HIS Radeon HD 6870 1 GB

[Akumos]

They just moved everything up a notch. The previously x700 series is now the x800 series. The previously x800 series would now be the x900 series (which was previously not used except for the 5970, i.e. only once). No deception of "seemingly better performance", just confusion. There were never any mention that the 6800 series would be the replacement of the 5800 series anyway.



Of course it was the same because it was the same card.

In this case these are two different cards from the 5850 and 5870.



Of course the performance isn't the same! It's a mid-range v. a high-end!




They opted to keep the 5700 series as the 6700 series.



Starting now, not anymore.

Following your logic, the 9 has always signified....nothing because it was never used (3870X2, not 3970. 4870X2, not 4970). But then there was just one card in the previous generation (5970) that came, so might as well use the 9 for a whole series in the next generation.

I was confussed too but this has cleared it up nicely for me! Thanks!!

 

[Pandemiclah]

what software was used for the vmod?

 

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

These new AMD cards offer great price/performance value. The only negative thing I can find is the new, confusing naming scheme. It's currently listed for 199.99€, which is cheaper than the 5850, but this card is faster. I can't wait to see Cayman reviewed, but at the same time, I'm afraid they will not be very cheap... AMD has been forced to price Barts as low as they are, because GTX 460 offers tough competition. But if Nvidia doesn't manage to get a full fledged GF104 out by the time Cayman is released, the price will probably be pretty high, since there isn't as much competition from Nvidia.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Think we could get the performance gain of the voltage oc added to the oc chart?

 

[qaski]

nice video card 6870
the best for the price

 

[Eric_Cartman]

The price argument fails.

Because it isn't that hard for the consumer to see the higher price and just assume it is either price wrong, or priced high because it is from the previous generation.

Look at the GTX 285 it is priced higher than the GTX 460 despite being a weaker card.

Simply because it is left over from the previous generation where it carried a high price tag.

Everyone is saying this is a mid-range card like I don't know that.

My point is that it is not NAMED like a mid-range card.

It is named like a high end card.

The first number always tells us the generation which is 6 in this case with the previous generation being 5.

The second number tells us if it is mid-range high end or low end.

An 8 signifies high end.

If there are 9 numbers 1 through 9, then 8 and 9 are the high end while 5 6 and 7 are mid-range.

Anyone that can count can figure out why that is.

Naming a mid-range card with a high end name is deceptive.

 

[jasper1605]

Because it isn't that hard for the consumer

how many consumers are buying cards at this tier without coming to sites like this and following news and doing a touch of research/ doing just a simple adjustment of "Ok, the 68xx series is now midrange, I will wait for the 69xx. I think the renaming hullaballoo is being made into a Mt. Everest when in reality it is about as high as the tallest mountain in North Dakota (i.e. flatland). Now if they did this every gen and in the 7 series the 71xx is top tier and 72xx is mid and 73xx is low then someone needs to be fired. But atm, just make a small adjustment and go on with life

OT:

Wizz, I've a request. Would it be possible to do an eyefinity review with one of the cards to compare against the 58xx series? Maybe not w/ every card you do, but one here and there would be awesome to test the new architectures out at very high resolutions. Especially with these as it looked like they started performing better as the resolutions got higher.

Thanks

 

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

The price argument fails.

Because it isn't that hard for the consumer to see the higher price and just assume it is either price wrong, or priced high because it is from the previous generation.

Look at the GTX 285 it is priced higher than the GTX 460 despite being a weaker card.

Simply because it is left over from the previous generation where it carried a high price tag.

Everyone is saying this is a mid-range card like I don't know that.

My point is that it is not NAMED like a mid-range card.

It is named like a high end card.

The first number always tells us the generation which is 6 in this case with the previous generation being 5.

The second number tells us if it is mid-range high end or low end.

An 8 signifies high end.

If there are 9 numbers 1 through 9, then 8 and 9 are the high end while 5 6 and 7 are mid-range.

Anyone that can count can figure out why that is.

Naming a mid-range card with a high end name is deceptive.

Yes, we all agree with you: the naming scheme is bullsh*t. But it's not necessary to post several times complaining about it. Who is going to buy a card without at least looking at a couple of reviews? And it's not even as bad as what Nvidia has done before, which is rename the same card. At least this is a brand new chip.

 

[bear jesus]

Wizz, I've a request. Would it be possible to do an eyefinity review with one of the cards to compare against the 58xx series? Maybe not w/ every card you do, but one here and there would be awesome to test the new architectures out at very high resolutions. Especially with these as it looked like they started performing better as the resolutions got higher.

Thanks

Already asked, it would require some monitor donations. anyone got 3 spare monitors?

 

[btarunr]

The price argument fails.

Because it isn't that hard for the consumer to see the higher price and just assume it is either price wrong, or priced high because it is from the previous generation.

Look at the GTX 285 it is priced higher than the GTX 460 despite being a weaker card.

Simply because it is left over from the previous generation where it carried a high price tag.

Everyone is saying this is a mid-range card like I don't know that.

My point is that it is not NAMED like a mid-range card.

It is named like a high end card.

The first number always tells us the generation which is 6 in this case with the previous generation being 5.

The second number tells us if it is mid-range high end or low end.

An 8 signifies high end.

If there are 9 numbers 1 through 9, then 8 and 9 are the high end while 5 6 and 7 are mid-range.

Anyone that can count can figure out why that is.

Naming a mid-range card with a high end name is deceptive.

6800 is the new mid-range. Deal with it. It's priced like mid-range, performs better than NVIDIA's mid-range.

 

[Arska]

To all the "I hate everybody's naming scheme" people, what should this card be called?

It should be 6770 but since AMD said no to that, I'd be ok with 6850 as well (and 6830/6840 for its little brother).

