS.

 

I landed my OEM for $730 off of Ebay, it hasn't arrived yet but the feedback of the seller was good to go so I'm not anticipating any issues. Most of the QS/ES chips that are listed are coming from China or Taiwan and I'm just not comfortable dealing with what is likely stolen property that I would have to wait 4-6 weeks to receive out here.

 

I know now that my m17x r4 was a very good investment and think the R5 will be power-wise not much of a bumb, maybe only a SLI or crossfire setup would make it a sufficient upgrade.
Haswell is not allot faster because of the same baking process, the video-card on-die (I7) will be alot better but i don't use it. and same for the 8000 series .

 

Yeah, from what I've been reading Haswell will be release around June. I didn't want to hold my breathe for what is looking to be a mild performance increase and ended up just snagging at 3920xm (qs) for $520 delivered. Now I'm almost certain I can manage until the gen after next (I've heard that before).
I have a feeling AMD are too busy making a bespoke GPU for the next gen consoles right now.
So I'm gonna see how far these 7970m's take me with some more horsepower.

 

I'm thinking about upgrading to haswell when it's released as it will be a nice bump up in performance from what I have now in both the processor and GPU department. Plus I always like to play with toys.

 

I'm convinced the GTX780M will be out by summer as nVidia have already released entry level 7 series cards.

 

Well it's been said already
A refresh for AMD this year unlikely
Haswell may be the start of a 3 pound R5 without SLI methinks
And mebe necessitate a change in the outlook of the AW series

Ps I am just hoping the rigs they make under a pvt co. are a lot more reliable not making customers refund-replace 5 rigs in 2 yrs

 

I think your going a bit far with thinking the m17x will end up at 3 pounds. I'd rather have superior cooling than a super light machine.

 

Nvidia is releasing the desktop titan card in a few days (the 18th apparently), which isn't believed to be a 700 series card. Its over a grand, but leaked specs show it to be 15% more powerful than a GTX690 (a dual desktop 680 card!). Maybe this will spell the release of a laptop GTX 685m (no 680mx as it draws to much power).

 

The titan is about as likely to hit a notebook as a George forman grill being integrated into a notebook

We will see a new high performance AMD GPU introduced specially for the mobile world:

AnandTech - AMD Reiterates 2013 GPU Plans: Sea Islands & Beyond

 

Yeah you're right but with tech improvement comes lighter,cooler and faster tech......so..... If they can cool a ULV product in UB FF im sure they can do a 2.5-3 kg AW laptop

 

I didn't say the titan would be put into notebooks. I imagine the heat and power draw would melt even the M18x lol. But as they are releasing a new flagship desktop card, it is possible they might release a new flagship mobile card. the GTX680m is essentially a down clocked desktop 670. Perhaps a 685m would be a downclocked desktop 680, or a less downclocked 670.

 

Those Entry Level cards are more then likely 6 series cards rebranded for OEM's . ATI / Amd are also guilty of doing this . Its a way of flogging off old stock . I can't see a new GPU line until the end of this year .