RV670 is an R600 in disguise

[JPB]

With 256 bit memory and 55 nm



RV670 will be a mainstream part that ATI plans to offer from November, but there is someething that Nvidia doesn't expect from this chip. The RV670 specification is actually an improved version of the R600 design with PCIe 2.0 support and Shader model 4.1 support, but the chip will be almost as powerful as the R600.

The only thing that won't be as good as the R600 is the memory controller which is cut in half. The new RV670 will feature a 256 bit memory controller but it will have faster clocks to compensate.


At the end we expect a bit slower card than the original R600 at $199 to $249 prices and this might get Nvidia to start worrying.

Fud link

________________________________

DAAMIT got that fixed



The original R600 design didn't include the UVD and now we know that AMD made an effort to include this nice video feature in this quasi mainstream part.

RV670 will offer great performance but at the price of a mainstream part and UVD was something that we all missed on the original R600 design.


The other thing that is improved from the original R600 design is the DirectX 10.1 support as well as Shader model 4.1 support. All it all the RV670 will probably turn out better than anyone had expected.

Fud link

 

[ronnn]

He is just repeating what some of the guys at b3d have been saying. May be true. Will be interesting to see how much effect the 512 bit bus has.

 

[bryanW1995]

not me. I expect 2950 pro to be roughly equivalent to 2900xt in performance but have a much lower thermal signature.

 

[SickBeast]

This card is interesting.

How much will it cost? With those specs, it would need to be cheaper than the 2900Pro, so hopefully around $150. If it does come in that cheap, I might just buy two of them.

 

[formulav8]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
This card is interesting.

How much will it cost? With those specs, it would need to be cheaper than the 2900Pro, so hopefully around $150. If it does come in that cheap, I might just buy two of them.

Yeps!

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
This card is interesting.

How much will it cost? With those specs, it would need to be cheaper than the 2900Pro, so hopefully around $150. If it does come in that cheap, I might just buy two of them.

Price is mentioned above. $199 for 256meg $249 for 512meg.

These will be slower than 2900xt by the look of things.

 

[spittledip]

Man, sounds nice! Time to wait even longer

 

[Aznguy1872]

When are these cards suppose to be released?

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Azn

Originally posted by: SickBeast
This card is interesting.

How much will it cost? With those specs, it would need to be cheaper than the 2900Pro, so hopefully around $150. If it does come in that cheap, I might just buy two of them.

Price is mentioned above. $199 for 256meg $249 for 512meg.

These will be slower than 2900xt by the look of things.

I don't think it states that 199 is for 256mb and 249 for 512, that's just an assumption. Let's say it's 15 % slower than 2900xt (think 2900 pro) but has much lower thermal sig and much lower cost even than 2900 pro. That would be a true mid-range card and throw down the gauntlet for nvidia to put out a decent product with 8700gts.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

Originally posted by: Azn

Originally posted by: SickBeast
This card is interesting.

How much will it cost? With those specs, it would need to be cheaper than the 2900Pro, so hopefully around $150. If it does come in that cheap, I might just buy two of them.

Price is mentioned above. $199 for 256meg $249 for 512meg.

These will be slower than 2900xt by the look of things.

I don't think it states that 199 is for 256mb and 249 for 512, that's just an assumption. Let's say it's 15 % slower than 2900xt (think 2900 pro) but has much lower thermal sig and much lower cost even than 2900 pro. That would be a true mid-range card and throw down the gauntlet for nvidia to put out a decent product with 8700gts.

Very good assumption.

You are right though these would go neck and neck with 8700gts.

 

[betasub]

Fast 256bit memory on the 2950pro should give it a bandwidth slightly lower than the 2900pro (512bit @600MHzx2). The 55nm process should allow a core clock fast enough beat the 2900pro and rival the 2900xt: in conditions not limited by memory bandwidth, performance should be almost as good as the 2900xt, but with a lower TDP (and the power/cooling/noise benefits that brings).

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: JPB
With 256 bit memory and 55 nm



RV670 will be a mainstream part that ATI plans to offer from November, but there is someething that Nvidia doesn't expect from this chip. The RV670 specification is actually an improved version of the R600 design with PCIe 2.0 support and Shader model 4.1 support, but the chip will be almost as powerful as the R600.

The only thing that won't be as good as the R600 is the memory controller which is cut in half. The new RV670 will feature a 256 bit memory controller but it will have faster clocks to compensate.


At the end we expect a bit slower card than the original R600 at $199 to $249 prices and this might get Nvidia to start worrying.

Fud link

________________________________

DAAMIT got that fixed



The original R600 design didn't include the UVD and now we know that AMD made an effort to include this nice video feature in this quasi mainstream part.

RV670 will offer great performance but at the price of a mainstream part and UVD was something that we all missed on the original R600 design.


The other thing that is improved from the original R600 design is the DirectX 10.1 support as well as Shader model 4.1 support. All it all the RV670 will probably turn out better than anyone had expected.

Fud link

I don't usually come to this side of the forum and I just wanted to point out that saying "nVidia didn't expect this of the chip" is kind of rediculous. I'm quite certain that both AMD and nVidia know far more about each other's chips than we do, including what their future chips will be capable of.

 

[chizow]

If this card does fall into the $200-$250 price point with the R600 core intact, it would be a very attractive option for mid-range buyers. I don't think the 8700GTS/8800GT will be able to compete with this card in this price range based on early performance expectations. Will be interesting to see how much the memory bus impacts performance, but from what I've seen from the 320-bit GTS and 384-bit GTX, memory bus and speed aren't bottlenecking those parts at all. It does seem to be a bit of a problem on the 128-bit 8600s however. Might start seeing some bottlenecking at 256-bit, especially if 55nm allows the core to ramp up in speed significantly. In any case, looks like they're saying Q1 2008, so it'll still be a waiting game for those looking to upgrade.