AMD Radeon RX 490 release date, news: Vega 10-powered graphics card lands Q1 2017

The highly successful original equipment manufacturer, AMD, has been successful in introducing the new Radeon RX video cards this year, which are all based on the current Polaris architecture. Not only do these graphics processing units (GPUs) boast high-quality visual experience in playing today's advanced video games, but they are also being sold in the market for a relatively low price. The year 2016 has only some weeks left, and if AMD will release another Radeon graphics chip, it is expected to happen in the early part of 2017.

According to Yibada, the AMD Radeo RX 490 is no longer expected to appear in the remaining weeks of this year. Instead, the GPU will be released in Q1 2017, boasting a lineup of features that outclasses its predecessors. Most importantly, the next Radeon RX 490 graphics card will be based on the latest Vega 10 architecture. This suggests that the RX 490 will be more powerful and efficient compared to the previously released Polaris graphics cards this year.

The Radeon RX 490 is rumored to be the first GPU developed by the OEM to be integrated with HBM2 technology. The RX 490 is a 14nm GPU model, expected to have 8GB RAM HBM2 with bus width of 4096-bit and bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The base clock of the first ever Vega 10 graphics card will be near 1200MHz, and it can reach up to 1550MHz boost clock. The RX 490's effective clock is expected to be at 1400MHz.

The AMD Radeon RX 490 is rumored to have a processing power of up to 1.5 Teraflops, enough to speed up the current gaming system of up to 60 frames per second at the maximum 1080p display resolution, University Herald reported. The GPU is expected to have more than 256 bits of the memory bus, allowing 4K gaming at the best possible game settings.

Still, people are advised to take these early rumors regarding the next Radeon graphics card with a grain of salt, not unless AMD itself finally confirms the details.