Radeon HD 6850 & 6870 Released
The Radeon HD 6850 and HD 6870 have been released to the public. Release prices are confirmed at $179.99 USD for the 5850 and $239.99 for the 6870. Current benchmarks place the 6850 between the 5830 & the 5850, and the 6870 between the 5850 & the 5870.
ATI’s new product naming system has been redesigned. The current X800 series cards (6850 & 6870) will replace the previous X700 series (5750 & 5770). Based on current benchmarks, the 6850 looks to be between the 5830 and 5850 in performance, and the 5870 seems to be between the 5850 and the 5870.
The 6000 series cards are featuring a more robust onboard video decoder, UVD3, which is capable of handling simultaneous 1080P video streams at once.Some new key features of the 6000 Series:
AMD HD3D – ATI’s onboard 3D Decoder and 3D Effect Simulation (for 2D movies)
DisplayPort 1.2 output – With support of up to 3 monitors per port in a daisy-chain configuration
HDMI 1.4a with support for stereoscopic 3D & 7.1 over HDMI supporting AC-3, PCM, AAC, Dolby TrueHD, & DTS Master Audio formats
Detailed Specs. Comparison Chart (took me almost an hour to get this correct)
You will likely see the 5800 series cards drop in price with regard to the 6800 series cards.
