XFX Bilking the masses - replacing GDDR5 memory with DDR3

[3DVagabond]

sorry but you are wrong. every card has a official specifications to be called whatever it is. if a 5850 has gddr3 or just 512mb then it is NOT a 5850 based on the official specifications. the gpu itself is only part of the equation. now plenty of cards can have varying specs but you will see those listed if they are offcial. for instance the 4670 officially had either 1800mhz ddr3 or 2000mhz gddr3. if some company stuck ddr2 on there then it is not really a 4670 anymore. same goes for the 6670 as the official specs call for 4000mhz gddr5. its performance in all current reviews will be that model because there is NO official gddr3 model according to AMD.

Reference 6950 has 2gig RAM. There are lots of 1gig ones though. When they release 560ti's w/2gig of RAM, are they not 560ti's? Do you know that the reference 6850 has a 4 stage VRM? Almost all of the 6859's released though (The 6850 reference was never actually released) are only 3 stage?

There are reference models, and then there are all of the rest. At least these were very clearly marked. Sorry, OP, but you are only making public your lack of reading comprehension skills. Rather than be mad at XFX, go yell at your school system.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Ya but his point is GDDR3 is not listed in the specs anywhere. The power regulator section is not going to affect performance, all other things being equal.

 

[dualsmp]

AMD shows the 5670 also listed as having only GDDR5, but newegg has four DDR3 models. I'm guessing AMD turns a blind eye for whatever reason.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0+DDR3&x=0&y=0

At least AMD shows the 46xx series as having GDDR3/DDR3/DDR2 depending on model.

 

[OCGuy]

Seems like some more marketing mis-steps. However, most enthusiats that read this message board would catch it ahead of time. I hope.


As long as the PCB is the advertised color, I have no problem with this.

 

[badb0y]

It's a messed up thing to do but it says GDDR3 right on the title of the product. Just read the damn thing.

On the flip-side it does make shopping for GPUs much harder for the average consumer, most "enthusiasts" would have picked it up instantly.

 

[MentalIlness]

Maybe the GDDR3 variant isn't listed on Wiki because noone has put it there ?

However, the GDDR3 and GDDR5 variants are *both* listed on the XFX site.

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/GraphicCards/HD 6000series/6670.aspx?product=34933

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/GraphicCards/HD 6000series/6670.aspx?product=34911

Both GDDR3 and GDDR5 models are listed here in specs as well....

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=654&card2=656

Also Guru3D talks about it..... http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6670-review/

From that page....
[FONT=verdana,geneva]AMD is now allowing 512 or 1GB of GDDR5 video buffer to be installed allowing it a 64 GB/s bandwidth.[/FONT]

Also discussed here on Hexus http://forums.hexus.net/graphics-cards-monitors/204654-xfx-radeon-6670-ddr3-1gb.html

If you researched before purchasing like you say you did, there is no way you could have missed the obvious. It is all over the web......You messed up, not XFX and not AMD.

Food for thought, next time....pay attention to what you add to cart ?

 

[MentalIlness]

AMD shows the 5670 also listed as having only GDDR5, but newegg has four DDR3 models. I'm guessing AMD turns a blind eye for whatever reason.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0+DDR3&x=0&y=0

At least AMD shows the 46xx series as having GDDR3/DDR3/DDR2 depending on model.

And here sir, are the DDR5 models. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0+DDR5&x=0&y=0

Truthfully ? I don't think AMD are the ones that is blind. They tell the partners, do what you want with the PCB, and they do. Which also leads back to the post above.... *AMD is now allowing*

Point is, the OP says he researched the GDDR5 model. And maybe he did. But still.....both variants are listed on the manufacturers websites. Not their fault. The OP is a fault.

More food for thought. If you don't want a piece of crap, read the title of the product and don't buy one.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

After taking a look, you are indeed correct.

EDIT: However, it does mean that ANY non-reference card made is not what it says it is. Details are details are details. Core clock is just as important as length or weight. Any OCed cards are mislabeled and misadvertised. Newegg and the manufacturers would then be committing interstate wire fraud, etc.

Ummm, how should I say this.........no.

It is not fraud to sell somebody something and give them "more" than they paid for. Why are people having such a hard time understanding the concept of matching a model number with a minimum set of specifications?? My God, you would think this is a course in rocket science. If your going to sell a 6670 at least meet the minimum specifications officially outlined by AMD. No one is going to bitch if you exceed expectations, i.e., selling an overclocked part as a 6670. Please use some common sense in these discussions.

As long as a manufacturer "meets" the "minimum" specifications outlined by a manufacturer, lets say AMD, the consumer is generally happy. When you start producing products that fall short of the "minimum" specifications outlined by a manufacturer then you are cheating people. AMD's recommended specifications dictate that any 6670 videocard should yield a total memory bandwidth of 64GB/sec. Selling a videocard that offers less than half of that and still calling it a 6670 is riidiculous. What the **** do models number mean? Nothing. Why even use them if you are going to allow this stupidity.

