AMD 6850 and 6870 released, October 18

something just doesn't sound right about this. if the 6870 performs only slightly better than a 5850 and uses the same amount of power then whats the real point in calling it a 6870? that is very misleading and many people would just assume that a 6870 would be faster than 5870 which of course it wont be if that chart is accurate.

also considering the 6870 will already be at 125mhz higher speed than the "old" 5850, it seems like the 5850 could be faster in some cases if both the 5850 and 6870 are oced to their limits. in other words if they are almost even in performance then the 6870 is going to have to oc an additional 100mhz above and beyond what the 5850 can oc to.

really if the 6870 is priced around the same as the 5850 then it would make no sense either since it will perform about the same and use about the same power. :confused:
 
So the 6870 will replace the 5770.

The names are confusing but it makes sense. No more *770 in the 6000 series.
 
So this "6870" is really the 6770? How confusing, looks like those sources that ATI was going to use the 69xx as the end high is true.
 
something just doesn't sound right about this. if the 6870 performs only slightly better than a 5850 and uses the same amount of power then whats the real point in calling it a 6870? that is very misleading and many people would just assume that a 6870 would be faster than 5870 which of course it wont be if that chart is accurate.

also considering the 6870 will already be at 125mhz higher speed than the "old" 5850, it seems like the 5850 could be faster in some cases if both the 5850 and 6870 are oced to their limits. in other words if they are almost even in performance then the 6870 is going to have to oc an additional 100mhz above and beyond what the 5850 can oc to.

really if the 6870 is priced around the same as the 5850 then it would make no sense either since it will perform about the same and use about the same power. :confused:

+1. The 5850 has 50% more SPs running than the 6870, while only having a 15% disadvantage in clock speed. On the other hand, the 6870 has a 200MHz advantage in memory throughput, but that's nothing. Based on those raw numbers alone, the 5850 should be faster than the 6870 by a small margin.

The big difference that will set the two apart is overclocking. Since they both use a 40nm process, the 6870 is running at stock already right at the border of its clock potential, unless I'm underestimating the advances that they would make on the same manufacturing process. For enthusiasts who aren't shy to overclock, the 5850 will probably have bigger gains to be made, and the potential performance will be higher. Buying a 5850 that uses reference design for a slight voltage increase may just blow the doors off the 6870. If the 5850 prices drop even more, we could see an interesting blending between the 5850 and 6870.
 
The 6870 will compete with the current 5850.
AMD are using the 6870 to replace the 5770 - this is where it gets confusing. AMD are changing naming schemes... the 6870 will replace the "5770-esque" part of the market, while the new 69xx series will replace the current 58xx market-segment.

the new naming scheme is confusing, can someone correct this please if there was any solid info about the new numbers

Dual flagship -- (Hemlock) -- HD 5970 -------------- (Antilles) ------------ HD 6970/6950/6990
Flagship -------- (Cypress) -- HD 5870 --------------- (Cayman XT) ------ HD 6870
Flagship -------- (Cypress) -- HD 5850 --------------- (Cayman PRO) -- HD 6850+HD 6830
Midrange ------- (Juniper) -- HD 5830 ----------------- (Barts XT) --------- HD 6770
Midrange ------- (Juniper) -- HD 5770+HD 5750 -- (Barts PRO) ------ HD 6750
 
Sorry but I do not believe the specs in that article.

This would cause chaos in the market.
 
+1. The 5850 has 50% more SPs running than the 6870, while only having a 15% disadvantage in clock speed. On the other hand, the 6870 has a 200MHz advantage in memory throughput, but that's nothing. Based on those raw numbers alone, the 5850 should be faster than the 6870 by a small margin.

The big difference that will set the two apart is overclocking. Since they both use a 40nm process, the 6870 is running at stock already right at the border of its clock potential, unless I'm underestimating the advances that they would make on the same manufacturing process. For enthusiasts who aren't shy to overclock, the 5850 will probably have bigger gains to be made, and the potential performance will be higher. Buying a 5850 that uses reference design for a slight voltage increase may just blow the doors off the 6870. If the 5850 prices drop even more, we could see an interesting blending between the 5850 and 6870.


except the SP's are completely different between the 5k series and 6k series.. the SP's in the 5K series are 1+5 the SP's in the 6k series are 1+4 but allow for more data flow due to the extra space from removing the useless 5 shader.. go read up on the leaked data you will understand it better.. even an overclocked the 5850 should not be able to compete with an overclocked 6850/70.. though with these changes i wonder how far over the 1Ghz mark these gpu's can be overclocked.. :D
 
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This sucks. I thought these cards were gonna be a refresh???????? :'(
These cards are going to be what replaces the current 5750 and 5770. The 5850 and 5870 replacements are rumored to drop in November. The weird part is how it is rumored AMD is going to name the parts.
 
