ATI Radeon HD 5870 Architecture Analysis

I really like how it consumes alot less power, while increasing performance in leaps and strides. The DX11 is sure to increase this performance even more when it is implemented in games.

Nice article, look forward to seeing the 5850 review :)

Can anybody from Bit-tech or the community recommend a guide to all the technical information in this article. I am really interested about how GPUs function and after Page 8 it makes very little sense(and I'm a Physicist) to me as you assume a very large amount of technical knowledge and it would be helpful if you linked what these parts of the GPU actually do on a more basic level first.

Many thanks,

Isitari.

cards are available on pre-order for under £300, while Novatech has a HIS card in stock for £306.99 inc VAT

Overclockers have a bunch of the Sapphire Cards in stock at under £300 as of now http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-214-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1502

Just purchased one :)

All I can say is thank you ATI, Im tired of having to get bigger more power hungry graphics cards and large psu ~_~, thank you ATI for actually refining the cards and making them more efficient.

Why hasn't AMD released any Evergreen die shots >:(

Originally Posted by Rotcrack
I really like how it consumes a lot less power, while increasing performance in leaps and strides.

+1

I suppose more demanding games are just around the corner, but graphics cards are currently extremely powerful for the resolutions most people game at.

I would like a little extra effort to start lowering power consumption like AMD and Intel have been doing with CPUs and chipsets, and even other component manufacturers.
And although I'd love to be able to say I'd go for the lower power option, the truth probably is that I'd really go for the bang-for-buck performance card and ignore power consumption unless it was stupidly high. Like I did with my last graphics card. :(

I'm realy intrested about the heat and noise of the HD5870 Eyefinity Edition. Theoretically ti must have better resulrs then the simpe HD5870, because it haves twice the exhaust mesh, so the air can get out more easily.

very nice article.. objective and well written thanks tim =]

less power, more frames, good aa.. nvidia is probably shakin in they boots trying to jerry rig something up.. dunno how they can beat <30w idle :D

Originally Posted by Isitari
Can anybody from Bit-tech or the community recommend a guide to all the technical information in this article. I am really interested about how GPUs function and after Page 8 it makes very little sense(and I'm a Physicist) to me as you assume a very large amount of technical knowledge and it would be helpful if you linked what these parts of the GPU actually do on a more basic level first.

Many thanks,

Isitari.

tim or bindi could probably help you out there.. probably pick up the ati christmas, lookin at lucid too

http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/pitw/hamster-wheel.jpg + http://pantsinacan.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/kash_money.jpg

Despite all the promise of Eyefinity I'm still a little leery because of my experience with the 4870.

Will the version with 2 DVI ports support spanned mode on my 2 TripleHead2Go units in XP, Vista & 7? My 260GTX works but only in XP because Vista killed that driver feature.:( The 4870 I had couldn't do even that.

BTW, thanks for the in depth article - always a strength of Bit-Tech.

Thanks for the article.

Very nice article, Tim! Hope you've been counting plenty of electric sheep jumping over a stile after that lot.

Does any of this advancement, like Eyefinity, have benifits for the military ? I have no clue what technology goes into their simulators so just wondering.

Originally Posted by frontline
Overclockers have a bunch of the Sapphire Cards in stock at under £300 as of now http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-214-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1502

Just purchased one :)

Holy crap I am glad I don't live in the UK. How does the price jump up from $380 in the us to roughly $480 in the UK? At $380 I might buy this card but at the UK price I can't imagine it being worth it to buy it now, though I guess people who are picking this card up aren't worried about the price.

One word: The ATI Radeon HD 5870 X2 !!!!!

The card reviewed here is King of the Hill, but he is merely the Herald for a whole new level of obsession, X2!!!!

6 monitors!!! thousands of pixels by thousands of pixels!! Immersion!!!

All hail AMD/ATI !!!!

This card (5870) will be great for people who want a mid to high end card, but verily I say unto you, the Messiah is the 5870x2!!!

I am looking forward to Samsungs bezel-free monitors.

*Goes to calculator and madly figures out how many pixels 6 monitors will yield*

Muhahaha!!!

Yours in Delirious Eyefinity Plasma,
Star*Dagger

I think you'll have to wait until Nvidia makes something to create a decent final verdict.

Its very good article. But we have to wait for nVidia's directX 11 compatible cards as elton said in above post. Unfortunately they've not launched DX10.1 cards also. Anybody thinks that purchasing ATI card will work fine with games having nVidia's physX support.

Originally Posted by Elton
I think you'll have to wait until Nvidia makes something to create a decent final verdict.

Exactly. Come Black Friday, nVidia should have their beasties out and the price war should drive prices of the single-GPU flagships nearer to $300.
Then the value/performance equation will decide a winner. By then we ought to have a fresh round of benches on DX11 software (Win7) and games as well.

Originally Posted by zelachang

Quote:

Originally Posted by frontline
Overclockers have a bunch of the Sapphire Cards in stock at under £300 as of now http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-214-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1502

Just purchased one :)

Holy crap I am glad I don't live in the UK. How does the price jump up from $380 in the us to roughly $480 in the UK? At $380 I might buy this card but at the UK price I can't imagine it being worth it to buy it now, though I guess people who are picking this card up aren't worried about the price.

Unfortunately we always end up paying over-inflated prices on PC components over here, at least on new hardware. The GTX 280 was retailing at an average price of £340 in July 2008 (according to BT's graphics card roundup in July 08). A bit of competition will no doubt drive the price down, although the VAT rate is going back up to 17.5% as of Jan 2010....

Thanks Thehippoz :D

Isitari.

what the hell is 'brilinear'?

Originally Posted by iggy2k
what the hell is 'brilinear'?

Two and a half times... ;)

Originally Posted by iggy2k
what the hell is 'brilinear'?

It's a hybrid between bilinear and trilinear filtering that was popularised by GeForceFX

Originally Posted by Elton
I think you'll have to wait until Nvidia makes something to create a decent final verdict.

I won't, it's decided, this card will follow in my 3870's footsteps.

Defo. not 'min-blowing' ;)