When you exceed peoples expectations in life, they generally don't get pissed off. When you produce a product that falls short of peoples expectations is when you are going to have to deal with angry consumers.

Please people, realize that not everyone are computer nerds who research every little detail like most of you. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about computers and caught this bull**** shortly after purchase. Most normal people wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of understanding the differences between DDR3 and GDDR5.

Edit: I made my mistake when I assumed that a model number actually meant something. In this case, it doesnt mean jack ****.

Official specifications for a videocard to be considered a member of the HD 6670 family of AMD videocards:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...6670/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6670-overview.aspx#2
Take special note of the 64GB/second bandwidth bullet point. Any videocard branded as a 6670 videocard should offer 64GB/second of total memory bandwidth. Notice also the GDDR5 specification. I can no longer rely on a model number alone to make my purchasing decisions when it comes to buying a videocard. I still think its safe to do so in virtually any "other" area of a computer hardware purchase but not in the videocard category. My lesson has been learned.

 

[dualsmp]

And here sir, are the DDR5 models. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0+DDR5&x=0&y=0

Truthfully ? I don't think AMD are the ones that is blind.

I think you completely missed my point smart ass. I'll let you figure it out.

 

[Via]

((Bait and switch + buyer beware) - (need for profit/pure capitalism)) / ethics = this thread

 

[MentalIlness]

because there is NO official gddr3 model according to AMD.

[FONT=verdana,geneva]AMD is now allowing 512 or 1GB of GDDR5 video buffer to be installed allowing it a 64 GB/s bandwidth.[/FONT]

 

[TheDarkKnight]

[FONT=verdana,geneva]AMD is now allowing 512 or 1GB of GDDR5 video buffer to be installed allowing it a 64 GB/s bandwidth.[/FONT]

Im going to go out on a limb here and say that the total amount of video buffer memory has absolutely nothing to do with the total memory bandwidth since according to this webpage on AMD's website: http://www.amd.com/us/products/desk...6670/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6670-overview.aspx#2

The 6670 family of videocards will(or I guess I should say "SHOULD") provide a minimum of 64GB/second of total memory bandwidth in either a 512MB or 1GB memory configuration.

 

[toyota]

yes allowing MORE memory capacity is a good thing and not remotely close to gimping a card with gddr3 that is officially supposed to have gddr5.

anyway, its just more for the consumer to figure out in the end.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

You have to pay attention to specifications when buying sub-$100 video cards. It's not excuse for manufacturers, but you need to look out for yourself first and foremost, and cheap video cards are most likely to stray from recommended specifications

In the past when the 4670 started showing up with DDR2 manufacturers should have called it a 4650 Overclocked, because that is what is and AMD already had a model with the same core and different memory type in the product line. Then 5670s with DDR3 need to be called 5570 Overclocked, because that is what they are and 5570s were specified to have DDR3 memory.

6670 is a bit more complicated since AMD says the 6570 can have both DDR3 and DDR5, so it would be strange to call a 6670 with DDR3 a 6570 OC since the 6570 DDR5 would be faster.

 

[tigersty1e]

I see most of you are missing my point. Yes, it clearly says DDR3 in the title. Only 1 person gets its. Its a 6670 videocard. 6670 is supposed to adhere to certain specifications as outlined by AMD.

XFX is completely disregarding these recommended specifications. I think its okay for companies to add their own little touches to the videocards to set them apart from the rest but using DDR3 memory, which effectively slices the total memory bandwidth in half is ****ng ridiculous. Case closed.

I shouldn't have to worry about reading all the fine print when purchasing a videocard. If its a ****ng 6670 it should be outfitted with GDDR5, PERIOD!!!!

ANYBODY in this forum would be upset if they bought a card they thought had a total memory bandwidth of 64GB/second and it ended up being less than half of that.

Edit: If a reseller like XFX can outfit a 6670 with anything wants what does a model number like 6670 end up telling us in the end? Nothing. Thats whati t tells us. Nothing.

Do people get paid for starting these XFX hate threads?

These threads over-dramatize the incident.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=6670&x=0&y=0

Every other AMD partner has ddr3 memory. It's not a conspiracy by XFX. Sad noobs these days.

 

[zebrax2]

I don't get what is wrong here. Yes they are weaker but they are also cheaper add to that the fact that the type of vram they used is indicated at the title as well as the specs.

 

[notty22]

Also many of these cards now don't feature eyefinity. It seemed (at least to me) that was a standard bonus feature, when all the new 5 series variants were reviewed.
I know most don't use it, or even attempt to use 3 monitors.

 

[frostedflakes]

It is clearly listed on the title and in the "detailed specification section" as 128-bit DDR3. I think you have not researched it well enough.

Yeah, to be fair it does say in multiple places on the product page that it's DDR3. Plus the cheaper price compared to other 6670 should have raised some red flags.

