AMD Radeon HD 6870 And 6850: Is Barts A Step Forward?

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Coat it with sugar anyway you want, this is a big disappointment to ATI performance customers. They will sell a lot these, regardless. People are going to snap them up, you can bank on it. I'll just wait till these start driving the price of the 5800 series down more. I was just about to pop for a couple of 5850's, I'll hold on for a bit now, they'll be cheaper very soon.
 
Well, it looks like I bought my 1GB GTX460 a couple weeks too early. I still think it was the right card for me, because I need PhysX (for Sacred 2), but I missed out on a nice price drop. Oh well.
 
Regarding the scale on the Dirt 2 2560x1600 benchmark. It looks like you messed up either the scale of the bar or the number for the radeon 5850 on the min frame rate.
 
[citation][nom]scrumworks[/nom]You seemingly want to talk more about nvidia and their magnificent Fermi than AMD. The whole introduction was almost concentrated on downplaying AMD and telling "Nvidia's Answers". It's like you wanted to review another Fermi but were forced to review a new Radeon.[/citation]

Who wouldnt...
 
I'm a bit disappointed in the cards. I was expecting something that would blow me away a bit more.

That said, I loved the captions on the page about 3D. They made me literally lol.
 
Wherefore art thou, Radeon 6700?

You almost got it right but there shouldn't be a comma!

Wherefore means "for what purpose" (i.e, "why" in the sense of future purpose, not past cause).

The sentence means, For what purpose are you called Radeon 6700?

At least you didn't confuse wherefore with where like so many ignoramuses.

Regards,


 
The power usage numbers looked pretty good, but it would have helped to include a HD5770 on the chart. Depending on whether or not I still care about PhysX, one of these could easily find its way into the machine I'm planning to build after I get my extortion refund.
 
[citation][nom]scrumworks[/nom]Likewise. And which of us has more thumbs up again?[/citation]

The beautiful irony here is that I had to click your message to read it because it was voted out. 😀

[citation][nom]scrumworks[/nom]I just say what others won't dare.[/citation]

I agree, assuming you've confused 'won't dare' with 'aren't fanboyish enough to concoct'.
 
Small problem, only one of the DVI connectors is "dual link" capable. AMD is making strange sacrifices...

These are indeed good cards, efficient, but misleadingly named. I can't think of any theory why they would name them like that. Is there room for only one other card in their lineup? Will we have 3-4 cards with names that start with 69xx?

I do like the pricing, and I hope the GTX470 will come down even more, for some juicy SLI action. There is no way I would consider CF with these 68xx cards, the micro-stuttering in some cases seems brutal. It is unacceptable that a CF setup can do 150 max FPS and only 10 min FPS.

Another unacceptable thing for me personally is the lack of two dual link DVI connectors.
 


This post made my day...

Those captions are the result of a week-long lack of sleep. Thank you so much for noticing them! :)
 
[citation][nom]TemjinGold[/nom]Whatever you're smoking I want some.nVidia rebranded the same card over and over because they kept re-releasing the same card with a new name. These new AMD cards ARE actually different cards. Definitely not the same thing nVidia did. AMD needs to take a 5770, not change it, and call it a 6870 to do the same thing nVidia did.[/citation]
I could understand this argument if Nvidia did in fact rebrand the exact same card in an attempt at passing it off as something more powerful, but that is not what happened. The cards I'm assuming you're referring to, the 9800GTX and the GTS250, are different cards. Different PCB, different clocks, different performance, and different power consumption. What remained the same was the GPU, the physical die was shared between the 9800GTX+ and GTS250.

But if any company can use the same GPU to increase performance while decreasing power consumption, temperatures, and card length, then I don't understand what the problem is. It's happened many times before, from both Nvidia and ATI, and it will happen again. The performance and power consumption were on par for its marketing position in the mid range, and the naming convention reflected that (lowering its position as a high end GPU in the 9 series, to a mid range GPU in the 200 series).

