ATI HD 5870:AMD just released their latest series of video cards to the public in the form of the ATI HD 5870. The ATI HD 5870 comes packing double the stream processors and double the texture (TMU) units as well as doubled render (ROP) units. The stream processors total in at 1600, with 80 TMUs and 32 ROPs - the reference core speed remains the same as the 4890's while memory speed has increased to 1200MHz. The fabrication process has been shrunk from 55nm down to 40nm, but with the increase of transistors the total die size has grown considerably to nearly an extra 25% in size. ATI was the first to 40nm video cards, and is also the first to present DirectX 11 compatibility. The memory bus and size has not increased - remaining at 256bit and 1GB. Overall the new release should bring some serious performance and all of the new developments look very enticing. AMD also has developed new software to go along with the new series - it is called ATI Eyefinity, the software allows multiple monitors of up to 6 to be used at the same time on each video card.
XFX has quickly come out with their own 5870, the XFX HD 5870 1GB. It runs at the reference clock speeds of 850MHz on the core and 1200MHz on the GDDR5 memory. The card is shipped with a voucher to get Dirt 2 - a DirectX 11 game - when it comes out later this winter. The XFX HD 5870 is the same as a plain ATI HD 5870, with its double stream processors, TMUs, and ROPs of the 4-series
All of the required accessories were included as well as some that just make the job of installing the card easier - such as quick installation guides and so on. The free game voucher is a nice touch - Dirt 2 should be out in early December and will show off DirectX 11. Overclockability of this card is very high with the software modifiable voltage although with the lack of updated software and stable drivers it can be very finicky. ATI Overdrive worked just fine in the end for a modest overclock and fan control. The fan was very loud at full speed but kept the temperatures very low on auto and manual speeds - left at defaults the card idled in the mid 40's and loaded mid-to-high 60's. The Samsung memory on this particular card didn't want to overclock very far and while being stable, they topped out at around 1275. The core easily reached over 1GHz bench stable but the scores were very close to the stock scores