You have to be careful with lower end cards because stuff like this is pretty common, companies will sometimes cheap out and use DDR2 instead of GDDR3, DDR3 instead of GDDR5, etc.

You'll also notice on NewEgg that there are four other cards that use DDR3, one from PowerColor, an HIS, a Gigabyte, and the XFX card. This is not something that's exclusive to XFX, as mentioned it's been done before by many manufacturers and I guess as a more experienced user I've just learned to check for stuff like this so I don't buy a card and get something other than I was expecting. Live and learn, I'm sure in the future you'll check the description now for memory type and speed.

And as others have pointed out, board partners don't have to adhere to the official specs. Tons of non-reference cards exist with different coolers, different clock speeds, etc.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Also many of these cards now don't feature eyefinity. It seemed (at least to me) that was a standard bonus feature, when all the new 5 series variants were reviewed.
I know most don't use it, or even attempt to use 3 monitors.

Your perception was wrong.

 

[Rifter]

OP FAIL.

If its in the official specs or not is irrelevant when its CLEARLY labled not only in the NAME of the product but also in the specs on the product page.

The fact that you dont read the name of the products you order isnt AMD or XFX's fault.

 

[StrangerGuy]

You might well as well lump every single laptop manufacturer doing the same thing with their mobile GPUs, but of them do indicate DDR3 or GDDR5 in their specs if you looked hard enough.

 

[Arkadrel]

It is clearly listed on the title and in the "detailed specification section" as 128-bit DDR3. I think you have not researched it well enough.

The fact that you dont read the name of the products you order isnt AMD or XFX's fault.

^this!

How can you call it a scam when its clearly stated?
There are GDDR3 versions that are cheaper, and there are GDDR5 versions, up to the buyer to pick what they want.

However I will say the GDDR5 version is most likely worth the extra 5$ it costs, due to the memory bandwidth that goes with it.

 

[brybir]

You might well as well lump every single laptop manufacturer doing the same thing with their mobile GPUs, but of them do indicate DDR3 or GDDR5 in their specs if you looked hard enough.

It is interesting that AMD lists official specs then allows deviation from them. I can see that being somewhat confusing to the average consumer.

HOWEVER, if you really spent hours researching this, you clearly have an idea of what you are looking for, so I have no idea how you missed the large "DDR3" in the title and the specs page. I mean, did you look at the official specs, look at Newegg, then decide that Newegg must have mislabeled the part and ordered it anyways?

 

[Termie]

Y

...

6670 is a bit more complicated since AMD says the 6570 can have both DDR3 and DDR5, so it would be strange to call a 6670 with DDR3 a 6570 OC since the 6570 DDR5 would be faster.

Actually, I feel for the OP, but what's much more concerning to me is that AMD marketed a 6570 with GDDR5, sent it out to reviewers, consumers saw it benchmarked, and then AMD never produced it!

Anandtech review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4278/amds-radeon-hd-6670-radeon-hd-6570

Newegg listing of the 6570: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=1&srchInDesc=

Superbiiz listing of the 6570: http://www.superbiiz.com/query.php?...rom+current+results&ob=r&myanchor=#displaytop

I like AMD cards generally for their aggressive price points, but I see something a bit more problematic here than the OP does. I think AMD is capitulating to manufacturers selling neutered cards on a very broad scale, but prices don't reflect what's happening. If AMD only makes money off the GPU itself, then they aren't even getting a cut from this scam.

The HD6570 was supposed to be $79, and that was with GDDR5. While DDR3 was mentioned as a possibility, it should never have been sold for $79, and a GDDR5 card should have been available.

The only cards I'll recommend on this forum are the 5670 GDDR5 and the 6670 GDDR5.

Oh, and there's another related source of frustration for a few people here: while low-profile versions of the 6670 were sent to reviewers and tested, they were never produced.

 

[ViRGE]

Do people get paid for starting these XFX hate threads?

These threads over-dramatize the incident.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=6670&x=0&y=0

Every other AMD partner has ddr3 memory. It's not a conspiracy by XFX. Sad noobs these days.

"Everyone else is doing it" is not a defense. The OP is right: XFX is a lousy company for doing it, just as the rest are.

It's a bait & switch on the part of these companies. Memory bandwidth massively affects GPU performance. A DDR3 6670 wouldn't be anywhere close to a GDDR5 card as a result. The kicker is that since they did this months after the product launches and reviews, all the reviews are for the GDDR5 cards (making no distinction about memory types because there weren't any DDR3 cards), meaning all the product reviews grossly overstate the performance of the series when the DDR3 cards are factored in. So buyers have every right in the world to be incensed when they go to get a product and have to play spec-hunter because the product was reformulated to allow a much lower performing product.

AMD needs to tighten the reins on its partners (or put them in a chokehold), as they're making AMD look terrible. NVIDIA wouldn't allow their partners to pull off these kinds of shenanigans.