Friday, October 8th 2010
AMD Radeon HD 6870 Reference Design Looks Refined, Ready to Market
Here it is, the AMD Radeon HD 6870, all dressed up to go to work. There has been quite some speculation surrounding the naming scheme AMD is going to adopt with the HD 6000 series, but fresh information suggestively lays some of that to rest. Firstly, Radeon HD 6800 series is built around the "Barts" GPU, not "Cayman". Barts is a new performance GPU, though isn't the highest-end single GPU from AMD (which is reserved for Cayman). Barts "XT" is Radeon HD 6870, and Barts "Pro" is HD 6850. Pictured below is the HD 6870. At a purely subjective glance, the HD 6870 reference design card seems to be as long as the HD 5850 reference.
The new Radeon logo has been Photoshopped on to the fan, so the products in market will definitely do away with the older ATI logo. The rear panel resembles that of the Radeon HD 5800 series, except that the exhaust grille seems slightly wider, there are two DVI-I connectors, one standard HDMI, and two mini DisplayPort connectors for a change. The connector output sharing scheme isn't known right now, it could be 3 or 4 head Eyefinity, or all-out 5 head Eyefinity, a yet to be detailed "Eyespeed" feature is mentioned. We will definitely know more about this card in the weeks to come.
Source:
it.com.cn
The new Radeon logo has been Photoshopped on to the fan, so the products in market will definitely do away with the older ATI logo. The rear panel resembles that of the Radeon HD 5800 series, except that the exhaust grille seems slightly wider, there are two DVI-I connectors, one standard HDMI, and two mini DisplayPort connectors for a change. The connector output sharing scheme isn't known right now, it could be 3 or 4 head Eyefinity, or all-out 5 head Eyefinity, a yet to be detailed "Eyespeed" feature is mentioned. We will definitely know more about this card in the weeks to come.
126 Comments on AMD Radeon HD 6870 Reference Design Looks Refined, Ready to Market
about this marketing stuff, I agree to an extent, months before Fermi launched there were in-depth articles detailing the new architecture, it would be nice to see the same thing about barts/cayman, they don't even need to give us performance numbers, just some food for thought to further wet our appetites for the release products.
On the other hand the GPU market is totally different. AMD had been playing second fiddle for quite some time and they really needed the break they got with the hd5000 series. With the development of the 5000 series secrecy seems to have helped them quite a lot and I think they're trying the same proven strategy again. AMD are fighting a much more aggressive opponent on the GPU side and can't allow themselves to slip again, they must thread carefully and stay tight-lipped until after the release.
So here's my excitement and worry. If that was truly the correct score of the 6870 what kind of great score will you get with the 6970? I can imagine something like 28K or more. Which would be just freaking awesome.
But with a top of the line card at a score of 28K or more what would that cost? $700 to $800 bucks and a 6870 would sell for the $400 to $500 price range? I would hate to imagine the 6990 would probably retail for $1200 or more.
They would be able to price these cards at what ever they want considering no competition from the other camp.
If this is true and it does happen.... we can only hope that ATI/AMD will remember those who stayed faithful to the brand during even their tough times and not price these cards right out of the market.
I do expect these cards to be more expensive then previous generations's because of their performance lead.
But if I can buy a GTX 470 that might be about 15% less powerful then a comparable ATI card for about $150 dollars cheaper.
I know I would definitely go that route for sure.
But those original benches could be just fake.
Other then that worry all I got to say is go ATI go.... it's about time! :)
- Sapphire HD5870 1GB then sold it.
- XFX HD5970 Gay Edition 2GB then RMAed it due to issues.
- HIS HD5870 1GB
- HIS HD5870 1GB for sum Xfire action
- Sold 1 HIS HD5870 1GB due to high temps
- Bought a EVGA GTX 480
- Sold HIS HD5870 1GB
- Bought Gigabyte HD5970 2gb
- Sold Gigabyte HD5970 2gb needed money
- Going to sell EVGA GTX 480 soon for HD6xxx series
.....ZOMFG why did I buy so many lol... oh well.
