22nd October launch for AMD Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6850

[SirSmokalot]

First good news:

 

AMD Radeon HD 6870 and 6850 launching next week -- possible GeForce GTX 460 killers?

 

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/amd-radeon-hd-6870-and-6850-launching-next-week-possible-geforce-gtx-460-killers/4076?tag=nl.e539

 

Here's the leaked details and confirmation of the 6800 series turning out the continuation of the 5700 series and not the 5800 series in performance, which completely sucks BUT, the price range will put it in reaches of the masses if you look at the pricing of 6850 around $200 and the 6870 around $250 mark.

 

First whats leaked:

 

The crucial information comes later - Barts XT is AMD Radeon HD 6870 and Barts Pro is AMD Radeon HD 6850.

 

The rumour mill has long believed that Barts is the mainstream Juniper replacement, with Cayman being the performance Cypress replacement, with dual-Cayman forming the enthusiast Antilles product. This led to a logical conclusion that Barts will be HD6700, Cayman HD 6800 and Antilles HD 6900. The rumour of Barts being HD 6800 instead of HD 6700 has been around for a while, and was initially dismissed by some enthusiasts. However, assuming this PDF is legitimate and if Barts is indeed HD 6800, how do Cayman and Antilles fit in? Sure, Cayman can be HD 6950/70, but what about Antilles? The slide also mentions that according to AMD nomenclature, valid suffices are "30", "50" and "70". So, HD6990 is unlikely. Besides this does not factor in the rumoured Antilles Pro. And if Barts is HD6800, does this mean it will end up slower than or barely faster than HD5800?

 

http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-6800-document-leaked/10035.html

 

Now confirmation of performance range:

 

After months of speculation, Donanimhaber reports that the Radeon HD 6850 is Barts Pro, after all, instead of Cayman Pro like initially expected. It will feature 800 SP, half of Cypress and the same as Juniper, but crucially, the new Northern Islands architecture may end up being significantly more efficient. The core clock is 775 MHz, and features 1GB GDDR5 at 4 GHz over a 256-bit bus. This translates to an identical memory bandwidth as the HD 5850.

 

http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-amd-radeon-hd-6850-details-leaked/10068.html

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

Hmm, this stuff leaves me quite confused.

 

Too many names for the chipsets and too many numbers in weird order.. Being a 68xx series, is NOT better than a 58xx serie but better than a 57xx...

 

These guys better review their concept of "order"..

 

At the end in this jungle of unorganized products, the common denominator will be the price list. The only thing which will make sense. For sure they are not going to sell something performing higher for less, so BS all of those names and just look at the price.

[Hunter~SPARTA~]

If you check that first article that he linked to, it makes more sense of the model names and what their purpose was for releasing these two cards.

 

 

- JHunter

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

It makes sense, only till a certain extent tho.

 

While of course i do like the tech side of all of this and if i will have to get a new card one day i will make my homework for sure, what i am saying that now, with all of these possiible chioces, the only number and code that counts are the greens in your wallet.

 

In fact i made a test going to Newegg shopping for a new video card.

 

This time, instead looking for the tech specs, I approached by price only. Supposing to have about 250 bucks to spend on a new card...

 

Go and test by yourself. On the same range of price a lot of cards.. names and numbers... I think to a newbie is very comfusing.

 

So buttom line, a lot of names, numbers and specs.. then going really to make the testing dry, many are performing in a very similar way.

 

For me this is just cluttering the market, doesn t make it easier for the consumer. It is good for the company instead because amsking a n old card with a new name, they just recicle old crap lost in the storage updated to new last minutes prices.

 

Now more than ever when you have to buy, is better you choose by price first and then check what really that card offer.

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

However, just to simplify the sense of confusion:

 

Check this sito out, just to understand what I mean:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units#Radeon_R700_.28HD_4xxx.29_series

 

I counted 25 different card models, only considering the "most recent" 4xxx and 5xxx Series. To this you may add if you like other 8 possible models coming with Series 6xxx, for a stunning total of 33.

 

True to say that multiple choices are the spirit of the market, but this is to me a bit cluttered ;)

Edited October 16, 2010 by Batwing~SPARTA~

[Hunter~SPARTA~]

Oh I absolutely agree with you, Batwing. Money is definitely their number one motivation and the numbering schemes plus the pure volume of cards that get released are not at all intuitive.

 

 

- JHunter

[SirSmokalot]

I just noticed that over the weekend alot of retailers deactivated or blocked their listings from the public regarding the 5850 and 5870 series cards that just the day before the 22nd, they were active and in stock. Just some shifty marketing tactics by retailers to cover up a better card in which to get sales.

 

You can still find them out there but since they are still in demand don't expect to get a deal on them. The dealers who do have them know better unfortunately for us consumers.

[Ebden~SPARTA~]

It's recent history the Nvidia 9800 series, which differed from the 8800 series how?? No idea on sales for the 9800s, but if that 'tactic' did well, then perhaps the 6800 is a repeat technique.

 

More reviews

 

Tomshardware

 

Anandtech

 

Anandtech

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

About this subject, this is a very solid review from Guru3D

 

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/

 

enjoy.

[SirSmokalot]

Nice one Bat....got a little miffed at this whole thing I didn't think to actually check the benchmarks...reading it between support issues at work ;)

[SirSmokalot]

Batwing, I read the review and from a standpoint of coming from a HIS 3850 Turbo X OC, I'm on par with this review and actually its turned my perspective. I'm curious though, there's been mention in several places that the 6870 will stay as a reference card only for AIB manufacturers like Gigabyte, Asus, MSI HIS etc....but also read elsewhere the 6870 will see some OC versions as well especially from my favorite, HIS.

 

So I'm really taking a liking to the stats of the 6870, event hough its slotted just below the 5870 in terms of performance, but considering the price point comparative (5870 fetches about $350 to $450 still, where as 6870 is around the $225-$250 range, big difference) and not to mention lower power consumption.

 

For what I personally am looking for (a non-reference card that's overclocked stock) and that I'm looking to have this thing last me another 2-3 releases as I did with the 3850 (before that card I had a 1650XT Turbo that also was overclocked from HIS), this card almost seems on par....but I'm not going to make a hasty decision as I almost made with the 5850 release "reference card" a while back. I almost didn't wait to see if there was overclocked AIB models.

 

 

All I can suggest for others is wait to see what comes with the 6900 series and their price points and check to see what the AIB manufactures are offering.

 

I'll be looking for a HIS 6870 Turbo overclocked model that does the dishes, walks the dog, takes out the trash, and all the sorts.

 

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

I am totally agree with you on this.

 

Probably the best strategy is just waiting 2 or 3 months and see what is coming out as custom built from manufacturers as HIS.

 

Also, on this subject waiting will help also to have better driver releases.

 

About the 69xx series, that is stated to be "high end" meaning the price on that, being probably superior to the actual 5870, will be in line with the top cards ranging $400 and above.

 

To keep in consideration configs as a single 6870 or 2 6850s in CF, but again, better waiting a bit.

[SirSmokalot]

I'm with ya on that!!

 

We think alike!