# AMD Radeon HD 6xxx Thread!



## tech savvy

AMD Radeon HD 6850 and HD 6870 

Edit-No ATI sign,looks great.


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## Aastii

They look good, but need themselves an ATi sticker on the fan, not AMD vision 

Also, why keep starting new threads, should just put the last 2 in here instead


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## tech savvy

Aastii said:


> Also, why keep starting new threads, should just put the last 2 in here instead



yeah sorry, i was just in a rush.ill keep that in mind for future post,thx.


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## Shane

I wish they would do away with those crappy coolers,They're no good!

They should totally redesign the way the coolers are now they have taken over.

I bet the 6000 series will be impressive though.


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## Ramodkk

Aastii said:


> They look good, but need themselves an ATi sticker on the fan, not AMD vision



Does it matter if the sticker says ATi or AMD? I could careless if it had a picture of Ken and Barbie.


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## Aastii

Nevakonaza said:


> I wish they would do away with those crappy coolers,They're no good!
> 
> They should totally redesign the way the coolers are now they have taken over.
> 
> I bet the 6000 series will be impressive though.



I dunno, they don't seem all that bad, they get the air out rather than keeping it in which is better than having it blown about the case, and they are able to cool the core and memory well, even when overclocking. They can be improved, but that would cost more. I personally would rather have it cheaper



Ramomar said:


> Does it matter if the sticker says ATi or AMD? I could careless if it had a picture of Ken and Barbie.



Not really, especially as you can't see it when it is aimed down, when the fan is spinning or with a case with a solid side panel, but it should still be ATi  I know it is for marketing, but they could have ATi by AMD, and kept the ATi logo and name


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## tech savvy

Nevakonaza said:


> I wish they would do away with those crappy coolers,They're no good!They should totally redesign the way the coolers are now they have taken over.



totally disagree,i think they look great!


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## Aastii

tech savvy said:


> totally disagree,i think they look great!



They do indeed look good, but look at the design of the coolers on the video cards without reference coolers, they aren't the same, closed design that the AMD reference coolers have. Performance wise they aren't the best, but looks wise I agree, they look great


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## salvage-this

Quick Look said:
			
		

> Just finishing off on the topic of video cards again, there’s something that we need to stress. The HD 6850 and HD 6870 aren’t replacements to the HD 5850 and HD 5870. If you’re expecting the HD 6870 to be an upgrade for your HD 5870, it’s safe to say you’ll be disappointed.



This might make a lot of people angry that just buy a 6870 because it is the next generation.  I wonder how they will stack up against the current generation.  

At least these will drop the prices of the 5 series.


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## Rocko

I think they look great! I am eager to see the benchmarks. :good:


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## mep916

I've done something different and changed the title and stuck this thread. I'd like the OP to make this a comprehensive AMD 6xxx GPU thread and keep the OP updated with new developments if possible. Benchmarks, comparisons, [email protected] stuff, etc.. 

Someone feel free to create a similar thread for the GT 430 GPU as well.


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## tech savvy

Rocko said:


> I think they look great! I am eager to see the benchmarks. :good:



you and me both.


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## tech savvy

mep916 said:


> I've done something different and changed the title and stuck this thread. I'd like the OP to make this a comprehensive AMD 6xxx GPU thread and keep the OP updated with new developments if possible. Benchmarks, comparisons, [email protected] stuff, etc..
> 
> Someone feel free to create a similar thread for the GT 430 GPU as well.



np,thx.


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## fastdude

Can't WAIT to see the AMD Radeon *HD6990*, yay


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## wag 42

If anyone cares, they (6850 and 6870) are in stock at newegg.


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## linkin

They are also on preorder at www.pccasegear.com.au for aussies


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## Aastii

wag 42 said:


> If anyone cares, they (6850 and 6870) are in stock at newegg.



They are in stock everywhere and very cheap for new cards. I know they are only mid-high end, but the 6850 are only £20 more than a 5770


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## Russ88765

Are these cards going to be faster than 5970's even?


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## bomberboysk

No, the high end cayman cards won't be out yet.


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## fastdude

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/10/22/ati-radeon-hd-6850-review/10
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/10/22/ati-radeon-hd-6870-review/10

They look good:good:


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## joh06937

wow, right neck-and-neck with the 460.

*puts-on-flame-retardant-suit-to-prevent-the-"oh-but-look-at-metro-2033"-flaming*


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## Rocko

Not too impressive.


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## FuryRosewood

good mid range cards that are more power efficient than previous models from the looks of it...kinda wish i waited to buy one of these, tho i hear ati still has some performance issues with OpenGL implementations...so wouldnt do me much good with SL...so ill just wait on my open boxed GTX460 to get here. picked it up for 173, directcu asus variant, im happy


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## jevery

The benchs on the 6850 look to place it a small notch above the 1GB 460, but, since NVIDIA has knocked about $30 off the 460s, their still the better value - for now.  The scaling on CrossFire looks a lot better than past generations.  Competition's a great thing, but with the pace of new releases, it sure make your components seem outdated in a hurry.


