AMD 6900 reviews thread (UPDATED)

[Nemesis 1]

Some of the expectations were ridiculous. I remember someone on the Hardocp forums claimed it would be 71% faster than or 6870, or around 25% faster than 580, just because it had 71% more SPs than the 6870 (1920 vs 1120). And then we had people here talk for pages about the new VLIW4 architecture and how it would lead to 50% improvement in performance over Cypress.

So are you saying it isn't. How many games were benched. Lets throw a high powered cpu into the mix. I think AT had one game were it had pretty big differance. Yes I know you have to go by whats been shown . I seldom O/C a gpu but always O/C the cpu to highest stable . Reviewers really can't do that . As they have to bench for the masses, When ya start talking about O/C cpu/gpu your getting into differant perspectives trhan what reviewers do . I seen some of these reviews had O/Ced cpus and their numbers come up differantly. This is a brand new tech for AMD let them tune the drivers a bit more. Well those people who seen and believed that false shader number were fooled into thinking higher performance . Rightly so. But AMD still has alot of driver work to do.

Perspective is everthing . I legally blind in left eye . went to a 3D movie when I was young . I couldn't see anything 3D. So I never looked at anything 3D again thinking I couldn't see it because of my left eye . Last week I took my grandson see a movie done with intel InTru 3D . It was amazing I couldn't believe . My grandson kept saying did you see that . I said YA laughing as I said it . I really enjoyed it very much . As were leaving he said grandpa we got to come and see more of these . I said I will take you to all of them that mom and dad say you can go to . I changed my view of 3D because I now see it in a differant perspective,

 

[Triggaaar]

There's a huge difference between:

a. AMD waited a full product cycle and had the ability to design a much bigger die

b. Nvidia waited half a product cycle and was limited by die size

580 is obviously a refresh. 6970 *should* have been next-gen. The opportunity has been completely squandered on AMD's part.

That's ridiculous. You'd basically have to work in the R&D department of one of the brands to have a good enough understanding of the technology to say what opportunity they had, and whether they failed to meet it. Full product cycle or half is nonsense, it's not like Nvidia couldn't have been developing the 570/580 until the 480 was released.

The fact is, both nvidia and AMD are releasing at about the same time, with similar products. The 580 is the fastest single GPU, and the 570/6970 trade blows in performance and price, and the 6950 (until release of the 560) is the best value of the group.

 

[PingviN]

If Crossfire HD6950 gives an indication of Antilles performance, it's going to be silly fast.

 

[Skurge]

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...n-6950-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

Some tri-crossfire and eyefinity benches.

 

[Keysplayr]

Computerbase.de

http://translate.google.com/transla...hd-6970-und-hd-6950/&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

 

[Skurge]

Computerbase.de

http://translate.google.com/transla...hd-6970-und-hd-6950/&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Thanks, I was looking for that site, just forgot the name.

 

[Silverforce11]

After looking that many reviews, there's some weird numbers going on.

Reviews with 10.10e put the 6970 ~= gtx570.
Reviews with 10.11 put 6970 ~5% less than gtx580, so its > gtx570 by a fair margin.

That's really weird because technically, 10.10e is "newer" than 10.11.

The drivers didn't stuff up crossfire or eyeinfinity scaling.. that would have been total fail.

 

[Piano Man]

OMG. Benchmark overload.

I dunno. This makes the 570 look pretty good, IMO. I do like the xfire results, but you need space between the cards or else it gets super loud (can't remember which review had video of Xfire noise).

The 6950 seems to have a little more OC room than the 6970 and can then match the 6970/570. But then you look at the 5870, which you can get for $260, and it makes you wonder if its worth the extra $40.

I dunno, I think AMD needs to lower the prices on these things by 15-20 bucks, and then we got ourselves a deal

Kudos though for nV for coming out with the 5xx series with performance, and better thermals/power/noise. Makes the decision really tough.

 

[biostud]

a 6950 1Gb @ $250 would be a real kicker.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

After browsing benchmarks it seems AMD has room for improvement on the driver front. Perhaps the rumors about them delaying launch to get better driver support are true. If you just look at DX11 benchmarks alone some show the 6970 50+% faster than the 5870 and a some show barely any improvement at all.

Hawx 2 is a good example:
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=22610&page=26
http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-6970-and-hd-6950-review/10474-8.html

On the plus side, Crossfire scaling is the best I've seen. I've done a few averages and Crossfire seems to be around 80% scaling, with many games getting above 90%, and of course some games are still CPU-limited or aren't good scalers.

 

[Lonbjerg]

AMD sending slower cards to reviewers(aka green sticker myth)to mask performance: DEBUNKED

AMD hiding a magic driver to boost performance on launch: DEBUNKED

6970 being 15-30% faster than the GTX580: DEBUNKED

Looks like my hunch was right when I ordered the GTX580....fastest single GPU out there

I wonder how things will look when AMD raises prices next year...

 

[Dark Shroud]

Oh please, in a few months AMD will have everything optimized for the 6900 cards and they'll be a great deal for everyone. Because with the exception of the 6990 they'll still be cheaper than Nvidia's counter parts.

