AMD's Radeon HD 5870: Bringing About the Next Generation Of GPUs
by Ryan Smith on September 23, 2009 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
The First DirectX 11 Games
With any launch of a new DirectX generation of hardware, software availability becomes a concern. As the hardware needs to come before the software so that developers can tailor their games’ performance, it’s just not possible to immediately launch with games ready to go. For the launch of DirectX 11 and the 5800 series, AMD gave us a list of what games to expect and when.
First out of the gate is Battleforge, EA’s card-based online-only RTS. We had initially been told that it would miss the 5870 launch, but in fact EA and AMD managed to get it in under the wire and deliver it a day early. This gives AMD the legitimate claim of having a DX11 title out there that only their new hardware can fully exploit, and from a press perspective it’s nice to have something out there we can test besides tech demos. Unfortunately we wrapped up our testing 2 days early in order to attend IDF, which means we have not yet had a chance to benchmark this title’s DX11 mode or look at it in-depth.
We did have a chance to see the title in action quickly at AMD’s press event 2 weeks ago, where AMD was using it to show off High Definition Ambient Occlusion. As far as we can tell, HDAO is the only DX11 wonder-feature that it current implements, which makes sense given that it should be the easiest to patch in.
The next big title in AMD’s stack of DX11 games is STALKER: Call of Pripyat. This game went gold in Russia earlier this week, with the English version some time behind it. Unfortunately we don’t know what DX11 features it will be using, but as STALKER games have historically been hard on computers, it should prove to be an interesting test case for DX11 performance.
DIRT 2 is a title that got a great deal of promotion at AMD’s press event. AMD has been using it to show off their 6-way Eyefinity configuration, and we had a chance to play it quickly in their testing labs when looking at Eyefinity. This should be a fuller-featured DX11 game, utilizing tessellation, better shadow filtering, and other DX11 features. Certainly it’s the closest thing AMD’s going to have for a showcase title this year for the DX11 features of their hardware, and the console version has been scoring well in reviews. The PC version is due December 11th.
Finally, AMD had Rebellion Games in house to show off an early version of Aliens vs. Predator. This was certainly the most impressive title shown, with Rebellion showing off tessellation and HDAO in real time. Unfortunately screenshots don’t really do the game justice here; the difference from using DX11 is far more noticeable in motion. At any rate, this game is the farthest out – it won’t ship until Q1 of next year at the earliest.
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JonnyDough - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
They could probably use a 1.5 GB card. :(yacoub - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
why is the 5870 so freaking LONG??I'm pretty sure you could land aircraft on it.
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870...">http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870...
Someone should photoshop a person into that image for scale. They'd be standing in the shadow underneath the PCIe connector, waving at you, and there would be an F-35 JSF circling like a fly trying to land on the deck.
Ryan Smith - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
It's your standard, full-length 10.5" card. It's the same as the GTX cards and the 4870X2Here's a shot comparing it to a GTX 285 and a 4890 that I didn't get to use in the article.
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870...">http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870...
SiliconDoc - Monday, September 28, 2009 - link
If you can't see the 5870 is the longest card in that pic, then you've got different problems than just lying issues.Another one, another big fat fib, with pic included, that proves the fib to be a fab fib.
It's amazing.
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"No, everyone, do not believe your lying eyes, it's a standard 10.5" measured in the new red rooster barnyard stick."
Cripes call International Weights and Measures, we have warped space time around the new ati card it's so powerful.
LSnK - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
Or plainly spoken, angle independent angle-dependent filtering. How confusing.frozentundra123456 - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
Mildly disappointed in the initial results for this card. It is powerful,admittedly, but it has less than twice the performance of the 4870. Also does not use less power. Maybe I was expecting too much. It surely is not a giant step up like the introduction of the 4xxx series cards. I was hoping for another big leap in performance per watt.I have a feeling that nVidia's 300 series will beat it when it finally comes out, although hopefully ATI will still be ahead in performance per watt and performance per dollar.
I hope they make a good low/midrange card like the 4670 that does not require external power but has increased performance.
Spoelie - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
I reckon you'll see performance improve the coming months, as ATi's compiler improves to use the new instructions more efficiently. The card you see here today will not be the one fighting GT300.Granted, it won't make huge strides, but I guesstimate it to be 5-10% better, depending on circumstance/game, by the november-january timeframe (when GT300 hopefully lands).
Nvidia's baby will probably still be faster, but if the margin turns out to be slim, we'll have another rv770 vs GT200 situation playing out. And when the first wave of DX11 games have hit, somewhere next year, it'll be time to reevaluate again ;).
JonnyDough - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
and I stopped. I had to post this:"Sometimes a surprise is nice. Other times it’s nice for things to go as planned for once.
Compared to the HD 4800 series launch, AMD’s launch of the HD 5800 series today is going to fall in to the latter category. There are no last-minute announcements or pricing games, or NDAs that get rolled back unexpectedly. Today’s launch is about as normal as a new GPU launch can get."
If it's normal for all that crap to happen, wouldn't it be ABNORMAL for AMD to have a great launch? :)
SiliconDoc - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
LOL" . Today’s launch is about as normal as a new GPU launch can get."
I guess he meant "for reviewers" - since the "normal launch" today is "listed on the websites for sale, but greyed out, not available, or pre-order" - meaning NO STOCK.
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Yehah buddy, that is a "as normal as any launch" so long as it's the immensely favored ATI launching, and not that hated greedy Nvidia...
A normal launch and you can't buy the card...rofl.
JonnyDough - Thursday, September 24, 2009 - link
I wasn't being a fanboi, merely mocking normal launches from several companies. Seems like paper launches almost became the norm for awhile. :P