ATI 5870 or 6870

[zack1234]

any veiws on new 6000 series graphics cards?

[skribetm]

huge number of pages of strangers' opinions at the [H]. 

my summary;
6970 die size is 389mm^2 vs GTX580 520mm^2, bigger die = bigger power draw at the same nodes.
performance wise, GTX580 is 0% to 20% better across a variety of titles.
however, 6970 is also priced accordingly(~$370.00) at $140 less than the GTX580.(~$519.00)
and i'm really looking forward to if 2GB of GDDR5 will do well for maxing AHII self shadowing.
6950 is about the same as GTX570, but $50 cheaper. price/perf king: 6950.

im getting a powercolor 6970 as soon as i find me a discount code.
i dont have enough $$$ for a GTX580 anymore.
kids xmas gifts are getting expensive these days.. 

[Tigger29]

huge number of pages of strangers' opinions at the [H]. 

my summary;
6970 die size is 389mm^2 vs GTX580 520mm^2, bigger die = bigger power draw at the same nodes.
performance wise, GTX580 is 0% to 20% better across a variety of titles.
however, 6970 is also priced accordingly(~$370.00) at $140 less than the GTX580.(~$519.00)
and i'm really looking forward to if 2GB of GDDR5 will do well for maxing AHII self shadowing.
6950 is about the same as GTX570, but $50 cheaper. price/perf king: 6950.

im getting a powercolor 6970 as soon as i find me a discount code.
i dont have enough $$$ for a GTX580 anymore.
kids xmas gifts are getting expensive these days.. 

He's not asking about the GTX570

He's wondering if the 6870 (or 6XXX series) is really any better than the 5870 (or 5XXXX series)

[skribetm]

He's not asking about the GTX570

He's wondering if the 6870 (or 6XXX series) is really any better than the 5870 (or 5XXXX series)

roflmao right! i completely missed the point! 
5870(1600SP) has higher perf. than 6870(1120SP).
the equiv. generation for 5870(VLIW5) is the 6970(VLIW4).

hence the 5870. or if you want its 6XXX counterpart, the 6970.

[Spite]

5870(1600SP) has higher perf. than 6870(1120SP).

You can find reviews that, depending on the game or situation, show the 6870 is close to equal and in a few cases faster that the 5870.  But that's splitting hairs and as you note, the 6870 is not the replacement for the 5870, it is the direct replacement for the 5850.

hence the 5870. or if you want its 6XXX counterpart, the 6970.

Yup, and the newly released 6970 and 6950 starting appearing on NewEgg yesterday.  Lotsa reviews out for them as well with the 6950 looking to be good performance/value.

[zack1234]

so 6970 is worth buying or should i go for 5970? price is not a issue

[Krusty]

The 6000 line has redone the numbering system. The numbers are actually higher for lower performance. It's marketing BS to sell cards now as well as later when they get them built the way they want (but instead of waiting til the card is done, they're pumping out almost the same cards you already have available but with different names).

The 6870 is more like the 5850, and the 5870+ will still outperform the 6000 line.

The differences:

5870 has 30% faster shader operations,
about par pixel fill rate,
about 30% better texture fill rate,
noticably faster memory clock,
almost 2x the fragment pipelines,
aroudn 40% more texture units,

Comparing the 6870 and the 5850, there's little to choose from: They hit almost the exact same numbers across the board.



Marketing BS. Get a 5000 series instead.

[Spite]

so 6970 is worth buying or should i go for 5970? price is not a issue

All of the cards mentioned so far in this thread are worth buying, so doesn't it depend on what you want?  The 6970 is now AMD's fastest single GPU offering.  AMD's -fastest- offering though, is still the dual GPU 5970.  It's replacement, the 6990 is slated for a January release according to the rumor mill.

If money is no object speed is what you are after, perhaps you should wait ...

[zack1234]

yes

[1Boner]

I have a 5870 and I'm pretty sure I have this game maxxed with a steady 60 fps (my monitors max).

When I get home I'll check my settings and confirm them.

From most of the reviews I've read the 5870 is a beast.