The ATI Radeon 5XXX Thread

[jaredpace]

jared - Thanks for the graphs.

I'm starting to think this 30W idle is BS. I mean how will they(AMD) do that?

well i updated the post because the hexus and anand numbers were of "total system" consumption. Xbit has numbers from the actual cards.

looks like rv770 consumes about 70w-80w idle, the revised rv790 about 45w idle, and the rv870 25w-30w idle (according to rumors). Sounds possible, 15 to 20 watts less than a 4890 or gtx260.

[FischOderAal]

I'm starting to think this 30W idle is BS. I mean how will they(AMD) do that?

The biggest power-hog wasn't the GPU but the GDDR5. You could save much energy when you downclock the RAM down to 200 MHz. IIrc the consumption decreased by 20 Watt in IDLE after downclocking.

Just great. A graphics card using more power at idle than my computer comsumes at full load.

That's why you should always have a notebook to surf teh interwebz and do office-tasks. I don't want to know how many do such things with a i7... Energy-costs don't seem to be high enough me thinks

[jaredpace]

Im wondering if a 5870 can consume 180-190w, how much can a 5870x2 pull? 360w? I was under the impression they couldn't exceed 300watts with 150 from the 8-pin, 75w from the pci-e power lanes, and 75w from the 6-pin. I mean a gtx295 consumes a little more than 2 55nm gtx260's and a 4870x2 consumes 2x a 4870. So i think they're going over 300watts unless they have some magic going on in the 5870x2. Maybe ati has increased transistor efficiency with the 40nm, but that doesn't explain the 5870 max of 180w!!?!

[Smartidiot89]

--cards: 4850 4870 3870X2 GTX280 9800GX2 9800GTX+ 9800GTX
Idle load 123 --149 ---119 --- 127 ----174 ---- N/A ----- 141
Full load 203 --229 ---289 --- 279 ----313 ---- N/A ----- 223

Edit: Actual card consumption here:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...c_5.html#sect0

A 4890 is slightly less than a 48701gb at idle ~ 45 watts. The anandtech graphs (that i first posted) are total system power consumption. So you have a 4890 @ 43w idle, 121w load, both hexus, xbit, and anand agree the rv770/790 uses ~80w going from 2d-> 3d. And now supposedly, the 5870 @ 30w idle & 195w load (165w between 2d->3d!). Maybe they've fixed the deal with the ram's idle power draw?
Edit again: 80watts for running 800 shaders and 160 watts for 1600?

40nm and improved architecture

[Helloworld_98]

Im wondering if a 5870 can consume 180-190w, how much can a 5870x2 pull? 360w? I was under the impression they couldn't exceed 300watts with 150 from the 8-pin, 75w from the pci-e power lanes, and 75w from the 6-pin. I mean a gtx295 consumes a little more than 2 55nm gtx260's and a 4870x2 consumes 2x a 4870. So i think they're going over 300watts unless they have some magic going on in the 5870x2. Maybe ati has increased transistor efficiency with the 40nm, but that doesn't explain the 5870 max of 180w!!?!

the 5870 x2 will probably consume about 325w if each 5870 uses 180-190w since the PCB uses a fair chunk of that amount.

and I'm going to guess that the 5870 X2 will have dual 8 pin connectors like the ASUS MARS.

[annihilat0r]

about that 5870 card and its SPs....

I don't understand why everyone takes it for granted that the 5800s will have 1600 sps each... Don't forget that the 4800s were rumored to be 320sp and turned out to be 800. I think the reverse of that might just happen here. And still no numbers from any sources makes me think that this card won't live up to the GTX 295-killing hype, I won't be surprised if that's the case, in fact I'll be surprised if 5870 can pull within %10 performance of GTX 295

I'll buy it anyway.

[Helloworld_98]

about that 5870 card and its SPs....

I don't understand why everyone takes it for granted that the 5800s will have 1600 sps each... Don't forget that the 4800s were rumored to be 320sp and turned out to be 800. I think the reverse of that might just happen here. And still no numbers from any sources makes me think that this card won't live up to the GTX 295-killing hype, I won't be surprised if that's the case, in fact I'll be surprised if 5870 can pull within %10 performance of GTX 295

I'll buy it anyway.

there's also rumours about 1200SP's and 2000SP's but the general consensus is that no matter how many SP's it has, it's going to make up for it in clock speed.

