Asus HD 6850 and HD 6870 listed online

[Trickle]

Nice! Just preordered the 6870 XFX for £180 from scan, not bad for a card almost as fast as a £280 5870!

From the picture its missing the two mini displayport sockets. A non issue, a long term issue, or a simple £/compromise good choice? More of a risk on the cooler. The radial designs seem to have been ok on other cards. You will already know if your case can deal with internal venting or not.

Boils down on if you are prepared to wait on the pre-order status, and exercise the 7day change of mind return to retailer (sans postage) if its an aural nightmare.

I think the custom cooler 460s still look the best bet at this price range, and we are seeing some _obscene_ prices on 470s today. What 3rd party aftermarket air coolers are out for the 470? The price is that good on them (£185) that you could consider getting into 2nd hand 240 rad + generic gpu block (make your own vrm sinks etc) solutions.

[dmuz]

From the picture its missing the two mini displayport sockets. A non issue, a long term issue, or a simple £/compromise good choice? More of a risk on the cooler. The radial designs seem to have been ok on other cards. You will already know if your case can deal with internal venting or not.

Boils down on if you are prepared to wait on the pre-order status, and exercise the 7day change of mind return to retailer (sans postage) if its an aural nightmare.

I think the custom cooler 460s still look the best bet at this price range, and we are seeing some _obscene_ prices on 470s today. What 3rd party aftermarket air coolers are out for the 470? The price is that good on them (£185) that you could consider getting into 2nd hand 240 rad + generic gpu block (make your own vrm sinks etc) solutions.

All the launch 6870s are reference boards so they'll all have the same connectors and coolers, just different stickers on them. Personally doesn't bother me as I'll never use the DP sockets and I will most likely be sticking my water block on it.

[Trickle]

Yeah, I have my 5850 passive watercooled too, shifted over from 4850 for the same reason. Reference coolers are never fit for purpose. My reference 5850 was horrible.

Retraction on the above posts. The XFX pictured at scan is only missing 1 socket vs reference.

[scaryjim]

Retraction on the above posts. The XFX pictured at scan is only missing 1 socket vs reference.

Looks like they went down the sapphire route of replacing 2 mini-dp with one standard dp. Seems reasonable on the lower end card to me: who's actually going to be running more than 3 screens off one of these things, seriously?

[dmuz]

Yeah, I have my 5850 passive watercooled too, shifted over from 4850 for the same reason. Reference coolers are never fit for purpose. My reference 5850 was horrible.

Retraction on the above posts. The XFX pictured at scan is only missing 1 socket vs reference.

Not sure how you could tell from the scan pic how many sockets it has, its at such an angle! You can clearly see from the XFX website it has 2 sockets. It would probably cost them more to take the socket off than to just copy the reference design.

http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/g...ries/6870.aspx

[Trickle]

Thats a different pic from the one on Scan's site.

Edit: Looks like they might be showing a 6850's picture on their 6870 listing.

[Istanbuller]

So do you think the price of these cards (the 6870) in particular is likely to go up/down before Christmas? Are these launch prices cheaper or more expensive than what they will settle at?

Also, based on these prices, what do you think the prices will be for 69xx series?

[TheWizard]

So do you think the price of these cards (the 6870) in particular is likely to go up/down before Christmas? Are these launch prices cheaper or more expensive than what they will settle at?

Also, based on these prices, what do you think the prices will be for 69xx series?

I am not so sure that the prices will go down. I was shocked to see that Ebuyer upped their price for the 6850 to £149 and they don't have any stock left. So those of you who got the preorders for £132, you are very lucky indeed. However if supply does pick up, prices ought to go down once again but that could be a while.... Unless perhaps if the Green Goblins can counter this huge 6800 popularity by reduicing the prices of the GTX 460 to match.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is just typical for the UK!! Just because the HD6850 1GB cards sold well at under £140 just jack up the price!!

Anyway,the GTX460 1GB can be had for under £150 now.

[TheWizard]

This is just typical for the UK!! Just because the HD6850 1GB cards sold well at under £140 just jack up the price!!

Anyway,the GTX460 1GB can be had for under £150 now.

I look forwards to that day when we UK consumers of graphics cards don't get shafted so much (after a card has been released). I understand that the principles of supply and demand are at work here and why the prices are rising so soon after release, however this isn't the same for the other side of the pond. Retailers over in the States don't suddenly increase price as soon as supply hits a low and demand hits a high. It is a pity really. I am sure the rest of Euroland and the US get better deals overall. I fear the day when VAT rises to 20%.

[shakerist]

I might get a GTX 470 if i ever own a power station but for now im waiting for asus cu core 6870, because I need something quiet