where are the x2 cards?

[taltamir]

I recall AMD making a bunch of x2 cards for the 4xxx series cards. where are the x2 cards for the 5xxx series?

 

[Blue Shift]

5970.

 

[taltamir]

Ah, so they call it a larger number rather then "x2"...
But where are the x2 cards that cost less than 700$
the equivalent of the 4850 x2 in the 5xxx series?

 

[Blue Shift]

Ah, so they call it a larger number rather then "x2"...
But where are the x2 cards that cost less than 700$
the equivalent of the 4850 x2 in the 5xxx series?

The 5970 is the equivalent of two 5850s. It's just expensive. There are a few manufacturer-specific cards out, such as the Asus RoG Ares, that have performance closer to that of two 5870s.

 

[jaggerwild]

Ah, so they call it a larger number rather then "x2"...
But where are the x2 cards that cost less than 700$
the equivalent of the 4850 x2 in the 5xxx series?

Its still early in the cycle, soon you will see different versions of current cards such as the X2 but it may be different names such as the "5970". I assume ATI will wait till Fermi starts coming down the pipe line witch seems not for a few months. They also have the 6XXX series in waiting.

 

[RussianSensation]

5870 is more than fast enough for a Q9400. 5970 will be bottlenecked unless you have a 2560x1600 monitor. Also there is a Diamond 5970 for $600 at www.ncixus.com so not all 5970s are $700.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Without the 480 out and about I'm sure AIB's would rather sell someone two $450 dollar 5870's than one $700 5970.

Why take two chips and sell them for less combined than you could separately for a higher total price? Just no reason to right now, and I'm sure they're lining their wallets something fierce.

 

[3DVagabond]

5870 is more than fast enough for a Q9400. 5970 will be bottlenecked unless you have a 2560x1600 monitor. Also there is a Diamond 5970 for $600 at www.ncixus.com so not all 5970s are $700.

Anyone who wants an HD5970 should jump on that, IMO.

 

[cbn]

Without the 480 out and about I'm sure AIB's would rather sell someone two $450 dollar 5870's than one $700 5970.

Why take two chips and sell them for less combined than you could separately for a higher total price? Just no reason to right now, and I'm sure they're lining their wallets something fierce.

I agree, HD5970 seems like a good deal in comparison to two HD5870s.

This advantage gets even better if the person wants to watercool. (One 5970 full cover block is cheaper than two 5870 blocks).

I think the only disadvantage to buying 5970 relates to physical size (length of the video card).

 

[MrK6]

I agree, HD5970 seems like a good deal in comparison to two HD5870s.

This advantage gets even better if the person wants to watercool. (One 5970 full cover block is cheaper than two 5870 blocks).

I think the only disadvantage to buying 5970 relates to physical size (length of the video card).

Also power delivery if you're going for an extreme overclock, but it shouldn't bother most users.

 

[cbn]

Also power delivery if you're going for an extreme overclock, but it shouldn't bother most users.

You mean power delivery (through the 6pin/8pin) to feed the overclock of a HD5970?

Apparently that can be a problem, but the Power color LCS (watercooled) HD5970 was tested @ 1010 Mhz core clocks with stock power connectors. The fastest Guru3d got for their aircooled HD5970 was 935 Mhz. Most other websites fall short of that 935 Mhz with reference designs.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

The 5970 is the equivalent of two 5850s. It's just expensive. There are a few manufacturer-specific cards out, such as the Asus RoG Ares, that have performance closer to that of two 5870s.

Not quite, the 5970 has two fully functional GPUs (not cut down like the 5850). The two GPUs and RAM are clocked at 5850 speeds but they still have all the shaders and TMUs that the 5870s have, so the 5970 is a bit more robust than 2 x 5850s. With a bit of overclocking, the 5970 can then become a fully fledged dual 5870.

Ah, so they call it a larger number rather then "x2"...
But where are the x2 cards that cost less than 700$
the equivalent of the 4850 x2 in the 5xxx series?

My guess is its just not economically feasible for AMD to produce such a product, and that they could probably make more money selling them individually when considering yields.