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5870 - $299

It's an excellent price point for the 5870 but I will wait until I see some benchmarks. A lot of people are throwing up speculations of how it would perform based on its specs but you guys should already know better than that. How many times have we been made fools because we assume an upcoming card would perform based on what is written on paper just to find out it comes no where near it. ATI cards are notorious for this. Maybe down the line after a few driver revisions it would perform as expected but not right out of the launch box.

The key to the success of this card is when it launches. Which will have to be VERY SOON. The longer it is put off, the closer it will get to when Nvidias next gen part launches. That will be bad as some people may decide to wait until Nvidias GT300 goes against the 5870 in reviews & benchmarks. Which is should out perform it & may shift sales. If the price is right of course. The biggest news to me is the price which should force Nvida to come in with there part being no higher than $399. If it's better than the 5870, then I'm hoping that it's $349 =P.


Oh the irony, you say don't judge something by its cover (ati) yet say nvidia's card will be faster? Do you have any proof for that?

kthnx
 
Oh the irony, you say don't judge something by its cover (ati) yet say nvidia's card will be faster? Do you have any proof for that?

kthnx
He didn't say will, he said "should" and "if," neither are declarative statements. Considering NVIDIA is slated to release it's part at least a month and a half after AMD's, it SHOULD be faster if they want to make any kind of impression on the market.
 
I just wish I had a game I play worth upgrading for. Good news though.

Same here. Especially at the res I game at (1680x1050), my 4870 keeps chugging along. I might just spend my 5870 monies on this newfangled SSD thing I keep on hearing about. :p
 
I just wish I had a game I play worth upgrading for. Good news though.

Yeah really,I already beat Crysis/warhead, yes it would be interesting to play it maxed out but after a week I will only get bored with it again.Crysis 2 will probably be a console port with minimal increases in graphics for pc.

The only game I have heard about that I'm getting pumped up for is Battlefield 3.Anyone know any other PC FPS games that will be DX11 that will push the boundaries further than Crysis?

Other than that the 4870 I'm using plays every game smooth enough.
 
Yeah really,I already beat Crysis/warhead, yes it would be interesting to play it maxed out but after a week I will only get bored with it again.Crysis 2 will probably be a console port with minimal increases in graphics for pc.

The only game I have heard about that I'm getting pumped up for is Battlefield 3.Anyone know any other PC FPS games that will be DX11 that will push the boundaries further than Crysis?

Other than that the 4870 I'm using plays every game smooth enough.


Awesome games to upgrade for;

Operation Flashpoint 2, due Oct
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jdtSszBT4

Borderlands also due in Oct;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG7lSTFtZ9Q&feature=related

Left 4 Dead-2 due in Nov;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T71rp_IBzOY
 
2TFLOPS? $299?

I don't know how true this is....

It has been reported that the new Radeon HD 5800 Series will support a performance equal to 2 terrabytes of FLOPS (Floating point Operations Per Second. ) The news comes after it has been revealed that ATI Cypress will now become the Radeon HD 5800.
As reported from TrustedReviews, the ATI Radeon HD 5850 and 5870 cards will be launched sometime in September, paving the way for a public release in October.
The release seems to fit in nicely with the October 22nd release of Windows 7, so fans will now be able to look forward to DirectX 11 hardware before the end of the year.
Customers should expect to pay around $299 for a 5800 series card, more details can be found in the link above.
Let us know if you are waiting on a 5800 HD card.




http://www.product-reviews.net/2009/08/28/2tflops-for-radeon-hd-5800-series/
 
So any word on when a 5870 X2 version will be released? Hoping they won't wait three months after the release of the single-GPU cards... If that's the case, likely I'll be going back to nv since the 300 series should be faster than the single GPU 5870 and going 5870 crossfire is looking to be a step back/co-equal with my 4870 X2s.
 
So any word on when a 5870 X2 version will be released? Hoping they won't wait three months after the release of the single-GPU cards... If that's the case, likely I'll be going back to nv since the 300 series should be faster than the single GPU 5870 and going 5870 crossfire is looking to be a step back/co-equal with my 4870 X2s.

