SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) today unleashed the first product based on its highly anticipated “Vega” graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture: Radeon™ Vega Frontier Edition. Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is the world’s first graphics card designed to empower the next generation of data scientists, game designers and visualization professionals, with up to 172 percent faster rendering performance than the comparable competitor card¹. Through its disruptive High Bandwidth Cache Controller, the cornerstone of the world’s most advanced GPU memory architecture – HBM2 – Radeon Vega Frontier Edition expands the capacity of traditional GPU memory to 256TB, allowing users to tackle massive datasets with ease, and scored up to 33 percent faster than the competition in the DeepBench benchmark that measures the performance of basic operations involved in training deep neural networks².

“We’re dedicating Radeon Vega Frontier Edition to all the visionaries and trailblazers who embrace new technologies to propel their industries forward to help solve mankind’s greatest problems,” said Ogi Brkic, senior director and general manager, Radeon Pro business, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. “With this powerful solution, we’ve brought the full weight of our new ‘Vega’ GPU architecture to bear, offering unmatched³ performance in the most demanding design, rendering, and machine intelligence workloads so that the world’s top creators, data scientists and game developers can reach new frontiers in their fields.”

Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Board Design

“AMD did a stunning job on the industrial design of the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. The blue-anodized brushed aluminum shroud and lit Radeon inlays are downright elegant,” said Kelt Reeves, president of Falcon Northwest. “The high-airflow I/O bracket and vented anodized backplate are a beautifully executed example of how form can follow function and still make for a beautiful product.”

Unmatched² Performance and TCO in Machine Learning Applications

Together with AMD’s open-source, fully scalable ROCm software platform, Radeon Vega Frontier Edition paves the way for pioneers to continue pushing boundaries in fields like artificial intelligence (AI). Developers can now use the power of the “Vega” architecture for machine learning algorithm development on the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition faster than with any other GPU on the market², before deploying it out to massive servers equipped with Radeon Instinct accelerators. This powerful new solution also delivers a disruptive performance per dollar equation, solidifying AMD’s leadership in compute total cost of ownership (TCO).

Advanced Photorealistic Rendering Performance

Radeon Vega Frontier Edition delivers the horsepower required for design and manufacturing firms to drive increasingly large and complex models and to deploy real-time visualization and physically-based rendering. The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition’s revolutionary memory engine also allows professionals to achieve photorealistic detail in computer-generated imagery. A visualization powerhouse, the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition GPU offers exceptional multi-GPU scaling, with 91 percent faster rendering using two Radeon Vega Frontier Edition GPUs⁴.

Accelerating Game Design and Immersive Workflows

The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition graphics card simplifies and accelerates game creation by providing a single GPU that is optimized for every stage of a game developer’s workflow. This includes everything from asset production to playtesting and performance optimization.  With the Radeon Pro Settings user interface, users can seamlessly switch between “Radeon Pro Mode” and “Gaming Mode” to alternate between development on animation applications like Autodesk® Maya and performance optimizations with free, open source tools available through AMD’s GPUOpen initiative.

The compute power in Radeon Vega Frontier Edition and its support for an open software ecosystem also give a new breed of developers and filmmakers the ability to break new ground in virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video content. AMD’s fastest Radeon VR Ready Creator graphics card ever, Radeon Vega Frontier Edition achieves the maximum possible score in the SteamVR benchmark, up to 21 percent higher than the multi-GPU Radeon™ Pro Duo solution⁵. Combined with Radeon™ Loom, AMD’s revolutionary 360-degree video stitching technology, creators can stitch high-resolution video in real time.

Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Availability

Radeon Vega Frontier Edition graphics cards are available from etailers in select regions today with an SEP of $999 USD for the air-cooled edition. The water-cooled edition is expected to launch in Q3 with an SEP of $1499.

Supporting Resources

• Learn more about Radeon Vega Frontier Edition at Pro.Radeon.com/Frontier
• Learn more about ROCm
• Become a fan of  AMD on Facebook
• Follow Radeon Graphics on Twitter  @RadeonPro

About AMD
For more than 45 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies ― the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms, and the datacenter. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

AMD, the AMD Arrow, Radeon, Radeon Instinct, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product names used in this publication are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) including the features, functionality, availability, timing and expected benefits of Radeon™ Vega Frontier Edition products, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as "would," "intends," "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "pro forma," "estimates," "anticipates," or the negative of these words and phrases, other variations of these words and phrases or comparable terminology. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this document are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations, speak only as of the date of this document and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Such statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond AMD's control, that could cause actual results and other future events to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. Material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, without limitation, the following: Intel Corporation’s dominance of the microprocessor market and its aggressive business practices may limit AMD’s ability to compete effectively; AMD has a wafer supply agreement with GF with obligations to purchase all of its microprocessor and APU product requirements, and a certain portion of its GPU product requirements, from GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. (GF) with limited exceptions. If GF is not able to satisfy AMD’s manufacturing requirements, its business could be adversely impacted; AMD relies on third parties to manufacture its products, and if they are unable to do so on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies, AMD’s business could be materially adversely affected; failure to achieve expected manufacturing yields for AMD’s products could negatively impact its financial results; the success of AMD’s business is dependent upon its ability to introduce products on a timely basis with features and performance levels that provide value to its customers while supporting and coinciding with significant industry transitions; if AMD cannot generate sufficient revenue and operating cash flow or obtain external financing, it may face a cash shortfall and be unable to make all of its planned investments in research and development or other strategic investments; the loss of a significant customer may have a material adverse effect on AMD; AMD’s receipt of revenue from its semi-custom SoC products is dependent upon its technology being designed into third-party products and the success of those products; global economic uncertainty may adversely impact AMD’s business and operating results; the markets in which AMD’s products are sold are highly competitive; AMD may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service its debt obligations or meet its working capital requirements; AMD has a large amount of indebtedness which could adversely affect its financial position and prevent it from implementing its strategy or fulfilling its contractual obligations; the agreements governing AMD’s notes and the Secured Revolving Line of Credit impose restrictions on AMD that may adversely affect its ability to operate its business; AMD's issuance to West Coast Hitech L.P. (WCH) of warrants to purchase 75 million shares of its common stock, if and when exercised, will dilute the ownership interests of its existing stockholders, and the conversion of the 2.125% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 may dilute the ownership interest of its existing stockholders, or may otherwise depress the price of its common stock; uncertainties involving the ordering and shipment of AMD’s products could materially adversely affect it; the demand for AMD’s products depends in part on the market conditions in the industries into which they are sold. Fluctuations in demand for AMD’s products or a market decline in any of these industries could have a material adverse effect on its results of operations; AMD’s ability to design and introduce new products in a timely manner is dependent upon third-party intellectual property; AMD depends on third-party companies for the design, manufacture and supply of motherboards, software and other computer platform components to support its business; if AMD loses Microsoft Corporation’s support for its products or other software vendors do not design and develop software to run on AMD’s products, its ability to sell its products could be materially adversely affected; and AMD’s reliance on third-party distributors and AIB partners subjects it to certain risks.  Investors are urged to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in AMD's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to AMD's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 1, 2017.