Announcement

**TheGrandMom** · 10-22-2010, 12:19 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

I wish they'd unleash a 6870 at my house... I promise to feed it, keep it clean, and take care of it!

**WishMaster3K** · 10-22-2010, 01:08 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

/nerdporn

Oh, that reminds me, I had this HIS card that I messed up in June, three months after I got it.

I was covered under the manufacturer warrantee for a year, so since I was a bit dismayed by the RMA process, I ordered this MSI card because I don't have a video out on my mobo.

I finally get around to RMA'ing it a month ago, and HIS tells me that they're sending me this card as a replacement since the card I sent them isn't being made anymore.

:-D

Will I be able to CFX them together with this PSU?

ATI says that CFX for a 5870 requires greater than 600w.

**TheGrandMom** · 10-22-2010, 01:13 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

After a couple of disasters involving power supplies, including one fire, I always err on the side of caution and get more power than I could ever use. Pull is a pain in the ass to determine because you have to spec all your major components and then leave a % for incidentals.

**WishMaster3K** · 10-22-2010, 01:35 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Ok, that's a bit disconcerting, especially because I don't have dedicated PCIe ports for a second card. What my PSU does is give me "6-pin adapters" that I can connect to one of the power strips.

OH well, if it doesn't work, I'll sell the GPU to a buddy.

**TheGrandMom** · 10-22-2010, 01:59 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

You did well with that RMA, I'm totally jealous! I'm waiting for my birthday (21 days) to see what I get....hopefully my new gpu but only time will tell. (Though I doubt it because Sweetest Day netted me some nice booty already! lol)

**Aeni** · 10-22-2010, 09:56 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Originally posted by TheGrandMom View Post

I promise to feed it, keep it clean, and take care of it!

I had another picture in mind ...

*drenched in thermal grease, the soft light shimmering across the pcb, the faint aroma of a freshly fired current of electricity across the capacitors, the slow-mo whirring of the fans as it gives off an erotic calm ...*

[CUE THE MUSIC]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYEJFSsfEcs]YouTube - Barry White - Love Making Music[/ame]

---------- Post added at 07:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 PM ----------

You know what's a travesty? Industry insiders and experts all speculated price drops a week ahead of this announcement and even after nearly a week has passed, a 5830 card can still be found as high as $275 and the median price is still well over $200. You've got to be kidding me. In comparison, GTX 460s have gone down in price, roughly 10-15% since I bought mine over a month ago. Something is wrong with ATI.

**TheGrandMom** · 10-22-2010, 10:15 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA That was awesome!!!

**Freelancer** · 10-23-2010, 12:19 AM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Ok.

I was hoping for "super uber new standard" but we got "in between" cards.

Though they fill a sweet price spot right above and under the GTX460 but meh... I was hoping for a GTX480 killer.

We'll see when the 6900s come out.

**Aeni** · 10-23-2010, 05:35 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

What is depressing is that they are releasing what is essentially an updated 5770 ... or a discounted 5830. At $179, yes, it's not a bad deal. However, considering that the performance is beneath the GTX460 (1GB) really speaks volume regarding ATI's current situation. If this is their "trash" from binning, then we have a lot to look forward to. If this is their average yield from their current fab, then we have a lot to worry about. Right now, as it stands, the 6000 family does nothing to push graphics technology. It's almost as if ATI is in the midst of an exit out of the discrete graphics market and are banking on the integrated market. They've already drawn criticism from both industry experts and "hardcore fanbois" alike when they were making a lot of noise over their new integrated family that is due out in Q1 2011.

The 6870 is so-so at $239. Supposedly better than the 5850, but people, let's get realistic here. IF ATI WAS HAD NOT PLANNED ON RELEASING 6000 IN Q4 2010 then there would've already been plans in place for prices to drop on the 5770 ($139 -> $119), 5830 ($219 -> $179) and 5850 ($289 -> $239) and even the 5870 ($399 -> $299) cards.

**TheGrandMom** · 10-23-2010, 10:22 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

NVIDIA lists unannounced GTX 580 graphics card on its page, quickly puts it back in hiding -- Engadget

"What's this, a bit of intrigue from NVIDIA? The company is due for a refresh on its DirectX 11 line and, with AMD's Cayman series floating its way to availability on crystal-clear waters, the competition appears to be teasing its response. NVIDIA briefly listed a card called the GTX 580 on its System Requirements page and, while we don't know how long it was there, it was quickly pulled after news of its presence started making the rounds. Accidental addition or the intentional planting of a seed of doubt in the minds of AMD fans? We'll never know, and we don't know the details of the card either, but expectations are that it contains 40nm construction with 512 CUDA cores, 2GB of GDDR5 memory, and a due date before the end of the year. That should give you plenty of time to upgrade your power supply... again."

