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[Hazaro]

I would have jumped the gun and pre-ordered the 7870 if it was $250 But AMD is playing the game a bit more cautiously than before and I understand why. I just got the same vibe as that "Boo this man" gif from you ever since the 7700 launch The 7800 looked most exciting to me of the three launches so far.


I hope so too, waiting for the GK104. If it delivers 7970 performance or close at $399, I'm in.

Not hard to beat out the 77xx launch. 7870 is a nice card. Power draw on all the 7xxx is very impressive. I'm sure they'll slot another card in the $200 range as a response to nVidia.
As it stands right now with prices (me being a very value oriented person) the <$250 market hasn't gained any power for the money you spend. That's why I'm not excited.

Like I mentioned before, as cards are cleared out, production ramps up, and prices drop they'll be good cards for the money.

 

[1-D_FTW]

[H] gave a system baseline at the top

As far as I'm aware, 75 watts can be drawn directly from the motherboard. 75 watts can be drawn from 6 pin power slots and 150 watts can be drawn from 8 pin power slots. If that info is correct, the 7850 by very real reasons can't exceed 150 watts drawn. There's really no ambiguity to this. They're saying its TDP is 130 watts and it's in all likely-hood lower for you. It's not really a debate. Unless they want to ship units that are drawing more than 150 watts and get mass returns when the system resets from not enough power draw.

 

[StevieP]

As far as I'm aware, 75 watts can be drawn directly from the motherboard. 75 watts can be drawn from 6 pin power slots and 150 watts can be drawn from 8 pin power slots. If that info is correct, the 7850 by very real reasons can't exceed 150 watts drawn. There's really no ambiguity to this. They're saying its TDP is 130 watts and it's in all likely-hood lower for you. It's not really a debate. Unless they want to ship units that are drawing more than 150 watts and get mass returns when the system resets from not enough power draw.

I think you're right - my bad.
Monday morning and all that.

I still, however, look at PR slides with disdain =\

 

[artist]

This is measured using a $2K multimeter.

 

[TouchMyBox]

So this thing is pretty much in the same tier as the GTX 580 (more so at high res) with half the power consumption and $150 cheaper...

Impressive. Now nvidia needs to make their move so AMD can one-up them on price.

 

[artist]

While I dont expect the 7870's TDP to be 120W, it wont be too far off from this value. The 7850 should easily be in that range.

It'll come under 10"

 

[Refreshment.01]

So this thing is pretty might in the same tier as the GTX 580 (more so at high res) with half the power consumption and $150 cheaper...

For what i could see when overclocked to 1100 core it's pretty much there with 580 in the games that favor Nvidia and surpasses it in the rest of the other games. However 350 is too much. I know there are good reasons for AMD but can't forget how awesome the 5850 was in 2009 at 280-300 price range.

Also fucking ! at the power benchmarks artist posted. I just can't believe a 7950 is just 14w above the 5850. That's the real upgrade considering the 7950 is what? 65-80% faster.

Also if the bemchmarks are reliable, good call by the artist with the power predictions.

 

[artist]

specialguy, since we were discussing the efficiency of GCN .. here are some numbers:

http://www.inpai.com.cn/doc/hard/168475_30.htm

15-20% more efficient.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

I think a 6970 is overly hopeful. Unless we move to a smaller process than 28nm, I think a card with that kind of performance will take too much power to be feasible.

The RSX in the PS3 is a cheaper/slower brother to the 7900GT, and the 7900GT only takes 50W of power.

A 6970 takes over 200W of power on its own. You won't be able to get a card with similar performance that consumes ~100W in the near future.

Yes you will. It's called a Radeon 7870/7850.

I'm betting right now that it will take 150W of power and not equal the 6970.

edit: TDP of 90W? Well, that might shut me up. That would be an incredible feat, to more than double power efficiency within about a year's time. I'll remain skeptical.

It seems too good to be true, especially when the 7970 doesn't achieve anywhere near that efficiency. That quote is suggesting that you would get 80% of the 7970's performance for less than half of the power cost.

It will be faster than a 6970 and will use closer to 100w. I'll bet $100 on that right now if you'd like to take me up on that offer.

BoobPhysics101: (laughs)

Sorry TheExodu5, I have been waiting for today for almost 2 months.

 

[artist]

 

[StevieP]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5625/...d-7850-review-rounding-out-southern-islands/2

Anand says there are 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors on a 7870.

The 7870 PCB itself runs 9.5” long, with an additional .25” of shroud overhang bringing the total to 9.75”. Our card is equipped with 8 5GHz 256MB Hynix GDDR5 memory chips, the same 5GHz chips that we saw on the 7700 series. For the 7870 power is provided by a pair of 6pin PCIe power socket, while the sub-150W 7850 uses a single socket. Both cards feature a single CrossFire connector, allowing them to be paired up in a 2-way CrossFire configuration.

