Skip to main content

AMD’s Vega Frontier Edition cards now have prices, and they’re not cheap

amd vega frontier edition graphics radeon frontier2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
With Intel’s Core X-Series and AMD’s Ryzen, the competition in high-end desktop CPUs is starting to solidify. When it comes to GPUs, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX offerings are currently at the top of the heap, and gamers are awaiting AMD’s next generation Vega GPUs to arrive to complete the competition in graphics as well.

So far, we’re lacking details on Vega, having only seen information on the Frontier Edition cards that are intended primarily for churning through highly technical workloads like machine learning, 3D rendering, and cloud computing. The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition cards aren’t aimed at the typical gamer, which is a good thing if some recently surfaced pricing information is valid, as VideoCardz reports.

The pricing appeared at two sites, Scan UK and Sabre PC, and the Frontier Edition cards won’t be cheap. According to the sites, the air-cooled version will be priced at $1,199 while the liquid-cooled model will come in at a hefty $1,799. For that money, Vega Frontier cards promise up to 13 TFlops of power, which is a TFlop faster than Nvidia’s fastest GeForce GTX Titan Xp.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

These cards won’t be snatched up by gamers, but rather will be used by organizations building out computing clusters and who need serious power for artificial applications, 3D rendering, and other demanding computational tasks. AMD provided some benchmarks during its introduction of the new cards showing them to be 70 percent faster than Nvidia’s Titan Xp card in Solidworks, a 3D computer-aided drafting (CAD) applications.

Nevertheless, AMD is claiming that its Vega GPUs for gamers will be even faster. Without any additional details, though, that claim remains unverified. These cards won’t show up until later in 2017, and so AMD has time to perfect the GPUs and bring down pricing to more affordable levels. When Vega does arrive, Nvidia will face the same kind of competitive pressure that Intel is facing from AMD’s Ryzen CPUs — and that’s good new for everyone who plans to be in the market soon for a new PC.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Why you should buy a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air
The 14-inch MacBook Pro on a window sill.

There are plenty of reasons to buy a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro. If you want a MacBook on a budget, you don't necessarily need the goodies that come with upgrading to the MacBook Pro.

That being said, I'm going to argue for spending a little more. In my experience, the MacBook Pro offers several distinct advantages that help justify a higher price, especially with the introduction of the more affordable MacBook Pro 14 with the base M3. If you can stretch your budget a bit, here's why I think you should buy a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air.
Setting the stage: pricing

Read more
Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: finally time to upgrade?
The screen of the Surface Pro 9.

Windows 11 is the newest version of Windows, and it's one of the best Windows versions released. At launch, the operating system was very similar to Windows 10, but it has morphed a lot over the past several years. Now, Windows 11 has several key differences compared to Windows 10.

If you've been holding out on upgrading, we have everything you need to know about Windows 11 and how it's different than Windows 10 in this article. We'll detail the differences, as well as show you the areas where Windows 11 is growing faster than Windows 10.
Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: what's new

Read more
Usually $299, this HP Chromebook is discounted to $149 today
HP Chromebook 14b sits on a desk.

If the laptop deals that you come across are too expensive because all you need is a basic device, then you may want to check out Chromebook deals. Here's an affordable offer that may catch your attention -- the HP Chromebook 14a for only $149, following a $150 discount on its original price of $299. That's insanely cheap, and we don't think that price will hold for a long time. If you're interested in taking advantage of this bargain, it's highly recommended that you proceed with the purchase immediately because it may be gone as soon as tomorrow.

Why you should buy the HP Chromebook 14a
A Chromebook is a laptop that's powered by Google's Chrome OS, which is a web-based operating system that allows devices to run fast and smooth despite cheap components. For example, the HP Chromebook 14a is only equipped with the Intel Celeron N4120 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 600, and 4GB of RAM, but it's good enough for the basic tasks that you'll need to complete for work or school such as typing documents, doing online research, and making presentations. The HP Chromebook 14a doesn't have much built-in storage as it only comes with a 64GB eMMC, but you'll have all the space that you need for your files on Google Drive.

Read more