AMD 6900 reviews thread (UPDATED)

[badb0y]

Also these cards look like they run better in higher resolutions compared to nVidia and the HD 5000 series.

 

[GaiaHunter]

These are by far the weirdest cards I have ever seen released. Performance fluctuates from amazing to crap on a per game basis lol.

It could be the 4 shaders vs 5 shaders change.

On the other hand CF is rocking hard. Hard to believe not long ago SLI was pwning CF and now the roles are reversed.

 

[WelshBloke]

]Well, if I were to buy a video card tonight, it would be the GTX 570.[/B] I don't like inconsistent performance and that is what the 6970 delivers at this point. Although it is possible that drivers will help smooth out the performance, the reality is that we hear that disclaimer for every GPU ever released. I don't recall drivers doing a whole lot after the release of a card since the Detonater 2 days. I am sure some performance increases will be had, but nothing stellar...

Well, if they can price it right, they will still sell. They best hurry up the 6990...

I'm fancying a 5870 as they seem to be going cheaply now.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm glad to see several sites using Just Cause 2, only because I just bought it. I guess the whole 12:00 PST was a ruse.

I thought that was just when Hardocp's review was up.

 

[Grooveriding]

These are by far the weirdest cards I have ever seen released. Performance fluctuates from amazing to crap on a per game basis lol.

Yeah pretty much.

I see 6970 CF and 6950 CF having a lock on 3 monitor gaming 5760x1200 where they are much faster than GTX 580 SLI. You can see this in AT's numbers for 2560x1600 in games like Stalker and Metro. That is a small niche to dominate and really just highlights some of the limitations of Fermi with high resolutions, the cards are performing well but are not standing out at average resolutions.

Good to see the scaling is still amazing with 69XX. 6990 will be really strong and will continue 5970's reign, but they should of released a monster in 6970 imo.

 

[MentalIlness]

Hardwarecanucks conclusion.....

In most ways, AMD hit the nail on the head with the HD 6970. Its focus upon improved geometry horsepower and a massive framebuffer allows for some impressive DX11 performance gains over the HD 5870, particularly at ultra high image quality settings.

Things become a bit less cut and dry when the higher-end Cayman board is compared directly against the GTX 570. At lower resolutions NVIDIA’s card is able to pull away and at 1920 with AA enabled it really becomes a toss-up between the two cards. For the vast majority of gamers who don’t have 27 or 30 inch monitors, numbers like this mean the $369 AMD card is a bit too expensive for the performance numbers it displays. However, if you game on an ultra high resolution setup this will likely be the card you’ll be looking for since at times it even one-ups a GTX 580.

 

[ArchAngel777]

I'm fancying a 5870 as they seem to be going cheaply now.

Yeah, personally, I see this the generation of the mid range cards. You can get 75% of the performance for 50% of the price. So picking up some great older cards is great for those on a budget. Getting a 5870, 460, 470, 6870, etc... Can't go wrong really if you can find a good deal.

 

[felang]

I'm fancying a 5870 as they seem to be going cheaply now.

I just got a 5870 for $220 last week, I was prepared to totally regret it but it doesn't seem like a bad option for 1080p at that price from what I'm seeing in these reviews

 

[Teizo]

Things become a bit less cut and dry when the higher-end Cayman board is compared directly against the GTX 570. At lower resolutions NVIDIA’s card is able to pull away and at 1920 with AA enabled it really becomes a toss-up between the two cards. For the vast majority of gamers who don’t have 27 or 30 inch monitors, numbers like this mean the $369 AMD card is a bit too expensive for the performance numbers it displays.

This means that Nvidia's 570 OC which is the same price shines quite a bit. I see now why Nvidia released it as it is faster than the 6970 it appears.

 

[bryanW1995]

looks like amd lost this round in the boardroom. regardless of what was said, they clearly did not expect gtx 580/70 to be out before or even close to 69x0 launch. big fail for amd imho, big win for nvidia.

