AMD Radeon RX 490 release date, news, rumors: Next Polaris-based GPU to be released in December

The highly successful original equipment manufacturer, AMD, has developed the current Radeon RX video cards this year. This new lineup of Radeon Fury GPUs is all based on the popular Polaris architecture. Not only do these graphics processing units boast high-quality visual experience in playing today's advanced video games, but they are also being sold in the market because of their reasonable price tag. However, according to the latest reports, AMD is about to unveil another Polaris-based GPU this December.

If the latest rumors are anything to go by, AMD's new flagship graphics card, the Radeon RX 490, will be released even before the year ends. It is expected that the RX 490 will make a special appearance next month, which is seen by some tech enthusiasts as AMD's answer to NVIDIA's recent GTX 1080 reveal, according to Yibada.

As shown in the latest report from WCCF Tech, it is not yet confirmed whether AMD will be holding a special hardware event in December to unveil the Radeon RX 490. There is also no exact date yet for the release of the upcoming Polaris video card. However, it has been noted that the Radeon RX 490 was already seen listed on some AIB websites, and even on AMD's official website. After the announcement of the AMD Radeon RX 490 next month, it is reported that the graphics card will also be released shortly, if not on the very same day.

WCCF Tech noted that the RX 490 is a worthy rival to the NVIDIA GTX 1080, which is based on the Pascal architecture. For one, the Radeon RX 490 is specifically designed for virtual reality (VR) platform, not to mention its special 4K rendering capabilities to support games that allow full 4K resolution. The latest addition to the Polaris 10 architecture video card series is expected to have a net total of 4609 stream processors. The RX 490 is also said to exceed 256 bits of data.

Earlier rumors, on the other hand, suggested that the AMD Radeon RX 490 will be based on the new Vega 10 architecture. This would mean that the RX 490 will be more powerful and efficient compared to the previously released Polaris graphics cards this year. Likewise, if the Radeon RX 490 is indeed developed under the Vega architecture, the graphics card is expected to be the first from AMD to be integrated with HBM2 technology.