ATi Radeon 4890 Discussion

[Denithor]

xbitlabs link

Despite of rumours floating around the Internet, ATI?s (graphics products group of Advanced Micro Devices) approaching update for the high-performance graphics segment will not bring in considerable performance improvements as the new product will just feature improved clock-speeds over existing graphics boards.

According to industrial sources with knowledge of the matter, the code-named ATI RV790 graphics processing unit is nothing else but the already shipping ATI RV770 chip with higher clock-speeds. The new processor can operate at higher frequencies since its design is slightly refined, certain erratums (which do not affect performance or stability of the RV770) are corrected and process technology adjustments are made.

ATI RV770/790 graphics processing units feature 800 stream processors, 40 texture units, 16 render back ends as well as 256-bit memory bus compatible with GDDR3, GDDR4 and GDDR5 memory types. The RV790 will feature higher clock-speeds, but not increased number of execution units.

Performance increases of the graphics card that is projected to be called ATI Radeon HD 4890 over the existing Radeon HD 4870 1GB should not be high as the difference between two products will be increases of clock-speeds. In case the graphics card designer decides to release ATI Radeon HD 4890 X2, performance gain should be modest as well.

"This is exactly the same situation as in the case of transition from ATI Radeon 9800 Pro to ATI Radeon 9800 XT back in 2003, performance gain will not be massive," a person wished to remain anonymous said.

ATI is known for working on different speed-bins of various processors, for instance, its ATI R300 (Radeon 9700), R350 (Radeon 9800 Pro) and R360 (Radeon 9800 XT) were essentially the same chip, but could function at completely different clock-speeds. ATI/AMD has now chosen the same option since it does not immediately need a new GPU in the current competitive and market environments.

The recent history of graphics processing units does not know examples when a company introduced a brand-new GPU with new internal design that would only be 20% - 30% faster compared to predecessor in the same price-range. Therefore, the information about increased number of stream processors inside RV790 is not correct, according to sources with known of the situation.

Officials for ATI/AMD did not comment on the news-story.

I've stickied this one due to lots of duplicate posts.

Please keep the 4890 chatter in here, and stay ON-TOPIC.

Video Mod BFG10K.


Locked due to new sticky thread.

Video Mod BFG10K.

 

[SickBeast]

That news is unfortunate but somewhat predictable. It's nicer when a refresh product is built on a new manufacturing process, though.

I'm guessing that AMD will release a new upper-midrange GPU late this year, which will probably coincide with the new monster DX11 chip that NV is supposedly working on.

Now that NV knows AMD's strategy it will be interesting to see their response. What I think would be a true coup for AMD would be one of two things: first would be if they can get two GPUs on a die and have them share a pool of memory.

Second would be if they can put a ton of little Athlon cores together to compete with Larabee. Don't put this option past AMD - it was the original plan for the Phenom, and it delayed Phenom's release considerably, which tells us AMD took that design pretty far before scrapping it.

 

[josh6079]

20-30% faster eh?

I wonder how much money will be shaved off from the current price of the other 4800 SKUs.

 

[Avalon]

Weak.

 

[thilanliyan]

BOOORING!!! Let's get back to 4800 vs 8800GT heat issues.

If it's just a speed bump that sucks...hopefully the 4870 prices go down and then maybe I'll pick up a 2nd for Xfire.

 

[Cookie Monster]

One things for certain, we aint going to see the next gen DX11 parts til Q4, so no major architectural changes will be seen with these so called "refreshes" from AMD and nVIDIA.

 

[OCGuy]

Sadly, because of the 40nm delay, all we are going to get are re-hashes. Nothing to see here folks, move along.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
Sadly, because of the 40nm delay, all we are going to get are re-hashes. Nothing to see here folks, move along.

I agree 100%

 

[evolucion8]

I wonder what name will be used in the next G92 based videocard after the GTS250?

 

[Cookie Monster]

They wont, since GT216/5 or even GT214 will probably replace it. Finally sheesh.

 

[Qbah]

Well that sucks. Not to mention it will probably have to run around the 1GHz mark to have te 20-30% performancei ncrease, since they just bump the clocks - I find that hardly possible.

So it doesn't look this one will be faster or even close to a GTX285. I don't see the point of this card.

