DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

AMD 6790 Discussion

38 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/amd-6790-discussion.138623/

Gaurav Bhattacharjee
Gaurav Bhattacharjee Original post #1
Mar 29, 2011 at 3:21 PM
[TPU] AMD prepares to release HD 6790
On April 5, AMD will release its newest Radeon HD 6000 series GPU, which it has been largely secretive about. The new Radeon HD 6790 is designed to compete with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 550 Ti. The HD 6790 is based on AMD's 40 nm "Barts" GPU (on which are based HD 6850 and HD 6870). The Barts silicon is configured to have 800 stream processors (SPs)...hang on, unlike the 800 SPs on Juniper (HD 5700 series, HD 6770), the 800 SPs (arranged in 10 streaming multiprocessor units) on Barts will be spread across two blocks of 400 SPs each, each block having its own dispatch processor.

*www.techpowerup.com/img/11-03-29/183a.jpg

Source
vickybat
Mar 29, 2011 at 3:42 PM
^^ Thats nice. It will be based on vliw5 and will be great.
skeletor
Mar 29, 2011 at 3:49 PM
Two 6-pin connecters? HD 6850 only uses one? :confused:

AMD's version of GTX 550?? More power less performance??
Gaurav Bhattacharjee
Mar 29, 2011 at 3:56 PM
Two 6-pin connecters? HD 6850 only uses one? :confused:

AMD's version of GTX 550?? More power less performance??

Not that less I should think. Think should crush a 5770, unlike 6850 which is a downgrade from a 5850.

Note: Expected price about $130.

The weird thing I find is the numbering scheme. I'm lost completely. What the hell AMD??? 6790 looks like 6970... :D:D

I thought the scheme was something like xy30, xy50, xy70, xy90(although this last one is bit obscure what with AMD only launching 4890 and 6990).

Key:
x=series ; y=sub-series
coderunknown
Mar 29, 2011 at 8:10 PM
HD48** series used to have 3 members: HD4830, HD4850, HD4870. maybe AMD will repeat the same thing again.

BTW what exactly does that 2 block thing mean? will it be another dual GPU card?
vickybat
Mar 29, 2011 at 8:25 PM
^^ No no not dual gpu. Two blocks mean 2 simd engines containing the sp's. Each block has 400 sp's totalling to 800 for the gpu.

It also has a shared tesselation execution unit in the backend. Each simd has its own rasterizer though( responsible for filling pixels and textures). Should have good tesselation performance too.
Jaskanwar Singh
Mar 29, 2011 at 8:58 PM
believe me i read the title and felt a gpu is coming which will lie between 6970 and 6990 :-D

anyway waiting for it.

HD48** series used to have 3 members: HD4830, HD4850, HD4870. maybe AMD will repeat the same thing again.

BTW what exactly does that 2 block thing mean? will it be another dual GPU card?

58** also had that - 5830, 5850, 5870 ;-)
coderunknown
Mar 29, 2011 at 11:23 PM
^^ No no not dual gpu. Two blocks mean 2 simd engines containing the sp's. Each block has 400 sp's totalling to 800 for the gpu.

pic was crashing when i posted. so was unable to understand the whole concept. neither the link opened (damn slow net :x). doubts cleared now :smile:

BTW, why these 2 GPU bosses just release products without any announcement at least in the low/mid section. its like as if they don't care.

believe me i read the title and felt a gpu is coming which will lie between 6970 and 6990 :-D

looking at price difference, a GPU is possible.

58** also had that - 5830, 5850, 5870 ;-)

yes yes, missed the 58** line. thanks :)
topgear
topgear #9
Mar 30, 2011 at 7:08 AM
wow! the gpu name is confusing - I though it's a typo

so after realizing it's not a typo here goes my pre-serach about this ;-)

here it says uit needs a single 6 pci-e pin power adapter :

Radeon HD 6790 to released on April 5th- Techpreview.in!!! - Lastest Technology News

but this says it needs double - confusing ;-)

Exclusive: Radeon HD 6790 based on Barts LE with 800 SPs - www.nordichardware.com

^^ stay tuned - those guys ^^ above said they will get exact info about power consumption by the last date of this time anyway.

