Another zeroed graph, I think I might faint. What's going on at AMD?
ATi uses engineering wizardry.
wide memory busses come with a not-insignificant associated board cost, too. They require more layers on the PCB, more complex routing, and produce a greater number of "bad boards" that need to be scrapped. It also can require a greater number of memory chips at a given total RAM amount.
So if ATI's 48xx series stuff has a 256-bit memory interface, and the GTX 200 based cards have wider memory busses, the difference in costs can be quite a bit greater than the difference in chip costs.
So...
HD 4850 = 1042 MHz (clock domains) * 2 FLOP (MADD) * 480 SP = 1.0 TFLOPs
HD 4870 = 1250 MHz (clock domains) * 2 FLOP (MADD) * 480 SP = 1.2 TFLOPs
or
HD 4850 = 625 MHz (core) * 2 FLOP (MADD) * 800 SP = 1.0 TFLOPs
HD 4870 = 750 MHz (core) * 2 FLOP (MADD) * 800 SP = 1.2 TFLOPs
?
ATI:The difference in price between GDDR3 and GDDR5 on the other hand counts against ATi.
It'll be interesting to see if GT200 still suffers from the high-res MSAA performance cliff caused by running out of memory - while ATI GPUs at the same res have no problem (of course ATI GPUs have this cliff too, but it takes a higher-res/MSAA setting). If GT200 is so afflicted then GT260, for example, needs more memory to compete against HD4870 512MB.The difference in price between GDDR3 and GDDR5 on the other hand counts against ATi.
ATI:
GDDR5 price
nVidia:
Dies per wafer
Bad yields
More PCB layers
Routing complexity
More of RAM chips
Heatsink cost
Winner ?
ATI:
GDDR5 price
nVidia:
Dies per wafer
Bad yields
More PCB layers
Routing complexity
More of RAM chips
Heatsink cost
Winner ?
Comparing cost of parts between a 4870 and GTX 280/260 is like asking what costs more to build, a BMW 335i or a 545i?
If there is equal performance, then this is all a huge advantage for ATI. Since it appears that GTX 280/260 will perform significantly better than the 4870 with games, then it's a different story because the higher performance parts command higher prices.
So in the end... who's the winner for this summer ?
And not to forget NVIO. It's back!nVidia:
Higher performance
It is not like they have gained nothing from the added complexity.
Actually, NVIO is more likely to reduce the overall bill of materials than increase it for a chip that size.