Radeon 7870/7850 Reviews Are up!

[Silverforce11]

I'm still LOLing @ the Crysis 2 results.. how the heck is it so much faster than 7970s, its raping everything, gtx580, 6970... its ~90% faster than 6970.

The 7850 is getting 30% OC on stock volts and barely using more power, nuts.

 

[Gloomy]

Yes, the 7850 sucks because you got a special deal which brought down the price $30-40 on a 6950... right.

Hey, I got my current card nine months ago for $160 and it has GTX 470 performance. Guess I the best deal and I'll go whine about every video card on the planet having crappy price/performance.

All I said was that I was glad to have picked up a 6950 for cheap, though. I didn't say anything at all negative about the 7800s. Check your brakes

 

[AnandThenMan]

I would not use the world fault, Nvidia is not forcing AMD to set their price points. But at the same time, market realities are kicking in here. Come on Nvidia hurry the hell up.

 

[badb0y]

So the 7850 hasn't inherited the perf/$ ratio of 5850 and 6950.

Sad.

Actually price to performance is better than the 6950 and slightly lower than 5850.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

The pricing you're seeing here is basically the result of AMD having no competition from NVIDIA. Nothing else.

Wait for when Kepler launches, and then you'll see prices fall at least a bit.

 

[3DVagabond]

The pricing you're seeing here is basically the result of AMD having no competition from NVIDIA. Nothing else.

Wait for when Kepler launches, and then you'll see prices fall at least a bit.

If I'm reading AMD right, they aren't expecting eminent competition. That, or they are completely unashamed of possibly having to drop prices ~20% only a few weeks after launch (talking 7800 series). Or, They believe as far as nVidia's pricing strategy, they will piss us all off and just slot right into where AMD has set things up.

I'm actually leaning towards the last scenario, unfortunately.

 

[antef]

Sigh. First I passed on 560 Ti last summer waiting for 28nm AMD. Then I waited for mid-range 78xx 28nm AMD. Now that it's finally here, $250 will get me essentially the same performance I could've had with 560 Ti last summer. Now I guess I will continue waiting for Kepler.

 

[Silverforce11]

That's assuming NV will price compete. I've seen no signals they may be willing to do that, with their CEO warning of increased costs and low yields.

ie. If gk104 has 7950 performance, its going to price around there. No price drops for consumers.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I predict the 7870 will be a popular card. Strong performance without killing the bank account. The 7850 is just a bit slow to interest me.

 

[mnewsham]

If I'm reading AMD right, they aren't expecting eminent competition. That, or they are completely unashamed of possibly having to drop prices ~20% only a few weeks after launch (talking 7800 series). Or, They believe as far as nVidia's pricing strategy, they will piss us all off and just slot right into where AMD has set things up.

I'm actually leaning towards the last scenario, unfortunately.

If Nvidia plays along with AMD then yes I agree we will see very little competition, might just see Nvidia fill in the gaps in price that AMD has left open and not try and push prices lower.

 

[Silverforce11]

I predict the 7870 will be a popular card. Strong performance without killing the bank account. The 7850 is just a bit slow to interest me.

No, look at it again, 860mhz core. It cranks up over 30% OC on STOCK volts.

With some vcore mods, it would be an awesome card for ~$250.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

And lol @ Crysis 2 results, obviously drivers have improved it a huge amount, beating the older release driver 7970:.

The other option is AMD added an "optimization" to reduce Tess on the driver level, since AMD Optimized is default.

Hey, I got my current card nine months ago for $160 and it has GTX 470 performance. .

No it doesn't.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151897

I got mine for less than $160.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

double

 

[Grooveriding]

Sweet card, here is your $350 GTX 580, come and get it. I think it would sell better @ $299, people tend to like the ring of $299, that $50 will price drop will probably become reality in a month or two.

 

[DarkKnightDude]

I can see this being a winner once the prices go down a bit. Pretty impressive.

 

[AtenRa]

I will be impressed when they will drop to $199 and $249 where they belong.
Current prices are too high for the ~same performance of HD6970 15 months later.

And i dont see NV releasing Kepler cards at lower prices, first gen 28nm seams disappointing for people that upgrade every year.

 

[AnandThenMan]

I will be impressed when they will drop to $199 and $249 where they belong.
Current prices are too high for the ~same performance of HD6970 15 months later.