 

[MrK6]

These are by far the weirdest cards I have ever seen released. Performance fluctuates from amazing to crap on a per game basis lol.

Amen. Totally oddball results.

The 6970 seems to be a ripoff compared to the 6850 (oddly like the 5870/5850 and 4870/4850). I like the the 6850, but I'm not sure it's worth the upgrade to me or any 5850/5870 users. So far it doesn't seem like the 6950 cards are as amazing clockers, which makes them lose some appeal. As I've said, if the GTX 580 and 570 aren't worth it, then obviously neither is the 6970. The 6950 I'll have to watch - I like the 2GB of RAM and the better DX11 performance, but I'm not so sure on the rest.

 

[HendrixFan]

HardOCP:

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

 

[MentalIlness]

This means that Nvidia's 570 OC which is the same price shines quite a bit. I see now why Nvidia released it as it is faster than the 6970 it appears.

How convenient you quoted the entire post, but this.....

However, if you game on an ultra high resolution setup this will likely be the card you’ll be looking for since at times it even one-ups a GTX 580.

Which would make it a better buy than the GTX570 if someone was planning on purchasing a larger monitor for a higher resolution than 1920.

 

[Grooveriding]

Man these cards are wacky. If you game at 2560x1600 and up 6970 CF is the setup to have. Considering they are $350 a piece vs $500 for the 580 that is pretty nice. I reckon 6970 Tri-Fire and Quad-fire are the fastest setups for high resolutions now.

I'd trade in my 480s for a pair of these if I could.

1920x1200 and down they fall behind the 580 and match up to the 570. Wacky stuff. Cards that take over at ultra resolutions and come short at average resolutions. For once the best ultra resolution setup is going to be cheaper than the best average resolution setup ?

 

[zokudu]

Anand has theirs up.

 

[Teizo]

How convenient you quoted the entire post, but this.....

However, if you game on an ultra high resolution setup this will likely be the card you’ll be looking for since at times it even one-ups a GTX 580.

Which would make it a better buy than the GTX570 if someone was planning on purchasing a larger monitor for a higher resolution than 1920.

No, didn't skip it on purpose to try to imply anything because most people don't have 25x16 monitors, so the greatest market impact is going to be 19x12 and 16x10.

You are correct though about super high res, so obviously if you are going to Eyeinfinity, or use max resolutions, then the 2GB of ram on the 6970 is what you are going to want. Once again though, that is a very small market segment. Maybe in a few years things will be different, but for now...no.

 

[busydude]

What kind of lame cards are these.. LOL. The variance is overwhelming and its really hard to gauge the performance of these cards.

Now, I can go to bed even more confused.. thanks AMD.

 

[HendrixFan]

Do any of these reviews use the newest drivers? I see anand and hardocp did not.

I hope the 6950 starts to push down the price of the 6870 and 6850.

 

[OCGuy]

My brother just purchased a 6970 (AMD fan) to replace 2X4870s. Does anyone disagree with this? I told him to go for it because Xfire support on the 4 series has been pretty bad, and now he can use DX11 (for whatever that is worth).

 

[MentalIlness]

HardOCP:

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

Based on a review that a lot of people were waiting on, the 6970 and 580 almost seems to have the same performance. As does the 6950 and the 570.
Except the AMD cards has quite a bit less power usage.

[H] Conclusion:

AMD Radeon HD 6970 vs. GeForce GTX 580

In F1 2010 the Radeon HD 6970 ended up being around 10% faster than
the GeForce GTX 580.

In Civ 5 there is a 17% performance gap favoring the GeForce GTX 580. In Metro 2033 there is only a 5% difference between the two video cards.

In BC2 there is a 13% performance gap favoring the GeForce GTX 580.

In Mafia II the video cards are nearly identical.

It seems that performance is dependent on the game and can range from an overall tie to about a 20% difference.

