Mixed Impression about the 6850/6870

Scottig

Weaksauce
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Oct 31, 2007
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Ive read prob 10 different review from 10 different sights all saying the same thing. The 6780 slightly better than a GTX 460 1gb at stock settings.
The 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 768mb at stock settings. But when it comes to overclocking each. NV is 10-15% ahead on both the 6870 and 6850 when OC'd :(... I canceled my order on my 6850 this AM after reading all the reviews. I can see prices on both of the cards going way down in the near future. And I don't think you can make a bad purchase on either card at this point. Post those OVERCLOCKS when you get your 6850's and 6870's in your rigs I want to see some unbiased numbers before I make my final purchase.
 
Ive read prob 10 different review from 10 different sights all saying the same thing. The 6780 slightly better than a GTX 460 1gb at stock settings.
The 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 768mb at stock settings. But when it comes to overclocking each. NV is 10-15% ahead on both the 6870 and 6850 when OC'd :(... I canceled my order on my 6850 this AM after reading all the reviews. I can see prices on both of the cards going way down in the near future. And I don't think you can make a bad purchase on either card at this point. Post those OVERCLOCKS when you get your 6850's and 6870's in your rigs I want to see some unbiased numbers before I make my final purchase.

Which reviews made any claim that a 6850 was only slightly faster than a GTX 460 768MB?
 
Ive read prob 10 different review from 10 different sights all saying the same thing. The 6780 slightly better than a GTX 460 1gb at stock settings.
The 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 768mb at stock settings. But when it comes to overclocking each. NV is 10-15% ahead on both the 6870 and 6850 when OC'd :(... I canceled my order on my 6850 this AM after reading all the reviews. I can see prices on both of the cards going way down in the near future. And I don't think you can make a bad purchase on either card at this point. Post those OVERCLOCKS when you get your 6850's and 6870's in your rigs I want to see some unbiased numbers before I make my final purchase.

Uh.......Say what? The 6870 is 15% better than the 460.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6870/29.html
 
Pretty much every site I visited. Here is 2 examples of games I play the most at 1920x1080 rez...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6850/16.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6850/21.html

I could post a ton more but people have prob already read the same reviews I have

Just check [H]'s review and see how it does in real world gaming. Here's the game you play:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/10/21/amd_radeon_hd_6870_6850_video_card_review/7

Both cards beats the GTX 460 1GB :)
 
If the 6850/6870 turn out to be better OC'ers than these websites say I'll prob get a 6850. Just need to see some fellow [H] forum mates with there on reviews.
 
The 6870 needs to be compared to a GTX470. I can get a 470 cheaper after rebate than I can a 6870.


Trust me, those rebates aren't going to be around for long. I know the manufacturers aren't going to be too pleased.
 
Trust me, those rebates aren't going to be around for long. I know the manufacturers aren't going to be too pleased.

Where are you hearing this? There is a good deal on a Zotac 470, I haven't seen anything online about angry manufacturers on any of the enthusiast sites I've been browsing.
 
Thats at stock speeds I already posted its 10-15% faster at stocks speeds I already know this... Actually I said "slightly" but you get the point.

Actual you said "The 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 768mb at stock settings."

When in reality the 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 1GB at stock settings.

That is a big difference. And the 6850 seems to OC nicely from what I have read, if that is your thing.
 
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6870/32.html

Where are you hearing this? There is a good deal on a Zotac 470, I haven't seen anything online about angry manufacturers on any of the enthusiast sites I've been browsing.

It's all speculation on my part, but you can't honestly think Nvidia's manufacturers and resellers are pleased about a fairly recent card selling for almost $100 less than its launch price; and that's not including rebates. Nvidia has made the new pricing official.
 
