AMD HD 6950 and 6970 released

[topgear]

First a little Specs :

*images.techtree.com/ttimages/story/113790_specs_1.jpg

image courtesy of techtree.com

One more with prices and better comparison with it's cousins :

*i51.tinypic.com/2h8bchz.gif

used infos from anandtech.com for this one.

HD6950 has TDP of 140 W and HD6970 has TDP of 190 W

The duos : ( good old design ! )

*www.guru3d.com/imageview.php?image=27894

*www.guru3d.com/imageview.php?image=27897

images courtesy of guru3d.com

One more tiny detail :

*www.guru3d.com/imageview.php?image=27892

image courtesy of guru3d.com

What's That New Switch?

If you look at the photo below you'll notice a tiny micro-switch next to the two CrossfireX connectors. The R6900 cards now have one firmware flashable dual-BIOS and one (non flashable) default BIOS, with the switch you can select BIOS 1 or 2.

AMD implemented the feature likely to prevent the RMA rate. They know very well that the enthusiast community often re-flashes their cards, often unsuccessful after which they enter a very expensive RMA procedure at AMD's cost.

So this feature is a bit of a failsafe. However for the real tweakers it's an advantage. You could overclock and over-volt the product based on a predetermined set of preferences of your choice, flash it into the BIOS and with the flick of a switch you can have either a performance or default BIOS at your disposal.

It's definitely not a bad thing to have on any graphics card really and we certainly appreciate the implementation.

The top 3 reviews : ( IMO )

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

*www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/

*www.anandtech.com/show/4061/amds-radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950

The First ever Review : iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: ÷óòü ñëàáåå GeForce GTX 570/580, íî è äåøåâëå

iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: îïèñàíèå âèäåîêàðòû è ðåçóëüòàòû ñèíòåòè÷åñêèõ òåñòîâ

Game Benches : iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: ðåçóëüòàòû çàìåðîâ ïðîèçâîäèòåëüíîñòè â èãðàõ è äðóãèõ 3D-òåñòàõ è îáùèå âûâîäû

More reviews of HD6970 and HD6950

*www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/amd_radeon_hd6970_hd6950/

*www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/38899-amd-radeon-hd-6970-hd-6950-review.html

*www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/amd_hd6970_hd6950_review/

*www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/his_hd6970_hd6950_review/1

*hardocp.com/article/2010/12/14/amd_radeon_hd_6970_6950_video_card_review

*fudzilla.com/reviews/item/21186-xfx-radeon-hd-6970-and-hd-6950-tested

*www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/amd_hd6970_hd6950_launch_review/

HD 6970 Reviews :

*www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/AMD_HD_6970_Cayman_Review/551-113790-537.html

*www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6970/

*www.techspot.com/review/348-amd-radeon-6970/

*www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/1

*benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606&Itemid=72

*www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/graphics-cards/amd-radeon-hd-6970-915716/review

HD6950 Reviews :

*www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/752477/review/amd_radeon_hd_6950.html

*www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/graphics-cards/amd-radeon-hd-6950-915689/review

*www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/video-cards/7411-sapphire-radeon-hd-6950-review

*www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/

 

[Chirag]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

AMD's 6970 pricing revealed - Graphics Cards - Build - News - Atomic MPC

6970 is ~$370. Competing with GTX 570. Looks good.

 

[damngoodman999]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

got another review of HD6970 ( 1536 SPs ) and HD6950 ( 1408 SPs ) and I think it can be trusted :

iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: ÷óòü ñëàáåå GeForce GTX 570/580, íî è äåøåâëå

iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: îïèñàíèå âèäåîêàðòû è ðåçóëüòàòû ñèíòåòè÷åñêèõ òåñòîâ

Game Benches : iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: ðåçóëüòàòû çàìåðîâ ïðîèçâîäèòåëüíîñòè â èãðàõ è äðóãèõ 3D-òåñòàõ è îáùèå âûâîäû

Top gear i never knew that u know RUSSIAN language ...

 

[desiibond]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

@topgear, from those reviews, it looks like GTX580 will keep the crown for a bit more time. the HD6970 is a bit slower with AA and AF enabled and at FullHD resolution.