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## kyleswitch

salvage-this said:


> This might make a lot of people angry that just buy a 6870 because it is the next generation.  I wonder how they will stack up against the current generation.
> 
> At least these will drop the prices of the 5 series.



No need to drop the price of the 5k series when the 6870 is $230!  I feel ripped off now for my 5850


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## Russ88765

When are the 6970's and 6990's coming out? Man if they're the same price diff from 5970's as 6870-5870 then that's awesome! May have to wait on selecting a gpu for my own build, I want to see how it turns out first.


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## zombine210

Russ88765 said:


> When are the 6970's and 6990's coming out? Man if they're the same price diff from 5970's then that's awesome!



i read the last week of this month, but who knows?
i'm this close "." to jumping on a 6870... my q9550 will probably bottleneck a 69xx...
yummy.


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## CrayonMuncher

anyone heard of any dates for the 69xx? they say November but i havent found anything specific.


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## Aastii

innercx said:


> anyone heard of any dates for the 69xx? they say November but i havent found anything specific.



From what I have heard, they are expected before 20th, so look out for them with in the next couple of weeks


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## Russ88765

Saw a couple videos online that said they are supposed to have some new cooling technology, but I think they will be rebranded 5970's more or less. Just my own cautions, but I feel like the first few hundred cards will have higher defect rate(I shun new tech I guess).


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## Aastii

Russ88765 said:


> Saw a couple videos online that said they are supposed to have some new cooling technology, but I think they will be rebranded 5970's more or less. Just my own cautions, but I feel like the first few hundred cards will have higher defect rate(I shun new tech I guess).



Rebranded 5870's

Stupid change in the naming system makes the 69xx the high end, single GPU card, like the 58xx cards were, rather than like the 59xx, which were multi-GPU cards

I think with the 6xxx generation of cards, we will be seeing the return of the 4xxx series way of naming multi-GPU cards, by having, for example, a 6970x2, which would be 2 6970 chips on 1 PCB

I don't think the first will have a higher defect rate, they are all tested to the same standards, and usually the initial cards are the same as the ones that you get 6 months down the line. The only thing to give the higher "defect" rates would be drivers. With the first set of drivers, you usually have worse performance, and a lot of problems, however the bugs are usually fixed with in a few weeks or so, and after that it is just optimizing the code to give much better performance


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## Russ88765

I really liked the graphic scheme on 5970/5870's too. That black and red thing looks cool in a AMD setup, and the character on the card gives it it's own kinda pizazz. It's not a huge deal I suppose. So you think then that the 69xx cards are going to perform only up to the level of 5870's?


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## zombine210

well i went and pulled the trigger on a 6870. i couldn't wait for the 6900s 
also, i think my cpu would bottleneck something like that 

that was yesternight, guess what i got in my inbox this morning?
that's right a 10% off coupon from the egg: EMCZZYR24 

i emailed them and asked if they would apply it to my already delivered order.
here's hoping. :good:


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## Benny Boy

Aastii said:


> From what I have heard, they are expected before 20th, so look out for them with in the next couple of weeks


 
Black Friday,,, that's the ticket !


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## Aastii

Benny Boy said:


> Black Friday,,, that's the ticket !



I wouldn't trust that time that I put. As I mentioned in another thread (Reflect on Life I think) I overheard from Nvidia employees that apparently ATi are still tweaking the 69xx cards even now to come closer in line to 580 performance, so it may be out by then, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.


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## mrjack

Like I said in the GTX 580 thread, the 69xx cards have been postponed. The 6950 and 6970 are now supposed to be released during week 50 (December 13th-19th) and the 6990 during Q1/2011.

Sources:
Muropaketti (Finnish) Translation
TechPowerUp

Funny mistakes in the translation, by the way. The headline sounds like something straight out of an article by The Onion. Rest assured it is a serious site.


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## tech savvy

^taking my credit


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## Gooberman

tech savvy said:


> ^taking my credit



and how is that when he posted before you? lol


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## linkin

So has anyone here got a 6000 series GPU yet? I have not really been keeping up to date with graphics cards (again!)


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## fastdude

linkin said:


> So has anyone here got a 6000 series GPU yet? I have not really been keeping up to date with graphics cards (again!)





zombine210 said:


> well i went and pulled the trigger on a 6870.



:good:

May get a 6850 for my build after xmas


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## Benny Boy

Aastii said:


> I overheard from Nvidia employees that apparently ATi are still tweaking the 69xx cards even now to come closer in line to 580 performance


Source>Competition>Consumer
Source>Consumer
Time will tell.


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## Aastii

Benny Boy said:


> Source>Competition>Consumer
> Source>Consumer
> Time will tell.