 

[artist]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5625/...d-7850-review-rounding-out-southern-islands/2

Anand says there are 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors on a 7870.

Thats correct.

 

[gatti-man]

Allow me to gush about the gigabyte oc 7970. Coming from 480gtx sli the 7970 is a godsend. About 1/4 as much percieved heat output. I can now mmo game or fps game without ever even hearing my fans spool up past the slightly audible case fan. Performance has been rock solid at 2560x1600 and really strengthened my love of PC gaming. Awesome card, IMO a huge liveability upgrade and well worth the money.

 

[pestul]

I think the 7870 ended up being a lot better card than many were projecting. :0

I didn't think it would be that close to the GTX580 at just about half the power.

 

[pestul]

With 78xx series being that strong, I really think GK104 will be at least as powerful as the GTX580. Unless they really screwed it up.

 

[artist]

With 78xx series being that strong, I really think GK104 will be at least as powerful as the GTX580. Unless they really screwed it up.

GK104 losing to GTX580 and 7870 would be as epic a fail as the FX5800. Will.not.happen.

Spoiler

Will not happen

 

[TouchMyBox]

However 350 is too much. I know there are good reasons for AMD but can't forget how awesome the 5850 was in 2009 at 280-300 price range.

I'm hoping AMD is just trying to get extra money while it can from early adopters while it still has a lead against nvidia.

One day the 7870 will be $249, and all will be right in the world.

GK104 losing to GTX580 and 7870 would be as epic a fail as the FX5800. Will.not.happen.

Spoiler

Will not happen

I certainly hope so. My interest in stereoscopic 3D has me wanting to stay in the nvidia camp.

And then I get jelly when I see AMD completely dominate the upper half of techpowerup's performance/watt chart.

 

[pestul]

Hopefully that is all AMD is doing and they don't know something negative about Kepler performance-wise. If GK104 is great and launches soon, AMD may really burn some of the early adopters with a large price drop.

 

[TheExodu5]

BoobPhysics101: (laughs)

Sorry TheExodu5, I have been waiting for today for almost 2 months.

Hoowwwwwwever, it's still not faster than the 6970, so I'll give you a forkful of crow as well.

 

[artist]

Hoowwwwwwever, it's still not faster than the 6970, so I'll give you a forkful of crow as well.

 

[TheExodu5]

I'd say some older games must be skewing the results there. It would be weird for a 7870 with immature drivers to beat out the 6970 which has more shader throughput. 3DMark11 results are very similar for both.

edit1: Hmmm. Or not. Maybe there are some important architectural changes here too.

edit2: Wait wait wait...the 7870 is beating out the 7950 quite a bit in that review. Something isn't right here.

These numbers just don't add up:

Still, absolutely incredible results from the 7850/7870. These things are going to be the new 8800GT, I think.

 

[Scotch]

Alright, $250 is my ballpark budget so 7850 will be the card for me. Pleased about performance and impressed by power consumption. Just waiting another month to see what Nvidia has on offer.

 

[Hazaro]

Most benches (H, Anand, guru3d, techreport) put the 7850 at 6950 levels. At, below, or above it.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

I'd say some older games must be skewing the results there. It would be weird for a 7870 with immature drivers to beat out the 6970 which has more shader throughput. 3DMark11 results are very similar for both.

edit1: Hmmm. Or not. Maybe there are some important architectural changes here too.

edit2: Wait wait wait...the 7870 is beating out the 7950 quite a bit in that review. Something isn't right here.

These numbers just don't add up:

Still, absolutely incredible results from the 7850/7870. These things are going to be the new 8800GT, I think.

You realize the two benchmarks you posted are totally irrelevant because they're super-Nvidia biased? Civ 5 uses Nvidia's threaded optimization to blow AMD out of the water... and that's also why the 7950/7870 perform similarly.

Also, 7870 has less SP's but more efficient architecture than 6970.

Most benches (H, Anand, guru3d, techreport) put the 7870 at 6950 levels. At, below, or above it.

How do you figure? HardOCP + Anandtech has 7870 beating 6970 in almost every benchmark, sometimes with higher settings, and beating the 6950 soundly as well.

 

[artist]

Most benches (H, Anand, guru3d, techreport) put the 7850 at 6950 levels. At, below, or above it.

Fixed.

Starting with the Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition, AMD is effectively in the clear for the time being. At roughly 9% faster than the GTX 570 there’s little reason to get the GTX 570 even with the 7870’s price premium; it’s that much faster, cooler, and quieter. With the launch of Pitcairn and the 7870 in particular, GF110 has effectively been removed from competition after a nearly year and a half run.

9% faster than the 570, which is faster or on par with the 6970.

Notice how the 7870 is above the 6970 in avg frames per second (ignore the price (x) axis)

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Exodu5 is gonna need two plates of crow now.