 

[Krazzy Warrior]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

Top gear i never knew that u know RUSSIAN language ...

iXBT.com: AMD Radeon HD 6950/6970: îïèñàíèå âèäåîêàðòû è ðåçóëüòàòû ñèíòåòè÷åñêèõ òåñòîâ > Google Translate

Google rocks!

 

[clear_lot]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

BENCHMARKS FROM FUDZILLA:

XFX Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 tested


A question: is fudzilla as reliable as toms/anandtech/guru3d/techpowerup ?

 

[Chirag]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

^^
no.

 

[clear_lot]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

GURU3D: Radeon HD 6950 & 6970 review

TECHPOWERUP 6970 : HIS Radeon HD 6970 2 GB Review - Page 1/33 | techPowerUp

TECHPOWERUP 6950 : HIS Radeon HD 6950 2 GB Review - Page 1/33 | techPowerUp




THESE are the de-facto standard reviews. no monkey business in them.

 

[desiibond]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

Looks like HD6950 is gonna be a heck of a buy. Should be priced around 300$, which keeps it at GTX470 price point but then is much faster than GTX470 in most games. am surprised to see it touching GTX570 too in some games.

 

[Cilus]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

The reviews are mixed bug according to Guru3d. In some games like Battle Field Bad Company, DIRT the performance is equal to HD 5870 whereras in other games like Anno 3D, Crysis it performed superbly.
However, it looks like than the main target for HD 69XX series was GTX 480 as GTX580 is a clear winner in all the cases. But power consumption, Idle power and temperature level in full load these cards are hard to beat.
I think pricing will be next thing we are looking into....And AMD is good on it for long time.

 

[Zangetsu]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

so the current fastest graphic card in market (crown) goes to ........????

 

[Skud]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

so the current fastest graphic card in market (crown) goes to ........????

its still the radeon 5970. and the fastest GPU is the gtx580.

 

[damngoodman999]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

So wat will be the Exact price of HD 6950 wud be ??? In india ??

 

[Skud]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

links:-

Anandtech:- AMD's Radeon HD 6970 & Radeon HD 6950: Paving The Future For AMD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

hardOCP:- Introduction - AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 Video Card Review | [H]ard|OCP

TomsHardware:- Radeon HD 6970 And 6950 Review: Is Cayman A Gator Or A Crock? : Radeon HD 6970 And 6950 Arrive

The 6950 really seems like a card to get. Should be somewhere between 18K-20K in India depending on the model.

 

[Faun]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

Top gear i never knew that u know RUSSIAN language ...

lol...privet

 

[vickybat]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

Guys check cayman review by tomshardware here.

6970 is no match for the mighty gtx 580 in all benchmarks and even the gtx 570 trumps it in some resolutions and perform closely.Same goes for the 6950 which is not that far from its big brother. But amd has improved over its cypress architecture incorporating a VLIW4 model against VLIW5 i.e dispatching off the special function alu as amd claims it to be unnecessary.More about it in the review.

Lastly where amd excels is in improved cf scaling which see's two 6950's trump two gtx 570 (marginally though). But that is due to 6950's large frame buffer and improved drivers. Except nvidia to fight back with its own driver optimisations.

So the conclusion is 580 and 570 are still top performers and 6950 seems to be the cayman to buy. But we can't deny the value in a pair of 6850's which beats all caymans and fight closely with 580 and overtakes it in higher resolutions.

Expect a gtx 560 to take on that aspect.

 

[coderunknown]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

but why was the pricing something like 28k (HD6970) as posted in the earlier page? was it a mistake or SMC or whoever was the dealer lost its mind?

 

[Faun]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

^^yep that pricing is not commensurate with the performance.

 

[Cilus]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

vickybat, ya you are very true, GTX 580 is the winner here. Actually AMD was targetting GTX 480 and completely surprised by he Nvdia's trump card, the GTX 580. But still it is a lovely product. I think attractive pricing is the next thing we can see from AMD and it should be lower than GTX 570.

 

[clear_lot]

Re: All Graphics Cards related queries here.

^ +1

@ Sam.Shab

i posted the prices from SMC. their prices are very strange. i think what they do is when a new card and its junior version release, their knee-jerk reaction is to put prices as 28k and 22k respectively, in hope of catching the early uninformed.
how else can you explain 6970=580 and 6950=570 in pricing?

anyway, how are they priced compared to international pries? i guess we are paying rs.5000 extra for each card.