Pretty much every site I visited. Here is 2 examples of games I play the most at 1920x1080 rez...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6850/16.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6850/21.html

I could post a ton more but people have prob already read the same reviews I have

Oh lookee there, WoW benchmarks. I am always curious to see so few sites mention WoW, especially it is the most played game in much of the world with 12 million subscribers. People have a tendency to believe that it runs great on a toaster however the game definitely can bog down at high detail.
 
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6870/32.html



It's all speculation on my part, but you can't honestly think Nvidia's manufacturers and resellers are pleased about a fairly recent card selling for almost $100 less than its launch price; and that's not including rebates. Nvidia has made the new pricing official.

Nvidia subsidizes some of the loss when things like this happen. Also AMD card partners will not be too thrilled either when this turns into a price war. Heck, they may already be upset that these cards are selling for only $180 to begin with and they were likely expecting a higher margin.
 
Actual you said "The 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 768mb at stock settings."

When in reality the 6850 is slightly faster than a GTX 460 1GB at stock settings.

That is a big difference. And the 6850 seems to OC nicely from what I have read, if that is your thing.
100Mhz on the core for a 6850 I would'nt call that OC nicely compared to 250Mhz on every GTX 460. I don't know Maybe deep down I am a NV fanboy... And the game I play the most WoW, the GTX 460 is way ahead. I just need to see more from actual [H] forum members. I trust what they say a lot more than some website that prob get's directed on how to do there review...
 
Nvidia subsidizes some of the loss when things like this happen. Also AMD card partners will not be too thrilled either when this turns into a price war. Heck, they may already be upset that these cards are selling for only $180 to begin with and they were likely expecting a higher margin.

But it costs less for AMD to manufacturer their cards, and they only lowered the price by $10-20. The GTX 470 was $340-350 at one time.Furthermore, the 68xx are only mainstream cards. The 470 is supposed be targeted towards the enthusiasts market.

And the game I play the most WoW, the GTX 460 is way ahead

7fps is "way ahead"? Plus, the 6850 only requires 1 pin.
 
7fps is "way ahead"? Plus, the 6850 only requires 1 pin.

At stock speeds yes.. Look all im saying is the GTX 460 1gb cost is around $175 at newegg and the 6870 is around $246 shipped and after you tinker with it for 5 mins, you have a better card with a GTX 460 for $70 less. I'm still going to hold out see a little more. but for $70 I need to see a lot more from the 6870.
 
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100Mhz on the core for a 6850 I would'nt call that OC nicely compared to 250Mhz on every GTX 460. I don't know Maybe deep down I am a NV fanboy... And the game I play the most WoW, the GTX 460 is way ahead. I just need to see more from actual [H] forum members. I trust what they say a lot more than some website that prob get's directed on how to do there review...

So why agonize about it? Just buy the GTX 460. If you weigh one game significantly ahead of another, your decision is a simple one.

I am sure people who have HAWX 2 as their favorite game will also be choosing GTX 460 as well. ;)

Considering everything, I think the 68xx is a better series, but I value Video playback/lower power use because my computer is also my HTPC. I also value being able to hook up more than 2 screens, because my HTPC is running my HDTV and a monitor on a nearby desk, and I would like a second desk monitor as well. 6850 is plenty of gaming power for me, heck I play old games so my 8800GT is plenty for me. I will likely only upgrade after I find a good second monitor.
 
I think your case is like the case of political viewpoints.

No matter what news is thrown at you, you will subconsciously filter out what you dont want to hear.

If you like the 460, go for it mate.
 
If you like the 460, go for it mate.

Yeah, though, IMHO, I feel it's a bit silly to plop down on a card based on results in one game. It's your decision.

Just get the GTX 460 and call it a day. Won't matter either way.
 
The card is brand new, I say we can expect even better performance from driver updates.
 
100Mhz on the core for a 6850 I would'nt call that OC nicely compared to 250Mhz on every GTX 460. I don't know Maybe deep down I am a NV fanboy... And the game I play the most WoW, the GTX 460 is way ahead. I just need to see more from actual [H] forum members. I trust what they say a lot more than some website that prob get's directed on how to do there review...

