Tuesday, December 20th 2011
AMD's Own HD 7970 Performance Expectations?
Ahead of every major GPU launch, both NVIDIA and AMD give out a document to reviewers known as Reviewer's Guide, in which both provide guidelines (suggestions, not instructions), to reviewers to ensure new GPUs are given a fair testing. In such documents, the two often also give out their own performance expectations from the GPUs they're launching, in which they compare the new GPUs to either previous-generation GPUs from their own brand, or from the competitors'. Apparently such a performance comparison between the upcoming Radeon HD 7970 and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580, probably part of such a document, got leaked to the internet, which 3DCenter.org re-posted. The first picture below, is a blurry screenshot of a graph in which the two GPUs are compared along a variety of tests, at a resolution of 2560 x 1600. A Tweakers.net community member recreated that graph in Excel, using that data (second picture below).
A couple of things here are worth noting. Reviewer guide performance numbers are almost always exaggerated, so if reviewers get performance results lower than 'normal', they find it abnormal, and re-test. It's an established practice both GPUs vendors follow. Next, AMD Radeon GPUs are traditionally good at 2560 x 1600. For that matter, the performance gap between even the Radeon HD 6970 and GeForce GTX 580 narrows a bit at that resolution.
Source:
3DCenter.org
A couple of things here are worth noting. Reviewer guide performance numbers are almost always exaggerated, so if reviewers get performance results lower than 'normal', they find it abnormal, and re-test. It's an established practice both GPUs vendors follow. Next, AMD Radeon GPUs are traditionally good at 2560 x 1600. For that matter, the performance gap between even the Radeon HD 6970 and GeForce GTX 580 narrows a bit at that resolution.
101 Comments on AMD's Own HD 7970 Performance Expectations?
# Hardware installation
# Soldering criteria, including lead free connections
# Soldered requirements for connecting to terminals
# Soldered connection requirements for plated-through holes
# Surface mounting criteria for chip components, leadless and leaded chip carriers
# Swaged hardware and heatsink requirements of mechanical assemblies
# Component mounting criteria for DIPS, socket pins and card edge connectors
# Jumper wire assembly requirements
# Solder fillet dimensional criteria for all major SMT component groups
# Soldering, such as tombstoning, dewetting, voiding and others
# Criteria for component damage, laminate conditions, cleaning and coating
I am a few steps beyond that at my current job...Recapping a PSU is also pretty idiot proof unless you can't follow + and -'s on a PCB. You still didn't answer my question. Have you personally ever bypassed the OCP on anything? I have a couple of mobo's and GPU's not mention CPU's hardmodded.
:p
oh yeah and whoever mentions ATI all the time, it DOES NOT EXIST!!! its AMD now and has been for a veeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyy loooooooooooooong time.
Back on topic, without any bizarre maths or trying to take a swipe at what is obviously PR (Hi, this happens.... k?)
Going back 6+ months the estimates were that the shrink would produce in the region of a 40% performance bump. Even if AMD cherry picked these results (lol "if", of course they did, so what?), its still showing an increase of a little shy of 1 and a half times that of the respectable GTX580.
As for whoever commented they "cheated" using higher res's than 1080p for their tests... UH HUH?! Why are you spending serious money on a GPU if your only running 1080p? These are top tier cards meant for top tier res's. On that note, I find it hilarious that some sites still test using rigs with GPU solutions alone costing well above a grand and yet dont go higher than 1900x1200 in their testing suite? THAT makes *no* sense.
My only concern now is how long will it take for nV to get their answer out. Last time I checked they mentioned well into Q1 2012, they're unlikely to be early and given there has been a recent wave of new beefed up 580's coming out I think thats a good indication we're awhile off seeing it :/ Well, when it does arrive Ill be happy - pick the better card and couple it with an IB and /happynewrigtime
So bugger off :cool:
Either way, I have seen these graphs from AMD so many times that I know enough not to even waste my time to look at them. They are always way off. There is not one graph that they have released like that which is actually true. Just because it is "PR" also doesnt make it right - I hope both companies get flamed for releasing crap like this.
Come on people... NDA's are meant to be disregarded
Ideally, yes, reviewers would get a few weeks, but that's not always possible.
All i know is, no 7970XTX cards at my house, yet. :p
its A-M-D now, get it? :shadedshu
still doesnt change the fact that its AMD, ATi is dead.
gonna drop it here
and i saw what you did there lol
AMD VP: "OH S**T! Christmas is on the 25TH!!?!?! When the hell did that happen?, Suzy - Quick get Steve on the phone- I need that damn 7970 OUT NOW!"
Suzy: "But sir, the reviewers don't even have the cards yet"
AMD VP: "DAMMIT SUZY! I don't pay you THINK! Get Bob from marketing to make one of his famous graphs, then leak it on the internet."