I didn't get told directly, I wouldn't go discussing ATi to Nvidia employees, at an Nvidia event . As I said in the Reflect on Life thread, I overheard two of them talking about it


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## tech savvy

Gooberman said:


> and how is that when he posted before you? lol



speak what you know, not what you dont.


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## mrjack

tech savvy said:


> speak what you know, not what you dont.



Gooberman's right. I posted about the delay the same day the article was up on Muropaketti. And I also posted the day before you posted.


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## tech savvy

mrjack said:


> Gooberman's right. I posted about the delay the same day the article was up on Muropaketti. And I also posted the day before you posted.



why would you post it in the gtx580 thread when theres a thread for the 69xx cards? how im i supposed to know? if it was posted where it was meant to be posted then i would of known.i dont go looking for information on the 69xx cards in the gtx580 thread.


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## Benny Boy

Aastii said:


> I didn't get told directly, I wouldn't go discussing ATi to Nvidia employees, at an Nvidia event . As I said in the Reflect on Life thread, I overheard two of them talking about it


 
Why not? They can talk within earshot of others but only amongst themselves??


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## mrjack

tech savvy said:


> why would you post it in the gtx580 thread when theres a thread for the 69xx cards? how im i supposed to know? if it was posted where it was meant to be posted then i would of known.i dont go looking for information on the 69xx cards in the gtx580 thread.



Because they were talking about when the 6950 and 6970 were going to be released.

And I did post in the 6xxx thread after that, before you made a new thread about the news.


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## Russ88765

Bah let them make whatever they want. Still won't beat the Asus Ares


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## Aastii

Russ88765 said:


> Bah let them make whatever they want. Still won't beat the Asus Ares



Seeing as how a 6870 meets/beats a 5850, if the performance difference is the same as it was between the mid-high 5xxx cards and the high 5xxx cards (ie 5770 to 5870), a 6970 won't be beating an Ares, but it will be only maybe 10-15% less performance, but of course with only 1 GPU, so less power and less heat. When they bring out your multi GPU 6xxx cards, the ares will be obsolete


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## CrayonMuncher

Leaked hd6990 specs

http://www.techspot.com/news/41295-leaked-ati-radeon-hd-6990-specifications.html


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## mrjack

innercx said:


> Leaked hd6990 specs
> 
> http://www.techspot.com/news/41295-leaked-ati-radeon-hd-6990-specifications.html



Those specs are fake.


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## tech savvy

ive been reading reviews that cf 6870's beats cf 5870's is that true?


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## tech savvy

mrjack said:


> Those specs are fake.



how can you tell?are you 100% sure?


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## Russ88765

Can't you just oc a 6870 to match the specs of a 5870 or vice versa? (Both examples being xfx's cards)


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## mrjack

tech savvy said:


> how can you tell?are you 100% sure?



Did you check the link? Click the word "fake".


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## Aastii

tech savvy said:


> ive been reading reviews that cf 6870's beats cf 5870's is that true?



yes, although a single 6870 isn't as powerful as a single 5870, the 6xxx cards scale much, much better than the 5xxx, so you get better performance, with weaker cards, in multiple GPU setups

also, there is an edit button to add to/change your post, so no need to be double posting


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## tech savvy

here it is 6970- http://en.expreview.com/2010/11/08/...s-postponed-for-release/11638.html#more-11638


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## BurningSkyline

While we all like our high end cards, what kind of case will they need? Cards are getting HUGE. why not make them wider, instead of longer?

Anyways, is there any word on the lower and midrange cards?


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## Russ88765

tech savvy said:


> here it is 6970- http://en.expreview.com/2010/11/08/...s-postponed-for-release/11638.html#more-11638



Less stream processors, single gpu, hmm I dunno... Maybe if it's a huge price leap between 5970's.


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## tech savvy

Russ88765 said:


> Less stream processors, single gpu, hmm I dunno... Maybe if it's a huge price leap between 5970's.



the 6970 does not replace the 5970, it replaces the 5870,the 6990 replaces the 5970.


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## fastdude

tech savvy said:


> the 6970 does not replace the 5970, it replaces the 5870,the 6990 replaces the 5970.



^ This is correct.

AMDs fabrication partner couldn't deliver 32nm so they couldn't hit the desired price points with the 6870/6850, the naming scheme isn't in sync with the 5000 series


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## FATALiiTYz

So assuming that all these GPU's (listed below) cost roughly the same amount, which one would you buy?

ATI Radeon 5850 1gb
ATI Radeon 6850 1gb
nVidia GTX 460 1gb

Thanks.


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## Aastii

jeremy_442 said:


> So assuming that all these GPU's (listed below) cost roughly the same amount, which one would you buy?
> 
> ATI Radeon 5850 1gb
> ATI Radeon 6850 1gb
> nVidia GTX 460 1gb
> 
> Thanks.