It's not all rosy however, as the HD 6790 suffers from one of the same crippling flaws of the HD 5830 - high power consumption for the performance. As the HD 6790 is built around salvage dies, it requires a higher voltage than the regular Barts products to keep its clock speeds high sufficiently. The result is a 150W power consumption and requirement for 2x6-pin

UPDATED: AMD Radeon HD 6790 Specifications Revealed - VR-Zone.com

meanwhile - while we wondering about power consumption let us enjoy some cool pics and say some WoW ! ;-)

*www.fudzilla.com/images/stories/2011/March/General_News/sapphire_HD6790_3.jpg

pic courtesy of fudzilla.com

Sapphire's HD 6790 pixellized
Jaskanwar Singh
Mar 30, 2011 at 8:41 AM
looking at price difference, a GPU is possible.

just hoping something like 6980 comes to take on 580. because this price point is the only one left untouched by amd ;-)

topgear thanks for the links and pic. very nice.
hoping it comes with one PEG connector and is priced around 8k.
Jaskanwar Singh
Mar 30, 2011 at 9:52 AM
^arrey gaurav i know. i was thinking that this one - 27k is the only position left untouched by amd. so they should fill it too.
vickybat
vickybat #15
Mar 30, 2011 at 5:55 PM
^arrey gaurav i know. i was thinking that this one - 27k is the only position left untouched by amd. so they should fill it too.

No more cayman gpu's will be launched this generation. Amd will focus on southern islands in Q4 2011 i.e 7xxx series.

Nvidia's counter- KEPLER.

Offtopic- Whats that signature in urdu jas?
R
rajan1311 #16
Mar 30, 2011 at 6:48 PM
well, i feel this will be a rather fail card from amd....will be about 10% faster than the HD 5770, will take 30% more power and will be $10 more expensive......GIVE ME THE HD 6670!

Offtopic- Whats that signature in urdu jas?

means spambot has turned Overclocker ! ;)
Jaskanwar Singh
Mar 30, 2011 at 8:32 PM
what you think, if one such card ultimately gets released, will it be a dual GPU or a single burning one?

nooooooooo. my 5-series card is not even 1yr old :x :-(

i think it will be a dual 6950.:razz:

No more cayman gpu's will be launched this generation. Amd will focus on southern islands in Q4 2011 i.e 7xxx series.

Nvidia's counter- KEPLER.

Offtopic- Whats that signature in urdu jas?

i know. i know. no harm in thinking.

rajan mentioned it.:p

well, i feel this will be a rather fail card from amd....will be about 10% faster than the HD 5770, will take 30% more power and will be $10 more expensive......GIVE ME THE HD 6670!

means spambot has turned Overclocker ! ;)

right rajan. i am going to push my cpu to limits maybe soon. :razz: :Fingerx:
topgear
topgear #18
Mar 31, 2011 at 4:04 AM
just hoping something like 6980 comes to take on 580. because this price point is the only one left untouched by amd ;-)

topgear thanks for the links and pic. very nice.
hoping it comes with one PEG connector and is priced around 8k.

you are welcome buddy ;-)

I also want to see this card using only single PEG power connector ( damn ! they have intentionally posted the pics without power adapter ) but if the card is based on left over 6870 pcbs then I think they will use 2x peg power connector anyway.

If it comes under 8K it will just butcher HD5770 and GTX550 for sure ;-)
Jaskanwar Singh
Mar 31, 2011 at 9:03 PM
^^erm...vicks wrong thread. you mistyped in two threads.

see AMD Radeon HD 6790 tipped to bring mid-range battle to GeForce GTX 550 Ti - SlashGear
*www.techpowerup.com/143120/AMD-Readies-Radeon-HD-6790.html
*www.fudzilla.com/graphics/item/22273-amd-radeon-hd-6790-is-a-great-overclocker

6790 has 150w TDP (higher than 6850):-x
hope it doesnt turn up like that **** 5830!!:x


i am wondering why not 6830;-)
vickybat
vickybat #20
Mar 31, 2011 at 9:49 PM
^^ Oops sorry.

How can the 6790 have such higher tdp considering its low on paper than 6850?

Doesn't make any sense.
coderunknown
Mar 31, 2011 at 10:59 PM
thats the problem with these cards. higher TDP but lower performance. actually they are not plan of roadmap initially but later developed if a particular die comes up with too much manufacturing defects. can't just throw it out. actually this is not the 1st card of its kind. many past cards were same.
topgear
topgear #22
Apr 1, 2011 at 3:08 AM
^^ Oops sorry.

How can the 6790 have such higher tdp considering its low on paper than 6850?

Doesn't make any sense.

