Official HD6990 Review Thread (*updated* with 21 reviews at this time)

[happy medium]

So if i buy 2 GTX 460's for $320 that match a 580 for $400-$450 i shouldn't expect the 580 to cost less then $320 should i?

2 5780's cost 800$ and were faster single 5970 costiing 700$, if my memory is right.

2 6970's cost 640$ ar faster,cost less, are more quiet, while the 6990 cost more is slower, and is noisy.

The 6990 needs to come down a little in price, but to be fair ,it is a new release and has no immediate competition.

 

[Skurge]

Probably the loudest card ever tested at Anandtech. By far the highest power consuming card ever tested. No doubt the gtx580 will challenge the power consumption, and probably be pretty damn loud too. These dual GPU solutions are now absolutely ridiculous. A pair of cards is a much, much smarter solution on so many levels.

Despite the performance gains, this dual solution regresses the video card field in every other front. The shrink to 28nm can't come soon enough.

Yeah, They should have just skipped DUAL GPU cards for this gen. I can see the 6990 making sense at 28nm, but not like this.

 

[mnewsham]

2 5780's cost 800$ and were faster single 5970 costiing 700$, if my memory is right.

2 6970's cost 640$ ar faster,cost less, are more quiet, while the 6990 cost more is slower, and is noisy.

The 6990 needs to come down a little in price, but to be fair ,it is a new release and has no immediate competition.

the 5970 wasn't in stock for most of it's life and i remember it being 800-900

 

[Genx87]

Be interesting to see what the 590 has to offer. It seemed to perform where it needed to perform. But now also reigns surpreme on power consumption and how loud it runs.

 

[happy medium]

Thanks again guys updated with more reviews.

Edit :Alienbabletech review is up, (Apoppin's review). And it's huge as usual. And a rough copy.
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=24406&all=1

Edit; It has a 6990 and 6970 in tri-fire! included, nice

 

[Elfear]

The point is not so much the speed of the card as the other features involved in making an attractive product: Heat and noise.

That's what I mean. In order to have a desirable package in terms of heat and noise (both of which are generally a function of power consumption), both companies will need to use something besides the top-of-the-line gpus. The 590 may surprise us but I suspect it will also be hot and noisy.

 

[apoppin]

Thanks again guys updated with more reviews.

Edit :Alienbabletech review is up, (Apoppin's review). And it's huge as usual. And a rough copy.
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=24406&all=1

Edit; It has a 6990 and 6970 in tri-fire! included, nice

Thanks, Happy! And it is indeed very raw. i am proofing it now and rewriting much of the commentary (some of this is a C&P of my notes) the rest of the day.

i was about 12 hours late. In fact, i finished my GTX 580 SLI testing as the NDA expired. IF i had left that out, i would have been on time. i felt it was really important to explore outside the "6 usual games"; i ran all 32 benches in my current suite.

And HD 6990 is noisy; like GTX 480 noisy and maybe louder than GTX 580 SLI - it gets your attention. Worst of all, Tri-Fire's (HD 6990+HD 6970) wind-up on load is *intolerable*; this is coming from someone who didn't mind HD 4870-X2 or the reference GTX 480. The top card is smothered and baked by the HD 6990 in my X58 MB. And the exhaust is very very warm - you won't need a space heater. $700 is a lot of money and HD 6970 CF will outperform it for about $50 less.
:'(

OK, that's the "bad". OtOH, HD 6990 is an impressive performer and if you have room for only one (very long) card, this may be it. i did manage to run Trifire's three linked GPUs each at 880/1375MHz stably until it hit 80F in my house (then it artifacted and i ran to open windows). i also had to use two of my 775W PSUs to power TriFire-X3.

 

[Skurge]

However, i did manage to run all three cards at 880/1375MHz stably until it hit 80F in my house (then it artifacted and i ran to open windows).

Rofl.

 

[apoppin]

Well the testing did coincide with some really warm weather the past few days in the SoCal high desert. Great for the cold nights, however.
- HD 69x0 TriFire-X3 is just that .. FIRE!
:awe:

What do we call HD 6970 + HD 6990?

 

[tincart]

Thanks, Happy! And it is indeed very raw. i am proofing it now and rewriting much of the commentary (some of this is a C&P of my notes) the rest of the day.

From your results it seems a 6870 x 2 would have been a convincing competitor for the GTX 580 and would not have suffered from the obvious drawbacks of the 6990.

 

[MrK6]

The Eyefinity results are sweet but beyond that, what's the point? 6950 2GB unlocked is still the way to go. And holy Jesus at the noise, what the hell were they thinking?

 

[apoppin]

The Eyefinity results are sweet but beyond that, what's the point? 6950 2GB unlocked is still the way to go. And holy Jesus at the noise, what the hell were they thinking?

They went for ultimate performance at all costs. They really want the performance crown. They are thinking only of the enthusiasts - the same guys who liked GTX 480 for its performance - damn the noise!

Actually, the Stock HD 6990 (375W TDP) is quite nice and it is not loud nor noisy. But then AMD wanted us to test the ASUM performance mode.

i think it is expensive. A 6890 would probably be plenty for most gamers and it would still beat GTX 580 performance for around $500

i am really looking forward to Nvidia's dual-GPU card.

 

[happy medium]

Good information.
http://www.gpureview.com/gpureviews-hd-6990-overclocking-roundup-article-875.html

 

[MentalIlness]

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3924/sapphire_radeon_hd_6990_4gb_video_card_review/index.html

 

[happy medium]

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3924/sapphire_radeon_hd_6990_4gb_video_card_review/index.html

Good review and thanks, that makes 20 reviews.:thumbsup:
I like there chart at the end.

 

[Qbah]

Damn, it's fast. Up there with 2xHD6970.

And DAMN it's loud! Makes a GTX480 sound like a whisper probably. And my Xbox like a faint wind breeze.

As far as I'm concerned, avoid like the plague.

 

[MentalIlness]

Good review and thanks, that makes 20 reviews.:thumbsup:
I like there chart at the end.

This one ? :thumbsup:

 

[MentalIlness]

I like the Tweak Town review. They compare to 6870 Crossfire.

 

[hclarkjr]

i already am planning on adding another 6950 to my rig so this card is not an issue for me. typical gougegg i mean newegg on release price.

 

[happy medium]

This one ? :thumbsup:

Charts are not posting for me, or is it just me?

 

[apoppin]

I like the Tweak Town review. They compare to 6870 Crossfire.

i not only compared to 6870 CF and 9 powerful single GPUs, i also tested 6970 CF, 5870 CF, GTX 460 SLI, GTX 560 ti SLI, GTX 580 SLI and HD 69x0 TriFire-X3 (880/1375MHz)
-- and all the results are on the summary page with overclocked HD 6990 (960/1390MHz).
()

No sleep in 4 days; AMD got us the drivers on Thursday
:\

C-ya later

 

[hclarkjr]

any 6950 crossfire vs 6990 reviews?

 

[happy medium]

any 6950 crossfire vs 6990 reviews?

The 6990 is generally right in between the 6950 x-fire and 6970 x-fire.

 

[MentalIlness]

Charts are not posting for me, or is it just me?

 

[hclarkjr]

The 6990 is generally right in between the 6950 x-fire and 6970 x-fire.

yeah, i found anands review right after i posted that. i would say this card is a disappointment then for AMD at that price. you can buy 2 6950's for $520 and get the same performance