R520/Crossfire/7800U News from reliable not under NDA source

[Drayvn]

Well Gibbo the main guy over here in the UK for Overclockers, which probably is the biggest online computer shop in the UK. Well Gibbo is the main guy for the graphics card side of things in the company as he deals with all the major companies and vendors like nVidia/ATi and BFG/Leadtek/Sapphire.

Heres what he has to say, and i usually believe him, well not usually on the dates, but that really isnt his fault when dates get changed, but he does his best to keep us Britons informed.

Hi there

To be short and breif I have this information which is accurate and from the main cheeses at ATI, it is NDA but I am not under NDA as such so can give you some info:-

Crossfire working motherboards, graphics cards (X850 XT & X800 XT) available early September.

R520 which will be released in Platinum 512MB (9000 on 3D Mark 2005) available end of September but severe allocation issues, the willy waving product as ATI put it, but not easily available. Plus 512MB means a £450+ price area ish, I have pleaded with ATI to release a 256MB version so I hope they listen, but due to yield rates they may stick to 512MB for ultimate high-end as such. Same as G70, 24 pipelines, approx 520MHz core and 1.4GHz memory.

More readily available at end of September will be the non platinum which will no doubt perform identical to a 7800GTX, 24 pipelines, 500MHz core and 1.3GHz memory expect. Still only 512MB, but again pleaded for a 256MB version, lets keep our finger crossed.

There will also be lower end 16 pipeline version too, no doubt called Pro's.....

So ATI will have a product by end of summer, it has no real performance advantage over the 7800GTX, except for the Platinum edition which will be so severe on availability it will have a £500+VAT price. Obviously R5xx series adds SM3.0 to the lineup and other features NV cards have...

What ATI will rely on is their Crossfire out performing SLi.

Then expect NVIDIA to release a 7800 Ultra in October to beat the Platinum that ATI release. NVIDIA will do their best to stay on top. As NVIDIA are using the 0.11 process they have much better yield rates. Wheras ATI are on a newer 0.09 process which means yields rates to begin with are poor but with time this will improve and when it does ATI cores will overclock like champions, but expect that around R580 time which is Jan/Feb next year which is when NV's new botty kicker cores will show face.

So there you have it, those who have gone ahead with buying 7800GTX you've not lost out and you will no doubt not change your cards for ATI's new one and anybody thinking to buy its clear 7800 GTX is a safe buy.

P.S. X850 XT Platinum on both AGP and PCI-E is now EOL but X850 XT is remaing on both platforms and OcUK might have some treats for you soon on prices.

 

[nRollo]

Heh-
I like that Gibbo guy.

Time will tell if he's right, but none of that seems too outlandish. If I were to pick any of it to doubt, it would be the widespread availability next month part, but we'll see.

If he's right about the PE, there's no reason not to buy 7800GTXs now.

 

[Munky]

9000 in 3dmock05 is pretty impressive. Seems like reasonable info, though now it's up to Ati to deliver these cards so that ppl can actually buy them when they're launched.

 

[fstime]

Hmm, 512MB.

Let me ask this, is there any chance these cards or at least the Plat. will have 512 bit memory?

That would be awsome.

 

[blckgrffn]

That would double the traces on teh PCB, so doubtful. Memory bandwidth isn't the deciding facrot right now anyway, but it would be a big spec, lol, a will waver, if you will

Nat

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Hmm, 512MB.

Let me ask this, is there any chance these cards or at least the Plat. will have 512 bit memory?

That would be awsome.

It would be awesome on paper, but the truth is most modern games don't stress the memory bandwidth as much, rather they're heavy on shaders. What would really be awesome, then, is if this was a 32 pipe card (with 32 pixel shaders), but apparently it's not gonna happen yet.

 

[Creig]

Everything there sounds more plausible than any other source of info I've seen so far.

 

[zendari]

9000 3dmarks would likely take the performance crown from the 7800 GTX. If you're looking for the best try hunting 2 of them down.

If the regular card performs like a 7800 GTX, thats fine, but it will still have the advantage of 512 mb memory.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Rollo
Heh-
I like that Gibbo guy.

Time will tell if he's right, but none of that seems too outlandish. If I were to pick any of it to doubt, it would be the widespread availability next month part, but we'll see.

If he's right about the PE, there's no reason not to buy 7800GTXs now.

Did you miss the part where it says 512MB mem and 9000 3D Mark 2005. There ARE reasons to hold off if you can.

Or is your nBias still getting the better of you.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Hmm, 512MB.

Let me ask this, is there any chance these cards or at least the Plat. will have 512 bit memory?

That would be awsome.

It would be awesome on paper, but the truth is most modern games don't stress the memory bandwidth as much, rather they're heavy on shaders. What would really be awesome, then, is if this was a 32 pipe card (with 32 pixel shaders), but apparently it's not gonna happen yet.

Wouldn't hurt AA/AF and high res performance.

 

[imported_X]

Bah, 9000 3DMark05 is disappointing to me, just as the 7800GTX let me down. Not to say that either card is a slouch, but there was so much hype about the "next gen" products, and reality is nowhere even close.

I'll bet that EQ2 chokes on the R520 just like it does on the 7800GTX. :disgust:

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: X
Bah, 9000 3DMark05 is disappointing to me, just as the 7800GTX let me down. Not to say that either card is a slouch, but there was so much hype about the "next gen" products and, reality is nowhere even close.

