First Look: The 6800-series cards have hit alongside confirmed 6950, 6970 and 6990 models. What else is new?
We've been part of graphics launches for quite some time now, absorbing information about ATI's graphics technologies and filtering out the interesting parts for your consumption. In a sign that times are-a-changing, todays is not a simple one-course graphics launch – but rather a comprehensive five-course update to an entire infrastructure that has been built around what ultimately are just graphics processors.
This launch also brings about a new naming scheme: ATI is no longer a brand-name for AMD, and these cards are merely "AMD Radeon". The naming scheme that has stuck around for three generations is also changing, though we'll get into that later.
Most reassuring about this launch is its distance from the recent NVIDIA cards, suggesting it's less a knee-jerk and more of a planned event. And actually, AMD is claiming to have 90 per cent of the DX11 graphics market; a figure that represents well over 25 million GPUs.
It's also interesting to see where the majority of the GPU sales come from, information that AMD have shared in delicious pie-chart form. The worldwide AMD graphics market currently totals 193 million GPUs; only 33% of which are desktop chips.
The largest portion of graphics processors has been given to notebooks at a whopping 38%, giving weight to the assertion that the desktop market may not be growing further. Consoles and workstations make up the remaining 27%, with the former being solely fed by both Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360 sales.
33% is still more than enough to warrant the development of more graphics cards, though, and today AMD have launched two new models: the AMD Radeon HD 6870 and 6850. These are both positioned just between the current 5850 and 5870 cards in terms of sheer performance; so comparisons between these cards are most appropriate for those who haven't upgraded for a while.
The most exciting graphics launch is dated for roughly a month from now, where we'll see the two new flagship single-GPU cards launching: the AMD Radeon HD 6970 and 6950. The nomenclature is somewhat confusing, especially when considering that the current 5770 and 5750 cards will be slightly updated to fill in the lower end of the 6xxx family.
Topping the chart in both performance and price will be the Radeon HD 6990, confirmed as a dual-GPU part that will be the effective replacement for the current 5970 card. AMD haven't mentioned much about the remaining members of the 6xxx family, but as they proudly boasted in their press release, they were able to launch 11 different models of the RV870 core in only five months – so it won't be long before they're announced.
Though we haven't much detail on the 6970 past unconfirmed rumours it will be based on the 5870's RV870 core, we've been given plenty to talk about with the 6870 and other technologies. Jump to the next page to see what's changed in the new 6870 and 6850 cards.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012