AMD Radeon 7000-Series 28nm (Southern Islands) | 7990 7970 7870 7770 | Discussion

[DarkKnightDude]

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...rossfire-performance-review-introduction.html
Crossfire!

Nice find.

That's some crazy framerates. The 6990 and the 590 are getting left behind lol.

EDIT: Crossfire 5760x1080, min FPS of 50ish O.O

 

[Udgnim]

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...rossfire-performance-review-introduction.html
Crossfire!

no idea why the reviewer is using PhysX in the Arkham City benchmark

 

[Vesku]

Not amazing but solid, have to keep in mind drivers will mature and once you flip the switch to break the PCI-E power spec it OCs well. I won't plop down $550 for it but it seems GCN architecture is decently executed. Didn't see much griping on GTX 580 pricing, and I believe that's roughly 20-30% faster than 570 and 6970. Will be funny if NVIDIA holds the 580 at ~$400 because I would expect the pricing posts will die down at that point. If NVIDIA drops 580 MSRP by $75-100 be sure to post a thank you to AMD if you buy one, I know it would tempt me if I was still on a 450/5830 class card.

 

[3DVagabond]

Everyone's comparing prices with the 580 1.5 gig. How about the 580 3gig? That's actually the comparable card.

That aside, I am a bit disappointed in the overall performance. From skimming through a few reviews it does seem to be suffering from raw drivers. Worse than typical even for new cards. We might see some decent driver performance improvements. Another ~10% would help a lot, IMO.

I wouldn't mind a bit lower price too, but it is what it is. Hopefully supply won't stay low for too long.

 

[skipsneeky2]

I am prob one of the few looking forward to purchasing this card.

Lower power consumption then a gtx570 by 20 watts better then gtx580 performance.

Wanted to buy a gtx580 soon but didn't wanna replace my 600 watt psu being a mid range unit and 7000 series was so close.

7970 comes along with lower then gtx570 consumption its a win win and besides spending $570 on a gtx580 and new psu i could spend $550 and get a efficient card capable of running on my psu without replacing it.

Will purchase one in feb so supply should be a bit more widespread and the card can have a driver release or two prior to purchase

 

[Silverforce11]

Okay I'm sold. Gonna get it when its available and do this:

With such low power use, and plenty of OC headroom, it's going to be hard to beat for a mITX setup.

 

[Saico]

People should not forget that this card with 2048 SPs was supposed to be released a year ago on 32 nm. It would've trumped gtx580 back then.

Well that's why I'm pleased with AMD releasing it so early - this means they have a refresh in the works and if they pull off a card with +20% more prefomance by the end of 2012 - this will successfully counter Kepler or whatever Nvidia might release.

 

[toyota]

People should not forget that this card with 2048 SPs was supposed to be released a year ago on 32 nm. It would've trumped gtx580 back then.

Well that's why I'm pleased with AMD releasing it so early - this means they have a refresh in the works and if they pull off a card with +20% more prefomance by the end of 2012 - this will successfully counter Kepler or whatever Nvidia might release.

this is a different architecture than would have been released. also nvidia would have used 32nm too you know.

 

[Saico]

this is a different architecture than would have been released. also nvidia would have used 32nm too you know.

It's the same architecture they were planning to release a year ago, they just tinkered a little with it.

And it's not like 580 would've benefit a lot from 32nm. Just less heat/power consumption.

 

[toyota]

It's the same architecture they were planning to release a year ago, they just tinkered a little with it.

And it's not like 580 would've benefit a lot from 32nm. Just less heat/power consumption.

the 6970 uses the same architecture that would have been released on 32nm. the 7970 uses GCN which is not what the 6970 uses or would have used even on 32nm.

and lets use common sense here.the 7970 is only 20-25% faster than a gtx580. at 32nm and using the 6970 architecture it would have been at least 10% less. so do you actully think Nvidia could not have pulled 10-15% or more performance out of a gtx580 being shrunk to 32nm?

 

[Saico]

the 6970 uses the same architecture that would have been released on 32nm. the 7970 uses GCN which is not what the 6970 uses or would have used even on 32nm.

and lets use common sense here.the 7970 is only 20-25% faster than a gtx580. at 32nm and using the 6970 architecture it would have been at least 10% less. so do you actully think Nvidia could not have pulled 10-15% or more performance out of a gtx580 being shrunk to 32nm?

I completely disagree with the first statement(Semiaccurate have written about SI/NI story like 2 years ago. Read it if you're interested) and I'm fine with the second one(580 being on par with GCN 6970 on 32nm).

 

[HurleyBird]

Seems to me like GCN is architecturally solid, but needed to be scaled up in terms of die size to Fermi-like proportions to deliver next gen performance. Since that didn't happen, we're stuck with a product that feels like it's only half of a generation ahead of the curve.