 

[luca_29_bg]

7970 oc sapphire, not super overclocked of course ^^

 

[TheExodu5]

Exodu5 is gonna need two plates of crow now.

Please sir, I want some more.

 

[SoulClap]

Are the 7970's with multiple fans likely to be more quiet than the reference designs? If so what vendor would you guys recommend? I think so far Asus, Gigabyte and XFX have non-reference cards out. Also since I'm gaming in 1080p would I be better off going with a 7950? It seems like I might as well spent a bit more and get the 7970.

 

[Hazaro]

How do you figure? HardOCP + Anandtech has 7870 beating 6970 in almost every benchmark, sometimes with higher settings, and beating the 6950 soundly as well.

Fixed.

Typo

 

[luca_29_bg]

sorry now works...

 

[Hazaro]

Are the 7970's with multiple fans likely to be more quiet than the reference designs? If so what vendor would you guys recommend? I think so far Asus, Gigabyte and XFX have non-reference cards out. Also since I'm gaming in 1080p would I be better off going with a 7950? It seems like I might as well spent a bit more and get the 7970.

All I have heard is that you should avoid XFX's cooler.

 

[Smokey]

Please sir, I want some more.

lol

 

[luca_29_bg]

msi lighting is clocked at 1070 ghz...wow...

 

[K.Jack]

Dat power consumption

The 7850 could be turned into a mobile chip as is, and the 7870 just needs a bit of a downclock.

Holy shit, don't screw it up AMD.

 

[artist]

edit2: Wait wait wait...the 7870 is beating out the 7950 quite a bit in that review. Something isn't right here.

These numbers just don't add up:

Still, absolutely incredible results from the 7850/7870. These things are going to be the new 8800GT, I think.

That is because Pitcairn can still do 2 prim/clk just like the 7950 but since its clocked much higher (1GHz v 800MHz), it beats 7950 in Tessellation heavy workloads.

See for example:

[/IMG]

 

[SoulClap]

All I have heard is that you should avoid XFX's cooler.

Thanks, I was almost fooled by their entertaining commercials.

 

[Hazaro]

Dat power consumption

The 7850 could be turned into a mobile chip as is, and the 7870 just needs a bit of a downclock.

Holy shit, don't screw it up AMD.

mobile stuff holding back pc gaming just as consoles are
k.jack have you no shameeeeeeee

 

[Sheikh]

Please sir, I want some more.

Lol dude.
man this forum has some crazy people with great sense of humour. No wonder everyone wants to become a member here

 

[Smokey]

kind of want to go over to dat amd especially with nvidia dragging their heels..

my 580s are outclassed

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Please sir, I want some more.

You've had enough young man, we must keep the crow in ample supply for the rest of us. My plate is always ready to be filled.

 

[AB12]

The chances of the nextbox using 7850/7870 variant just went up. Fingers crossed.

 

[Zornica]

Sapphires is showing the Radeon 7970 Toxic at cebit

some quick facts:
2 bioses, 1100 mhz standard, 1150 mhz for the 2nd
6gb ram @ 6ghz
price unknown


furthermore, there will be 5 different hd7970 models from sapphire and 4 different hd7950 versions.
ComputerBase (german)

 

[thuway]

Next-gen just got hotter. Here's to hoping we get a downclocked 7990 in consoles .

 

[Corky]

Next-gen just got hotter. Here's to hoping we get a downclocked 7990 in consoles .

How did we go from 7850 to 7990 again?

 

[specialguy]

msi lighting is clocked at 1070 ghz...wow...

I find it more impressive the sites I looked at were pushing 1200 mhz on 7870 overclocking without touching voltage.

This is the first time I've been really impressed with the price/performance of Southern Islands. I saw that in at least a benchmark or two the 7850 was beating the GTX 580 when overclocked, wow from a $249 card.

Now just to see how Kepler fares...

 

[subversus]

How did we go from 7850 to 7990 again?

just like that!

 

[Corky]

just like that!

m-m-magic?!

7850 seems amazing, I just did a down/up-grade of my monitor and while I'm getting an infinitely more responsive monitor I'm going back to 1080p so I've diverted my eyes away from flag-ship gpus. 7850 / 660 ti, do your magic.

 

[Krauser Kat]

my 4890 will now have a successor. Now to convince the wife.

 

[sammich]

Ok well im sold on the 7870. Will be quite an upgrade on my 6870. Only thing for me is, since this will go in an HTPC i will have to i guess wait a bit for the quietest one. Right now my 6870 does very well in everything i play it at, but in some instances(SWTOR), the fan goes on full blast and bothers the F outta me as it becomes the loudest thing in the room. So the 7870 will use less power, put out less heat, will get stressed way less than my 6870. WIN WIN for me.. only other thing right now seems to be the price.