AMD today (5 March 2012) has pulled the curtain back on its next wave of Radeon HD7000 graphics cards, the HD 7800 series.

The 28nm GCN based products feature the Pitcairn core, and will be the last of the Southern Island line-up to feature AMD’s Graphics Core Next Architecture.

The HD 7870 is the higher-end of the two cards announced today, and features 1280 GCN processors, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide 2GB GDDR5 memory interface.

AMD is calling the HD 7870 the “GHz Edition”, as it is the second card in the HD7000 series to feature a core clock speed of 1,000MHz, with the memory running at 1,200MHz.

HD 7800

AMD Radeon HD7870 details

• 1280 Stream Processors
• Code Name: Pitcairn XT
• GB GDDR5 Memory Buffer
• Release Date: 19th March 2012
• TDP: 175W
• Price: $349 (R2800)

AMD Radeon HD7850 details

• 1024 Stream Processors
• Code Name: Pitcairn Pro
• 2GB GDDR5 Frame Buffer
• Release Date: 19th March 2012
• TDP: 130W
• Price: $249 (R2000)

The $349 price tag puts the HD7870 up against Nvidia’s GTX 570, and the HD7850 looks set to compete with Nvidia’s GTX 560Ti.

Of course, local pricing will be a different matter, and we await comment from AMD on local recommended price points.

So far the HD7870 has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with Techpowerup.com giving it 9.1/10, praising its performance, energy efficiency, good over clocking potential, solid feature set and support for multiple independent audio streams. The reviewer does mention that the card is a little too expensive, however.

The HD 7850 also comes recommended, earning a score of 8.1/10. Again, the HD7850 offers impressive performance, great energy efficiency and excellent overclocking potential.