It's true that a similar GPU was used in many cards, from the 8800gt to the GTS250, but performance always increased to reflect its marketing position, and in the case of the GTS250 performance increased, while power consumption, temperatures, card length all decreased. These resulting 'effects' are not too dissimilar from what ATI did with the HD6870 and 6850.
 
If AMD's stereo 3D is so open, why don't they natively support 120hz displays over VGA or DVI. I have a beautiful CRT monitor that supports refresh rates all the way up to 160hz.
Being limited to HMDI or Display Port is hardly open.
 
[citation][nom]cleeve[/nom]This post made my day... Those captions are the result of a week-long lack of sleep. Thank you so much for noticing them![/citation]
You're welcome. :)
 
great value here from AMD and I more than welcome the price counter attack from nvidia... gotta love the price wars =D
if they only last for 3 weeks or if they are permanent, I don't care... pressure is on the field and better performance/buck is the game

can't wait for the next high-end cards from both AT...AMD and nvidia

and for tiger/amazon to get their prices right >_
 
[citation][nom]steelcity1981[/nom]Yeah I agree. I don't get AMD's marketing on the 6000 series. One would think that the 6870 would obv performan better then the 5870 at first glance but instead it yelds less performance then the 5870. That just doesn't make any sense from a consumor standpoint.[/citation]
They could be planning to up the last numbers...
Example: The 6000 series flagship might be the 6970

Only time will tell, but I admit it is a little odd that the 5870 is faster than the 6870.
 
I'm confused, isn't a 6000 series supposed to be faster than a 5000 series?
This feels like the GeForce 250 GTS all over again.. "Lets rename this thing, add some secondary features and sell it"..

Very disappointing.
 
Wow! Newegg has already dropped the price of a Sapphire 5970 from $600 to $550.

A 5970 is still the top dog as far as I'm concerned. The only card that can run maxxed out Crysis smoothly.
 
[citation][nom]AngelRaiter[/nom]I'm confused, isn't a 6000 series supposed to be faster than a 5000 series?[/citation]

yes 6000 series (high range) supossed to be faster then 5000 series (high range) The 6000 series reviewed there are mid range cards, the high range ones will come next month.
 
I don't see an issue with these cards, if anything we have more cards to choose from at a great price. I see too many NV users (for lack of a better word) making this look like it was a mistake when in fact the GTX 460 just lost the "bang for buck" crown.

The bottom line is that NV better have a trick up their sleeve in Q1 2011 because AMD is coming full force with their next fleet pretty soon. If NV stalls on their next lineup these awesome prices will be a thing of the past.
 
[citation][nom]dark_lord69[/nom]They could be planning to up the last numbers...Example: The 6000 series flagship might be the 6970.[/citation]

Or it could be the 6999 X2 XTX PE XT Lightning Edition
 
I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. When Nvidia pulled this crap (8800, 9800, and 250) everyone slammed the comment section with how terrible Nvidia was. Ati is basically doing the same thing. They named these cards the way they did to cause confusion and essentially screw over impulse buyers. This practice was unacceptable with nvidia and remains unacceptable with ATI. I love my 5850 and I would have been very annoyed to find out the hard way that a 6870 is barely any better. In my case, it would most likely be worse since my 5850 is clocked at 1ghz. I love both companies, but they seriously need to stop screwing over the people that buy their stuff.

Sincerly,
Annoyed PC fanboy
 
"Almost as a validation of the notable price/performance potential of AMD’s new Radeon models, Nvidia very quickly slashed its own prices in a very aggressive fashion. At $200, the GeForce GTX 460 is more powerful than the Radeon HD 6850 and offers some stiff competition. We’re already seeing these prices on Newegg, sometimes even lower with rebates. Even more impressive is the price reduction of the GeForce GTX 470, with at least one model reduced to $260 on Newegg—once again, even lower with rebates. AMD contends that these prices are temporary and will go back up after three weeks. Fine. Buy now while the value is there."

There have been GTX 470's for around $260 (after rebate) for over a month now. $200 has been the standard price for a GTX 460 1GB (at least after rebate) for about as long. I can't imagine Nvidia daring to raise prices from those levels given the competition; those prices are barely competitive now.
 
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