And the 6770 that is supposed to beat the 5850?

I dont believe a lick of this.
 
No the 6770 the one talked about for days before this.

The one that is supposed to beat the 460 the one in the leaked slide that multiple sources confirm.
 
These 6850/6870 rumors just do not make sense. Why on earth would AMD make their midrange called 68*0 especially when they won't handily out perform the 58*0. This is "AMD's" first GPU release, confusing the consumer and changing what works is not a good way to start off. There's tons of rumors floating around the web all from "trusted sources" so I'm gonna wait for some official word from AMD but I surely hope this one isn't true.

For the past 3 years people have associated *8** with the high-end and *7** with the midrange, It makes sense. :(
 
When AMD does release a 6700 card it should still be a relative power house..

This last week has been a confusing, roller coaster ride of rumors. AMD is doing an awesome job of keeping us guessing.

I'm excited to see what mid October brings ;)
 
These 6850/6870 rumors just do not make sense. Why on earth would AMD make their midrange called 68*0 especially when they won't handily out perform the 58*0. This is "AMD's" first GPU release, confusing the consumer and changing what works is not a good way to start off. There's tons of rumors floating around the web all from "trusted sources" so I'm gonna wait for some official word from AMD but I surely hope this one isn't true.

For the past 3 years people have associated *8** with the high-end and *7** with the midrange, It makes sense. :(

I dont believe it either. Especially with leaked AMD slides showing the 6770 to be the 5850 replacement. The 6850 and 6870 are going to be monsters not replacements.
 
As others have said, this is just a major league typo by the author of this article. The Barts cards (Pro and XT) are the 67xx series. I am sure the author meant to type 6750 and 6770, not 6850 and 6870.
 
Logically it makes sense,

if the 6870 performs around the 5870, then it's the *870 of the 6th Generation
if the 6850 performs around the 5850, then it's the *850 of the 6th Generation

is it smart, sure, even marketting will like it :) but people who "know" a bit more about these might get upset with it, and also they'll run out of numbers soon!
 
As others have said, this is just a major league typo by the author of this article. The Barts cards (Pro and XT) are the 67xx series. I am sure the author meant to type 6750 and 6770, not 6850 and 6870.

They need to correct the article then.
 
Bit of a mind fuck.
So it could just be the author of it has gone tits up and put 68** instead of 67**? That would make sense. Either that or AMD are jsut using the 6*** as a refresh and confusing us by shifting the numbers up.
 
As others have said, this is just a major league typo by the author of this article. The Barts cards (Pro and XT) are the 67xx series. I am sure the author meant to type 6750 and 6770, not 6850 and 6870.

Did you read the article? There is no possible way this is a typo. He repeats it over and over and over, and then says this:

AMD are using the 6870 to replace the 5770 - this is where it gets confusing. AMD are changing naming schemes... the 6870 will replace the "5770-esque" part of the market, while the new 69xx series will replace the current 58xx market-segment.

Not a typo. New naming scheme.
 
These 6850/6870 rumors just do not make sense. Why on earth would AMD make their midrange called 68*0 especially when they won't handily out perform the 58*0.


so 6800 buyers would think they bought the 5800 successor at a lower price? so AMD can charge more price for the 6800 while it's actually a 6700 based on the old naming :confused:

94b25435-f7e6-4c6f-832b-8b4d283c3db7.jpg

3DCenter - Google Trad

http://www.nordichardware.com/news/...d-6870-and-6850-launches-on-october-18th.html
 
Bit of a mind fuck.
So it could just be the author of it has gone tits up and put 68** instead of 67**? That would make sense. Either that or AMD are jsut using the 6*** as a refresh and confusing us by shifting the numbers up.

The only way I see this being plausible is if they release information on their entire line from day 1 so there's no confusion or if they are doing away with an X2 variant this round due to power constraints in which cause the 6970 would be a monolithic-esque variant. If they can supposedly get 5850 performance with 960SP in the "6870" than imagine what a ~300w 1400ish SP 6970 could do. Food for thought but it's fucked up either way. lol.
 
so 6800 buyers would think they bought the 5800 successor at a lower price? so AMD can charge more price for the 6800 while it's actually a 6700 based on the old naming :confused:

Right but the people who buy 5800/6800 type cards are smart enough to know better. This isn't your average joe walking into best buy and picking up a card, most people don't blow $400 on a GPU. If the 6800 doesn't outperform or performs the same as the 5800's than that's sad and confusing. The name change is fine but I don't think this is the proper generation to do so.

Oh well, shit happens we'll see how things go when AMD makes an official statement.
 