6850, Then 460, Then 5850


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## fastdude

Aastii said:


> 6850, Then 460, Then 5850



Me too, though 5850 is a bit more expensive than the other two ^


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## fastdude

AMD Radeon HD 6970 released.
EDIT: And 6950.


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## Aastii

fastdude said:


> AMD Radeon HD 6970 released.
> EDIT: And 6950.



And a GTX580 beats it, easily. Even with the 69xx cards overclocked, the 580 is still ahead of them performance wise.

Hexus review of them:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=27983&page=1

I'm thinking my next upgrade will be either a 570 or a 6950, most probably the latter if prices drop to get Physx as a nice little bonus


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## fastdude

Aastii said:


> And a GTX580 beats it, easily. Even with the 69xx cards overclocked, the 580 is still ahead of them performance wise.
> 
> Hexus review of them:
> 
> http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=27983&page=1
> 
> I'm thinking my next upgrade will be either a 570 or a 6950, most probably the latter if prices drop to get Physx as a nice little bonus



Yeah.

I'd prolly wanna get a 570 over a 6950, it's pretty much equal to a 6970
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/12

You can get 6970 as cheap as £280, 6950 as cheap as £220, I can give links if you like


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## Aastii

fastdude said:


> Yeah.
> 
> I'd prolly wanna get a 570 over a 6950, it's pretty much equal to a 6970
> http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/12
> 
> You can get 6970 as cheap as £280, 6950 as cheap as £220, I can give links if you like



As always, I could care less about performance, which ever is the cheapest. Either would be sufficient, if the 570 was a little (as in no more than £10) more expensive I Would get it for the extras, but really, I know either will play all games for some time to come, so I don't care whatsoever that "this one gets .5 more fps...sometimes "


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## linkin

Reviews are out for the 6950 and 6970

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818.html


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## Jet

You should check out [H]'s review--instead of using benchmarks, they use actual runs of the game and show a different side of the story compared to most all of the other review sites.

http://hardocp.com/article/2010/12/14/amd_radeon_hd_6970_6950_video_card_review


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## Russ88765

It's just as I feared. They are not as good as I thought they'd be. This is however, excellent news if you're anything like me. I think I might get the 5xxx or even 4xxx generation cards now that the release of the new 6xxx generation cards has lowered costs. They compete, but I win! It will come down to price for me, and I feel like I can't lose here because the 6xxx will still scale better for future crossfire setups. 

As for how it compares to a gtx580 I could care less because I have an AMD board and SLI doesn't scale as good anyways. Hopefully the 6990 will come out soon and drop the prices of previous generations(that I want more at this point) just a little more also. This is excellent news and I plan to take full advantage of the price drops.

Edit: Also, I really wouldn't judge ati vs nvidia's latest batch until amd/radeon releases their best offering- the 6990. Nvidia already released their best, and while they are most likely the king of single gpu cards, i'm predicting a repeat of the gtx480 vs hd5970. Nvidia has good drivers, engines, and a few stats they accel at; but amd will inevitably have more stuff they are faster at as well as have multi gpu support. Plus I mean, what are you gonna do? If you have an amd motherboard and want to eventually have multiple cards you are stuck with amd/radeon/ati cards. Wait for the final series to come out before fully forming an opinion, is the point i'm trying to make here.


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## tech savvy

Russ88765 said:


> It's just as I feared. They are not as good as I thought they'd be. This is however, excellent news if you're anything like me. I think I might get the 5xxx or even 4xxx generation cards now that the release of the new 6xxx generation cards has lowered costs. They compete, but I win! It will come down to price for me, and I feel like I can't lose here because the 6xxx will still scale better for future crossfire setups.
> 
> As for how it compares to a gtx580 I could care less because I have an AMD board and SLI doesn't scale as good anyways. Hopefully the 6990 will come out soon and drop the prices of previous generations(that I want more at this point) just a little more also. This is excellent news and I plan to take full advantage of the price drops.
> 
> Edit: Also, I really wouldn't judge ati vs nvidia's latest batch until amd/radeon releases their best offering- the 6990. Nvidia already released their best, and while they are most likely the king of single gpu cards, i'm predicting a repeat of the *gtx480 vs hd5970*. Nvidia has good drivers, engines, and a few stats they accel at; but amd will inevitably have more stuff they are faster at as well as have multi gpu support. Plus I mean, what are you gonna do? If you have an amd motherboard and want to eventually have multiple cards you are stuck with amd/radeon/ati cards. Wait for the final series to come out before fully forming an opinion, is the point i'm trying to make here.



you cant compare a dual vs a single its just not fair.Nvidia holds the best single GPU while AMD holds the best dual GPU(at this moment in time).why would you go back three generations on the GPU?i can see maybe get the 5xxx series, but the 4xxx series?unless money is an issue.


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## Rocko

tech savvy said:


> you cant compare a dual vs a single its just not fair.Nvidia holds the best single GPU while AMD holds the best dual GPU(at this moment in time).why would you go back three generations on the GPU?i can see maybe get the 5xxx series, but the 4xxx series?unless money is an issue.