It's not all rosy however, as the HD 6790 suffers from one of the same crippling flaws of the HD 5830 - high power consumption for the performance. As the HD 6790 is built around salvage dies, it requires a higher voltage than the regular Barts products to keep its clock speeds high sufficiently. The result is a 150W power consumption and requirement for 2x6-pin

HD6790 ( most probably ) is built using the salvage dies of HD6870 and that's why it has such hefty power requirements though the pricing is going to chill out some heat for sure and makes it a cool card for some ;-)
skeletor
skeletor #23
Apr 4, 2011 at 5:13 AM
HD6790 ( most probably ) is built using the salvage dies of HD6870 and that's why it has such hefty power requirements though the pricing is going to chill out some heat for sure and makes it a cool card for some ;-)
yup, I just read about this. Would be good if HD 6790 unlocks to HD 6870. :mrgreen:

But yea, this card is performing better than HD 5770 according to the early benchmarks. This also means that this card is better than GTX 550.
topgear
topgear #24
Apr 4, 2011 at 6:45 AM
Nvidia is preparing GTX560 to compete with this - so the release of HD6790 ( and GTX560 ) will reduce the price of GTX550 and HD5770 ;-)
blademast3r
Apr 4, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Expect a LOT of misquotes from retailers :p like hd 6790 at 20k :p
Gaurav Bhattacharjee
Apr 4, 2011 at 10:15 AM
yup, I just read about this. Would be good if HD 6790 unlocks to HD 6870. :mrgreen:

But yea, this card is performing better than HD 5770 according to the early benchmarks. This also means that this card is better than GTX 550.

Yaaay!! I was correct when I said it would crush a 5770. :mrgreen:
Jaskanwar Singh
Apr 5, 2011 at 10:17 AM
AMD's Radeon HD 6790: Coming Up Short At $150 - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News
Gaurav Bhattacharjee
Apr 5, 2011 at 10:27 AM
[Various] AMD 6790, the Reviews are In!

PC Perspective
Anandtech
Hot Hardware
TechPowerup
Tweaktown

If anyone finds more, post please.
damngoodman999
Apr 5, 2011 at 10:57 AM
I think its around 7.5K to 9K (IMO total waste of money ) also 2 X 16pin power connectors gives me weird feeling !

HD 6850 worth !
Jaskanwar Singh
Apr 5, 2011 at 2:50 PM
everything depends on this pricing. should be 7.5-8k~ to become a hit.


but 6850 is still worth.
R
rajan1311 #31
Apr 5, 2011 at 7:15 PM
7k and i will take it..
topgear
topgear #33
Apr 6, 2011 at 3:18 AM
with 2x power pin how come it consumes less power than a HD6850 which has only one power connector anyway .

BTW, got 1 more review lik for HD6790 ;-)

*www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6790-barts-gpu-geforce-gtx-460,2917.html
J
Joker #34
Apr 6, 2011 at 4:25 AM
ok this card is better than GTX 460 now which nvidia has replaced with guess what? gtx 550. :lol:

Conclusion: Built From Winning Genes : AMD Radeon HD 6790 Review: More Mid-Range Might

amd has nailed it with this card. yup it has 2 6 power pins but uses less power than gtx 460 and gtx 550 too. :mrgreen:

Power, Temperature, And Noise Benchmarks : AMD Radeon HD 6790 Review: More Mid-Range Might
skeletor
skeletor #35
Apr 6, 2011 at 4:36 AM
I'll have to say, GTX 550 is the most useless card which has been released this year. I wonder who'll buy it?

This card's power consumption is equal to HD 6850, but if priced around 7-8k, this card will be good. It is almost as good as GTX 460 anyways. :)
Gaurav Bhattacharjee
Apr 7, 2011 at 9:39 AM
[Xbit] AMD Denies Possibility of Unlocking of Radeon HD 6790

Not all graphics cards are equally good for experienced end-users, who are not afraid of pushing their performance to the maximum possible level. Advanced Micro Devices officially confirmed that its latest AMD Radeon HD 6790 cannot be transformed into more powerful solution by re-enabling disabled units.

Source
vickybat
vickybat #37
Apr 7, 2011 at 7:38 PM
ok this card is better than GTX 460 now which nvidia has replaced with guess what? gtx 550. :lol:

Conclusion: Built From Winning Genes : AMD Radeon HD 6790 Review: More Mid-Range Might

amd has nailed it with this card. yup it has 2 6 power pins but uses less power than gtx 460 and gtx 550 too. :mrgreen:

Power, Temperature, And Noise Benchmarks : AMD Radeon HD 6790 Review: More Mid-Range Might


You are wrong again mate. This card won't go head to head with gtx 550 but with Gtx 560 non ti version. It will come with full 336 shaders as that of a gtx 460 with a full 256 mb memory bus and higher clocks.

Since gtx 460 1gb with its 192 bit bus is faster than a 6790, gtx 560 will trounce it and maybe take the fight to the mighty 6850.

Lets wait and watch.
Cilus
Cilus #38
Apr 11, 2011 at 4:25 PM
A little edit... I think it is GTX 460 768 MB which is having 192 bit bus, not the 1 GB version.