WTF are you doing taking any acknowledgement in any review that shows a 5970 being the slowest card in the pack. Not to mention that they did not have a retail 6850, It was an engineering sample from HIS (wrong shader count even) so the whole damn review is invalid.
 
Oh lookee there, WoW benchmarks. I am always curious to see so few sites mention WoW, especially it is the most played game in much of the world with 12 million subscribers. People have a tendency to believe that it runs great on a toaster however the game definitely can bog down at high detail.

Yeah I was very happy to see them test WoW. I was sad to see them mess up their crossfire results though (mostly shown via the poor performance of the 5970).

They tested World of Warcraft using DirectX11, which has only become available since the 4.0.1 patch was released on October 12th. Although WoW has had fantastic Crossfire support for years, it didn't work properly with DirectX11. It took AMD less than 24 hours after DX11 became an option in WoW to come up with the 10.9a profile update that fixed Crossfire when running DirectX11.

Too bad all of the non 68xx cards in the review used the 10.7 drivers :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
The launch of the HD 6870/6850 series mimicks the launch of the HD 5770/HD5750, being slightly slower than previous high end generation, consuming less power and having a smaller die size, its is a quite accomplishment doing the same thing twice (HD 4670 didn't), also I saw that Crossfire scaling got improved.

So if we compare the relative performance of the HD 6870 vs the HD 5870 which has similar ratio like the HD 5770 vs HD 4870 (The last two ones are more evenly matched), means that the performance jump from the HD 5870 to the HD 6970 will be slightly smaller than the performance jump from the HD 4870 to the HD 5870. This is just guesstimate.
 
WTF are you doing taking any acknowledgement in any review that shows a 5970 being the slowest card in the pack. Not to mention that they did not have a retail 6850, It was an engineering sample from HIS (wrong shader count even) so the whole damn review is invalid.

Own an HD5970, bastage?

You are awfully darn worked up/horked off over the HD5970's positioning.

However, consider the position those that owned the HD4890 (or even HD4870) which was the top (or second) ranked card of the *previous* AMD GPU generation when HD5870 (and HD5850) launched.

Lastly, the HD5970 is an odd duck even for a dual-GPU card - it is proving to be a tricky critter to get working Just Right. Even worse, it's a very expensive *niche* card (that costs nearly as much as two HD5870 cards, and more than two HD5850s).

When you are at the bottom, there's nowhere left to go but up; however, when you're at the TOP....
 
The launch of the HD 6870/6850 series mimicks the launch of the HD 5770/HD5750, being slightly slower than previous high end generation, consuming less power and having a smaller die size, its is a quite accomplishment doing the same thing twice (HD 4670 didn't), also I saw that Crossfire scaling got improved.

So if we compare the relative performance of the HD 6870 vs the HD 5870 which has similar ratio like the HD 5770 vs HD 4870 (The last two ones are more evenly matched), means that the performance jump from the HD 5870 to the HD 6970 will be slightly smaller than the performance jump from the HD 4870 to the HD 5870. This is just guesstimate.

I don't see many folks moving from HD58xx to *any* HD6xxx GPU (from HD57xx or less, yes; but not HD58xx), as the ROI isn't worth it in most cases. I see most of the would-be purchasers of HD68xx coming from HD57xx or lower (including, if not especially, HD4xxx that skipped the last upgrade cycle) as you can make one or more bin-jumps in performance for less than a one-bin-jump price increase (or, in some cases, no increase or even a price drop, such as HD5770 to HD6850). I'm still waiting for the HD6xxx budget/value end to see what changes are going to show up there (HD5450 did indicate a bump in floor memory configuration, from 256 MB to 512 MB, compared to HD4350; will the new budget line kick things up to 1 GB?)
 
WTF are you doing taking any acknowledgement in any review that shows a 5970 being the slowest card in the pack. Not to mention that they did not have a retail 6850, It was an engineering sample from HIS (wrong shader count even) so the whole damn review is invalid.

you sound 12...
 
