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Hardware ATI Radeon HD 6870 Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Guest-16, 22 Oct 2010.

  1. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

  2. SlowMotionSuicide

    SlowMotionSuicide Come Hell or High Water

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    Nice.

    Also nice, it didn't made my GTX480 obsolete overnight;)
     
  3. HourBeforeDawn

    HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz

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    well its a mid range card so no it wouldnt take out the GTX480.

    Going to pick up one of these for kicks to play with and then later get the 69XX series when it comes out.
     
  4. Fractal

    Fractal I Think Therefore I Mod

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    Good to get some more competition in the graphics market, been a bit lacking for the last year.
     
  5. cameron stokes

    cameron stokes What's a Dremel?

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    anyone know when the 6900 series are supposed to hit? i want one so that my vmware snow leopard can run properly. damn gtx 460 isn't supported =(
     
  6. Mentai

    Mentai What's a Dremel?

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    BUT DOES IT PLAY CRYSIS?

    No really, I hope the 6900 reviews include Crysis. I still want to see benchmarks of that game running at 1920*1080 4x AA with 60fps. It hasn't happened yet, and when it does, I will buy that card and finally play a game from 2007.
     
  7. knuck

    knuck Hate your face

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    for that price ? Very interesting !

    240$ is a heal of a bargain
     
  8. g3n3tiX

    g3n3tiX Minimodder

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    It's AMD now, ATI is dead. (sadly)
    Sorry, had to point that out, ATI is used everywhere in the article...

    Interesting card, will wait to see how the 6900 performs.
    I think launching mid-range first is dangerous as all the early adopters (who often havve deep pockets) will get these instead of the higher priced 69xx, thus making less money to AMD.
    Or is it to gain traction before launching the actual behemoth ?
     
  9. leexgx

    leexgx CPC hang out zone (i Fix pcs i do )

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    ATI is fine some mite think we are talking about CPUs here if AMD is used :)
     
  10. Adnoctum

    Adnoctum Kill_All_Humans

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    Most large performance increases generation to generation have been due to process shrinks allowing more transistors and lower power consumption for a given die size. As these are on the same 40nm process as the HD5xxx series, I think huge performance increases were unrealistic.

    I'll be waiting for the HD69xx reviews for the generation performance increase though. It will put the HD6850/HD6870 performance into perspective.
     
  11. Krayzie_B.o.n.e.

    Krayzie_B.o.n.e. What's a Dremel?

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    I'm very very impressed with these benchmarks as AMD GPU division has so far done a fine job.

    The HD 6870 and 6850 are cooler, quieter, and use less Juice than the GTX 470 and GTX 460 and are +/- two FPS better or worse than the Nvidia cards at the same price point ($250 $199).

    Sure the Nvidia cards still hold the lead when FULL tessellation is applied but the AMD cards pull their weight but in reality only the GTX 480 can muster 30 FPS during Unigine Heaven Extreme Tessellation.

    Crossfire was a HUGE surprise to me as I saw 85 to 95% scaling as the the HD 6870 CF beat the GTX 470 Sli in Far Cry 2 which is a Nvidia stronghold game while the HD 6850 CF beat the HD 5870 CF and was 7 FPS slower than the GTX 470 sli.

    I'm very impressed with these mid range cards and can't wait to see AMD's HD6900 series with it's 384 bit (it's about time) interface. Bravo AMD.
     
  12. Ph4ZeD

    Ph4ZeD What's a Dremel?

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    eBuyer has this card for £176. So launch day pricing considerably cheaper.
     
  13. azrael-

    azrael- I'm special...

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    So... how quiet is the stock cooler?
     
  14. xaser04

    xaser04 Ba Ba Ba BANANA!

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    Hmmm that is suprising. I was expecting (following all the rumours) the newer 4D shader design rather than the 5D design of the 58xx series.

    I have a couple of constructive criticisms about this review if I may:

    - Perhaps a stock overclocked GTX460 1GB could have been included, given how well they overclock and the fact so many can be bought (for not much more than the stock versions) pre overclocked it would be a useful addition.
    - Either run a proper FRAPS run through in Just Cause 2 (in game) or use the Dark Tower in game benchmark. Concrete Jungle is not representative of in game performance at all.

    I suppose how well these cards do will all come down to price and quality of drivers.
     
  15. rainbowbridge

    rainbowbridge Minimodder

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    very impressed bit tech have added arma 2 to the benchmarks, keep it up, good job.

    rb
     
  16. Xtrafresh

    Xtrafresh It never hurts to help

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    I find your justification for the naming scheme shift very disagreeable.
    We are talking about cards that are 110 dollars apart! If the marketing guys arent able to explain to customers that the 5770 is a great deal (it is), that's their problem, and i don't think that upsetting their entire naming scheme will do them much good.

    Besides, the 'awkward position' you describe is largely based on pricing, and right now that's as volatile as ... well i'll leave the funny similaires to you.

    On top of all that, there is just no way that any of this can be explained in a meaningful way to the average Joe that walks into a shop and wants to buy a graphics card for his kid. The rules are complicated enough already, but now that AMD has decided not to follow them, the card's name just became meaningless.

    How on earth should anybody know that a 5870 is faster then a 6870?
     
  17. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Well, they also had to make the transition i believe.

    Using the x9xx name just for Dual GPUs seems kind of a waste no? Plus in the long run, it's MUCH more logical now.
     
  18. Xtrafresh

    Xtrafresh It never hurts to help

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    A waste? No, it isn't it's a very logical reservation should they ever want to upgrade an existing architecture, exactly like they are very wise to call the fastest card of a family the xx70 and not the xx90: it left a perfect place for the 4890 when market and technology circumstances required the card to be slotted in there.
    IMO, they should also have stuck with the X2 moniker for the dual-GPU cards. It leaves great opportunity for future 6870 x2 cards, or even 5770 x2 cards.

    And as for the long run... Market prices and technology are continually shifting. That's why i think the name of the card should say what it really IS, and calling these things 6870s is just wrong.

    It may not be as bad as reVidia's endless G92 shenanigans or counterIntel's hyper-confusing i3-i5-i7 scheme, but it's definately a step in the same direction, and as somebody who has to explain this to customers on a day-to-day basis, i do NOT approve. :nono:
     
  19. Krayzie_B.o.n.e.

    Krayzie_B.o.n.e. What's a Dremel?

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    HD 6870 = GTX 470
    HD 6850 < GTX 460
    HD 6990 = Dual GPU
    X2 = 2 existing GPU's with the same clocks slapped on one card


    plus leaves room for a HD 6890 to take on a GTX 475 or a HD 6980 vs. GTX 485 the numbering system makes sense to me and leaves room for future refreshes.

    or maybe the Nvida CEo and the AMD CEo get drunk together and just name their cards after their receipt totals, who knows?
     
    Last edited: 22 Oct 2010
  20. GravitySmacked

    GravitySmacked Mostly Harmless

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    Nice looking card and some decent performance.
     
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