AMD’s Vega 10 GPU pictured at CES 2017

 

The guys over at LinusTechTips have been given the opportunity to have a look at AMD’s Vega 10 Pre-production GPU, confirming that the GPU is using HBM and that AMD’s CES Demo was running on a standard air-based GPU cooler. 

 

Looking at the pictures below we can see that the GPU used has no traces or other PCB markings that would indicate the use of GDDR5/X memory, confirming that this GPU is HBM based. Sadly, AMD has covered a lot of the GPU in tape to hide the GPUs power draw, though AMD’s Raja Koduri does note that this GPU is a pre-production sample and is in no way representative of the final product. 

 

We can see that this GPU uses a standard dual-slot air cooler on their Vega GPU sample, which would indicate that this GPU does not run as hot as some of AMD’s previous GPU offerings. This GPU is a pre-production sample, so it is likely that this GPU was running at lower clock speeds for the purposes of this demo. 

 

This GPU has a lot of additional connections and parts which will not be present in AMD’s final retail Vega GPUs, most notably their power analysis unit (the section with the USB port at the back) and other raised sections which allow AMD to conduct additional tests and research using this early Vega GPU sample.