All green teamers should be grateful that AMD brings NVidia's prices down.

 

[Skurge]

Who keeps saying AMD will raise prices? Isnt it the UK VAT increase?

 

[tannat]

Some of the expectations were ridiculous. I remember someone on the Hardocp forums claimed it would be 71% faster than or 6870, or around 25% faster than 580, just because it had 71% more SPs than the 6870 (1920 vs 1120). And then we had people here talk for pages about the new VLIW4 architecture and how it would lead to 50% improvement in performance over Cypress.

I, for one, did that math but also pointed out that this resulted in ridiculous numbers. Well, now it has 1536 SPs versus 1120 it's 136%.

I think that much of the too high expectations was based on the 1920 SP rumor. It sounded too good to be true, and it was. Nothing wrong in doing the math though. That's what speculations are for.

 

[tannat]

Who keeps saying AMD will raise prices? Isnt it the UK VAT increase?

Noone to my knowledge. If they will come to be short in supply there is plenty of room for price gouging though.

 

[jacktesterson]

Guess I'll be keeping my 5970+5850 Setup!!!

 

[Mem]

Who keeps saying AMD will raise prices? Isnt it the UK VAT increase?

UK is increasing its VAT(Value added tax) to 20% from January 4th 2011,main reason is the Governments plan to reduce UK debt.

I have not heard anything about AMD increasing prices,getting back on topic their new cards are about what I thought with regards to performance,don't forget newer drivers will increase performance a bit down the road,pricing is pretty good IMHO,end of the day consumer wins with more choices available.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

So disappointing... Buying these cards now depends completely on what games you are playing since the performance varies so much

I also dont see the point of the 6970, since a 6950 with a small OC would beat it anyway

6950 Xfire is looking like the most attractive high end solution however, its good to see they scale just as well as the 6800 series

Still, the thing that really makes me go "WTF" is how these cards at times are barely faster than the 5870... I hope they are just lacking driver optimizations, because this is very underwhelming for a 14 month gap

 

[Mem]

So disappointing... Buying these cards now depends completely on what games you are playing since the performance varies so much

I also dont see the point of the 6970, since a 6950 with a small OC would beat it anyway

6950 Xfire is looking like the most attractive high end solution however, its good to see they scale just as well as the 6800 series

Still, the thing that really makes me go "WTF" is how these cards at times are barely faster than the 5870... I hope they are just lacking driver optimizations, because this is very underwhelming for a 14 month gap

I never decide my cards(regardless of Nvidia or AMD) on what games I buy since my gaming taste is so varied,however I do like the 2GB of ram the cards have(may be a factor down the road)plus as I meantioned drivers will improve,end of the day games I play is not the main deciding factor ,I guess its how you look at it and what your priorities are.

 

[Triggaaar]

I have not heard anything about AMD increasing prices

Gibbo at OCUK said AMD were increasing price of 6850 by £10, and 6970 by £20 in January. A few pounds of VAT on top of that.

 

[Triggaaar]

I also dont see the point of the 6970, since a 6950 with a small OC would beat it anyway

If you're happy to OC a 6950, you're happy to OC a 6970. There's no customer thinking 'shall I buy a 6950 and OC it, or a 6970 and keep it stock'. The 6950 is better value, but I'm thinking of buying the 6970.

 

[Mem]

Gibbo at OCUK said AMD were increasing price of 6850 by £10, and 6970 by £20 in January. A few pounds of VAT on top of that.

Maybe for short term,but you can bet prices will drop as they always do.

 

[Hallowed_Dragon]

Gibbo at OCUK said AMD were increasing price of 6850 by £10, and 6970 by £20 in January. A few pounds of VAT on top of that.

I think he just wants to make some quick sales.

 

[Dark Shroud]

So disappointing... Buying these cards now depends completely on what games you are playing since the performance varies so much

That's because of the drivers & profiles.

I also dont see the point of the 6970, since a 6950 with a small OC would beat it anyway

Would you say the same thing about a GTX 570 in relation to the GTX 580?

6950 Xfire is looking like the most attractive high end solution however, its good to see they scale just as well as the 6800 series

The HD 6970 also scales as well.

Still, the thing that really makes me go "WTF" is how these cards at times are barely faster than the 5870... I hope they are just lacking driver optimizations, because this is very underwhelming for a 14 month gap

A big part of it is driver optimizations as the 6900 series is a new architexture. The up coming 10.12 update should fix some of these problems. It just depends on how many resources AMD is throwing at their software dev team.

 

[TheUnk]

Perspective is everthing . I legally blind in left eye . went to a 3D movie when I was young . I couldn't see anything 3D. So I never looked at anything 3D again thinking I couldn't see it because of my left eye . Last week I took my grandson see a movie done with intel InTru 3D . It was amazing I couldn't believe . My grandson kept saying did you see that . I said YA laughing as I said it . I really enjoyed it very much . As were leaving he said grandpa we got to come and see more of these . I said I will take you to all of them that mom and dad say you can go to . I changed my view of 3D because I now see it in a differant perspective,

I didn't think ppl with 1 eye could see any type of stereoscopic 3D?