Report: GTX 870 Put Through Its Paces

A member on the Coolaler forums known as soothepain has posted two screenshots that show an unknown graphics card running 3DMark11 benchmarks.

We can see that the graphics card name is noted as D17U-20, but GPU-Z doesn’t recognize it. The same goes for the GPU, which is noted as 13C2. The member writes that this graphics card is the GTX 870, and we’re tempted to believe him. The CUDA core count of the graphics card is shown as 1664 cores, which run at 1051 MHz stock, with a boost clock that goes up to 1178 MHz. The card carries 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, which runs over a 256-bit memory interface at an effective speed of 7012 MHz.

The test scores are 4625 points for the 3DMark11 extreme preset and 11919 points for the performance preset. In comparison, this is right around the same level as the GTX 780 performs. The tests were performed on a system that carried the Intel Core i7-4820K Ivy Bridge-E processor.

Unfortunately, the device ID and the bios version of the card are obstructed in the images. These bits of information would help us confirm which card it is despite the fact that GPU-Z doesn't recognize it. Even so, given the performance level and the specifications, along with what we know about the Maxwell architecture, it is a reasonably safe assumption that this is, in fact, the GTX 870. Of course, note that this is still a rumor, and it is still unconfirmed. Hopefully we will know more in September, when we expect Nvidia to launch new graphics cards.

Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

  • vipboy28
    Does anyone this that the 256-bit memory interface is fine? I feel like we dont need 384 to achieve similar results. Anyone feel like it should be 384?
    Reply
  • xenol
    Let's just hope NVIDIA prices these new cards "correctly". It's jarring to see system builders selling $3500-$4000 systems that comes with a $3000 Titan Z standard.
    Reply
  • xenol
    Does anyone this that the 256-bit memory interface is fine? I feel like we dont need 384 to achieve similar results. Anyone feel like it should be 384?
    Maxwell has more cache, which is supposed to allow less of a need for higher memory bandwidth. It's part of the energy efficiency improvements they were doing.
    Reply
  • oxiide
    13940986 said:
    Does anyone this that the 256-bit memory interface is fine? I feel like we dont need 384 to achieve similar results. Anyone feel like it should be 384?

    Well, it may be a 256-bit bus but its also 7 GHz memory. That's really, really high; in fact I've heard its the intended limit for the baseline GDDR5 specification. Especially when you consider that this card doesn't sound beefy enough for 4K gaming anyway, I really don't think it will be starved for memory bandwidth.
    Reply
  • hardcore_player
    the Maxwell architecture doesn't need more than 256 bit bandwidth to run effectively , unlike Kepler , which is bandwidth dependent . for instance take a look at GTX 760 .
    Reply
  • Doug Lord
    So 870=780 and 880=780ti. What is the point???
    Reply
  • ingtar33
    I doubt this is true. The fact the only useful bit of information is obscured in the screenies just points to this being yet another internet hoax.
    Reply
  • FunSurfer
    13941583 said:
    So 870=780 and 880=780ti. What is the point???

    780 is 250W TDP, 870 is 190W. Captain Planet smiles.
    Reply
  • hardcore_player
    Maxwell architecture "GTX 800"series wont offer a huge step over GTX 700 , still were waiting till Pascal hits the shelves in 2016 or 4th quarter of 2015 . it presents a 3D Memory that offers several times greater bandwidth, more than twice the memory capacity and quadrupled energy efficiency of today's GPUs , it also has what so called NV-Link which puts a fatter pipe between the CPU and GPU , the flow of data between the CPU and GPU in this state allows data to flow at more than 80GB per second, compared to the 16GB per second available at current GPUs according to Nvidia .
    so Maxwell is somehow a refinement to the GTX 700 , adds and sharpen some of the
    the hardcore specs and functions of Kepler " GTX 600 " and Kepler Refresh architecture "GTX 700".
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Of course they are priced correctly. About the same speed as 780... about the same price as 780... That has been the trend in the resent years. Maybe they shave 10-20$ of if they feel generous...
    All in all this is cheaper card to produce than 780 is, so they can get better margins. (I think so at least, because the chip is somewhat smaller.)
    Reply