The new name scheming won't really bother me after about a couple of days, ppl would gt over it:rolleyes:, but if they do go with the new name scheming, I just hope the HD6850 & HD6870 will perform better then the HD5850 / HD5870 otherwise to me it would just look stupid:confused:
I can't wait to see if the 6870 is as fast as the 5870 but cheaper.... it's really got me thinking.
Yeah I can't wait to see some spec details and benchies of these new cards:rockout::rockout:
And while I agree, a simple webpage saying what cards are named what, doesn't give any concrete details, and if done properly, will only generate goodwill. Like you say, they are kinda fighting nVidia...but there is a difference in properly using your resources, and squandering them.
I mean, this thread is the perfect example...AMD could have released this via thier website. Doesn't give nVidia any idea of performance, etc...
It's poor marketing, through and through. And yes, because I've run(and still do) a very successful business, I do know what is effective marketing, and what isn't. I'm 33, and basically retired, 100% because i understand effective marketing. And what AMD is doing...isn't it.
Why is ChipHell and others getting the web traffic from this, instead of AMD?
-what the naming will be
-what the performance will be
-how much it will cost you to buy it
-when it will be available
These are questions we cannot know for certain until the NDA is up/release date to make the official announcement. Therefore, I don't see the need to go around in circles with all the fud that we've seen before during the pre-release of AMDs other cards. Again, nothing to do with marketing here. And like was said earlier, if not saying much (if anything at all) worked well with the pre-release of the 5000 series I really don't see why it's something not repeatable for the 6000 series. At least until they are ready.
You don't see the need to go in circles...but...that's exactly what you yourself are doing!
AMD's lack of pproper marketing is what created this situation, plain and simple.
I mean really, that pic in the OP kinda looks like 6870 is Barts Pro...
Anyway, any single person with a minor amount of Photoshop ability could create those pics. So I agree that pople should wait before making any judgements...
But next release, guess what? It will be the same thing, yet again, won't it?
:laugh:
Seems that people's impatience to get details is what is irking you...and again, I say you best stop paying any attention to these threads then, because that's not ever gonna happen, until marketing practices change.
I'm not asking you to like my opinion....but like you are giving yours, I am giving mine. Just so happens it doesn't agree 1005 with yours, but that's just fine to me, and should be the same for you. If you don't like people commenting on your posts, don't comment..this is a tech discussion forum, after all.
Having said that it's clear we really don't know what to make of 6000 series at this time. It, IMO, generates some level of anticipation waiting for the release date so we can finally come to know what to expect. In hindsight, perhaps this is just one way to generate hype and awareness for the 6000 series. If it is, it's an effective one.
Yes, we are just mincing words. And I understand your tact, and do not think what you said had anything to do with marketing...but as I said, that's not gonna change until the marketing does, and we'll more than likely be in the same situation on the next release.:wtf:
I mean, I had another Bhudda quote in my sig:
"All expectation leads to suffering"
I think it applies in this situation. :p
:D
Most of this hype is largely negative...kinda makes you wonder who is really behind it. I did go to Uni for psychology, so any attempts by AMD to subvert thier intent doesn't slip by me very easily. At this point in the game, it's not the right time to generate anything that might be negative hype...they do this so that when the real details come out, it seems so much better than it actually is...that needs to STOP, because I think it might jsut have an effect they aren't exactly expecting. Most people into tech as deeply as you and I, aren't exactly going to be swayed either way by such poor attempts.
:laugh:
It's soon to go on eBay and the FS thread once these new 6xxx gets released to our little town of Sydney :rockout:
That doesn't look photoshopped to me, and I can easily spot that sort of thing (makes watching TV/Movies painful being able to spot what's real and fake). There is no ATi logo on it, it clearly says "AMD" on the fan sticker, just like the recent revision that was made. The "pixelated" looking outline of the text is on the plastic cover is actually just how a vinyl sticker looks over plastic. Not saying it can't be pshopped, but sure looks to have a higher probability of being real than it does fake. :o
EDIT: Incase someone isn't up on the AMD Radeon logos that were released when AMD mentioned shelving the ATi brand. www.techautos.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/AMDradeonLogos.jpg
It's like AMD abandoned army of eyefinity users: "Well, f**k them. We'll design new card with the new mini-dp slot and we don't care about their DP-VGA adapters"
Very dissapointing.