Rumors point to November.
 
I have to wait until OCTOBER to get a new video card??? :eek: I thought it was coming out this September.
 
we dont know the exact date. sept 10th they unveil the hardware, street date is estimated 24th sept, but who knows, maybe its earlier, maybe its later...
 
I thought they'd price the 5870 above the GTX 285 quite honestly, cos it's gonna be a faster card. I guess Nvidia will have to cut prices on their 285 to compete until they can roll out their 300 series. And THAT will likely trigger price cuts on 4890/4870s to deal with the cheaper gtx 285. Market competition = good!

Actually, 58xx itself will trigger cuts in 48xx (and 46xx) pricing, simply to get the darn things out of the warehouses.

And unless GTX3xx is markedly faster than 5870, it would be an unmitigated disaster.

Currently, only HD4890 remains above $200 retail (and that is just barely); when 58xx arrives in the warehouses, the discounting already taking place will only grow.
 
Actually, 58xx itself will trigger cuts in 48xx (and 46xx) pricing, simply to get the darn things out of the warehouses.

And unless GTX3xx is markedly faster than 5870, it would be an unmitigated disaster.

Currently, only HD4890 remains above $200 retail (and that is just barely); when 58xx arrives in the warehouses, the discounting already taking place will only grow.

Well, with the latest rumors pointing the 5870 to being 60% faster than the 4870 there is room for the GTX3xx to make a serious move.
 
seeing as Nvidia claims that GT300 will have 512 SP, there is a good chance that it's going to be faster then the 58xx series cards if they are only 1.6x as fast as the 4870
 
seeing as Nvidia claims that GT300 will have 512 SP, there is a good chance that it's going to be faster then the 58xx series cards if they are only 1.6x as fast as the 4870
Excuse my technological ignorance, but isn't the NVIDIA part MIMD? So is that 512MIMD or an actual fewer number of units that give a maximum theoretical performance of 512 SIMD units? The reason I say this is 9 months ago they couldn't even shrink a GTX280 enough to fit two separate physical GPUs on a card (enter the GTX 295 with two GTX 275 GPUs), but now they somehow managed to fit more than twice the number of MIMD units on reasonably sized die (the GTX series, even at 55nm, was still huge), within a decent TDP? I dunno, seems too good to be true.
 
Excuse my technological ignorance, but isn't the NVIDIA part MIMD? So is that 512MIMD or an actual fewer number of units that give a maximum theoretical performance of 512 SIMD units? The reason I say this is 9 months ago they couldn't even shrink a GTX280 enough to fit two separate physical GPUs on a card (enter the GTX 295 with two GTX 275 GPUs), but now they somehow managed to fit more than twice the number of MIMD units on reasonably sized die (the GTX series, even at 55nm, was still huge), within a decent TDP? I dunno, seems too good to be true.

The 260 and the 280 share the same die. When a 280 comes out with bad SPs, they turn it into a 260.

They were looking at keeping cost down, not couldn't.

Frankly, the TDP isn't as big of an issue as getting rid of that much heat. Which may have been what you ment, I'm not sure. There are still some tricks for them to pull with coolers, but there is really only so much you can do when you are trying to dispate 300W+ in a 10.5x.75"x4" volume without bursting ear drums.

Going from 55nm to 40nm will help a lot. It is almost a 2x space required reduction. Don't forget about the voltage drop that comes as well. Really, we'll just have to wait and see what they decided to do because in the end, they could easily make a graphics card that was 100 times as powerful if they were willing to have a die area of around 500,000mm^2 and only have 1 in 1 billion yield.
 
There are still some tricks for them to pull with coolers, but there is really only so much you can do when you are trying to dispate 300W+ in a 10.5x.75"x4" volume without bursting ear drums.

What video card has a TDP of 300W?

The numbers on [H] reviews of power consumption of beefy systems is the complete system power dissipation. The video card is probably consuming less than half that.
 
