Radeon HD 7000 Revealed: AMD to Mix GCN with VLIW4 & VLIW5 Architectures

[largon]

Oh, no...
I've contracted the upgrade itch.
*searches for anti-itch medication*

[DilTech]

Oh, no...
I've contracted the upgrade itch.
*searches for anti-itch medication*

Haha, I've had the upgrade itch for a minute now. I just haven't seen anything worth-while of replacing my GTX 460 yet. I was going to snag a 6950 2gb but its tessellation performance held my hand from hitting the "continue" button on newegg.

If there's one lesson I've learned in my decades of PC gaming, it's not to buy hardware that has an apparent hardware deficiency. Learned that one during OpenGL's hey-day when ATi barely supported it. Same reason I bought a 9800pro (although I did get a 5900 just to flash and toy with for a lil bit before selling it for a profit). If a card has an obvious performance flaw, I won't buy it in fear that a game I end up wanting exposes that weakness. When that happens, it usually loses to the other sides card in the price segment below it, and I end up rather annoyed.

Going off the news on both cards so far, neither camp should have an obvious flaw this time around. One of the big reasons I'm so excited this generation! Notice I haven't had anything but good to say about both camps upcoming products for the first time in years?

p.s. The cure for the upgrade itch is simple... Take care of a child.

[largon]

Yeah, Bulldozer turning out as it did I missed my long-anticipated fix...
Think it's better this way, though. Saves dough for reallife.

p.s. The cure for the upgrade itch is simple... Take care of a child.

As it happens, I think I know that actually works. Too bad the other things didn't work out...
*sigh*

[DilTech]

Yeah, Bulldozer turning out as it did I missed my long-anticipated fix...
Think it's better this way, though. Saves dough for reallife.
As it happens, I think I know that actually works. Too bad the other things didn't work out...
*sigh*

Bulldozer definitely held off my upgrade plan as well, as I'm probably going to give my present system (q6600 & GTX460) to my woman now that I've spoiled her with the world of PC gaming.

I found out that the kid thing works without planning it, I've taken on the daddy role for my deceased friend's 4 year old. Definitely took a major hit on the wallet in the process, so I only upgrade if it's something truly special and I know it'll last quite some time if I can't swing another big upgrade for awhile.

[largon]

DilTech,
He is 4 years, too. "Active" little bugger, that one.

[kaktus1907]

going cheaper €625



http://www.comcom.nl/p/asus/default_...errer/hardware

[Dami3n]

The final launch price will be around 500 euros, at least the Sapphire model.

[DilTech]

Sounds like AMD plan on making every dollar they can muster this round. Makes me wonder what the 28nm yields are like.

[Pantsu]

It would still be a better deal if you would get a 7950 for 400€ since 580 is around 450€ here. But for next gen the price/performance would be pitiful, if 7970 really is only 20% faster than 580.

[flyck]

It would still be a better deal if you would get a 7950 for 400€ since 580 is around 450€ here. But for next gen the price/performance would be pitiful, if 7970 really is only 20% faster than 580.

Please stop with the if only 20% yekker yekker it is pitifull. Its a new design that needs new drivers, its developped with openCL in mind and less with gaming. So wait untill you know all parameters to judge...

[kaktus1907]

Its a new design that needs new drivers, its developped with openCL in mind and less with gaming. So wait untill you know all parameters to judge...

better wait for 3 months and see what nVidia's got in their hands and see how much AMD gonna improve their drivers by that time..
personally i would never wait for magical drivers..

[Zoran]

AMD usually prices their parts according to their performance, so I think such high prices are a good sign. Plus, because of the architecture change, I believe the driver optimizations will be a a lot easier and faster... We shall see in 4 days or so.

[LordEC911]

Sounds like AMD plan on making every dollar they can muster this round. Makes me wonder what the 28nm capacity are like.

Fixed that for you... Yields are better then early 40nm ramp. Capacity, back when the first 28nm cards went into product, that is a different matter but December sounds good.
Another AMD launch may be pushed up a bit, compared to what rumors previously have been saying.

[UNTAMED]

Please stop with the if only 20% yekker yekker it is pitifull. Its a new design that needs new drivers, its developped with openCL in mind and less with gaming. So wait untill you know all parameters to judge...

-I agree with you , people are buying 580's and their off springs[+5%] at a lot higher prices over the cheaper 6970 for 10-15% better fps.so even at min.+ 20% over a 580 people will buy it.
-but amd will and has left a lot of money on the table with their small chip gpu's ,as one person said it cheapens their high volume sku's.= lower profit.

