AMD HD6950/HD6970 1GB in a few weeks (the people's high end gpu)

[cold2010]

http://www.hisdigital.com/ca/product2-589.shtml

[Sesto Sento]

Oh the eternal spiral again.

G110 is near 45% bigger in die size.
They could've tried with 40nm? Yes. They wanted to do it? No.
They gain a lot of marketshare in the process.


Bang for buck is also good in the high-end when possible. 4870 instantly hurt 260/280 sales with some much effect that some partners decided to return $$ to their customers after the drastic price-cuts of the 280. So yes, bang for buck matters. You don't gain nothing with the godzilla chip for bragging rights, especially at gpu's where people are not that zombie-tamed by the likes of intel(cpu). Either of the two can win the marketshare wars.



Since this is all about the 1GB chips:

Sapphire HD6950 1GB is already on pre-order (1-2weeks for shipping)
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=28390

245euros


US prices:
$260-270

If this confirms to be true, thats quite an amazing price
Since here in Portugal, the 6870's cost from 220€ to 260€ and the 6950's 2GB go from 290€ to 330€.

This without a doubt will bring the 6870's prices down

[Lanek]

If this confirms to be true, thats quite an amazing price
Since here in Portugal, the 6870's cost from 220€ to 260€ and the 6950's 2GB go from 290€ to 330€.

This without a doubt will bring the 6870's prices down

If this price is correct, this can mean a nice price wars between 560 and 6950 1gb..... ( if the 560 match 6950 1gb in games, it's not the score of vantage
and Unigine who will be an indication about it, 2 benchs where Fermi Overperform easely the 6xxxx)

You are right, I don't know what AMD wished, I just know they should try to take the crown. Everybody else has done it in high-end, as far as I know.

Anyways, I hope 6990 can deliver. I would like to see something (anything) that can challenge 580, and start a good price-war from the top.

Nobody is perfect, and I may be wrong too sometimes, I'm just expressing my ideas, and respect others who mean that was the plan!

AMD wishes and what they was able to do or want to do in 40nm is surely a lot different of what they wanted to do with Cayman in 32nm...

[Manicdan]

i almost jumped on a deal for a 6950 from tiger direct for 280$, minus 5% due to discovercard cash back, then a 10$ rebate on top (plus 7.70 shipping) it would have been 273$, so hopefully with a sale i can see these 1GB cards at 230$ on sale, no way i can resist that deal

also its good to see the reduced board size and custom heatsink finally.

[Alex-Ro]

+1 i hope to see a dual-fan variant from gigabyte,silenced and good clocker

[Sam_oslo]

If 6950 1GB lands on 230$ +/- range, as some are suggesting here, then that's a really good start.

Depending on the nVidias next move to counter these, which can be a new GPU (maybe something like 565?), or a good price-cut on 570, or maybe depending on the price and performance of upcoming 560. we may see a really good price-war in the midrange. Then we can expect falling prices and good sales/deals in both camps, pretty fast.

I still wish AMD could make a move to break the high-end prices tho. Lets hope that happens with a competitive and on-time 6990, soon.

[Manicdan]

i doubt we would see 230$ cards as a start.

260$ is fair launch price
add in a few months of price cuts and were down to 230$

300$ for a 5870 is still lol funny

[Sam_oslo]

Yeah, I also think 230$ is a bit too good to be true. But if it doesn't get too much higher, it will push nVidia into aggressive mode.

nVidia will have no choice, and have to counter these "cheap" 1GBs. That will be the start of a good price-war in midrange.

[Manicdan]

yes, a very good price war we so could use right now
the lower the price of 40nm, the better the price 28nm upgrades will have to be.

[Sam_oslo]

Yeah, but I'm afraid the 28nm-prices wouldn't be affected of this mid-range price-war. If something can affect it, it would be the high-end prices.

When high-end prices breaks, it may affect the next-gen prices too, hopefully. But, it will ripple down and break the midrange for sure. The opposite is not the case.

[Manicdan]

well im thinking of the 4770 version of 28nm, basically a 6970 that uses 100W and is ~200mm2
after that comes the big toys that might show up 4 months later for +500$ and will have to bring the 6970/580 to sub 300$ first. or about a 25$ price drop every month until late summer early/mid fall. so mid ranges need to come down 15$ a month, every month, which would be awesome compared to the prices of 2010, lol.

