AMD 6850 / 6870 Now Official! Reviews Inside!

[Haz]

The AMD 6850 and 6870 has finally been released and supposedly there will be plenty of stock. Here's the first review from HardOCP (not counting the leaked Guru3D one). I will update this post with more reviews and Canadian pricing as more info comes in.

HardOCP
PC Perspective
Anandtech
Overclockers
Hexus
Guru3D - single cards
Guru3D - CrossfireX
Guru3D - Gigabyte 6870
bit-tech.net - 6870
bit-tech.net - 6850
Legit Reviews
Techgage
Tweaktown - 6870
Tweaktown - Sapphire 6850
Hardware Canucks
TechRadar UK - 6850
VR-Zone
Techpowerup - HIS 6850
Techpowerup - Asus 6850 Direct CU
Techpowerup - HIS 6870
Techpowerup - 6850 Crossfire
Techpowerup - 6870 Crossfire
Techpowerup - HIS HD 6870 Turbo Overclocked!
MaximumPC - XFX 6850
Computer Shopper - 6850 (not much of a review)
Benchmark Reviews - 6870
Benchmark Reviews - 6850
Tom's Hardware
Softpedia - 6870
Pro-Clockers - 6850
T-Break - MSI 6850/6870
Techspot - 6870

Right now, I'm just listing cheapest backordered ones and an actual in stock one for each model.

AMD Radeon 6850
Newegg - HIS 6850 1GB @ $183.59 In Stock PM - NCIX or MemX
Newegg - Powercolor AX6850 1GB @ $183.99 Backordered
Newegg - Sapphire 6850 1GB @ $184.99 In Stock
NCIX - Powercolor Radeon HD 6850 775MHZ 1GB - $189.99 In Stock
NCIX - XFX Radeon HD 6850 775MHZ 1GB @ 199.99 In Stock
ME - Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB @ $199.99 Limited Stock
ME - XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB @ $199.99 In Stock
BestDirect - Gigabyte 6850 @ $175.03 In Stock

AMD Radeon 6870
Newegg - Sapphire 6870 1GB @ $241.99 Backordered
NCIX - Gigabyte Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB @ $254.99 In Stock
NCIX - XFX Radeon HD 6870 900MHZ 1GB @ $269.99 In Stock
NCIX - Powercolor 6870 @ $244.99 - $15 MIR In Stock
ME - Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1GB @ $259.99 Limited Stock
ME - XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB @ $264.99 Limited Stock
BestDirect - Gigabyte 6870 1GB @ $233.38 In Stock Thx macro6!

EDIT: Updated links to reviews and added listing of Canadian sites with stock and prices. Will keep this updated over the next few days, maybe weeks.

[Type R]

thanks! looks like its time to upgrade my 8800gt

[terrybear]

as per 2:50 am est ncix pricing on 68xx:

6870 - $254 - $299
6850 - $189 - $219

So far from the reviews nice lil cards & makes the geforce 460's look a lil "squishy"

[crowTrobot]

I reviewed the Sapphire 6850 and I would definitely recommend it (full size display port and comes with HDMI 1.4a cable), performs closely to the 5850 at only $179 USD, definitely great price/performance ratio. The 6870 prices looks too high IMO especially when you look at the European prices, I'd like to see how it looks in the next few days since Nvidia dropped prices on their cards before the ATI launch.

[jdmkidd]

as per 2:50 am est ncix pricing on 68xx:

6870 - $254 - $299
6850 - $189 - $219

So far from the reviews nice lil cards & makes the geforce 460's look a lil "squishy"

Hm I just got a GTX 460 1gb for about $225 taxes in. How squishy does it make it look? I'll be returning it if anything.

[Haz]

Hm I just got a GTX 460 1gb for about $225 taxes in. How squishy does it make it look? I'll be returning it if anything.

I haven't read all the reviews but the Guru3D review shows the 6850 beat the GTX 460 1GB in most games by a few frames though they only showed the results from 1 resolution / image quality setting for each game.

[crowTrobot]

Its too close to call, you have to factor in what games you are going to play and at what resolution.

2560x resolution the 6850 edges the 460, 1680x the 460 edges (but we are talking frames you can count on one hand)

DX11/Tessellation is definitely better in the 6850 vs 5850 but still loses to the 460

If SC2 is your main game, 460 is definitely better but the 6850 performance isn't too bad either.

better load consumption goes to 6850, better idle consumption goes to 460.

[Zero1]

So these are basically minor upgrades for those who currently own a 5800 series GPU. Still good pricing for new builds.

[crowTrobot]

I think AMD would've enticed more people if they stuck with the 6770/6750 naming scheme as these are supposed to be mainstream cards and not a direct replacement for the 5800 (which will be the 6900), but I guess they are planning on releasing more sub-$179 cards down the road.

[Super strokey]

I think we can all agreed that these are good cards and its good to have more competition driving down prices. I want to get the 6850 or the 6870 on my next build to replace my 8800 gt.

[Haz]

I'm hoping they'll drive the 5850 prices down to $150 so I can grab another for CrossfireX. Alternatively, I can grab 2 x 6850 and migrate the 5850 to my backup gaming rig.

[soul_taker]

I like where this is going. Will be my first ATI... I mean Radeon card in a while.

I was thinking about the 5870 EyeFinity 6 but 2x 6870 in Crossfire for around the same price seems like a better buy at this point considering I only need 5 outputs and not 6 anyway.

Does anyone know if you can EyeFinity link the outputs from multiple cards this time around?

EDIT: Nevermind you can only use 4 outputs on the 6870.

[TypeVR6]

I dont really see a need to upgrade from a 1gb 460 to a 5870....we're talkin 4-5 fps on certain games????

[Haz]

I dont really see a need to upgrade from a 1gb 460 to a 5870....we're talkin 4-5 fps on certain games????

I assume you mean to a 6870. Going from a 2 month old midrange to a new midrange isn't gonna be a big jump. The real beasts will be the new high end 6900 series and what whatever the rumoured GTX 580, both looking like next month.

[crowTrobot]

I like where this is going. Will be my first ATI... I mean Radeon card in a while.

I was thinking about the 5870 EyeFinity 6 but 2x 6870 in Crossfire for around the same price seems like a better buy at this point considering I only need 5 outputs and not 6 anyway.

Does anyone know if you can EyeFinity link the outputs from multiple cards this time around?

EDIT: Nevermind you can only use 4 outputs on the 6870.

nope, you can do full six on a single card now, there's no reason for eyefinity 6 versions anymore since there will be Multi-stream hubs. You can have two connected to DVI, and 4 connected via a multi-stream hub or six monitors connected to two multi-stream hubs (3 monitors per hub - if the 6800 card has two DisplayPorts, some models only have one)