 

[newtekie1]

Who cares what it is called. It could be called Giant-Green-Turd-With-Nuts-Stuck-In-It for all I care, as long as the price and performance is right.

People that buy based on name alone deserve to get "ripped-off". They should do their research before purchasing.

 

[bear jesus]

Who cares what it is called. It could be called Giant-Green-Turd-With-Nuts-Stuck-In-It for call I care, as long as the price and performance is right.

People that buy based on name alone deserve to get "ripped-off". They should do their research before purchasing.

so true, i was one of the people a little annoyed by the name change but it really does not matter.

 

[CDdude55]

Who cares what it is called. It could be called Giant-Green-Turd-With-Nuts-Stuck-In-It for call I care, as long as the price and performance is right.

People that buy based on name alone deserve to get "ripped-off". They should do their research before purchasing.

The large majority are people who buy based on the name alone. For people like us it's much more easier to avoid that. Most people will just be buying it based on the assumption that nothing has changed and that the 6870 has to be better then their current 5870 or else it's a failure.

Most of them don't give a shit about doing research, nor do most know where to do to obtain that information.(besides going to google and clicking some random site)

 

[qubit]

You know why nvidia isn't releasing a GTX560 right now? Because AMD was stupid enough to release a card slower than a GTX470. Hell its slower than a vast majority of GTX460 OC models.

AMD just let nvidia steal their launch thunder completely with a $260 price point on the GTX470 which some sites have moved down into the 6870s range or lower with rebates. Now they get to move products that were sitting, generating revenue they weren't getting at all.

 

[newtekie1]

The large majority are people who buy based on the name alone. For people like us it's much more easier to avoid that. Most people will just be buying it based on the assumption that nothing has changed and that the 6870 has to be better then their current 5870 or else it's a failure.

Most of them don't give a shit about doing research, nor do most know where to do to obtain that information.(besides going to google and clicking some random site)

Yes, and the large majority of people are idiots that get what they deserve.

It isn't that hard to go to google and type in "HD 6870 review" and figure out from the results how these cards perform. In the first 10 results you get reviews from Techpowerup, Guru3d, engadget, pcperspective, bit-tech, and hardocp with a few others as well. It isn't like they are going to get the wrong information from these sites. It isn't that hard to get and idea of the performance of these cards with 5 minutes of google searching. They don't even have to have a clue about what specific sites to go to.

 

[genta3d]

Thats nice, only 83C at load.
More over the OCed one only at 88C at load.
My old 4870X2 are 85C at full load...

 

[Arska]

Yeah, props to AMD and Nvidia whenever they manage to mislead the general public with the model numbers. You go, guys.

 

[dir_d]

You know why nvidia isn't releasing a GTX560 right now? Because AMD was stupid enough to release a card slower than a GTX470. Hell its slower than a vast majority of GTX460 OC models.

AMD just let nvidia steal their launch thunder completely with a $260 price point on the GTX470 which some sites have moved down into the 6870s range or lower with rebates. Now they get to move products that were sitting, generating revenue they weren't getting at all.

You forget the 6900 series is still yet to come? Also the 6870 might be slower than some 460OC models but its cheaper than they are and the card can OC a little as well.

AMD did not let NVIDIA steal their thunder. I know alot of people that base their card picking based off electrical imprints and do not overclock. This card is win in those areas and the 470 cant keep up with efficiency. You forget that these are midrange cards competing with one of NVIDIAs enthusiast cards.

 

[jasper1605]

Already asked, it would require some monitor donations. anyone got 3 spare monitors?

If it would guarantee some eyefinity reviews I would pitch $$ in for wiz to buy some monitors, even 1080p's as the price is much lower would suffice as it still pushes the resolution well beyond just one screen.

 

[erocker]

You know why nvidia isn't releasing a GTX560 right now? Because AMD was stupid enough to release a card slower than a GTX470. Hell its slower than a vast majority of GTX460 OC models.

AMD just let nvidia steal their launch thunder completely with a $260 price point on the GTX470 which some sites have moved down into the 6870s range or lower with rebates. Now they get to move products that were sitting, generating revenue they weren't getting at all.

6870/6850's competition is the GTX 460 and it beats it in terms of price/performance. Not only that the 6870 is about equal to a GTX 470 which is supposedly above the 68xx series. It also looks as if an overclocked 6870 can beat any overclocked 460 model and meet or exceed any overclocked 470 model. It's clear that one company knows how to get a good product out and one company that is playing catch-up with a product that isn't nearly as profitable. The only reason I can think of why this "GTX 560" isn't out is because it's not ready to be out. Same goes for any kind of "GTX 475, 485, 580, etc." If these cards were ready, Nvidia would have them out as quicly as possible. Instead we get a "paper launch" for what seems to be a fully functioning GTX 480.

 

[ERazer]

You know why nvidia isn't releasing a GTX560 right now? Because AMD was stupid enough to release a card slower than a GTX470. Hell its slower than a vast majority of GTX460 OC models.

AMD just let nvidia steal their launch thunder completely with a $260 price point on the GTX470 which some sites have moved down into the 6870s range or lower with rebates. Now they get to move products that were sitting, generating revenue they weren't getting at all.

ur kidding right? like others mentioned 6850/70 are mid range yet able to keep up with 470, cant wait for 69xx totally gonna nvidia

+1, to erocker

 

[morphy]

For people like us it's much more easier to avoid that. Most people will just be buying it based on the assumption that nothing has changed and that the 6870 has to be better then their current 5870 or else it's a failure.)

Assumption is the mother of all fuckups.

 

[OneCool]

Will Barts replace the current Juniper in mobile high end too?

 

[Steevo]

Great review W1zz, and I too love the power/clock/temp chart. It helps drive home the abilities of a card for those who want to go further. Basically every member of TPU.