HAY! I run a 4870x2 and it rips. :good:

Edit: runs hot as hell though.


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## Aastii

tech savvy said:


> you cant compare a dual vs a single its just not fair.Nvidia holds the best single GPU while AMD holds the best dual GPU(at this moment in time).why would you go back three generations on the GPU?i can see maybe get the 5xxx series, but the 4xxx series?unless money is an issue.



except for that a 4870 x 2 beats out most single chip cards out now... You lose DX11, but it is worth it for the price / performance ratio. That and a single 4850/4870 can still handle anything and everything out. Just because they are "old" doesn't make them bad at all, it just means they aren't the bleeding edge of technology any more


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## fastdude

Aastii said:


> except for that a 4870 x 2 beats out most single chip cards out now... You lose DX10, but it is worth it for the price / performance ratio. That and a single 4850/4870 can still handle anything and everything out. Just because they are "old" doesn't make them bad at all, it just means they aren't the bleeding edge of technology any more



HD4870X2 is pretty bad value though. It hasn't dropped an awful lot in price, much like Intel's E8*** C2Ds. It's also hard to find. 

HD 4870 x2 - £295
GTX570 - £265

Take your pick.

Still that's not to say 4870x2 isn't a powerhouse, its just beaten by newer cards with better technologies that run cooler less noise less power and more performance. If you already have one, keep it.

For a new rig, its a no no


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## Aastii

fastdude said:


> HD4870X2 is pretty bad value though. It hasn't dropped an awful lot in price, much like Intel's E8*** C2Ds. It's also hard to find.
> 
> HD 4870 x2 - £295
> GTX570 - £265
> 
> Take your pick.
> 
> Still that's not to say 4870x2 isn't a powerhouse, its just beaten by newer cards with better technologies that run cooler less noise less power and more performance. If you already have one, keep it.
> 
> For a new rig, its a no no



or get one used for the same price as mid range cards, but with massively more amounts of power:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4870x2-/11064..._TV_Cards_TW&hash=item19c2c2f36f#ht_500wt_950

For £127 shipped, you aren't going to find anything even close to as powerful as that


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## fastdude

Aastii said:


> or get one used for the same price as mid range cards, but with massively more amounts of power:
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4870x2-/11064..._TV_Cards_TW&hash=item19c2c2f36f#ht_500wt_950
> 
> For £127 shipped, you aren't going to find anything even close to as powerful as that



Wow, that sounds like a great deal. It's only like 10 miles away from where I am too! Only thing I can think of that would even come close in terms of value: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...0mhz-1600cores-dp-dvi-hdmi-aliens-vs-predator

HD4870x2 loses to HD5870, not sure how it compares to GTX460 1GB ~£130 or HD5850 ~£150


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## Shane

I actually considered getting a 4870x2 before,Although i heard they run hot as hell and are noisy + the lack of DX11 so i gave it a miss.

Should be getting my 6950 2gb tommorow,Cant wait to use my rig in sig again.


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## Troncoso

Nevakonaza said:


> I actually considered getting a 4870x2 before,Although i heard they run hot as hell and are noisy + the lack of DX11 so i gave it a miss.
> 
> Should be getting my 6950 2gb tommorow,Cant wait to use my rig in sig again.



I see you already put it in your sig, as did I. Gah I freakin can't wait. Mine is suppose to be in thursday but I think it'll get here by tomorrow it's only in one state over


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## Aastii

fastdude said:


> Wow, that sounds like a great deal. It's only like 10 miles away from where I am too! Only thing I can think of that would even come close in terms of value: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS
> http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...0mhz-1600cores-dp-dvi-hdmi-aliens-vs-predator
> 
> HD4870x2 loses to HD5870, not sure how it compares to GTX460 1GB ~£130 or HD5850 ~£150



It beats a 460 and a 5850, the only downside, which can be expected from a dual GPU card is that it runs hotter and uses more power



Nevakonaza said:


> I actually considered getting a 4870x2 before,Although i heard they run hot as hell and are noisy + the lack of DX11 so i gave it a miss.
> 
> Should be getting my 6950 2gb tommorow,Cant wait to use my rig in sig again.



It is dual GPU, it is no surprise that it runs hotter, or that it is louder to keep the temps down


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## voyagerfan99

My 6870 should arrive today 

Won't get to stick it in my computer till later this week or beginning of next week though


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## Shane

Recieved my 6950 this morning,Just opened it and OMG this thing is HUGE...just about fits in my CM690 case 

Cant wait to get playing some games on it,wont be able till too tommorow night though now :/


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## Troncoso

Nevakonaza said:


> Recieved my 6950 this morning,Just opened it and OMG this thing is HUGE...just about fits in my CM690 case
> 
> Cant wait to get playing some games on it,wont be able till too tommorow night though now :/



I know! The thing is a beast. I can't use mine though til I get my power supply in the mail though....It's slowly killing me as it stares at me....unused.


