HD 2900pro launch

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: betasub
Pre-orders in the UK being taken ~160 UKP (including taxes), which would hit the 300 USD mark. Taking account of UK taxes and typical UK mark-ups (cf. rip-off Britain), 249 USD seems quite possible. As for margins, this is a clearance of R600 cores before the release of RV670(?), so to help shift stock margins are likely to be razor-thin.

On a side note, aren't all British citizens entitled to full medical care and college education because of the VAT? Correct me if I'm wrong and forgive this quick OT. Just curious as to why the term "rip-off Britain" was used when their people are better cared for than we could ever hope to be here in the US. Sure, they pay way more for stuff, but for good reasons. Again, correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, isn't this 2950pro supposed to be around 300 bucks US anyway?

 

[Murasame]

Not sure on the 2950pro price, but according to the pic at vr-zone.com of amd's gpu release schedule 2950pro is not coming out till Q1 08. I hope the 2900pro is around $200 american. I need an upgrade to my x1900gt. Heat corrupted my memory to hell. Can't even play wow on it anymore.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
On a side note, aren't all British citizens entitled to full medical care and college education because of the VAT? Correct me if I'm wrong and forgive this quick OT. Just curious as to why the term "rip-off Britain" was used when their people are better cared for than we could ever hope to be here in the US. Sure, they pay way more for stuff, but for good reasons. Again, correct me if I'm wrong.

OT bit first: VAT indirectly funds greater govt spending in Britain, it's true, but free education is only to 18yo (college?). The UK's National Health Service requires a massive budget to provide free healthcare, but (like anything) this has limits and can't cover all healthcare requirements. "Rip-off Britain" is a term describing vendors' mark-ups, shown by typical shopping-basket comparisons to be much higher than France or US.

Anyway, isn't this 2950pro supposed to be around 300 bucks US anyway?

2950pro rumours talk of RV670 in Q1 2008 - a die shink (as was 1950pro). 2900pro seems to be nothing more than under-clocked 2900XT i.e. R600 core, making it look like another 7900GTO situation (clearing out high-end cores before a new release).

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: ronnn

Originally posted by: tuteja1986

Originally posted by: ronnn
Not very appealing.

nothing is appealing to you that relates to ATI. You have down played every ATI product launch since i have been a member in ATF.

That is certainly not accurate. :beer: But I do think the reported 2950 pro may be the card this one should be. Current r600 just has too many problems with major power usage.

I agree. this card looks appealing at first glance, but with a 2950 pro just around the corner it seems silly to jump up to this unless you're in dire need.

 

[bryanW1995]

@ OP, what do you have in the rest of your system? unless you have an overclocked quad you're probably fine.

 

[CrystalBay]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Originally posted by: CrystalBay
I think it will be 249 or 199 (US) for a Sapphire type 512MB 256bit bus card...

That would result in the complete killings of margins.

May be 229-249 $ I mean look at the (zero stock)1950XT256 and 1950 512's , There is no product in that Price/Performance ratio ,OOS period.... (N0 Stock, Low stock ) cant find them so , I dunno IMO

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
On a side note, aren't all British citizens entitled to full medical care and college education because of the VAT? Correct me if I'm wrong and forgive this quick OT. Just curious as to why the term "rip-off Britain" was used when their people are better cared for than we could ever hope to be here in the US. Sure, they pay way more for stuff, but for good reasons. Again, correct me if I'm wrong.

OT bit first: VAT indirectly funds greater govt spending in Britain, it's true, but free education is only to 18yo (college?). The UK's National Health Service requires a massive budget to provide free healthcare, but (like anything) this has limits and can't cover all healthcare requirements. "Rip-off Britain" is a term describing vendors' mark-ups, shown by typical shopping-basket comparisons to be much higher than France or US.

Anyway, isn't this 2950pro supposed to be around 300 bucks US anyway?

2950pro rumours talk of RV670 in Q1 2008 - a die shink (as was 1950pro). 2900pro seems to be nothing more than under-clocked 2900XT i.e. R600 core, making it look like another 7900GTO situation (clearing out high-end cores before a new release).

(wandering further and further OT) You guys just need wal-mart.

 

[Griswold]

Waiting for the 2950pro at 55nm seems to be the way to go. Then again, who knows how fast TSMC can produce good yield rates at 55nm. I'm certainly tempted by this 2900pro...

Originally posted by: bryanW1995

(wandering further and further OT) You guys just need wal-mart.

Wal-Mart tried to push into europe and failed miserably - at least in continental europe.

 

[bryanW1995]

you're right on both counts. based on daamit's history, it could be much later than anticipated for 2950 pro. I misspoke, I should have written, "a wal-mart like company that grew up in britian". It is much easier for wal-mart to go into a developing market and use their economies of scale than to enter an established, mature market that is not growing appreciably.

 

[ronnn]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster


That would result in the complete killings of margins.

If this turns out to be a way to get rid of excess, totally functional 2900xt's, than this may be interesting. Especially if a bios flash works. If they are crippled in some way - than not interesting. The r600 looks like it may be a good start for future cards on future games, but right now is sadly lacking in performance. I am looking forward to seeing how this platform evolves.

 

[bryanW1995]

yes, imagine getting a 2900xt after bios flash for 229...nice...

 

[stepone]

According to the HIS website ( http://www.hisdigital.com/html...ov.php?id=341&view=yes ) the 2900 pro still uses the same 512bit interface as the xt, making the 200mhz core speed decrease the only difference between the xt & pro.

That means there's an excellent chance you'll be able to OC back up to xt levels as they're basically the same card!

