Finally they release the mid-range card people have been waiting for. I expected the 660Ti to be cheaper, but this card seems to be the one I was expecting instead, to fill that £200 bracket. Perfect for those on 1080p as well.
Good price, good performance and in line with the market. Well done nV, for once.
Originally Posted by 23RO_UK It all depends on just how good the 660 overclocks
A good R7870 can be pushed to 1,175MHz and 5,900MHz on core and memory, respectively...
And that's with no bump in voltage
We had our sample up to a base clock of 1,100MHz, Boosting upto 1,178Mhz, where it's then butting up against the 110% power limit that Nvidia looks to have set. The 7870 2GB is a great overclocker though. We have to make our assessments on the stock clocks though; OC cards and user OCs just muddy the water between cards too much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dunx My own money would be on the 7870, for case fit reasons...
dunx
Erm, 180mm in length is pretty small, iirc the 7870 2GB is actually a little larger, at least the stock one is.
Originally Posted by Baz We had our sample up to a base clock of 1,100MHz, Boosting upto 1,178Mhz, where it's then butting up against the 110% power limit that Nvidia looks to have set. The 7870 2GB is a great overclocker though. We have to make our assessments on the stock clocks though; OC cards and user OCs just muddy the water between cards too much.
True
I'd still go with the R7870 however as the 660 just seems to be a cut to far on an already over priced 660Ti
"It seems baffling that, despite what feels like a small army of SKUs, AMD doesn’t have a price-point competitor for the GTX 660 2GB. The HD 7850 2GB is 10-15 per cent slower but 10 per cent cheaper at £160, while the HD 7870 2GB is, on average, seven per cent faster but 20 per cent dearer at £220."
Really now??
It seems Bit-tech obviously has never head of Aria,OcUK,Novatech,Ebuyer or Scan:
Yay, an angry comment, I was starting to think I'd lost my touch.
Note the wording of "on average" - not the absolute cheapy Mc Cheapest.
Plenty of those cards on one week only special discounts too. Pricing was correct at time of writing - It's not our fault AMD has responded (almost immediately) by dropping 7870 prices now is it?
Will be interesting to see how pricing shakes out though after the launch day furore. We're re-testing every card over the next few weeks in a new test system, along with a number of new game tests and additions (Skyrim high-res pack!, Witcher 2! SLI and CrossFire!), so there's room to come back and take another look then. Saying that, even at £200 the 7870 is 10 per cent dearer and seven per cent faster (overclocks not being factored in). All three cards (7850, 7870 660) are comparable bang for buck, it's just, from our numbers, that the 660 is most bangest for buckiest.
Saying that though, this is a bargain 7870 is ever there was one.
Most of those prices have been around for the last week or two and many are not one day special either.
Nothing angry,its just distorting the facts,by the reviews inflating the HD7870 price. If 25 HD7870 cards can be had in the UK for between £180 to £200,then that means £220 is not an average.
Its hardly surprising that the 660 beats the 7850, the 7850 has been out for around 6 months now. AMD has racked up enough sales by now to not care. I wouldn't be surprised if AMD do this to avoid competition (and likewise Nvidia), for half the year, one company gets the best GPUs. It'd be much easier for consumers if they just released their next generation at the same time :D
Originally Posted by Baz Yay, an angry comment, I was starting to think I'd lost my touch.
Note the wording of "on average" - not the absolute cheapy Mc Cheapest.
Plenty of those cards on one week only special discounts too. Pricing was correct at time of writing - It's not our fault AMD has responded (almost immediately) by dropping 7870 prices now is it?
Will be interesting to see how pricing shakes out though after the launch day furore. We're re-testing every card over the next few weeks in a new test system, along with a number of new game tests and additions (Skyrim high-res pack!, Witcher 2! SLI and CrossFire!), so there's room to come back and take another look then. Saying that, even at £200 the 7870 is 10 per cent dearer and seven per cent faster (overclocks not being factored in). All three cards (7850, 7870 660) are comparable bang for buck, it's just, from our numbers, that the 660 is most bangest for buckiest.
Saying that though, this is a bargain 7870 is ever there was one.
Wait, wut??????
Did I read that right, Bit-Tech are going to include SLI & Crossfire in their GPU tests?
Did hell freeze over whilst I wasn't looking or something?
Personally think its a waste of money, performance in bf3 is below the 60fps most people would want at 1080p.
You can buy a 580 second hand for £130 if your willing to its the card to buy. If your not willing to buy second hand then I'd still consider saving up some extra cash to 660ti levels.
Originally Posted by Hustler This card should be the £150 option and the 660Ti should have launched at the £180-£200 price point.
Sorry but this new generation of cards have been and still are ridiculously overpriced.