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_295_us.html
Specifications >> bottom of page >> Maximum Graphics Card Power (W) 289 W.

You got me there, but the caveat is that's a dual GPU card.

Also, practically speaking the power consumption is more like 210W:

QuadSLI_power.png
 
You got me there, but the caveat is that's a dual GPU card.

Also, practically speaking the power consumption is more like 210W:


"Common" power consumption is an odd beast. Is Prime95 a good power consumption test or is Intel Burn Test a good power consumption test for a CPU? We know intel burn test will produce much higher temps (and draw more power) than Prime95, but we rarely ever see that while doing any number of "CPU limited" tasks.
 
"Common" power consumption is an odd beast. Is Prime95 a good power consumption test or is Intel Burn Test a good power consumption test for a CPU? We know intel burn test will produce much higher temps (and draw more power) than Prime95, but we rarely ever see that while doing any number of "CPU limited" tasks.

Actually, the reason they quote such a high figure for power consumption is probably because they can't count on your average consumer making a good decision when buying a power supply, so they inflate that number slightly. Also, if the GPU is burning 210W measured on the rails, it's pulling anywhere from 10 to 20% more than that from the wall, due to the loss in the PSU.

You still can't show me a single GPU card that's remotely close to 300W. I guess that means you're absolutely right about troubles trying to dissipate 300W in a video-card sized package...
 
Actually, the reason they quote such a high figure for power consumption is probably because they can't count on your average consumer making a good decision when buying a power supply, so they inflate that number slightly. Also, if the GPU is burning 210W measured on the rails, it's pulling anywhere from 10 to 20% more than that from the wall, due to the loss in the PSU.

You still can't show me a single GPU card that's remotely close to 300W. I guess that means you're absolutely right about troubles trying to dissipate 300W in a video-card sized package...

Something you might note. The graph you linked showed a 285 consuming 150W and the 295 consuming 200W. Fankly, that doesn't make much sense to me.

In any case, heat load imho is a much bigger problem then TDP as really to give it more power you can just keep adding 6 or 8 pin power plugs to your hearts content.
 
Excuse my technological ignorance, but isn't the NVIDIA part MIMD? So is that 512MIMD or an actual fewer number of units that give a maximum theoretical performance of 512 SIMD units? The reason I say this is 9 months ago they couldn't even shrink a GTX280 enough to fit two separate physical GPUs on a card (enter the GTX 295 with two GTX 275 GPUs), but now they somehow managed to fit more than twice the number of MIMD units on reasonably sized die (the GTX series, even at 55nm, was still huge), within a decent TDP? I dunno, seems too good to be true.

I'm a bit of a newb with this but
SIMD = single instruction multiple data
MIMD= multiple instructions multiple data

each has pros and cons, but there is a pretty big discussion on which is better for graphics and HPC (cuda / quadro)

currently NV is SIMD, intel is going MIMD with larabee and NV is supposed to be going MIMD with GT300

I don't see MIMD or SIMD units being smaller / larger usually SIMD is "easier" and less "expensive" to implement though.

I don't see a problem with the GTX285 taking 150 where the 295 takes 200w :p the GTX285 is clocked higher, has some "active" units etc. and possibly the GTX295 was held back by the CPU in that test
 
Something you might note. The graph you linked showed a 285 consuming 150W and the 295 consuming 200W. Fankly, that doesn't make much sense to me.

In any case, heat load imho is a much bigger problem then TDP as really to give it more power you can just keep adding 6 or 8 pin power plugs to your hearts content.

It makes perfect sense since the 295 is 2x 275s, and nvidia would probably select better binned chips for the 295.

Secondly, you can't add power with adding heat. 99% of the power juicing through your computer is dissipated as heat. It takes a minuscule amount of power to actually flip bits in a chip, the rest is just wasted.
 
It makes perfect sense since the 295 is 2x 275s, and nvidia would probably select better binned chips for the 295.
Hrm... it seems Nvidia claimes TDP of 204W on the 285 and 219W on the 275. Strange.