 

[aiya24]

only 2 more weeks till we know for sure if it really is 512 or 256bit.

i'm waiting for reviews to see if they are able to oc to XT speeds. if they do, i'll definitely get one and slap a HR-03/R600 on it

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: ronnn

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster


That would result in the complete killings of margins.

If this turns out to be a way to get rid of excess, totally functional 2900xt's, than this may be interesting. Especially if a bios flash works. If they are crippled in some way - than not interesting. The r600 looks like it may be a good start for future cards on future games, but right now is sadly lacking in performance. I am looking forward to seeing how this platform evolves.

Sadly lacking in performance? Depends where you look. DX9 Bioshock performance slaps the Nvidia offerings around and in other cases it's not beating the 8800GTX but it handily beats the 8800GTS which is the main competition for it given the pricepoint. Performance is good and they trade off depending on what game or test you're looking at. It is not "sadly lacking" IMO. Especially when none of the games are unplayable except for perhaps MS Flight Sim X which is unplayable on everything when running high detail.

 

[JPB]

So, using GPU Reviews specifications...here are the theoretical specs for the two cards below.....

HD 2900 XT
__________

Core Clock: 743 MHz
Shader Clock: 743 MHz
Memory Clock: 825 MHz (1650 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth: 105.6 GB/sec
Shader Operations: 237760 Operations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate: 11888 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate: 11888 MTexels/sec


HD 2900 Pro
__________

Core Clock: 598 MHz
Shader Clock: 598 MHz
Memory Clock: 800 MHz (1600 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth: 102.4 GB/sec
Shader Operations: 191360 Operations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate: 9568 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate: 9568 MTexels/sec

________________

Now I realize that GPU Review's site dont have the HD 2900 Pro listed as of yet, but if you underclock the HD 2900 XT using the tool under Advanced Options...this is the theoretical specs for the Pro. Not to bad if this is what they will actually be.

__________________

HIS also announced the suggested retail price of $249 for the 512MB GDDR3 version.

HIS announce price of $249

 

[njdevilsfan87]

HIS also announced the suggested retail price of $249 for the 512MB GDDR3 version.

And HIS is usually slightly higher than Sapphire I believe. I really hope this is true. This will force the 8800GTS320 to lower it's price, and we could finally be looking at $200 offerings from both sides - finally! Can't wait for this to be released.

 

[bryanW1995]

wow! It would be awfully hard to resist upgrading to the pro for $200, and if a bios flash were available...

 

[ronnn]

Yep, I may have to eat my words..............

 

[Keysplayr]

* Superscalar unified shader architecture
* 320 stream processing units
* 512-bit 8-channel memory interface
* Comprehensive DirectX® 10 support
* Integrated CrossFire?
* High-speed 128-bit HDR (High Dynamic Range) rendering
* Up to 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing
* ATI Avivo? HD video and display technology
* Built-in HDMI and 5.1 surround audio
* Dynamic geometry acceleration
* Game physics processing capability

Directly from HIS web site. http://www.hisdigital.com/html...ov.php?id=341&view=yes


Now, could this still just be a 2900XT and HIS opts to call it a pro? Kind of like the confusing naming scheme Gigabyte used to use?

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
* Superscalar unified shader architecture
* 320 stream processing units
* 512-bit 8-channel memory interface
* Comprehensive DirectX® 10 support
* Integrated CrossFire?
* High-speed 128-bit HDR (High Dynamic Range) rendering
* Up to 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing
* ATI Avivo? HD video and display technology
* Built-in HDMI and 5.1 surround audio
* Dynamic geometry acceleration
* Game physics processing capability

Directly from HIS web site. http://www.hisdigital.com/html...ov.php?id=341&view=yes


Now, could this still just be a 2900XT and HIS opts to call it a pro? Kind of like the confusing naming scheme Gigabyte used to use?

But if you click on specifications, you get this...

_____________

*Model Name---HIS HD 2900Pro 512MB GDDR3 VIVO PCIe
*Pixel Pipelines---320 stream processing units* (Unified)
*Vertex Engines---320 stream processing units* (Unified)
*Process (Micron)---80nm
*Memory Size (MB)---512
*Memory Type---GDDR3
*Engine Clock (MHz)---600
*Memory Clock (MHz)---1600
*Memory Interface (bit)---512bit

Personally, I just think it is an underclocked 2900 XT. Maybe they are trying to get rid of stock before new stuff comes out so they underclock the XT and sell at a lower price. Just my 2 cent's.

 

[Creig]

MSI did the exact same thing not too long ago. They took 512mb X1800XTs, threw on a BIOS that clocked the core/memory to 500/500 and sold them at $200 apiece as X1800XLs. They were actual X1800XTs. Same memory, same number of phase inductors... Everything. Everything except the sticker on the heatsink, that is. One quick BIOS flash and they were X1800XTs again.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=463155

 

[Venomous]

Anyone know of HIS's release date? I heard these will be limited production. I need 2 of them.

 

[Aznguy1872]

Now would these be worth getting now, or is it a wiser choice just to wait for the next gen nvidia cards to come out? But this 2900 pro looks pretty darn good though.

 

[bryanW1995]

if you don't need a new card NOW as in RIGHT NOW it's still hard to justify even $200 imho for a card. The new 8700gts and 2950 pro should certainly be out within 6 months and will be on 65 and 55 nm so similar perf and less heat. If you don't care about heat and you have a dog-slow gpu then sept 30 can't come fast enough.

 

[ronnn]

The guys at b3d are still saying 256bit - and they are often right. Time for a review.