I'll bet that EQ2 chokes on the R520 just like it does on the 7800GTX. :disgust:

I dunno, 3D Mark isn't really a good test overall for games. But if you compare apples to apples.

The 6800 Ultra pulls around 5600-6000 (mine pulls 590XX). The 7800GTX pulls around 7700. This is saying an R520 is going to push 9000? Keeping in line, i don't see how this person can say they will perform identical to each other. Thats a signifigant boost (though in only one application). Just something to think about.

 

[imported_X]

My point is that G70 and R520 were promoted as being revolutionary products. We have had some generational leaps like that in the past, where a new architecture burst onto the scene and blew away the cards currently on the market.

Clearly this is not the case here, and we are seeing nothing more than an evolutionary bump. I miss the old days and wonder if we will ever see anything like that again.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
Did you miss the part where it says 512MB mem and 9000 3D Mark 2005. There ARE reasons to hold off if you can.

Or is your nBias still getting the better of you.

By that same rationale, though, wouldn't the G70 ultra then be worth waiting for as well? How long can one push out a purchase? It's just one month more, according to him, right?

And, if availability ends up being as limited as Gibbo suggests, finding a PE for less than $750 is going to be difficult. Gamers will have to ask themselves if the extra performance is worth the extra money. Obviously, money is no object to many. Hell, I paid $650 for SLI'd 6800GTs back in Feb, and I see lots of posts from those buying X2 4800+s and FX processors.

 

[blckgrffn]

$325 a pop for PCIe 6800GT's isn't too bad of a deal though You could probably still get your money back out of them....

Nat

 

[fstime]

Originally posted by: X
Bah, 9000 3DMark05 is disappointing to me, just as the 7800GTX let me down. Not to say that either card is a slouch, but there was so much hype about the "next gen" products, and reality is nowhere even close.

I'll bet that EQ2 chokes on the R520 just like it does on the 7800GTX. :disgust:

This type of crap pisses me off.

Your mad because of a benchmark?

What the hell is wrong with you,

IMO, I couldn't ask for more,

If I get 6800U SLI performance with one card that uses less power and cheaper than 2x 6800U's, what else can I ask for.

If your not happy running at 1600x with aa/af, I dont know what will please you.

I keep hearing about this EQ game, IMO it sounds like the game is very poorly coded just like BF2 is.

The GTX is an awsome card, the R520 should be way more than enough for peoples needs.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
Did you miss the part where it says 512MB mem and 9000 3D Mark 2005. There ARE reasons to hold off if you can.

Or is your nBias still getting the better of you.

By that same rationale, though, wouldn't the G70 ultra then be worth waiting for as well? How long can one push out a purchase? It's just one month more, according to him, right?

And, if availability ends up being as limited as Gibbo suggests, finding a PE for less than $750 is going to be difficult. Gamers will have to ask themselves if the extra performance is worth the extra money. Obviously, money is no object to many. Hell, I paid $650 for SLI'd 6800GTs back in Feb, and I see lots of posts from those buying X2 4800+s and FX processors.

Show me where I said you shouldn't wait for either product. I said if you could wait...do. They are both worth the wait. But him saying that theres no point in waiting...is stupid.

My point is...don't go on some BS unofficial speculative bs. Adiditionally...DON'T listen to anything Rollo says. He's about as Bias as they come.

 

[Falloutboy]

the cards that will be scoring 9000 will be the uber rare platnum once that will prolly be harder to get than the x800 utlra PEs were to get. the card that will be available in any sort of number will be the 24 pipe version that will be pretty darn close in performance to the 7800 (maybe a bit faster maybe a bit slower in some games)

 

[allies]

R520/Crossfire/7800U News from reliable not under NDA source

Reliable as in saying a single 7800GTX scored 11,000+ points in 3dMark 2005? Yeaaah... :disgust:

 

[Munky]

Speaking of 3dmark05, I remember one of the screens in it says they use >1 million polygons per frame. That's way more than any latest game, so I'm thinking even though you may not see twice as high score from 3dmark for these cards, you could very well see twice as much performance in games from the r520 ove the gf6/x800 series.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Let's hope that the R520s are actually available by then. And not costing more than a top of the line CPU.

 

[allies]

Unfortunately I don't think I'm gonna have enough time to wait for the R520 before I build my new computer... I'm gonna be building it in mid/late August. Maybe I'll just run my 9600Pro until it shows, but I don't really wanna be disappointed if it's not any faster than the 7800GTX

 

[Auric]

Willy waving schmilly waving. When are the mid-range 5xx parts due and what performance relative to the 4xx's?

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
My point is...don't go on some BS unofficial speculative bs. Adiditionally...DON'T listen to anything Rollo says. He's about as Bias as they come.

To be fair...

1) We don't know what the R520 has in store for us.

2) We don't know what additional performance 512mb will bring over 256mb, but I doubt it'll be anything worth writing home about.

3) We DO know that the 7800GTX is a fast card, currently available and is at a decent price.


So Rollo's assertion that "there's no reason not to buy 7800GTXs now" is totally correct. Unless you really don't like Nvidia products or feel that the rumors about the R520 having 32 pipes is correct and want to wait and see.

But there's nothing wrong with buying a 7800GTX.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

There is a reason not to buy 7800GTX:

If the R520 comes out and kicks ass for the same price as the G70s, then what? You just threw your money away because you couldn't wait?