Secondly, you can't add power with adding heat. 99% of the power juicing through your computer is dissipated as heat. It takes a minuscule amount of power to actually flip bits in a chip, the rest is just wasted.
I agree completly. I was stating that there is no problem with supplying more power to a card, there is a problem with removing the heat that power causes from the card.
 
Binned chips could have higher overclocking, but aren't going to have any significant change in power consumption. Furthermore, the only difference between a 275 and a 285 is 4 pixel shadders (28 vs 32) and 2 32 bit buses (448 vs 512). I don't see that being 1/3rd the total power draw of the card.


I agree completly. I was stating that there is no problem with supplying more power to a card, there is a problem with removing the heat that power causes from the card.

Binning can have very significant changes in power consumption for the same reason you get higher overclocking: higher clocks, less voltage. The less voltage you use, the less hard the chip crunches with every clock cycle.

I doubt the pixel shaders have much to do with the power consumption, but the buses probably have a lot to do with it.

And the 295 is clocked slower than a 285.

I trust xbit labs power measurements as they use some very sensitive equipment to make their measurements, that take into account things like power factor and what not.

If you don't trust xbit how about this graph from [H]:

1234770705ZR50BiUfj3_10_1.gif


Quad SLI, system power consumption = 290 W total system power. If anything, that [H] graph is screwy because look at this one measuring the 275, I find it hard to believe that a single 275 draws more power than a 4870 x2 crossfired:

1245608083LJIBROQRJr_8_2.gif


Basically, I trust xbit because they're my favorite for measuring power. They do it most consistently and compare against broad range of the competition, but really it's hard to trust anyone's power consumption measurements. One thing that holds as a general rule, however, is that actual power consumption is usually AT LEAST 10% less than the TDP. Pick your favorite site, though, and they're probably wrong. Everyone and their cat always posts wildly varying numbers for power consumption.

---

As far as your second statement, I'm sorry I misunderstood.
 
Binning can have very significant changes in power consumption for the same reason you get higher overclocking: higher clocks, less voltage. The less voltage you use, the less hard the chip crunches with every clock cycle.

I doubt the pixel shaders have much to do with the power consumption, but the buses probably have a lot to do with it.

And the 295 is clocked slower than a 285.

I trust xbit labs power measurements as they use some very sensitive equipment to make their measurements, that take into account things like power factor and what not.

If you don't trust xbit how about this graph from [H]:

IMG

Quad SLI, system power consumption = 290 W total system power. If anything, that [H] graph is screwy because look at this one measuring the 275, I find it hard to believe that a single 275 draws more power than a 4870 x2 crossfired:

IMG
Basically, I trust xbit because they're my favorite for measuring power. They do it most consistently and compare against broad range of the competition, but really it's hard to trust anyone's power consumption measurements. One thing that holds as a general rule, however, is that actual power consumption is usually AT LEAST 10% less than the TDP. Pick your favorite site, though, and they're probably wrong. Everyone and their cat always posts wildly varying numbers for power consumption.

---

As far as your second statement, I'm sorry I misunderstood.

Yeah that's why I'd rather refer to TDP. It may be high, and it may allways be 30% high, but at least among a single brand it should be somewhat consistant.
 
In any case, heat load imho is a much bigger problem then TDP as really to give it more power you can just keep adding 6 or 8 pin power plugs to your hearts content.
Saying "heat load is a bigger problem than TDP" does not make much sense because TDP is a measure of heat dissipation requirements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_design_power

Edit. Other than this nitpick, I agree with your point. Power is like food: whatever goes in must come out. And coming out is usually the messier part.
 
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The 260 and the 280 share the same die. When a 280 comes out with bad SPs, they turn it into a 260.

They were looking at keeping cost down, not couldn't.

Frankly, the TDP isn't as big of an issue as getting rid of that much heat. Which may have been what you ment, I'm not sure. There are still some tricks for them to pull with coolers, but there is really only so much you can do when you are trying to dispate 300W+ in a 10.5x.75"x4" volume without bursting ear drums.