Two biggest thoughts for me are:

-Per/transistor is a bit lower for games than Cayman, but there appears to be quite a bit higher efficiency for compute.

-Too freaking loud. Although I imgaine a tweaked fan profile could help there.

 

[Arkadrel]

Price drop of their gtx580 to around $399 and problem solved.

$150 cheaper with about 15% less performance i think most will consider the gtx580 over the 7970.

Still a crazy few like myself who may still want the 7970 and could afford it:biggrin:

The problem with that is the 580 is a 520mm^2 chip.
The 7970 is only 365mm^2.

Im guessing that the 580 costs alot more to make, lowering its price that much would probably mean nvidia would be make alot less on them.
I think nvidia would prefer to keep them around the 500$ range, even if they sell less of them.

 

[maddie]

The problem with that is the 580 is a 520mm^2 chip.
The 7970 is only 365mm^2.

Im guessing that the 580 costs alot more to make, lowering its price that much would probably mean nvidia would be make alot less on them.
I think nvidia would prefer to keep them around the 500$ range, even if they sell less of them.

Because of 28nm vs 40nm, it's probably slightly more expensive for the 7870 right now, but will decline over time. 580GTX is not going to get cheaper to produce.

 

[Olikan]

i am in the mixed feelings right now.
i was expecting a solid +40% more than a 580.
but yeah, it's in the TPD wall....

TSMC fault here, the problem is that affects nvidia

WOW, i just saw the [H] review in 5040x1050
this card is a eyefinity monster!

NOW i saw the overclockers review...again in 5040x1050
it's beating a 6990 Oo

 

[lavaheadache]

Okay I'm sold. Gonna get it when its available and do this:

With such low power use, and plenty of OC headroom, it's going to be hard to beat for a mITX setup.

That's sexy

 

[Arkadrel]

@SilverForce11

I have a small case fetish,.... I demand to know what case that is!
F..ing brilliant you just cut out that small peice to make room for a card

 

[Lonbjerg]

apoppin's original preview seems to be spot on and based on the way this thing overclocks they might have a new SKU out to combat Keplar.

A lot of posters here own him an appology...realy a foot in mouth moment

 

[tviceman]

@SilverForce11

I have a small case fetish,.... I demand to know what case that is!
F..ing brilliant you just cut out that small peice to make room for a card



silverstone sugo sg0B5.

Better get a muffler for that case!

 

[96Firebird]

I'm really shocked with all the bashing of Apoppin here, there are some crazy users that frequent VC&G...

Looks like I'll either wait for 7950 benches, or wait until Nvidia releases their 28nm cards to drive prices down a bit... Too expensive for me, I already spend $500+ a month on just student loans.

 

[ArchAngel777]

I am going to wait for Kepler at this point. If for no other reason than to bring prices down. But, then again, I have a 460 SLI setup, so this would be, at best, a side grade. However, if I still had my single 460, or my 280, I would have definitely probably upgraded to this card.

 

[Silverforce11]

@SilverForce11

I have a small case fetish,.... I demand to know what case that is!
F..ing brilliant you just cut out that small peice to make room for a card



silverstone sugo sg0B5.

Better get a muffler for that case![/QUOTE]

Whats the muffler for? It's not noisy under load. :D

I have the antec kuhler 620 (silent) setup, 2500k @ 4.5ghz (the limit of mITX MB) no more than 52C under load. The air is sucked in of the case from the sides/top and vented out the front, no hot air in the case. GPU has almost separate air intake from side taking in cool RT air, exhausting it out the rear.

It fits 10 inch cards fine, but anything bigger you need to cut the front panel.. i don't have a dremmel and its gonna be messy. But i've been waiting for 28nm to get top performance @ ~200W mark, the 7970 fits that bill perfect.

[IMG]http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u186/jamesman32/SG05/004.jpg
Very similar setup to this one, with the 3.5 inch HDD sitting beneath the PSU on top of the CPU, water cooling such as H70 or 620 are a must as theres not much room for airflow or a good HSF for overclocking.

 

[Arkadrel]

Next time I do a complete overhaul, im getting that case and a small motherboard.
Im running a phenom II x4 atm.. so, maybe ivy bridge at some point when I can afford to upg.

 

[SirPauly]

A lot of posters here own him an appology...realy a foot in mouth moment

Yeah, it seems it was spot on!

 

[Silverforce11]

He said it was hot and power hungry and performs bad, 10-20%.

Not all correct. In fact, its not hot at all, runs very cool and if anything its the most power efficient GPU outside of iGPU, period. Power hungry? With features like zero power on idle, no.

It's performance varies depends on what games you throw at it, but it wins across the board even in games that are traditionally NV's babies; TWIMTBP titles. A solid ~30% lead in games where it matters, and a hefty OC ability with excellent scaling.

I would say overall, Apop's sources are in fact incorrect.

But they should still apologize to him because their comments were uncivilized and overly harsh, reeks of fanboism.