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## SslagleZ28

Nevakonaza said:


> Recieved my 6950 this morning,Just opened it and OMG this thing is HUGE...just about fits in my CM690 case
> 
> Cant wait to get playing some games on it,wont be able till too tommorow night though now :/



yeeeeeeah I forgot to warn you about that.... its massive lol


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## Shane

Troncoso said:


> I know! The thing is a beast. I can't use mine though til I get my power supply in the mail though....It's slowly killing me as it stares at me....unused.



You talking about the PSU in your sig? Antec Earthwatt 750w ?

That should be more than enough 



SslagleZ28 said:


> yeeeeeeah I forgot to warn you about that.... its massive lol



I was shocked seriusly,Compared to my GTX 460 this card is a good 5-6 inches longer i think


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## Troncoso

That's the one coming in the mail. The other antec in my 

 Is the one I'm using. The 500w. It just can't power the beast for more then about 5 minutes


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## Shane

Ah,My OCZ StealthXstream 600W seems to be fine so far. (Fingers crossed)

I might leave my 6950 stock though,Dont see the point in overclocking as its just not needed.
Its a beast as it is


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## Troncoso

600 cuts it close. I used those power supply calculators and it says my rig needs at least 630W


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## Russ88765

Lucky.. All I could afford was a 6850. Enjoy it mate.


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## kobaj

Russ88765 said:


> Lucky.. All I could afford was a 6850. Enjoy it mate.



We 6850s are just as good, don't let them fool you otherwise! /silly pep talk .

No seriously, 6850 is beast. 5040x1050 with mw2 maxed (cause I'm not a sheep who purchased BO) and I still hit the 90fps limit, wowza!


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## CardboardSword

Yeah the 68XX cards are fantastic. I had a 6870 for a week or two (Long story haha) before I got the 570 and man oh man, its hard to believe they're selling it as a mid range card!


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## Russ88765

Thanks for performance heads up, I felt like I took a gamble. How many screens do you think it has the potential to game on?


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## CardboardSword

Well it depends on the game. If it's one of those terribly coded games that gives poor FPS no matter what your hardware then it obviously won't fare so well. I'd imagine those that run smoothly on most hardware would work superbly with it though. Games like DiRT2 and the CoD series. Anything with a well optimized engine basically. Any particularly demanding game will probably not work so hot though. Keep in mind this is just speculation too, I only played around with the card for about 2 weeks. Never even had a chance to overclock it, which makes me pretty sad.


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## Russ88765

Mostly using it on emulators, the most demanding being pcsx2. I don't have any pc games at the moment, never had a comp capable of running them before.


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## CardboardSword

Well I'm not sure how you'd get EyeFinity to work on an emulator to be honest. Actually, I'm not sure how it works on games that support it unless there's some really obvious option in the game menus.  Emulators are pretty CPU bound though, so if you can find a way to make it work it should run smoothly. Having said that though, the most likely result will be that the screen just gets stretched instead of actually increasing in size. So instead of getting a breathtaking panoramic gaming experience, you'll probably just get ugly stretched pixels


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## Shane

Troncoso said:


> 600 cuts it close. I used those power supply calculators and it says my rig needs at least 630W



Well i ran my GTX 460 + A 8800GT alongside each other with this psu,Which im sure that pulled more power than my HD6950 does now and had no issues back then so hopefully everything should be okay.


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## Russ88765

CardboardSword said:


> Well I'm not sure how you'd get EyeFinity to work on an emulator to be honest. Actually, I'm not sure how it works on games that support it unless there's some really obvious option in the game menus.  Emulators are pretty CPU bound though, so if you can find a way to make it work it should run smoothly. Having said that though, the most likely result will be that the screen just gets stretched instead of actually increasing in size. So instead of getting a breathtaking panoramic gaming experience, you'll probably just get ugly stretched pixels



You can only run it if the game supports it? I thought it might be dependant more on the os to set it up or something. It's not an immediate concern, I just wondered if it was possible in the future. How about those curved monitors? Are they more expensive than it's worth?


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## Troncoso

Nevakonaza said:


> Well i ran my GTX 460 + A 8800GT alongside each other with this psu,Which im sure that pulled more power than my HD6950 does now and had no issues back then so hopefully everything should be okay.



That is true. Maybe something else was off when I tried installing my GPU. Oh well, I'll get my new psu in a day or so. 

So what's the verdict on the 6950 so far? It still makes me cry a little that it's just sitting on my desk, waiting to be used....


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## Shane

Troncoso said:


> So what's the verdict on the 6950 so far? It still makes me cry a little that it's just sitting on my desk, waiting to be used....



Love it,Very strong card....maxes Metro 2033 in DX11 and still gets very high framerates,It eats through Crysis maxed out like theres no tommorow.

