AMD Radeon HD 7850 & HD 7870 2 GB

[W1zzard]

Today AMD released their new Radeon HD 7800 Series, which is based on their new 28 nm Pitcairn graphics processor. The HD 7850 and HD 7870 offer a significant performance increase over the previous generation - up to 40% faster in our testing. Power consumption is also at a new record low, putting these cards in the leading performance per Watt spot.

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[borden5]

thanks wizard, hd 7850 perform close to 6970 for 50 dollar less, do want.

 

[v12dock]

A well priced 7XXX card

 

[btarunr]

So nearly half the power-draw as GTX 570, and higher performance, for just $20 more. No-brainer.

 

[Rowsol]

6870 for $165 on newegg is still the leader in price/performance. Shucks.

 

[entropy13]

It's inevitable that these two would be great. What's a bit surprising is that the series above and below them are both underwhelming when the prices are added into the "equation", being too expensive, or the alternative still offering a better price/perf ratio.

 

[Bullly]

7870 is total win-win!

 

[Brod]

Another GPU review with an outdated Nehalem based PC. How unfortunate.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2553379#post2553379

 

[Vancha]

What happened with Crysis 2? Is that just the driver updates since the 7970 review or something?

 

[xenocide]

That Crysis 2 benchmark has to be an error...

 

[W1zzard]

Another GPU review with an outdated Nehalem based PC. How unfortunate.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2553379#post2553379

our most cpu limited benchmark is star craft II.

so our overclocked nehalem is still faster than sandy bridge stock.

only other cpu limited benchmark is civilization 5, where the situation is similar.

the other benchmarks are gpu limited at higher resolutions

i've gotten requests to ditch cpu limited benchmarks and thought about it. but it's a pc gaming reality that some games might be cpu limited, no matter what cpu, so i kept star craft II because it's such a big title

 

[W1zzard]

What happened with Crysis 2? Is that just the driver updates since the 7970 review or something?

yeah i think driver optimizations. just waiting for a final whql driver that supports all new amd cards so i can rebench

 

[buggalugs]

These cards look pretty good to me, at least the 7870.

The 7870 is faster than last gens fastest card(6970) for$350 bucks cant really complain. Plus you get good overclocking. Prices will settle in a matter of weeks.

 

[jamsbong]

This is the most impressive card from the 7xxx series yet! The numbers at 2560x1536 shows that 7870 is nearly on-par with GTX580! This accessment is based anandtech and tpu.

What impresses me the most the the tiny amount of power it consumes! It makes the previous gen cards look like gas-gussler (joule-gussler).

Looks like the efficient GCN core made the 7870 > 6970. Well done ATI!

Note: TPU, I think you guys need to re-run some of the 79xx benchmarks, I've noticed some results showed 7950 slower than the 7870.

So, should I wait for Kepler? Not really, because I have doubts that a GK104 can beat ATI with performance/dollar AND... NV's top gun (the GK110) is not due until much later (rumored to be in sept), so that means ATI is expected to lead for about 9 months.

 

[N3M3515]

NOW we're talking, nvidia hurry up and make prices competitive!!
7850 at $200 would be a shut up and take my wallet!!!
.....and talk about overcloking man.......no voltage tweaking and these bad boys are past 25%!!!!!

 

[xenocide]

NOW we're talking, nvidia hurry up and make prices competitive!!
7850 at $200 would be a shut up and take my wallet!!!
.....and talk about overcloking man.......no voltage tweaking and these bad boys are past 25%!!!!!

Implying that Nvidia couldn't offer something competative around that price point...

 

[jamsbong]

Yes, the low power consumption means these babies can overclock really well! 1200Mhz is just the start, I reckon..

 

[N3M3515]

Implying that Nvidia couldn't offer something competative around that price point...

If nvidia prices gk104 at $299(even $340) and it is able to overtake 7950.....omfg that would be AWESOME!

 

[devguy]

Hmm, the 7870 and 7950 perform a lot closer than I'd have expected. Those Crysis 2 results were also pretty strange. W1z, did you rerun the Tahiti tests on Battlefield 3 after the most recent patch? I got a huge boost in fps from that (7950), and I'm curious if your results show the 7870 performing that close even after the patch.

 

[DonInKansas]

 

[Steevo]

6870 for $165 on newegg is still the leader in price/performance. Shucks.

Not when it plainly rapes it with the overclock.

Another GPU review with an outdated Nehalem based PC. How unfortunate.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2553379#post2553379

I see you can read, but you need work on comprehension and obviously implied results.

If nvidia prices gk104 at $299(even $340) and it is able to overtake 7950.....omfg that would be AWESOME!

And if it beats this card by 5% and is consuming the electrical output of a small nation and costs $100 more you will probably still buy it and love yourself for it.

*Not directed at you, but that the hordes of Nvidiots who are frothing at the mouth with implied supposed rainbow out a unicorns ass results from a tweet from Nvidia Italy, who have dick all to do with anything from what I can see.


If I recall, the performance of the gk104 is, oh wait, all Nvidia is doing is throwing shit at the wall of Nvidia fanbois and seeing how much they liken it to roses.

Amazing review, and once we get some competition these cards will really be a great deal. But for now they are about $50 over what I, just me, think they should be priced at.

 

[buggalugs]

The 7850 can actually beat the 580 when overclocked, the overclocking performance is where these cards really shine.

 

[dir_d]

I really think the 7950 and 7970 being low is due to drivers and when a proper driver comes out the will show the hardware scaling correctly like the 7870. Makes me think of a conspiracy theory. AMD purposely gimped the 7950 and 7970 in the drivers for kelper. Then when kelper drops there will be a magic 10% plus driver.

 

[afw]

after seeing the avg performance of these cards ... i think somethings wrong with the 79xx series ... i mean the 7950 has 40% more SPs and has a 384-bit memory ... but is only 7% faster ... somethings seriously bottlenecking the 79xx-s

 

[1nf3rn0x]

WOW! Great review wiz, definitely gonna buy a 7870 when they get released in Australia!