ATI 4860 in the works

[thilanliyan]

http://www.techpowerup.com/100...860_in_the_Works?.html

A scavenged RV790...maybe it'll clock well.

 

[TheMeanestGuest]

What is going to be the purpose of this ? I really don't understand these oddball cards (i.e. the 4730).

 

[brblx]

4850 is a $100 and 4870 512 is like $130. do we really need a $115 card? at all?

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: TheMeanestGuest
What is going to be the purpose of this ? I really don't understand these oddball cards (i.e. the 4730).

My guess is that since the 4890 uses a physically different chip than the 4870 and 4850 they had to do something with the 4890 cores that didn't work out at 4880 specs or throw them out. When a 4870 GPU doesn't quite cut it, it can be down clocked and sold as a 4850. This is probably just the same thing for the 4890. The perforance will probably be similar to some of the cards that are already out, but hopefully it'll be cheap and will overclock like mad. For AMD this is better than just throwing the chips away. For us it's another GPU that performs like other GPU's already on the market.

 

[MODEL3]

They had to do something with all those defect R790 chips (defect in the sense that they can't operatate with all the 800 SP) why throw them when they can make money?

When I first heard the news about 4890 and that it was a different chip than R770 I immediately though that a 4860 is going to show eventually (it was inevitable)

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Yeah, this isn't about whether or not the consumers need yet another gap blurring product, its about AMD making the most out of the hardware they have.

Originally posted by: MODEL3
When I first heard the news about 4890 and that it was a different chip than R770 I immediately though that a 4860 is going to show eventually (it was inevitable)

Same here. As long as it didn't cost much more to produce, there's little reason to stick with the 770 over the 790.

 

[MODEL3]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
Yeah, this isn't about whether or not the consumers need yet another gap blurring product, its about AMD making the most out of the hardware they have.

Originally posted by: MODEL3
When I first heard the news about 4890 and that it was a different chip than R770 I immediately though that a 4860 is going to show eventually (it was inevitable)

Same here. As long as it didn't cost much more to produce, there's little reason to stick with the 770 over the 790.

No I didn't mean that.
My point was only: what ATI was going to do with all those defects.

I thought back then about the possibility you suggest, but I was not sure since:

Although the R790 has only 3 more million transistors, it is nearly 10% larger
and since the R770 was 9 months old by the time the R790 came, the R770 yields was excellent.

So if You add these 2 parameters, you can conclude that the cost was not close enough for ATI to abandon R770 at the time.

Then I thought that some time down the line the R790 will replace R770 if the yields got better (same or more than the level of R770's yields) but that was far from certain.

Also thinking how close was the DX10 ATI generations (Q1-Q2 2007 HD2000 series, Q4 2007 HD3000 series & Q2-Q3 2008 HD4000 series) and listening to all the rumours about a possible release of Windows 7 in Q4 2009, I though that propably ATI will have a new DX11 part at Q4 2009 (now they are targeting Q3)

Anyway it doesn't matter now since next quarter we will have a new DX11 model.

It is expected to be positioned in at the $130 price point.

If the 130$ isn't for the 1GB model (if there will be such a configuration)
then the price is wrong from a performance standpoint.
(unless ATI thinks that the GDDR5 marketing (and the 4850+10 marketing), the lower idle power and the single 6-pin power connector will tempt the potential customers)

 

[frozentundra123456]

As if the nVidia lineup is not confusing (deceptive ??) enough, now AMD is getting too many cards too. At least AMD has not yes stooped to rebranding 2 or 3 generation old technology like nVidia.

Maybe it makes sense from a business standpoint to use the chips, but I dont like so many SKUs with such similar performance and power consumption. I would prefer either something higher in performance or a low power card with improved performance over the 4670, like maybe a 4750 on the 40nm die that does not require external power.

 

[bigsnyder]

There was a suppose to be a 4750 back when the first tangible 4700 series info started surfacing. I have not found a definitive answer to why it wasn't released when the 4770 made its debut. Maybe related to the yield problems associated with the low stock of 4770s?

 

[imported_Scoop]

So instead of new GPUs we get these new models of old hardware.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Scoop
So instead of new GPUs we get these new models of old hardware.

I think both companies should have new GPU's out sooner than later. Rumor is Aug-Sep for AMD and I hear by end of year for Nvidia. Parts like this one make business sense, but for us they're pretty boring.

 

[thilanliyan]

ATI should definitely drop the 4830 and maybe even the 4850 IF the 4860 is cheaper to make AND they can get the 4770 back on track.

 

[formulav8]

Originally posted by: thilan29
ATI should definitely drop the 4830 and maybe even the 4850 IF the 4860 is cheaper to make AND they can get the 4770 back on track.

My understanding is that the 4830 is eol (Apart from the original stock that needs to be sold) and replaced by the 4770. At least I think I read that in anands 47xx review?


Jason

 

[jandlecack]

The only difficulty I see here, again, is for the uninformed consumer.

We could care less if there's 10 more cards in different performance positions, since we always know what we want and can afford. If you think a 4860 is enough and you don't need the extra power from a 4870 or 4890, then you get that.

If it doesn't cut it...then you know which card to get instead. This is because we check benchmarks, reviews et cetera. The average customer probably does not and is confused with all these differently labelled cards that perform similarly up to a certain point...

 

[netxzero64]

its pretty confusing to me since it is only competing for the GTS 250 market... I just hope that it will be in the right place to be called the "4860"...

 

[Rezist]

In searching New Egg's Canada site the 4830's have all but disappeared. But it's replacement the 4770 has failed to replace it. The 4860 is the next 640 SP card based off the RV790. I like users above kinda figured that ATI would cut producing the RV770 and just make RV790 chips hence needing new model numbers for the low binned chips.