Compared to my old GTX 460 768Mb which was overclocked,Theres just no comparison.

Only downside to the card atm,Its very loud on anything over 30% fan speed,But for such a powerfull GPU its expected.

Im just wonderig if its worth getting the new 6950 bios thats about somewhere that unlocks just the locked Shaders on the card.


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## Aastii

6990 being released midnight tonight 

Those of us in the UK, OcUK have (they claim) 75% of the countires stock of the cards:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18249974

Depending on price, I may be saving up and forgetting my plans to get a 6950...


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## Aastii

Holy expensive prices batman


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## Shane

Aastii said:


> Holy expensive prices batman



Well the 6950 itself is around £220,So the 6990 been Dual Gpu,Latest tech + Overclockers been more expensive than anyone else usualy,Im not suprised at that price.

4gb of vram though ,I thought 2gb was overkill ...makes you wonder if they will release a 2gb version.

Dont see why not because they released a 1gb version of the 6950.

Immagine having 2x 6990s in Crossfire ...the electric bill :0


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## Aastii

Nevakonaza said:


> Well the 6950 itself is around £220,So the 6990 been Dual Gpu,Latest tech + Overclockers been more expensive than anyone else usualy,Im not suprised at that price.
> 
> 4gb of vram though ,I thought 2gb was overkill ...makes you wonder if they will release a 2gb version.
> 
> Dont see why not because they released a 1gb version of the 6950.
> 
> Immagine having 2x 6990s in Crossfire ...the electric bill :0



It is 2 x 6970's on a single PCB, not 6950's, and it is 2GB per GPU, which I agree is mental.

There was speculation of it being around £450 at one point, which I was seriously considering going for, but for £570, they can keep it. I'm just wondering that the 590 will cost and how it will stand up to the 6990. by the looks of things, for the first time since the 8000 series Nvidia will have all corners tied up again with most powerful single and dual GPU card, and best option for the mid range for the price in the 460


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## russb

Whats the electric bill got to do with it,does it use more then.


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## Aastii

russb said:


> Whats the electric bill got to do with it,does it use more then.



To give you an idea russ, the 6990 is 2 x 6970 chips on a single board.

A single 6970 uses ~300W, so you can guess that the 6990 will be using ~450-500W each. You get two of them, before you factor in your CPU, motherboard, hard drives, memory, other expansion cards and optical drives, you are pushing 1KW from the video cards alone, so it will cost a hell of a lot to run it


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## tech savvy

Aastii said:


> There was speculation of it being around £450 at one point, which I was seriously considering going for, but for £570, they can keep it. I'm just wondering that the* 590 *will cost and how it will stand up to the 6990. by the looks of things, for the first time since the 8000 series Nvidia will have all corners tied up again with most powerful single and dual GPU card, and best option for the mid range for the price in the 460



i thought it was going to be the GTX 595.


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## fastdude

One review here:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/03/08/amd-radeon-hd-6990-review/12

It breaks the PCIe power standard lol.


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## Aastii

tech savvy said:


> i thought it was going to be the GTX 595.



Nope, 590:

http://www.overclock3d.net/news/gpu...u_geforce_gtx_590_monster_coming_next_month/1

http://www.nordichardware.com/news/...orce-gtx-590-in-february-with-dual-gf110.html

http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/20110228/radeon-hd-6990-vs-geforce-gtx-590-high-end-graphics-fight/

and all others


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## Nova

Dang, I was thinking of getting a 6990. Just one of those uses so much power. Might have to rethink what PSU I am getting.


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## tech savvy

Aastii said:


> 6990 being released midnight tonight
> 
> Those of us in the UK, OcUK have (they claim) 75% of the countires stock of the cards:
> 
> http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18249974
> 
> Depending on price, I may be saving up and forgetting my plans to get a 6950...



its still not here? on newegg anyway.


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## Aastii

tech savvy said:


> its still not here? on newegg anyway.



Not in stock, but they are there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3901 600126572&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon HD 6990


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## StrangleHold

Aastii said:


> Not in stock, but they are there:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3901 600126572&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon HD 6990


 
WOW, check those prices out. Better come down. Looks like two 6950 in CF can match it more or less. For just around 550 bucks.

 The 6990 is so close to the 6950CF in performance that on average at 2560 the two are identical. 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4209/amds-radeon-hd-6990-the-new-single-card-king/1


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## Russ88765

If I had the cash i'd get it!!! I want that card so bad. All that stuff in a single card is what i've been waiting for. Unless I could get the 5970 for a really good deal. Still want to see what nvidia's top card ends up like though.


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## CrayonMuncher

AMD have released the HD6790 today (Dunno why but the name looks real wierd), reatails at $150.00 and comes close to to a HD5830 performance wise, reviews below.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6790/1.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6790-barts-gpu-geforce-gtx-460,2917.html

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/powercolor_6790/

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6790-review/


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## tech savvy

Anyone hear or came across some leaked information about AMD HD7xxx series cards? I read around to see what I could find and seen some websites that said we should see them around Q2 2011.  If thats true, then we could see them as early as June 1st. but again this information is from scattered websites that i gathered, dont know how true this is, just what ive seen. Just wondering if anyone else knows more about it.


