AMD is silently changing the specifications of Radeon RX 560 – update

AMD has adjusted the specifications for the RX 560 GPU, so that less fast variants of the video card can now be released, with a total of 896 shader cores. Originally, the card with Polaris GPU had 1024 shader cores according to the specifications at release.

The German website Heise reports that AMD has changed the number of shader cores from 1024 to ‘896/1024’ in the official specifications of the RX 560 on its own website. This means that manufacturers are allowed to release RX 560 video cards with both 1024 and 896 shader cores.

In the case of 896 shader cores, the RX 560 comes to about the same level of performance as the RX 460, which officially came out with the same number of computing cores. When the RX 560 was released, the number of shaders was 1024; only special RX 560D variants had 896 shader cores before. Now that ‘regular’ RX 560 GPUs with 896 shader cores are also released, this is in fact a rebrand of the RX 460.

Heise, for example, points to a Medion PC, the Akoya P56000, which has an RX 560 GPU, but where the card has 896 cores without specific mention; no RX 560D designation is used either.

Update: AMD has said in a statement that it is true that the company has also released variants of the RX 560 with 14 computer units and 896 shaders. The company says it has noticed that some vendors and add-in board partners do not properly distinguish between this variant and the regular, faster RX 560 GPU with 1024 cores. AMD says it is working with all partners to clearly indicate which version it concerns in the name of the video cards. The company apologizes for the confusion.