Radeon HD 5670 Predictions

Do you think ATI will make the 5670 not require an external power connector like they did with the 4670? IMO what they did with the 4670 was one of the smartest moves they could ever make. Not needing an external power connector yet delivering (slightly better than) 3850 level performance at such a low price gave the card huge value.

So think will they do it again?

I suspect, like the HD2600 you will see both options depending on the OEM's decision. The HD2600 had the option, but like the X800XL it was rarely used.

I think there will be HD56xx series cards with the power for the faster they can make them, likely the HD5670+ and then the slower cards wherever they can make the split, maybe the HD5650, you would probably see no connector required.

But if the number turn out right, maybe even then, they won't need the power connector even for the higher end of the series. When Xbit tested the HD4770 an interesting thing they found is that likely the card could run run without a power connector considering it maxed out below 50W let alone 75W provided by the PEG slot;

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0

So who knows, if the 40nm fab has improved from there, they may be able to get a nice card out without an additional power cord required.

Just get one of these, youll be just fine for a while!

the die shrink might improve tdp, but most likely, the 5670 will have 800 stream processors, the 4770 with 640 needs a power cnnector, so, maybe better yields on 40nm allow them to lower the tdpe

My thoughts exactly

23 of september? is that mere speculation or is there any truth? (if so, then proof)

I thought it was Tuesday in the U.S.

Reading several forums, it appeared at the time of release, the 4770 was all over the map with power usage, as 1 site found low power, while another found 15-20 watts more.
In the end, the benchers from those sites conferred and came to the conclusion that the 40nm process was simply immature, and varied alot, and ATI just included the connector just in case.
Any newer 4770 and most older ones didnt need the connector

unless they put

57xx = 800spu
56xx = 640spu

then the 5670 would most likely not require a pcie power dconnector

Over-engineering if you ask me, when they spec out the part if there's even a slight chance that it'll get close to the requirement for the board, as JDJ mentions, then yes if you have unclean board power, then you would want to make sure that it gets enough for mild OEM overclocking. Likely the early poor yields from TSMC sowed some major leakage, which was the rumour prior to their launch. If you're unsure if you can fix it, then you engineer that dupport into the card.

I would think that that's part of their thinking as to why it's over-engineered, but the main likely being problematic early production; and whether or not you would be able to avoid plugging in the connector would depend on the BIOS and layout, it may not allow you to post without the connector, in which case it's not just for OC'ing, but the performance results they found seem to indicate that like the old X800XL, it's on the cusp of what can be provided, and could be built either way.
They didn't test it without, and I'm sure thats a restriction built into the card either in software on board or through the power regulation hardware.

OOH OOH OOH!
One guy here!
Worked with my 300 watt PSU ^_^

Though I want a 5670 or a 5770 because of a lack of connectors on my 650 watt PSU (or I could run a 4pin in my mobo 8pin and use the 8pin slot on my modular for the GPU [other 8pin is in use]).
I don't want to buy a new PSU... again.

Well based on the fact my 3650 and 4670 don't require power connectors, I doubt the 56XX series will require them either. I'm hoping for a nice power efficient card that rivals the 4850 in performance just as the 4670 rivaled the 3850.

PCIe 1.x is 75W PCIe 2.0 max is 150W (although initially a separate spec), and 3.0 is supposed to be 300W.

Do you want fries with that?

I have fresh turds and arse gravy, will that do?

My 4770's wouldn't run without the 6 pin plugged in. A text that says "Please plug in the external power source" would come on the screen

So, if my understanding of PCIe 2.0 is right at 150watts, would any card with a TDP of 150 or under require additional connectors just to support our old legacy buddy PEIe 1.1?
Or maybe it's to support those who run their 4770s at 1.2V (compared to 0.9V stock, 33% voltage increase, 77% power usage increase, along with more power being used by the higher clocks). =D

Too bad you can't run a 4770 without the connector though... TDP of 80 watts, but apparantly uses about 50 watts average on load.

Yeah considering that their market is for entry-mid and value customers, it would be a good thing to hedge your bets and build for the PCIe 1.x spec for people who would be more likely to extend the life of products.

I think going to PCIe 2.0 only on a high end card makes sense, heck not only for power but throughput, but for the mid range and lower if you expect everyone to have PCIe 2.0 you're just killing alot of your market.

Now, for those who make boutique cards, there definitely would be a role for a low profile HD4750/4770+ type card with no connector, but even then, workstations that benefit most from that are usually a mix of new builds and additions to stable platforms, so even there it's likely a limiting factor if a company wants to purchase a product that is usable in their entire range, even if it means, they are stuck with an HD4650 or less as a result of that thinking.