It wouldn't do anything for AMD to completely screw with the current naming system. As it is it makes sense and there has been continuity in the system since the 2xxx days. Why change it? I'd like to think that no marketing buffoon would change it, but then again... knowing the marketing buffoons I deal with
 
It wouldn't do anything for AMD to completely screw with the current naming system. As it is it makes sense and there has been continuity in the system since the 2xxx days. Why change it? I'd like to think that no marketing buffoon would change it, but then again... knowing the marketing buffoons I deal with

Video card naming schemes have always been horrible. I have a 9800 PRO in my basement that plenty of laymen would assume could smoke a 6870. How could it not? It's so much more, and it's PRO!

I really wish they would have stuck with naming each new series of cards the same (like Nvidia used to do), and then model numbers for level of performance. For example, last generation would have been Radeon 4 - 850, 870, 890, 870x2, then this generation Radeon 5 - 850, 870, etc.
 
Call it whatever you want, but make it fast, affordable, stable, foldable, reliable, low wattage, cool, silent, and scalable.
 
2010-09Sep-28b.png


So, compared to the other "rumored" post here, the cards are ordered like so in terms of [supposed] performance: (Adding cards from the website mentioned above-- 3DCenter.org)

  • 5750 (Old mid-range)
  • 5770 (Old mid-range)
  • 6750 (Low-end)
  • 5830 (Old mid-range)
  • 6770 (Low-end)
  • 6830 (Mid-range)
  • 6850 (Mid-range)
  • 5850 (Old high-end)
  • 6870 (Mid-range)
  • 5870 (Old High-end)
  • 5970 (Old Enthusiast)
  • 6950 (High-end)
  • 6970 (High-end)
  • 6990 (Enthusiast)
That's the best way I could interpret this new naming scheme. It's as if they went up in performance, thus they had to change the naming scheme. It makes sense in a lot of ways.
 
Lots of Fud in this thread. AMDs purposefully releasing false information to see who's been leaking their information. You can pretty much be guaranteed a 20%+ performance increase for the same price as the 5000 series. That's all that matters, who gives a crap what it's name is weeks before it's even hit the shelves.
 
Video card naming schemes have always been horrible. I have a 9800 PRO in my basement that plenty of laymen would assume could smoke a 6870. How could it not? It's so much more, and it's PRO!
At this point no layman would even remember the 9800Pro, and thats the difference ;)
Katalysis said:
I really wish they would have stuck with naming each new series of cards the same (like Nvidia used to do), and then model numbers for level of performance. For example, last generation would have been Radeon 4 - 850, 870, 890, 870x2, then this generation Radeon 5 - 850, 870, etc.
And as for this, well thats exactly what they're doing, just putting the generation number in front, so how is what you want any better? They've actually been fairly logical in their progression: 7x00, 8x00, 9x00, Xx00 (X being 10 in roman numerals, so its basically 10x00..), X1x00, then dropping the lead X and carrying on from there.

Naming schemes kinda suck don't they? The leaked slide is waay more likely to be the right designation anyway
 
This would have the new x8xx series slower than the previous generation x8xx series. Nonsense. Barts will be the 67xx cards.

That makes no sense at all. It is just more scrambled rumor signals. The AMD slide leak a few days ago makes a lot more sense.

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1036227013&postcount=44
6700ch.jpg

Lots of Fud in this thread. AMDs purposefully releasing false information to see who's been leaking their information. You can pretty much be guaranteed a 20%+ performance increase for the same price as the 5000 series. That's all that matters, who gives a crap what it's name is weeks before it's even hit the shelves.

I might have to agree with kd5 above.

The thing is-- Techpowerup and 3DCenter report the same 6870/6850.

3DCenter, in broken translated Google English, stated that the slide above with the Barts Pro and XT as 6750 and 6770, respectively, is actually forged.

Now, who is right?

Are the new information released on the 29th of September actually real and the previous 67xx leaked from before fake? Or the other way around?

We probably won't know for sure until it gets closer to release date in October, which is not too far away now.
 
Guess I'll be hanging onto my trusty 5870 for a little while longer if this is the case. I was hoping the 6870 would offer some 30% performance increase, but with the new naming scheme it looks like it will actually be a slower card than what I have now.

Can't wait for some actual reviews to shed light on the matter. May just sit out the whole 6xxx generation altogether.
 
I might have to agree with kd5 above.

The thing is-- Techpowerup and 3DCenter report the same 6870/6850.

3DCenter, in broken translated Google English, stated that the slide above with the Barts Pro and XT as 6750 and 6770, respectively, is actually forged.

Anything could happen. But it would be moronic for AMD to violate a consistent naming scheme they have built up for no good reason.

x9xx are Top dual GPU cards.
x8xx are Top single GPU cards.
x7xx are performance mainstream GPU cards.

If they bring out Barts as 68xx cards they violate this. They create next generation x8xx cards that are slower than previous generation, annoy and confuse people for no good reason and make appear like the new generation is worse than the old generation.

I don't know that AMD won't do this, but I would like to think they aren't that stupid.
 
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