Going from 55nm to 40nm will help a lot. It is almost a 2x space required reduction. Don't forget about the voltage drop that comes as well. Really, we'll just have to wait and see what they decided to do because in the end, they could easily make a graphics card that was 100 times as powerful if they were willing to have a die area of around 500,000mm^2 and only have 1 in 1 billion yield.
No, they couldn't, otherwise they would have. If something is possible but not feasible due to budget, physical, or some other kind of restraint, they still failed to do it - i.e. couldn't. Shrinkage brings pros and cons - I don't know if it's directly related, but everyone remembers intel's failures in the Prescott shrink to 65nm. My point is that what is currently being reported about the GT300 is pretty impressive, and I'm skeptical.
I'm a bit of a newb with this but
SIMD = single instruction multiple data
MIMD= multiple instructions multiple data

each has pros and cons, but there is a pretty big discussion on which is better for graphics and HPC (cuda / quadro)

currently NV is SIMD, intel is going MIMD with larabee and NV is supposed to be going MIMD with GT300

I don't see MIMD or SIMD units being smaller / larger usually SIMD is "easier" and less "expensive" to implement though.
Well, to clarify, what I mean is this 512 number that's being thrown around is that:

A) Actually 512 MIMD units (which I find hard to believe)
or B) "256"MIMD units that can give the equivalent theoretical performance of 512 SIMD units under certain situations (the 256 is arbitrary, it can be any number between 2-512, I just used it to make a point).

Finally, this Xbit lab numbers are about right, but these graphics cards are power hungry beasts. When I had my GTX 295 heavily overclocked (but at stock volts), my system was drawing 515-520W from the wall. That isn't to say it isn't a great piece of hardware, because it is. No other piece on the market matches it's performance and it still maintains a very respectable performance/watt ratio (you'd have to look at 4770 CF to get better numbers). For now, I've actually reduced it to stock clocks again and undervolted it at the same time, and power draw from the wall has dropped to the 405-420W range. This number actually impresses me more, considering I can get GTX 260 SLI performance with about 2/3 of the power consumption foot print.
 
For now, I've actually reduced it to stock clocks again and undervolted it at the same time, and power draw from the wall has dropped to the 405-420W range. This number actually impresses me more, considering I can get GTX 260 SLI performance with about 2/3 of the power consumption foot print.

Wow, one of the only other people on [H] forums that thinks that performance per watt is a [H]ard ratio.
 
Wow, one of the only other people on [H] forums that thinks that performance per watt is a [H]ard ratio.
I'm going to hypothesize that it's easy to have this viewpoint when you live with your parents and don't have to pay for most of what you use.
 
I'm going to hypothesize that it's easy to have this viewpoint when you live with your parents and don't have to pay for most of what you use.

I believe he was agreeing with you.

Oh, and frankly, 20$ will buy you 750 Watts for 8 hours a day 7 days a week for a month. And durring the winter, it's free as you would otherwise spend the same money on your electric heater to heat your house. For some of us, 20$ a month just doesn't matter.
 
I believe he was agreeing with you.

Oh, and frankly, 20$ will buy you 750 Watts for 8 hours a day 7 days a week for a month. And durring the winter, it's free as you would otherwise spend the same money on your electric heater to heat your house. For some of us, 20$ a month just doesn't matter.

You don't know how much $20 will buy you because

a.) energy costs are different in different parts of the country.
b.) energy costs are different during different hours of the day.

Secondly, it's always worth it to conserve. $20 x 12 = $240, a free plane ticket every year. What if someone has more than one computer? That's $480 in savings. What if the machine is on 24/7?

Saving $20 a month, at 4% interest compounded monthly will net you $14,000 after thirty years, even though you only deposited $7200. That would make a nice down payment on a Corvette. Or a second Corvette.

Not to mention the environmental side of things..how much less coal would we burn if everyone reduced their electric bill by $20 per month?
 
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