[Chumbucket843]

there's also rumours about 1200SP's and 2000SP's but the general consensus is that no matter how many SP's it has, it's going to make up for it in clock speed.

the problem with this will be the heat. look at the 4890. the power density on it is insane.

[Miwo]

I'm looking forward to seeing what the 4770 replacement specs will be. Hopefully at least 256bit bus this time around

[orangekiwii]

I'm looking forward to launch. Period.

[spursindonesia]

I'm looking forward to seeing what the 4770 replacement specs will be. Hopefully at least 256bit bus this time around

Not gonna happen, if Cypress only gets 256 bit mem interface buswidth, 128 bit for mainstream will stay. We can expect faster mem ICs though, such as 5 Gbps chip to replace the older 4 Gbps one used in RV740.

[Chickenfeed]

Im wondering if a 5870 can consume 180-190w, how much can a 5870x2 pull? 360w? [/IMG]

Dual 8pin perhaps? I wouldn't be surprised but I'm hoping they don't use much more than the current gpus if not at all.

[LordEC911]

At launch, PowerPlay was broken with the RV770 core only downclocking to 500MHz. Now, even RV790 downclocks to 240MHz and I assume that ATI made changes to idle state definitions through driver updates.

Dave Baumann begs to differ, PowerPlay was not "broken" at launch.

The biggest power-hog wasn't the GPU but the GDDR5. You could save much energy when you downclock the RAM down to 200 MHz. IIrc the consumption decreased by 20 Watt in IDLE after downclocking.

That's why you should always have a notebook to surf teh interwebz and do office-tasks. I don't want to know how many do such things with a i7... Energy-costs don't seem to be high enough me thinks

Also, it wasn't just the GDDR5 ICs but also the memory controllers, since the individual ICs simply couldn't be consuming such large amounts of wattage.

Edit- There was talk of no PCI-e stickers if they go over the 300w TDP, so it doesn't look like something AMD/ATi themselves will be doing anytime soon.

[Hornet331]

Dave Baumann begs to differ, PowerPlay was not "broken" at launch.

So it just sucked...

Even worse, especial it was very impressive with the R600 and totaly sucked with R700...

[Manicdan]

Edit- There was talk of no PCI-e stickers if they go over the 300w TDP, so it doesn't look like something AMD/ATi themselves will be doing anytime soon.

explain this to me pls, i have no idea what your mean by stickers

[jaredpace]

maybe he means if it pulls over 300watts it cant be certified as a safe "genuine" PCI-e peripheral in the labs, and it doesn't get the pci-e sticker on the box? lol I dunno.

[LordEC911]

explain this to me pls, i have no idea what your mean by stickers

http://www.pcisig.com/specifications...ower_graphics/

To be able to make your product PCI-e "compatible" you have to meet certain requirements/specifications set forth by PCI-Sig.

[Manicdan]

so if its over 300W, does it void your warranty if you blow up your mobo

[FischOderAal]

Also, it wasn't just the GDDR5 ICs but also the memory controllers, since the individual ICs simply couldn't be consuming such large amounts of wattage.

Ah Thanks for clearing things up!

[Tim]

Everyday I check back here. With 2 days to go, and no real leaks it's quite incredible.

I don't think we've ever seen a more closely guarded launch!

[eric66]

wth its annoying i want some benchs

[largon]

so if its over 300W, does it void your warranty if you blow up your mobo

No, because the motherboard has hardly anything to do with the power consumption of a GPU. That is, as long as the card has an external power source the wattage the PCIe slot delivers is never used to feed the GPU, but rather those secondary loads like VRAM and onboard 3rd party chips that combined draw something like 20-50W.

[zalbard]

Someone should spill some beans, seriously!
Where are all those people saying "What is NDA? LOL!"?!

[T.Goat]

What are the chances that the 5870/nVidia equivalent will be the last card you need for 1680x1050 until something big changes? I know we're close with the GTX275/4890.

[flopper]

What are the chances that the 5870/nVidia equivalent will be the last card you need for 1680x1050 until something big changes? I know we're close with the GTX275/4890.

5870 be enuff for 1920x1200 for a long time.