[omega1alpha]

Ideally this card should take GTX580 price spot over and push competing products down, not create new higher price tag.

That's the problem these days. It won't happen. AMD has been increasing prices since the 5870. Gone are the days of getting something like a 4870 for $300 or 4890 for under $200 on release. I really don't think it's just because of the performance bracket. Nvidia is notorious for insane high end pricing and most justify it for the 15% or so performance increase over AMD. It's comical when idiot fanboys justify based on the cost to manufacture. AMD is almost as bad these days. AMD is now comfortable jacking up the new higher price tag on it's new cards. It seems like the 7970 will be closer to the $500 range and the next competing Nvida product will probably be closer to $600. Absolutely pathetic. What you people do with your money is your own business, but come on. I can afford it, but can't justify it. Regardless, AMD should have released this before the end of the holiday season. Global economic indicators aren't looking pretty for next year. People might not have the cash or credit to buy this stuff anymore....

[bill_d]

no reason to get work up till i see the price at newegg, just went through this with my 3930k and the pre-launch price gouging uk sites

that said i paid 525 first day for a x1950xtx

[Iconyu]

Sounds like AMD plan on making every dollar they can muster this round. Makes me wonder what the 28nm yields are like.

To be fair the 79*0's are shipping with 3GB of ram as standard, the core isn't small, and the PCB will have more traces and probably more layers.

[Lanek]

Sounds like AMD plan on making every dollar they can muster this round. Makes me wonder what the 28nm yields are like.

yield are excellent right now... but the TSMC capacity will maybe let down us .. ( for price ) ..... seriously, Samsung should give some of their unit to TSMC next time. ( and i dont bring the name of Samsung for nothing there, it seems some discussion are beginning between thoses 2 )

[kn00tcn]

AMD has been increasing prices since the 5870. Gone are the days of getting something like a 4870 for $300 or 4890 for under $200 on release. I really don't think it's just because of the performance bracket.

-a 5970 & 6990 arent fully clocked 2x5870s or 2x6970s the way a 4870x2 was, hence the dual gpu price is not double that of the single gpus
-5870 is a tad slower than a 4870x2 assuming good scaling & it launched at like $400 was it? 4870x2 would still be hanging around $500-600 at that time

sounds exactly like the performance brackets & it kinda has the 6800 series making perfect sense, generates a new cheaper bracket that the 4870 & 4850 once had, without being too weak midrange

(also the vram is jacking up the price too, along with new features like varying load states, dual bioses, opencl stuff, tesselation)

[tajoh111]

Amd has always wanted to jack up the price. They wanted to last generation but could not do it due to competition. No way amd wanted to give twice the memory and make among there biggest ever for them and charge slightly less than their predecessor. I still believe amd went for the new worse naming scheme in an effort to justify higher prices in their lineup. If the gtx 580 and 570 didn't show up, I have a feeling amd would have charged at least 100 dollars higher for the 69xx series. The 6970 was meant to compete at 499 with the gtx 480. I think amd will finally get to do what they wanted because of the lack of competition. Decent business savy but amd will be losing it value proposition compared to earlier generations.

[ajaidev]

In terms of performance :

79XX>=580 and costs less its a good deal due to better thermals than 580 and the fact that 780 is far off. The GK104 might be released first and it is suppose to be faster than the 580. Thus GK104 might crush 7970 but only if its out within a few weeks after 7970.

[Vipeax]

You should stop discussing the prices that the webshops in our country (yes, I'm Dutch) are putting online, based on absolutely nothing, which they do every release again. How often has Salland been in the news before? Indeed, too often.
Heck, how often did we pay this for a 6970?

Indeed, we did not.

[kaktus1907]

http://translate.google.com/translate?langpair=auto|en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dona nimhaber.com%2Fekran-karti%2Fhaberleri%2Fiste-AMD-Radeon-HD-7900-serisi-icin-alti-cizilen-ana-ozellikler.htm

[DeathReborn]

Sounds like AMD plan on making every dollar they can muster this round. Makes me wonder what the 28nm yields are like.

Judging by how gloomy the Euro's future looks, that price in Euro's may have to go up to keep pace with the dollar.

Saying that, I'll take 2 on launch day for £500 each give or take a few quid, been putting off this upgrade round for a year now... poxy BD... poxy delayed IB...

[kaktus1907]

http://translate.google.com/translate?langpair=auto|en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dona nimhaber.com%2Fekran-karti%2Fhaberleri%2FAMDden-Nvidiaya-gonderme-Coklu-GPU-enerji-verimliliginde-acik-ara-ondeyiz.htm