AMD Radeon HD 6870 Reference Design Looks Refined, Ready to Market

[btarunr]

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.



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[meaintsmart]

I'm confused, so what will Cayman models be named?

 

[SNICK]

LOOKS AWESOME!!!!!!

 

[Fourstaff]

LOOKS AWESOME!!!!!!

Looks just like the 5xxx series

 

[pantherx12]

Looks like the're going for power consumption rather than performance then.

I am a bit disappoint : [

 

[btarunr]

I'm confused, so what will Cayman models be named?

Cayman XT = HD 6970, Cayman Pro = HD 6950. That leaves us Antilles, expect it to either be called HD 6990, or HD 6870 X2.

 

[HXL492]

So theres no new features? Still just eye infinity?

Oh well, AMD will still be my choice

 

[Atom_Anti]

I do not like the naming of these cards. It will hard to make difference between them. Plus, how is that sounds HD6850 and Hd6870 slower than HD5850, Hd5870?

 

[btarunr]

The selling point here is higher performance/$ and higher performance/watt.

Plus, how is that sounds HD6850 and Hd6870 slower than HD5850, Hd5870?

That is not known as of now.

 

[Animalpak]

Why do "new" GPU so often ?

 

[Fourstaff]

Why do "new" GPU so often ?

Its called advancement.

 

[Mr McC]

Why do "new" GPU so often ?

Market studies probably show that there are significant numbers of people who can afford and cannot do without the latest products. Whether or not the games that are being produced, now largely console ports, require or will be significantly improved by the latest generation is another question. In any event, technology companies would be ill advised to remain inactive for too long as the competitor will always be vying to corner additional market share with its own "new" products.

I'll probably hang on to my card and update when the 7xxx series comes along, but the release of the 6xxx should significantly push down the prices of the 5xxx series, thereby giving the consumer greater choice, which can only ever be a good thing.

 

[Drone]

new bottles, old wine.

 

[pantherx12]

new bottles, old wine.

Its not a nvidia rebrand.

These arnt 5770s or 5870s they're new chips.

 

[scaminatrix]

Market studies probably show that there are significant numbers of people who can afford and cannot do without the latest products.

You just reminded me of this thread! lol's

 

[inferKNOX]

If this naming scheme is true, which it increasingly seems to be, it is stupid marketing indeed.
There is still the possibility though that it is a ploy by AMD to confuse nVidia... I hope it is.:shadedshu

 

[NC37]

Yeah true, NV did the same. Rebranded G92s and such from the 8 series era and rode those for awhile. Figures ATI would do the same when NV is down until they got their 5xx series out. Even if they are techically new chips. Likely why Cayman isn't up yet. Probably going to wait on that till NV launches an X2 board and touts better scores than the 6870. Wonder if it will be that dual 104 thing that causes ATI to release Cayman. Be interesting to see what NV does in the coming months.

Strange how things have changed already. When I thought of NV the last few years, I thought of big monolithic GPUs running hot enough to cook on. Now ATI seems to be going towards the kitchen and NV the opposite. Well since the 104 came out.

Doesn't really matter to me who wins as long as they both get competitive on prices again. Put an end to the overpriced insanity.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

So Barts xt is 6870 and not 6770 as thought? good job I picked up a 470 instead of waiting as I dont think I would have been able to afford a 6870

 

[Fourstaff]

Doesn't really matter to me who wins as long as they both get competitive on prices again. Put an end to the overpriced insanity.

I don't really know how you would describe "competitive prices" as, because as far as I am concerned, every year we get more power for the same price.

 

[CDdude55]

Such a crappy naming scheme.,nice look looking card though.

And of course considering i have no cash and the fact that most game devs are still pushing out lazy console ports for PC, i'll stick to my ever so powerful GTX 470 for now.

 

[Drone]

Its not a nvidia rebrand.

These arnt 5770s or 5870s they're new chips.

sure new chips and all. I just wanted to say they aren't ground breaking new chips that's all.

 

[blibba]

You just reminded me of this thread! lol's

That thread is ridiculous.

The guy had an 8800GT and felt forced to upgrade, and as such bullied by Nvidia and ATI. What the hell's wrong with an 8800GT? He wanted a top notch card at low end prices, and he already had one.

 

[CDdude55]

That thread is ridiculous.

The guy had an 8800GT and felt forced to upgrade, and as such bullied by Nvidia and ATI. What the hell's wrong with an 8800GT? He wanted a top notch card at low end prices, and he already had one.

He was trolling, throughout that entire thread he kept posting ridiculous statements that were obviously false yet still remained ignorant even when corrected.

 

[Salsoolo]

^
banning him wasnt necessary though just close his thread.

 

[CDdude55]

^
banning him wasnt necessary though just close his thread.

Personally, i think it's good to ban people who troll.

Don't want to stray to off-topic of this thread though.