What do you base this on? The 6970 debuted at what, $370?

 

[atticus14]

the heart says 7870 but the wallet says 7850. 100 bucks is a fairly large gap in between those cards Wonder how soon it will close, also these prices should really mean that 69xx series prices need to drop substantially, i dont think anyone in the right mind wouldnt add the extra 20-30 bucks to get the 7 series thats near their price bracket.

Going to try to hold out for the 7870 but im on an old gtx 260 core 216 and ill have to get something before GW2/Planetside 2 so an OC'd 7850 would still be a great upgrade, just not what i was aiming for. Or hopefully Nvidia comes out with that 299 card that blows us away.

 

[DarkKnightDude]

What do you base this on? The 6970 debuted at what, $370?

Its MRSP was 369 USD.

Some of the overclocking I've seen is impressive. Techpowerup got theirs to 1205 MHz core on stock voltage. Its probably cherrypicked, but still...

 

[AtenRa]

What do you base this on? The 6970 debuted at what, $370?

HD5870 released Sept 2009 at $379 40nm
HD6970 released Dec 2011 at $369 40nm 15% faster than HD5870
HD7870 released March 2012 at $350 28nm 10% faster than HD6970

So after 15 months we have 10% faster card on average at the same price on a new 28nm process.

From Sept 2009 to March 2012 at the $350-380 price point we have 25% increase(edit: in performance), so you tell me, does this look healthy for you ???

 

[mnewsham]

HD5870 released Sept 2009 at $379 40nm
HD6970 released Dec 2011 at $369 40nm 15% faster than HD5870
HD7870 released March 2012 at $350 28nm 10% faster than HD6970

So after 15 months we have 10% faster card on average at the same price on a new 28nm process.

From Sept 2009 to March 2012 at the $350-380 price point we have 25% increase, so you tell me, does this look healthy for you ???

Tell game developers to make games that stress the GPU (without 2560x1600 or 120hz or eyefinity)

 

[DarkKnightDude]

HD5870 released Sept 2009 at $379 40nm
HD6970 released Dec 2011 at $369 40nm 15% faster than HD5870
HD7870 released March 2012 at $350 28nm 10% faster than HD6970

So after 15 months we have 10% faster card on average at the same price on a new 28nm process.

From Sept 2009 to March 2012 at the $350-380 price point we have 25% increase, so you tell me, does this look healthy for you ???

But, doesn't the 7970 replace the 6970? AMD targeted the 7800 series at 5800 owners? I mean that looks good, but its a two generation jump of course.

Granted I see your point about the prices. AMD intends to milk as much as possible before nvidia releases their response.

Waiting on Nvidia to make a move.

 

[AnandThenMan]

From Sept 2009 to March 2012 at the $350-380 price point we have 25% increase, so you tell me, does this look healthy for you ???

Direct result of lack of competition, and AMD no longer selling cards to only gain marketshare. It's not any more complicated. I don't like it either, but until Nvidia responds, it is reality.

 

[dust]

HD5870 released Sept 2009 at $379 40nm
HD6970 released Dec 2011 at $369 40nm 15% faster than HD5870
HD7870 released March 2012 at $350 28nm 10% faster than HD6970

So after 15 months we have 10% faster card on average at the same price on a new 28nm process.

From Sept 2009 to March 2012 at the $350-380 price point we have 25% increase(edit: in performance), so you tell me, does this look healthy for you ???

I think you should factor in the driver improvements as well. The 6970 was ~15% better than 5870 at launch indeed, but was the 5870 in Dec 2010 the same as the 5870 in Sept 2009? I don't think so.

That being said I totally agree with your last sentence, I find it ridiculous to have 25-50% improvement after 3 years of development, but I believe mnewsham is right. There aren't enough reasons for improving the hardware much.

 

[JimmyH]

Performance slightly faster than expected. Didn't expect the 7870 to trade blows with the gtx 580. Safe bet a oc'd 7870> oc'd 580 at much less power consumption, especially idle. Prices are higher than I'd like but I see the 7850 selling well if 30% oc on stock voltages are indicative of final product.

If I'm reading AMD right, they aren't expecting eminent competition.

I agree. At this point in time, amd and nvidia assuredly know where each other stands in regards to gk104 and 7xxx series. Fully expect gk104 at $300 with peformance in the gtx 570 , 6950 range with better performance per watt.