Conclusion
AMD took a great leap toward a more efficient graphics card architecture with RV770 and the idea was to use multiple less powerful GPU for scaling performance, and it still is. The Evergreen family continues down the same road and it’s hard not to praise AMD now that it has released the new Cypress/RV870 GPU.
Cypress is world’s fastest GPU
Our benchmarks paint a very clear picture, Radeon HD 5870 and the Cypress GPU makes the world’s fastest single-GPU card. The precursor Radeon HD 4870 or the tweaked Radeon HD 4890 is clearly from the previous generation, at the same time NVIDIA’s fastest single-GPU card, GeForce GTX 285, is humiliated in test after test. It has to be said that some games favors either manufacturer, a lot, but there is still no doubt in our minds that Cypress is the fastest graphics processor by bringing home 16 titles in 18 benchmarks (compared to other single-GPU cards). In several tests even the multi-GPU cards Radeon HD 4870X2 and GeForce GTX 295 get beaten.
Hemlock ready to nail the coffin shut
Do keep in mind that competitor NVIDIA has not presented any information that points to a launch of a new high-end circuit before the end of the year. AMD has revealed that it will within a month announce the graphics card code-named Hemlock. A graphics card sporting dual RV870/Cypress GPUs. Even if these would be held back a bit we are still talking about TWO graphics circuits with 2.15 billion transistors each and performance that should break anything we have today. If that doesn’t make NVIDIA nervous we’re not sure what will. Or do we?
Radeon HD 5850 and the rest of the family tree
Even if high-end cards are important from a PR perspective it’s the budget and mid-range market where you make most of the money. AMD has revealed that it will launch four Evergreen GPUs within six months, all sporting 40nm technology and DirectX 11 support to cover the entire graphics card market with prices from $50 and up. Here NVIDIA has to something and even if it can competitive through aggressive prices it has been technologically left behind. NVIDIA’s current mid-range cards are based on a several years old architecture, G92. We have presented detailed information on Radeon HD 5850 today and with a price below $300 it will become an interesting alternative in the lower performance segment.
Radeon HD 5870 is the fastest graphics card we have today, but it also costs quite a bit. Even if Radeon HD 5850 have been crippled in several ways we believe AMD is afraid the 5850 model would cannibalize on the sales of Radeon HD 5870. At the same time poor availability of the RV870 GPUs has forced them to hold of the store launch.
Radeon HD 5870 – Big, strong and humble
If we return to Radeon HD 5870 we have mainly talked about performance in the conclusion, but what may look like a brute on distance is actually a well composed creation sporting one of the best and most efficient reference cooler we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with, and the card offers features like Eyefinity, DX11 and improved support for GPGPU applications. AMD hasn’t made any real mistakes with Radeon HD 5870. Even though we have only had it our possession for a limited time we have fallen (like a 14 year old girl at a Backstreet Boys concert) for the powerful GPU and exciting features.
In this article we have looked at AMD Radeon HD 5870 from multiple angles and so far we haven’t found a bad side to it, that is if you have room for it.
Anyone that can spare $400 to spend on Radeon HD 5870 won’t be disappointed, there is no competition today. The fastest card on the market offers many features, low power bills and it is future-proofed. We do not dare to hand out any awards to reference cards, but AMD Radeon HD 5870 is without a doubt worth our Editor’s Choice award, there is just no other card we would rather own today. Those with a smaller budget will have to wait for the Evergreen family to sprout new members in a few weeks.
If it hadn’t been for a DisplayPort adapter lost in action and to little time we could have offered you much more information and tests of ATI Eyefinity. We hope to update you with more tests soon, with everything from Radeon HD 5870 CrossFire to Eyefinity and retail cards. Keep eyes open and start thinking of how to place those extra screens.
