AMD Radeon HD 7850 & 7870 Review

Advanced Micro Devices has finally reached the day when it formally introduces its latest graphics adapters from the Radeon HD 7000 line.

The Radeon HD 7870 and HD 7850 have merely been announced today, coinciding with public viewings at the CeBIT and GDC shows. Retail availability is slated for week commencing March 19, according to AMD.

“Engineered for supremacy, designed for efficiency and packed with incredible features, the AMD Radeon HD 7800 series offers more than the just world’s most advanced graphics: it offers the incredible performance every gamer deserves,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, GPU Division, AMD.

“AMD continues to lead the industry in desktop graphics innovation with unrivaled computing and unequaled technologies like our game-changing GCN Architecture.”

Power Consumption

Radeon HD 7000-series cards have set a new benchmark with respect to power-draw for a given level of gaming performance.

Measured power consumption R7850

• System in IDLE = 160W
• System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 256W
• Difference (GPU load) = 96W
• Add average IDLE wattage ~10W
• Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 106 Watts

Measured power consumption R7870

• System in IDLE = 157W
• System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 274W
• Difference (GPU load) = 117W
• Add average IDLE wattage ~10W
• Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 127 Watts

The entire 28nm chip stack has now been filled and both the Radeon HD 7850 and 7870 are graphics cards that pack a serious amount of performance.

The reality is that the Radeon HD 7850 is actually positioned against the GeForce GTX 560 Ti, but it is battling with the GeForce GTX 570 easily just as well.

The Radeon HD 7870 on it’s end riding the GTX 580′s “toosh” all the time and for mid-range targeted cards, that shows a lot of performance.

That said you should also realize that the cards tested today are reference sample. AMD’s partners will start selling factory faster clocked models as well, so the performance bracket for these cards to operate in can still rise another 10% easily.

Gaming performance is sufficient for all titles; power consumption is at record low levels, like on the other HD 7000 Series cards; all essential non-gaming features are included and the cards overclock like champs. Actually the HD 7870 claimed a new record spot for maximum GPU clock in a TechPowerUp VGA review with 1205 MHz. This enables willing users to get some free extra performance from their card, basically bumping it up to the next faster card according to our testing.

Price & Availability

The MSRP (in USD) prices will be 350$ for HD 7870 GHz Edition and 250$ for HD 7850, and that is just a really fair price level.

Review Of AMD Radeon HD 7850 & 7870

1. Hexus
2. PC Per
3. Vr Zone
4. Guru 3D
5. Hard OCP
6. Tech Spot
7. Anand Tech
8. Tech PowerUp
9. Hot Hardware
10. Toms Hardware

More AMD Radeon HD 7850 & 7870

• HIS Unveils Radeon HD7800 IceQ and IceQ X Series Lineup
• VTX3D Launches HD7800 Series For Hardcore Gamers
• XFX Announces Radeon HD7870 Double Dissipation Graphics Card
• ASUS Shows its Radeon HD7800 Series GPU’s Featuring the DirectCU II Heatsink
• MSI Unveils the R7800 Series GPU’s Equipped with Twin Frozr III Heatsink
• Club 3D Releases the Radeon HD 7870Ghz Edition and Radeon HD7850 Graphic Cards
• Gigabyte Equips its Radeon HD7800 Series lineup with WindForce Cooling
• Sapphire Intros its HD7800 Series GCN based Graphic Cards