That or Xbitlabs is wrong

 

[Wreckage]

So I was right. This will be a good match for a factory overclocked 260+. Although certainly not worth $300.

 

[Genx87]

I dont see a point in releasing a new chip in these economic times. May as well continue to recoup R&D costs from the old generation. I think this is a wise decision for AMD.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
So I was right. This will be a good match for a factory overclocked 260+. Although certainly not worth $300.

The current 4870 1GB is a good match for the GTX260+.

Depending on the clock speed, this might better match the GTX280.

 

[exar333]

Originally posted by: Genx87
I dont see a point in releasing a new chip in these economic times. May as well continue to recoup R&D costs from the old generation. I think this is a wise decision for AMD.

I don't see the R&D going away, but you can be sure that the lead times may increase somewhat between generations. This is more of a counter to the GTX 285 that was released. Just increase the clockspeed and push the the current gen a little further.

 

[SlowSpyder]

En.Expreview link.

Fudzilla link.

They say that it's a 950MHz core... 26% more speed then the current 750MHz 4870. I guess that's where the ~20% more performance figure comes from. My guess if these numbers are true is this card will generally beat the GTX280 and probaby trade blows with the GTX285... agree? Disagree? Not bad if the rumored $299 price is true! I have to wonder what the headroom will be on these for overclockers though. I would imagine at 950MHz the clock speed is already pushed pretty high.

 

[thilanliyan]

Yeah getting 950 would be nice but will be difficult I imagine.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
En.Expreview link.

Fudzilla link.

They say that it's a 950MHz core... 26% more speed then the current 750MHz 4870. I guess that's where the ~20% more performance figure comes from. My guess if these numbers are true is this card will generally beat the GTX280 and probaby trade blows with the GTX285... agree? Disagree? Not bad if the rumored $299 price is true! I have to wonder what the headroom will be on these for overclockers though. I would imagine at 950MHz the clock speed is already pushed pretty high.

trade blows with 285..
- for under three hundred dollars??
what is not to like?

what IS to like is that we can save our money for the real DX11 GPUs that probably will come with Win7; i see no reason for me to upgrade but i might consider OC'ing my Videocards

 

[dguy6789]

At 950Mhz, it would certainly give a GTX285 a serious run for it's money.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Temps are already high on RV770 cards, how bad are the temps going to be if this monster runs at 950Mhz.

 

[dguy6789]

It's not hard at all to have very mild temperatures with 4870 cards with the reference cooler. Temps are only high on RV770 cards if the fan speed is extremely low. At even medium fan speeds, the card's temperatures drop significantly. I don't see AMD having a problem with this new card. They could probably run it with the same reference cooler that the 4870 had but just have a higher default fan speed.

 

[angry hampster]

Did this really surprise anyone? The 4870 is just a 4850 with higher clocks and better RAM. Why would the 4890 not follow suit? It's a cost-effective way of putting out a better product. Go ATI.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
Did this really surprise anyone? The 4870 is just a 4850 with higher clocks and better RAM. Why would the 4890 not follow suit? It's a cost-effective way of putting out a better product. Go ATI.

The 4850 and 4870 were of the same architecture, different clocks and cheaper RAM on the 4850. Good business practice.

If the 4890 arrives in April and is priced competitively, it might be worth buying if the 5xxx series is pushed back. If the 5xxx series is going to arrive in July, then why waste the money on a 4890 now when you could have a faster card in a few months?

 

[chizow]

Next week it'll be 1050MHz and called the 4999. :laugh: This rumor had more bite the first time it popped up 8 months ago. I could see an air-cooled variant at 850MHz, but 950MHz would probably require water cooling as the original rumor stated.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: chizow
Next week it'll be 1050MHz and called the 4999. :laugh: This rumor had more bite the first time it popped up 8 months ago. I could see an air-cooled variant at 850MHz, but 950MHz would probably require water cooling as the original rumor stated.

Yea, I remember hearing this rumor a while ago. But it seems like it's gaining more steam now and a few sites are reporting on it. I guess we'll know in April. If it comes, then it validates all those earlier rumors, they were just a bit too early I guess.

I doubt I'd be interested in upgrading my current 4870 for this, but at under $300 I think this card has a bright future if the 950MHz core speed is true.