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## Aastii

What I have heard is this:

Initially, they were working with GLOBALFOUNDRIES to try and get 28nm out before Nvidia, hence pushing for Q2-Q3 2011 release, as Nvidia have said their release of Kepler will be Q4 2011. I have heard other reports to say that AMD are no longer working with GLOBALFOUNDRIES for Southern Islands.

The latest I have heard is that the cards are already in, or soon to be in, production, with release looking to be early Q3, rather than Q2.

=EDIT=

I should point out the last point is a few weeks old, and I think we all know how fast rumours can change in the technology world 

=EDITEDIT=

I've found other sources to clarify what I said about them no longer working with GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Apparently, initial production will be performed by TSMC, and then will be shifted to GLOBALFOUNDRIES for their later, lower end and revised chips


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## tech savvy

Aastii said:


> What I have heard is this:
> 
> Initially, they were working with GLOBALFOUNDRIES to try and get 28nm out before Nvidia, hence pushing for Q2-Q3 2011 release, as Nvidia have said their release of Kepler will be Q4 2011. I have heard other reports to say that AMD are no longer working with GLOBALFOUNDRIES for Southern Islands.
> 
> The latest I have heard is that the cards are already in, or soon to be in, production, with release looking to be early Q3, rather than Q2.
> 
> =EDIT=
> 
> I should point out the last point is a few weeks old, and I think we all know how fast rumours can change in the technology world
> 
> =EDITEDIT=
> 
> I've found other sources to clarify what I said about them no longer working with GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Apparently, initial production will be performed by TSMC, and then will be shifted to GLOBALFOUNDRIES for their later, lower end and revised chips



thx Aastii.


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## kennebell347

StrangleHold said:


> WOW, check those prices out. Better come down. Looks like two 6950 in CF can match it more or less. For just around 550 bucks.
> 
> The 6990 is so close to the 6950CF in performance that on average at 2560 the two are identical.
> 
> http://www.anandtech.com/show/4209/amds-radeon-hd-6990-the-new-single-card-king/1



I got both my 6950's for $460 free shipping after rebate. I don't think they perform as well as a 6990. I am not that impressed with them so far.


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## comPooter

kennebell347 said:


> I got both my 6950's for $460 free shipping after rebate. I don't think they perform as well as a 6990. I am not that impressed with them so far.



sweet


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## StrangleHold

kennebell347 said:


> I got both my 6950's for $460 free shipping after rebate. I don't think they perform as well as a 6990. I am not that impressed with them so far.


 
Every benchmark I have saw, there are only 2 or 3 frames difference. The 6950 beat it in a couple by the same amount.


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## kennebell347

You may be right. I think what is holding me back is my CPU. My motherboard is about the worst overclocker also. I cant overclock these cards much at all as well as my cpu. 

Most benches I see are with a good mobo and 2600k or other i7.


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## tech savvy

I found recently that AMD HD 7xxx GPUs will consist of 2 different types of architecture.The low and mid range will be based on its current VLIW-4D architecture (the same used in the Radeon HD 6900 Series GPUs),and the high range is based on the new Graphic Core Next architecture, which includes new shader engines called Compute Units (CU). It is expected that the new architecture has a large computing power, high capacity interconnection with multiple chip architectures compatibility (x86, ARM, FPGA, MIPS, DSP and others) and it can make use of the new PCI Express 3.0.

TSMC and Global Foundries will be responsible for the manufacture of these new chips, though it is unclear which of them will manufacture models of low, medium or high ranges, although it could presumably TSMC will manufacture high-end chips ( and perhaps the mid-range), and Global Foundries may be responsible for manufacturing the low-end chips, which is not unreasonable. Considering that currently it is responsible for making the APU Llano, and they incorporate an IGP based on Radeon HD 6xxx (VLIW-5D).

The first 28nm AMD HD 7xxx GPUs was supposedly going to arrive in Q4 of this year (from October to December), which would of gave it a few months advantage over Nvidia 28nm GPUs whose first arrival will be in the first half of 2012 .Recently Donanimhaber conducted an interview with Powercolor’s Director of Sales, Elaine Liao, who said HD 7xxx series can be expected in Q1 2012.

Another surprise is that the next generation Radeon HD will process of 40 nanometers (40nm). This clearly conflicts with the idea that both AMD and its competitor Nvidia are now ready to jump to a 28nm manufacturing process. Similarly, it is absolutely opposed to the official statement, which the manufacturer offered in July, in which he claimed that the new AMD Radeon HD 7000 series would have an effective transition to 28nm process technology.

FYI,PowerColor is coming out with a 6970 X2.


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