**Aeni** · 10-24-2010, 12:18 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

I don't doubt that at all. No, it's not nVidia playing games, as they've carefully laid the plans down for a Fermi takeover of the market. I was reading a few articles from some of the more in-depth news source and technical journals around and it seems that AMD had either decided to place some of their "eggs" in another basket (re: Integrated Markets) or have been "too big for their britches". So much doubt shrouded Nvidia's plans that for a long time, many insiders thought that Nvidia had "no clue" on how to respond to ATI/AMD's control over the way the market was heading.

However, I knew something was up when the Fermi was announced late last year and have been following the sparse coverage from month to month leading up to the June GTX460 announcement/unveiling. It really did seem that Nvidia knew that ATI had NOTHING in the mid-tier market ($200-$300) and that ATI/AMD was getting cocky with their successes.

Once GTX460 was released, it pretty much threw a monkey wrench into ATI/AMD's plans. I'm not sure if you guys already know this, but the line up in Nvidia's offerings have seen discounts as high as 25%. GTX470 is now at around $250, that is a massive drop indeed. GTX460 (768) is creeping closer to $160 and the GTX460 (1GB) is heading to the $180 (OC versions will get to around $210 or so)

The pressure is now on ATI/AMD to make their next few moves. ATI/AMD can totally shoot themselves in the foot if they don't see better yields from their TSMC source. Rumors abound that the current 6800 offerings may in fact be their better than average yields which means that if their cream of the crop yields aren't mind blowing with performance and candy, they're gonna be seen as weak for the next two quarters and may possibly lose a lot of sales during this holiday season. I almost expect ATI/AMD to have to slash the prices (or force their vendors) on their lineup and that means everything all the way up to their 5870. In order for ATI/AMD to compete, they're going to need to:

-Drop price on or phase out 5830s completely ($150 or GTFO on these near worthless POS cards)
-5850s need to get under $250 ASAP or bundle it with some obscenely good items ... sorry, no one will care about an FFXIV tie-in)
-5870s need to come down to at least $350 and maybe even lower ... dare I say it ... under $300?

For all you good boys and girls that took my advice to wait till late October/early November for the price drops, at least half of that expectations came true (Nvidia responded) Anyone looking to get into SLI, now is a great time if you already own a 460 or 470. GT S450 was announced and that could be a sweet market for Nvidia and the battle at that line (GTS 450 vs. 6850) could get nasty and maybe even have consumers pay as little as $129 for either this Xmas.

2. The sweetest price-to-performance ratio card on the market right now is nVidia's GTX 460 (1GB) cards. If you are under a very tight budget, then go for ATI's 5770 cards which retails about $140. If you want a sub $100 card the only one I can recommend is ATI 4870 and you can get that from Amazon.com (ASUS model) for $99 (after $30 main-in rebate) There are no "value" cards out there right now that can run FFXIV so you're out of luck there. If you can wait, however, sometime in October or November the industry expects wide ranging price cuts (how much is up to speculation) across the board in anticipation of the new batch of Fermis and the 6000 series unveiling.

**Raydeus** · 10-24-2010, 01:30 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Maybe we should all start using Firepro cards instead! \(^-^)/

**WishMaster3K** · 10-24-2010, 03:34 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Aeni, what's the word on the NEXT GEN shyte though?

It looks like the only thing on AMD better than my 5870 is the 5970, and there's no way I'm rocking out with that.

Also, for CFX, the cards have to be within the same "100", right? No way I can CFX a 5770 and a 5870 (not that I EVAR would, just asking)?

5870 + 5830 (lol) acceptable?

**Aeni** · 10-24-2010, 07:49 PM

Re: ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Originally posted by WishMaster3K View Post

Aeni, what's the word on the NEXT GEN shyte though?

It looks like the only thing on AMD better than my 5870 is the 5970, and there's no way I'm rocking out with that.

Also, for CFX, the cards have to be within the same "100", right? No way I can CFX a 5770 and a 5870 (not that I EVAR would, just asking)?

5870 + 5830 (lol) acceptable?

If you already own a 5870, then don't buy a 5830. Remember, the 5830s have half of the ROPs count of the 5850 and 5870 and that should impact on your performance in CFX. How much of a negative that would be, I can't answer, because I am not familiar with CFX. In SLI, it's a relatively known fact that the second card has potential to contribute only 50% of the total output of the first card and I believe it starts to diminish (performance-wise) the more cards you start to add in SLI configuration. Is it the same with CFX? I would assume so, otherwise everyone and their mothers would be CFX'ing 5770s like no tomorrow.

With that said, I'd stay away from 5830s and instead just wait to upgrade fully next year. You already got a solid product installed and only a GTX480 or a 5970 can beat it. Just sit tight and enjoy what you already have. There's always going to be an envy of the next best thing but in my opinion, you are never guaranteed the best for more than 6 months with computer technology.

Announcement

ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

ATI Unleashes 6850/6870

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment