First Impressions: Crossfired 6950's

[Elfear]

Finally got my cards today and thought I'd post some initial impressions. I've had the card in my sig for over a year and it has done very well for what it is. However, I was running out of vram in some games like Crysis and Stalker: COP. Plus the card just didn't have the horsepower to game smoothly at 2560x1600.

Enter AMD's new cards. For the price and performance I felt a pair of 6950's were the best choice for me. I've had pretty good luck with Xfire/SLI rigs in the past so I don't mind dealing with the multi-gpu issues for the performance I could get.

First off the cards are HUGE! I didn't really pay attention when I was reading through all the reviews but these things could double as boat anchors (not in the way you think Wreckage :biggrin. These will be a tight fit for those with small- to medium-sized cases.

I was disappointed to see that the Crossfire connectors that come in the box are the short style that only span cards slotted right next to each other. Come on, is it really that much more expensive to put the longer ones in the box? With 3 and 4 PCI-E slot motherboards becoming more common I think longer connectors should be the norm.

That said, even with the cards stuck right next to each other they don't get that loud under load. Probably about the same as my 5850 at 36% fan speed. Not quiet by any means but not leaf blower either. Hopefully spacing the cards out will help that a little. At idle they are quieter than my 1200rpm Scythe Kaze-Jyuni case fans.

Performance wise the cards are amazing. I haven't had much time to bench the cards and my current game library is rather meager for new titles. I did run some benchmarks of Stalker: COP against my 5850 that you can see below. At lower settings the 6950's didn't blow me away compared to my 5850. The minimums were a little better and the averages were about twice as fast. I was very impressed at uber settings though. Just what I was needing for Stalker.

I also added some Lost Coast benchmarks which were rather pathetic being it's a 5-yr old game. The GPU played a minor role in performance and it probably wasn't worth the effort. I was going to bench Crysis too until I discovered I'd sold it awhile ago. Whoops. Would have been interesting to compare to my 5850.

Low Settings


High Settings


5850@Stock Low Settings


5850@970/1170 Low Settings


6950's@Stock Low Settings



5850@Stock High Settings



5850@970/1170 High Settings


6950's@Stock High Settings



Lost Coast 2560x1600 Everything Maxed (4xAA)

5850@Stock 189fps

5850@970/1170 217fps

6950's@Stock 265fps

 

[adairusmc]

I agree. I just installed two 6970's tonight in crossfire, replacing a single 5870 and I am loving how they are running now.

You are right about them being quite large. The 6970 is the same size as the 6950, and mine just barely fit in my mid-sized antec 900-two -

 

[Elfear]

I agree. I just installed two 6970's tonight in crossfire, replacing a single 5870 and I am loving how they are running now.

You are right about them being quite large. The 6970 is the same size as the 6950, and mine just barely fit in my mid-sized antec 900-two -

Are you going to watercool your cards?

 

[MentalIlness]

Extremely massive gains. Color me impressed.

Are you or did you have any problems with the drivers ? What version drivers ? This could be "potentially" what I put in my new build.

Is all these tests at the same resolution ?

 

[MentalIlness]

Also, what is the "exact" length of these cards ? Wondering if they will fit in my P182.

If someone wouldn't mind measuring for me.

 

[adairusmc]

Are you going to watercool your cards?

Not planning on it, no. Dont really want to buy the waterblocks.

 

[adairusmc]

Also, what is the "exact" length of these cards ? Wondering if they will fit in my P182.

If someone wouldn't mind measuring for me.

I just put a tape measure on one of mine, and they are 10 3/4 inches.

 

[Elfear]

Extremely massive gains. Color me impressed.

Are you or did you have any problems with the drivers ? What version drivers ? This could be "potentially" what I put in my new build.

Is all these tests at the same resolution ?

I'm using the latest 10.12a Hotfix drivers and haven't had any issue with them. All tests were run at 2560x1600.

 

[MentalIlness]

I just put a tape measure on one of mine, and they are 10 3/4 inches.

I just measured the distance in my case. I have exactly 11 1/2 inches to fit in cards. And the power connectors on the side is a plus.

So, they will fit in a Antec P182.

Thanks.

 

[3DVagabond]

Nice rig! I hate you.

Seems like a good investment when you look at the gains on high settings. Amazing though how much GPU power some games can suck up.

 

[Wreckage]

First off the cards are HUGE! I didn't really pay attention when I was reading through all the reviews but these things could double as boat anchors (not in the way you think Wreckage :biggrin. These will be a tight fit for those with small- to medium-sized cases.

Awwww, I love that you think of me. :wub:

I must say though I am amazed at how small my 7950 is compared to today's cards (both AMD and NVIDIA). Granted the X1950 in my sig is pretty big, but these new cards are huge.

 

[Elfear]

Awwww, I love that you think of me. :wub:

I must say though I am amazed at how small my 7950 is compared to today's cards (both AMD and NVIDIA). Granted the X1950 in my sig is pretty big, but these new cards are huge.

I know what you mean. If this trend continues, we'll all have to buy U2-UFOs.

 

[happy medium]

I hear they run real hot like 89c under a full load. have you loaded them up yet?
Can you confirm that they run about as hot as a gtx480 like some review sites are saying?

 

[Mistwalker]

Looking at the CrossFire connector--does that mean that even if you have an extra PCI slot to put between the cards (for airflow/heat reasons) you must have them immediately next to one another?? Unbelievably bad design if so, hope it's just the picture making it look that way.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Looking at the CrossFire connector--does that mean that even if you have an extra PCI slot to put between the cards (for airflow/heat reasons) you must have them immediately next to one another?? Unbelievably bad design if so, hope it's just the picture making it look that way.

You can get larger connectors, in fact some of the high end mobos even come with them. Part of this is just on who you order the cards from. I'll have to check my case to see if I got a long connector or not.

 

[digitaldurandal]

Looking at the CrossFire connector--does that mean that even if you have an extra PCI slot to put between the cards (for airflow/heat reasons) you must have them immediately next to one another?? Unbelievably bad design if so, hope it's just the picture making it look that way.

You can get a longer flexible connector if your board will allow for them to be separated. I do believe most xfire certified boards have them right against each other though.

 

[flopper]

Normally its a 20c difference in card heat with them tight.
My 6850 had that and I see similar temp difference between the cards with 6950.
its tight space and the fan cant get much air when its like that.

 

[Silverforce11]

Nice setup, i think i'll ditch my 5850s cf and grab the 6950s. Price wise its pretty cheap.

What do you guys reckon gives a better gaming experience, eyeinfinity with 3x 24' 1080p or a single 30' max res?

 

[Tencntraze]

I know what you mean. If this trend continues, we'll all have to buy U2-UFOs.

Thinking about doing that anyway for my new build, which I want to have tri-fire water-cooled 6970s. Don't get my bonus until Feb, but damned if I'm not planning how to spend it already.

 

[BFG10K]

The 6970 is the same size as the 6950, and mine just barely fit in my mid-sized antec 900-two -

:thumbsup: to the Antec 902 case.

FYI, the case will actually fit video cards right up to the front panel, you just need to remove a drive cage if it's in the way.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Is it possible to buy a longer CrossFire connector by itself?

 

[Aristotelian]

I hear they run real hot like 89c under a full load. have you loaded them up yet?
Can you confirm that they run about as hot as a gtx480 like some review sites are saying?

I'm interested in this as well (and I'm quoting you, happy_medium, in case some people have you on ignore). In the reviews I read, I recall 6970s in adjacent motherboard slots that caused noticeable temperature increases, not the 6950s. Would appreciate a direct test of this here.

 

[adairusmc]

:thumbsup: to the Antec 902 case.

FYI, the case will actually fit video cards right up to the front panel, you just need to remove a drive cage if it's in the way.

Yeah, the top cage had to be removed when I got my 5970 last year, but I did have to take my SSD and put it on the top of the bottom cage, the hard drive I had on the top kept the video card from going into its slot. A little rearrangement fixed the issue though.

 

[WelshBloke]

I hear they run real hot like 89c under a full load. have you loaded them up yet?
Can you confirm that they run about as hot as a gtx480 like some review sites are saying?

Meh, my G80 card does that as well, it pretty normal for a high end card (not that mine is anymore).

 

[Elfear]

Quick update for those asking about temps. At 840/1325 (CCC Max) running through the Stalker benchmark on high settings, one card hit 82C and the other hit 95C. Fan hit a max of 36% and 57% respectively. Temp should improve a lot for the card in slot 1 when I separate the cards more.