GPU Wiki Architecture
GCN 4.0
GCN 4.0, commonly called Polaris, launched in 2016 on a 14nm FinFET process and powered the Radeon RX 400 and RX 500 series. The jump to 14nm delivered a substantial improvement in performance per watt over the 28nm GCN generations.
- Launch era
- 2016 to 2019
- Process nodes
- 14nm FinFET (GloFo / Samsung)
- Predecessor
- GCN 3.0 (Fiji)
- Successor
- GCN 5.0 (Vega)
- Source review
- Partial
Related GPUs
| GPU | Architecture | Launch Date | Shader Processors | Memory | Bus Width | TDP/TBP | Segment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radeon RX 550X | GCN 4.0 | 2018-12-16 | 512 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128-bit | 50 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 640 OEM | GCN 4.0 | 2020-04-09 | 640 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128-bit | 50 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 590 | GCN 4.0 | 2018-11-15 | 2,304 | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 175 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 580X | GCN 4.0 | 2018-04-11 | 2,304 | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 185 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 590 GME | GCN 4.0 | 2020-03-09 | 2,304 | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 175 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 580G | GCN 4.0 | 2018-10-15 | 2,304 | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 185 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX Vega M GL | GCN 4.0 | 2018-02-01 | 1,280 | 4 GB HBM2 | 1024-bit | 65 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 570X | GCN 4.0 | 2018-04-11 | 2,048 | 8 GB GDDR5 | 256-bit | 150 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 560 | GCN 4.0 | 2017-04-18 | 1,024 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128-bit | 75 W | Gaming |
| Radeon RX 560 896SP | GCN 4.0 | 2017-07-04 | 896 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 128-bit | 45 W | Gaming |
Architecture History
The RX 480 and its successor the RX 570 / RX 580 became some of AMD's best-selling discrete GPUs, dominating the mainstream segment and remaining in production for several years.
More architecture facts
- Architecture name
- GCN 4.0 (Polaris)
- Important chips
- Polaris 10 (RX 480 / 580), Polaris 11 (RX 470 / 570 / 560), Polaris 12 (RX 550), Polaris 20 (RX 590)
- Memory technologies
- GDDR5, GDDR5X (RX 590)
- Architecture feature generation
- GCN 4.0 Stream Processors; DirectX 12 (FL 12_0); Vulkan 1.0; OpenCL 2.0; Display Engine 1.2 (HDMI 2.0b, DP 1.3/1.4)
- Consumer series
- Radeon RX 480, RX 470, RX 460, RX 590, RX 580, RX 570, RX 560, RX 550
- Workstation / professional series
- Radeon PRO WX 5100, WX 4100, WX 3100
- Data center series
- (Minimal; compute focus remained on Vega/GCN 5.0)
What this architecture changed
14nm FinFET: first AMD discrete GPU on a sub-28nm process, enabling significantly lower power consumption at equivalent performance versus GCN 2.0/3.0.
Primary target was the mainstream market (RX 480 priced at $200 USD at launch).
DirectX 12 feature level 12_0 and Vulkan 1.0.
HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4 support.
Premier support for AMD FreeSync (Adaptive Sync) at mainstream price points.
Why it mattered
Polaris was AMD's most commercially successful GCN generation. The RX 570 and RX 580 remained competitive and actively sold for years after launch, appearing in budget builds and refurbished markets well into the RDNA era. The generation also became popular for GPU mining during the 2017 cryptocurrency boom, leading to widespread secondary market availability of well-used cards that are common in collector and budget-build contexts.