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Along with the changes to the architecture, AMD is also introducing Eyefinity 2.0. For the most part, the changes are being made at the driver level, but there is one new feature being added to the Southern Islands graphics cards like the HD 7970.
This new feature gives the HD 7970 the ability to simultaneously output multiple, independent audio streams. Essentially this means each video source that has the ability to support audio will have its own dedicated audio signal. This allows a single HD 7970 to connect to multiple displays, with each having its own audio signal. In total the graphics card can support up to five audio signals. You can be fragging people on one monitor while watching your favorite show on a separate TV that is also connected to the Southern Islands graphics card. The technology also follows the video so if the source changes, the audio seamlessly switches to the other device as well. This is actually an interesting feature that really pushes the expansion options of the Radeon series forward.
The next feature is one that we have been hoping would come along for some time now. This is of course the merging of Eyefinity and HD3D. Unlike the previous feature, having a Southern Islands graphics card is not required to run Eyefinity in 3D. Instead this is a simple driver update that will enable the feature for all graphics cards that already support both technologies. Stereoscopic 3D technology from both AMD and NVIDIA is still niche at best, but we are glad AMD is moving forward and taking Eyefinty to its next logical step.
Another driver fix is the addition of flexible bezel compensation. The image below should give you a good idea of what this is all about. Essentially, it allows anyone to pair three non-identical monitors together and not have to worry about the images not lining up. Instead, the user can adjust the display to have the on screen image align perfectly across the displays.
AMD has also added a task bar positioning feature. Anyone that uses Eyefinity knows that previous drivers pushed the main desktop display to the leftmost screen. With this new positioning feature, the user can now pick which display the task bar is set to. Again, this is a huge improvement over the previous generation Eyefinity, and will make using this technology more seamless and convenient as the main desktop can now be manually configured to fit the individual needs of any Eyefinity user.
Eyefinity 2.0 also includes a custom resolution feature that allows the display resolution to be manually set to best fit the users' needs. While most gamers will be happy simply setting the resolution to 5760x1080, there are a handful of people that prefer greater customization. The new Eyefinity 2.0 also adds support for 5x1 Landscape with 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 monitors. This means Eyefinity is no longer limited to monitors at or below 1080p, increasing the available display real estate even further.
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The only thing I have to disagree with you on is that it's overpriced... or rather, it's not 'relatively' overpriced compared to Nvidia's GTX 580. For having an average of 25.8% higher performance in 2560x1600 (With only a single score under 18% difference) I think the $50 (10%) more you pay over the GTX 580 is worth it if you're spending that much to begin with. On a whole though both cards are overpriced.
Add on to that all the new or improved features and it's a pretty solid package imo, even though I was hoping for a bit more from the 28nm node.
ATI is trying to take advantage of its new GPU as the "fastest single-core chip" before Kepler is out. The price will be lowered afterwards plus some performance improvements through new drivers.
Was going to opt for one of the new Sapphire Dual Fan 6970s but since in a months time the 7xxx series will be out, will probably wait until these get on the market.
Only issue is that I can't fit a full 275mm GPU in my case. Ideally needs to be less than 250mm.
TBH after the failings of the FX/Bulldozer CPUs, AMD does need this to hit the market strong, since for the past years nVidia have been infront of AMD on performance. Seems AMD is starting to go for better price/performance instead of trying to compete head on with Intel.
Mind you, if the Piledrivers improve the Bulldozer architechture and fix it's issues (by having 8 true cores instead of modules), and manages to fit an AM3+ socket, then I might be tempted to go for one of them aswell.
The 6970 was only around $300 at launch, so I honestly expected this one to be around $400. AMD is not going to sell many cards with this price point, because to be honest, it's NOT worth it. A 15% increase over a 580 in most cases is awful, not only because it's 28nm, but because it's a whole new Architecture.
Overpriced, underperforming, not worth it. I'll wait for Kepler.
Also, the HD 6970 had an MSRP of closer to $400 at launch, so it was expected this card would retail higher due to the better performance.
Anyway, this should be at $400, if it were $400, it would be reasonable for sure. $350 would be the sweet spot that would really just destroy Nvidia. The thing I love about AMD/ATI's cards were the fact that they offered the best price/performance. $550 is absolutely overpriced, you can't even argue it. The GTX 580 is also overpriced, and while this does beat out the 580 for a similar price ($50 more than the 3GB 580), this is a standard reference next-gen card. It should be around the same price as their standard current gen cards, or around $50 more. It's nothing amazing in the performance department, either. If it had a solid 40%-45% increase over the GTX 580, I could see $550.
That said... I was still expecting a bit more wow factor, I'm guessing the 7990 when that comes around will do the big leap though much like the 6990 did. Maybe we can get a MARS version...
the price is high, but what do you expect? its new tech. they are always overpriced initally. sure, the initial price is high, even by those standards, but im sure if you wait a month or two, it will drop considerably. in any case, i believe that the extra price is partly justified with all the features offered, ecpecially considering that it has some better power management technology added in, as well as the improvements to eyefinity with the audio and the 3d features. i myself wouldnt use such a feature (the 3d), but hey, its there for others if they want it. ive never really understood the hype behind 3d anyway.
i say let people wait until its cheaper, and then im sure it would be a great value card.
I believe anandtech did a test with pci-2.1 and there was no difference in gaming. In GPGPU calculations there was something like a 7-10% performance loss. Don't have the exact numbers in front of me though.
^Fanboy squeal amirite?
Anyway, although the performance is great on this card, I'm particularly interested in the cooling. I hope NvIDIA takes a leaf out of AMD's book and improves the cooling solutions on their future cards, as I'm not terribly interested in going back to AMD in the future (NVIDIA is just a more logical choice, considering its feature set and software support).
I look forward to a review of a 670 or 680 card (or equivalent, though I don't see them changing it).
My jaw drops at the thought of a 690 GPU though, I can only imagine how epic that card will be (performance and price wise XD).
Normally I would've gone for an Intel+nVidia build but to build it to the spec I would've wanted it would've cost me around £1000 atleast and I don't have that kinda money. AMD seems to have move to competing on price, hence why I've gone for an AMD build at a little over £500. However I've noticed alot of games are displaying nVidia logos on.
Granted I might not have explored every type of card on there but I'm going by what I've seen so far.