While this is something I'd agree with (680 and 7970 launching at £400+ instead of the £350ish in the past preserved for the high-end), You can only judge products against what they're on the market against. This card is about as fast as a GTX 570 , yet at £180 is £110 cheaper than when that card launched in Dec 2010. Ok, that's a £110 price drop over the space of close to 20 months, but it is at least a step forward; the market hasn't just sat there asking the same cash for the same performance.
Comments 1 to 25 of 58
ReplyGood price, good performance and in line with the market. Well done nV, for once.
EDIT: Stay tuned for a 650Ti?
Would make sense. Switch off 1/2 SMs on GK106 to fill that £90 gap.
In other news.
LOOK AT HOW CUTE THE GTX 650 IS!!! Here.
Slightly bigger than a postage stamp. Still needs something to fill the price gap between £100 and £180 mind.
Why it's dual slot I've no idea. Trying to get a sample for a follow-up next week.
That's adorable. Agreed on the confusion to dual-slot though, why? If the TDP is that low it shouldn't need that much cooling...
Also, Zotac make horribly ugly cards.
This is only a good thing for the consumer ;)
dunx
It all depends on just how good the 660 overclocks
A good R7870 can be pushed to 1,175MHz and 5,900MHz on core and memory, respectively...
And that's with no bump in voltage
dunx
We had our sample up to a base clock of 1,100MHz, Boosting upto 1,178Mhz, where it's then butting up against the 110% power limit that Nvidia looks to have set. The 7870 2GB is a great overclocker though. We have to make our assessments on the stock clocks though; OC cards and user OCs just muddy the water between cards too much.
Erm, 180mm in length is pretty small, iirc the 7870 2GB is actually a little larger, at least the stock one is.
True
I'd still go with the R7870 however as the 660 just seems to be a cut to far on an already over priced 660Ti
Care to expand on that statement? :)
Back on topic, with this at £180 and the 650 coming in at £90, it leaves a helluva gap to fill. Can we expect rapid price drops on the 660?
Re: the 650, I'd love to see a single slot card again - there's no way that needs such a chunky cooler.
Really now??
It seems Bit-tech obviously has never head of Aria,OcUK,Novatech,Ebuyer or Scan:
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/XFX+Core+Edition+Radeon+HD+7870+2048MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+%2B+5+FREE+Games!+?productId=52021
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/MSI+Radeon+HD+7870+OC+2048MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+%2B+1+FREE+Game!+?productId=51966
http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/VTX3D+Radeon+HD+7870+2048MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=50265
http://www.ebuyer.com/362481-msi-nvidia-amd-hd7870-oc-1050mhz-4800mhz-2048mb-256-bit-ddr5-twin-frozr-r7870tf-2gd5-oc
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-006-VX&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7870-core-edition-4800mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1000mhz-1280-cores-dl-dvi-hdmi-mdp-plus-5
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-051-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-296-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-157-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/atiradeongraphicscards/amdhd7870series/fx-787a-cnfc.html
That is the number of HD7870 cards I found froma few massive retailers in 5 minutes which were selling at between £180 ot £200.
Note the wording of "on average" - not the absolute cheapy Mc Cheapest.
Plenty of those cards on one week only special discounts too. Pricing was correct at time of writing - It's not our fault AMD has responded (almost immediately) by dropping 7870 prices now is it?
Will be interesting to see how pricing shakes out though after the launch day furore. We're re-testing every card over the next few weeks in a new test system, along with a number of new game tests and additions (Skyrim high-res pack!, Witcher 2! SLI and CrossFire!), so there's room to come back and take another look then. Saying that, even at £200 the 7870 is 10 per cent dearer and seven per cent faster (overclocks not being factored in). All three cards (7850, 7870 660) are comparable bang for buck, it's just, from our numbers, that the 660 is most bangest for buckiest.
Saying that though, this is a bargain 7870 is ever there was one.
Nothing angry,its just distorting the facts,by the reviews inflating the HD7870 price. If 25 HD7870 cards can be had in the UK for between £180 to £200,then that means £220 is not an average.
Wait, wut??????
Did I read that right, Bit-Tech are going to include SLI & Crossfire in their GPU tests?
Did hell freeze over whilst I wasn't looking or something?
Same reason this review included GTX 580, 570, 560, 460, HD 6970, 6950 and HD 6870 numbers.
Because you lot asked for it;)
You can buy a 580 second hand for £130 if your willing to its the card to buy. If your not willing to buy second hand then I'd still consider saving up some extra cash to 660ti levels.
Sorry but this new generation of cards have been and still are ridiculously overpriced.
While this is something I'd agree with (680 and 7970 launching at £400+ instead of the £350ish in the past preserved for the high-end), You can only judge products against what they're on the market against. This card is about as fast as a GTX 570 , yet at £180 is £110 cheaper than when that card launched in Dec 2010. Ok, that's a £110 price drop over the space of close to 20 months, but it is at least a step forward; the market hasn't just sat there asking the same cash for the same performance.
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