When you consider the Radeon HD 6970 is $140 less than the GeForce GTX 580, for at most a 20% difference in performance in some games, the impression of the Radeon HD 6970 turns more positive.
___________

AMD Radeon HD 6950
If there is a real champion in this evaluation, it is the AMD Radeon HD 6950. AMD has set the MSRP at $299 for the 2GB Radeon HD 6950. 1GB models may even be cheaper.

The least expensive GeForce GTX 570 is currently $349. That is a difference of $50. In all of our tests, the new Radeon HD 6950 either matched or beat the GeForce GTX 570.

In F1 2010 there was a 5% difference in performance favoring the Radeon HD 6950. In Civ 5 the performance between the two video cards was dead even. In Metro 2033 is just slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 570.

Once again in BC2 the two video cards are neck and neck. In Mafia II once again the video cards are very close.

The GeForce GTX 570 just got some new competition in town, and the competition is winning.

For the same performance, you can save $50 and get the AMD Radeon HD 6950.

___________

The Bottom Line

AMD came to this party to win. The recent NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 and GeForce GTX 570 launches impressed us. We were impressed with the performance delivered for the price. That however seems much deflated when compared to what AMD has just done.

AMD has delivered two new video cards at prices that we think are incredibly forgiving. The AMD Radeon HD 6970 with an MSRP of $369 takes on the $140 more expensive GeForce GTX 580 in performance. The AMD Radeon HD 6950 takes on the GeForce GTX 570 while costing $50 less at $299.

Usually in our GPU reviews we match products up by price when we compare. Things are a bit different this time. In a price/performance comparison, we should really be comparing the 6970/570 matchup since the price difference is heavy on the 6970 by about $20. Looking at it this way, the HD 6970 blows the GTX 570 out of the water for a few bucks.

Still the HD 6970 is AMD's flagship single-GPU video card, and we wanted to see how it compares to the GTX 580 no matter the price. The GTX 580 is a better performing card, but at a terrific out of pocket expense.

Both of these new AMD GPUs look to be incredible values. Never before has any GPU delivered so much gaming performance at such a low cost. If you have been waiting for the time to upgrade and are more than a generation back, that upgrade time has now come. The AMD Radeon HD 6950 and AMD Radeon HD 6970 are both tremendous values.

This isn’t the last we will hear from AMD on this series. Expect to see a dual-GPU video card to replace the Radeon HD 5970 eventually.

There is no question that both the AMD Radeon HD 6970 and AMD Radeon HD 6950 both deserve our Gold [H] Editor's Choice Award. Both of these GPUs own the "Bang for the Buck" space.

 

[tvdang7]

anand shows a commanding lead while [H] shows they are almost equal - maybe 1-5 frames. HMM who to believed.

 

[Smartazz]

One of the strangest releases I've ever seen. They seem like pretty good cards and are reasonably priced. Hopefully with driver updates we'll see less variations in games. I'm excited to see what AMD is going to do about the HD 6990 since the power consumption on the 6970 is higher than the 5870.

 

[GaiaHunter]

anand shows a commanding lead while [H] shows they are almost equal - maybe 1-5 frames. HMM who to believed.

Well [H] uses a small number games at very high resolution and very high settings - precisely the best settings for the 6970/6950.

Look at the hardwarecanucks review - at 25x16 the GTX580 and the 6970 trade blows.

 

[WelshBloke]

My brother just purchased a 6970 (AMD fan) to replace 2X4870s. Does anyone disagree with this? I told him to go for it because Xfire support on the 4 series has been pretty bad, and now he can use DX11 (for whatever that is worth).

Well they aren't bad cards and certainly they seem to do well in xfire, they just aren't earth shattering.

Its more the value than the performance that's impressive.

 

[cotak13]

One of the strangest releases I've ever seen. They seem like pretty good cards and are reasonably priced. Hopefully with driver updates we'll see less variations in games. I'm excited to see what AMD is going to do about the HD 6990 since the power consumption on the 6970 is higher than the 5870.

Well you save 140 on the 6970 vs Nvidia. Might make it possible to upgrade a monitor :biggrin: ?

Sorry, I am always the lets look on the bright side of upgrading sort of guy.