I didn't move to an HD 5870 because buying a second HD 4870 was way cheaper and offered similar performance, moving from an HD 4870 to an HD 5770 is not even an upgrade, in my situation, moving to an HD 5870 or HD 6870 isn't an upgrade either, that's why I skipped Cypress and stayed with my setup which works like a champ, a real upgrade would be an HD 5970 or the HD 6970 once it arrives, the HD 4x00 series still strong even at this time, two years later!!
 
Own an HD5970, bastage?

You are awfully darn worked up/horked off over the HD5970's positioning.

However, consider the position those that owned the HD4890 (or even HD4870) which was the top (or second) ranked card of the *previous* AMD GPU generation when HD5870 (and HD5850) launched.

Lastly, the HD5970 is an odd duck even for a dual-GPU card - it is proving to be a tricky critter to get working Just Right. Even worse, it's a very expensive *niche* card (that costs nearly as much as two HD5870 cards, and more than two HD5850s).

When you are at the bottom, there's nowhere left to go but up; however, when you're at the TOP....

No I dont.. nor would I ever pay that much for a card.. But when the 5970 is jsut below the 5770 its obvious there is a problem. & its been a while, but I looked up other reviews of the 5970 with wow & it wasn't behind anything (except the 480). So to have a reviewer that cant get there act together & properly test I have no faith.. Also I personally wouldnt look to ANY review with anything other then the AMD reference cards as to judge the overall performance of the chip..

And for the record I have a 4850 in my rig right now & have a 6850 gigabyte already ordered..
 
Too bad all of the non 68xx cards in the review used the 10.7 drivers :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

This is just the kind of info I like to hear. It will help me make a educated purchase. Thanks:)

P.S. Any Link you guys could provide to reviews with WoW in DX11 mode with the new AMD cards. I would greatly appreciate it.
 
doesn't the nvidia card cost more to use? nd at overclocked doesn't power and heat become an issue?

as I understand an Nvidia card will raise case temps more than amd, and I assume overclocked they will pump out heat like a mofo.

I can't feel 10 fps, not once I am above 40 or so fps. And I suspect operating costs will be lower for the AMD card.

And for the record, I think overclocking vidcards is retarded unless it's from the factory and warrantied.
 
100Mhz on the core for a 6850 I would'nt call that OC nicely compared to 250Mhz on every GTX 460. I don't know Maybe deep down I am a NV fanboy... And the game I play the most WoW, the GTX 460 is way ahead. I just need to see more from actual [H] forum members. I trust what they say a lot more than some website that prob get's directed on how to do there review...


Overclockersclub got the 6850 up to 972 core and 1159 memory.
They had the EVGA GTX 460 FTW 1GB at 921 core and 1022 memory.
They only got the 6870 up to 1000 core and 1220 memory.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/amd_6800series/

Looks like the GTX 460 can't beat the 6850 even when they are both overclocked to the max. Unfortunately they seem to use benchmarks which heavily favor Nvidia like Farcry 2, CoDMW2 and Batman Arkham Asylum with AA turned on.
I think Metro 2033, Crysis Warhead and Just Cause 2 seem to be less favorable to either video card company.

Their overclocked results at 1920x1200 were:
Metro 2033: 6870 - 32 FPS / 6850 - 30 FPS / GTX 460 1GB - 29 FPS
Crysis Warhead: 6870 - 45 FPS / 6850 - 41 FPS / GTX 460 1GB - 40 FPS
Just Cause 2: 6870 - 53 FPS / 6850 - 48 FPS / GTX 460 1GB - 47 FPS

All my friends games run great on his 5770 except for BFBC2. I think it's a great value add, having the option to run 3 monitors on a single AMD card.
I think the 6870 would be adequate for triple monitors with some IQ setting turned down but I'll wait to see what the 6950 has to offer.
 
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