[Nintendork]

At the time of launch 4770 was the ephitome of power efficiency, low temps and noise (just with the reference cooling). This cards deserves a worthy successor.

A slap in the face to any other gpu. Dirt cheap.

[Mungri]

300$ for a 5870 is still lol funny

MSI Hawk 5850s are at £154 now (they were at £149 a week ago):

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=56&subcat=411

And 5870s are £169:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...56&subcat=1502

Awesome buys, I should have waited longer before buying my 460s at £180 each

At the time of launch 4770 was the ephitome of power efficiency, low temps and noise (just with the reference cooling). This cards deserves a worthy successor.

the 4770, 5770, GTX 460, and now the 6950 are right up there as truly awesome bang for buck cards. The fact that 6950s can be unlocked and have dual bios makes them even more desirable.

[zpaf]

Where is the switch for dual bios ?


http://www.hisdigital.com/ca/product2-589.shtml

[BababooeyHTJ]

the 4770, 5770, GTX 460, and now the 6950 are right up there as truly awesome bang for buck cards. The fact that 6950s can be unlocked and have dual bios makes them even more desirable.

When was 5770 an awesome bang for your buck card. DX11 support aside it's not any faster than 4870 and up until recently was always more expensive.

[jeremyshaw]

Where is the switch for dual bios ?


http://www.hisdigital.com/ca/product2-589.shtml

If it's a nonref board, it's likely not going to have one.

[ohnoitseddy]

Yes, HD69xx are disappointing products, indeed! Bang for the buck is good, but that's in mainstream. The high-end is all about the crown!. That's why you have a gig price-gap between 6970 vs 6950, and 580 vs 570. That's why, 10% more performance costs you 30% more price in high-end, ruffly. This is so clear and obvious that I shouldn't waste time on explaining it.

This doesn't mean HD69xx is a total waste, but don't tell me "bang for the buck" was the plan. AMD tried, but underestimated the flexibility of Fermi-architecture.
As I've said before the release of these round, since they both were using the same old 40nm node, the flexibility of their architecture would deside the outcome. AMD wished, and tried too, with a couple of delays too, but couldn't beat nVidia.

Did you read the articles? Of course I realise there's higher margins on high end parts, that's obvious indeed. But in spite of this AMD chose not to make a 550 mm^2 goliath chip, even if it could have, even if they'd sell it for more. If you want to know why, just read the articles and it'll all become clear. Then at least we have the same info to depart from - makes for a better conversation.

[marten_larsson]

the 4770, 5770, GTX 460, and now the 6950 are right up there as truly awesome bang for buck cards. The fact that 6950s can be unlocked and have dual bios makes them even more desirable.

You really should have both the 4870 and the 4850 on that list...

[cobra_kai]

Any word on whether the 1 GB 6950s will be unlockable to 6970s like the 2 GB versions?

[Nintendork]

Probably not. Let's wait anyway.

[DarthShader]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/d...ice_Point.html

HD6970 1GB at 279$ - 20$ cheaper than a HD6950 2GB. I guess those will be indeed EOLed.

[Manicdan]

wow a 6970 lower in price than a 6950 just cause of ram

something sounds a little off there, unless those 2GB really do make that much of a difference in performance

[cold2010]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/d...ice_Point.html

HD6970 1GB at 279$ - 20$ cheaper than a HD6950 2GB. I guess those will be indeed EOLed.

AMD Radeon HD 6950 1GB to launch soon, SEP $279

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33972935

[Nintendork]

For high res / eyefinity HD6970 1GB doesn't stand a chance against the 2GB 6950(min fps will sink with a 1GB card).


Xbit got a typo unless 6950 1GB comes first and then do a price-cut in feb + 6970 1GB release.

[Elfear]

wow a 6970 lower in price than a 6950 just cause of ram

something sounds a little off there, unless those 2GB really do make that much of a difference in performance

It makes a big difference at 2560x1600 and above. Check out the minimum frames in Crysis with Crossfire/SLI (Anandtech has some good charts). Those systems with 1GB of vram tank hard.

At lower resolutions though the 1GB models are a very good deal.