*****OcUK Benchmark Results from ATI HD 69xx Series*****

[Gibbo]

Hi there


We've run a limited set of test on the new 69xx cards, by no means making a buying decision on these test, we highly recommend you wait for reviews to come from the likes of Anandtech etc. Still this gives you an early insight of what to expect from the cards and their early overclocking performance.



The Test Rig
Intel I7 950 @ 4.02GHz
Asus Rampage II Motherboard
6GB Kingston @ 1600MHz CAS 7-8-7-24-1T
Hitachi HDD
Windows 7 64-Bit
HIS 6970 (Supplied 10.11 Drivers used)
HIS 6950 (Supplied 10.11 Drivers used)
EVGA GTX 580 (Latest NVIDIA Drivers online)
OCZ 700W Power Supply

UniEngine Heaven 2.1 Benchmark @ 1920x1200 - Default Settings


ATI Radeon 6950 @ Stock

ATI Radeon 6950 @ 930MHz Core & 5900MHz Memory

ATI Radeon 6950 in Crossfire @ 840MHz Core & 5300MHz Memory

ATI Radeon 6950 in Crossfire @ 840/5300 - Maximum Settings (extreme tessellation, 16x AF, 8x AA)

ATI Radeon 6970 @ Stock

ATI Radeon 6970 @ 980MHz Core & 6200MHz Memory

ATI Radeon 6970 in Crossfire @ 950MHz Core & 5800MHz Memory

ATI Radeon 6970 in Crossfire @ 950/5800 - Maximum Settings (extreme tessellation, 16x AF, 8x AA)

NVIDIA GTX 580 @ Stock

NVIDIA GTX 580 @ 835MHz Core & 4400MHz Memory

Other Benchmarks - Default Settings


3D Mark 2006 Default Test - ATI 6970 Stock

3D Mark Vantage Default Test - ATI 6970 Stock

3D Mark 11 Default Test - ATI 6970 Stock

3D Mark 2006 Default Test - ATI 6970 Crossfire

3D Mark Vantage Default Test - ATI 6970 Crossfire

3D Mark 11 Default Test - ATI 6970 Crossfire (950/5800)

Conclusion


Noise / Temps - This is where these cards excel, on AUTO fan control they remain quiet and temperatures seem to remain well below 80c thanks to the vapour chamber. So good results from ATI here and the cards do not get scoulding hot either unlike older 5870 cards. Crank the fan up and the temps can be kept sub 50c.

Power Consumption - The 6970 can draw a maximum of 250W, but it typically won't see over 200W consumption and at idle consumes as little as 20W, the fact we could run a Crossfire overclocked system setup with ease of an OCZ 700W was excellent.

Price - Sub £250 for a 6950 and sub £300 for a 6970 make these cards very competively priced!

Performance - The 6950 is the star performer, it clocks well enough to get it past 6970 stock performance and a pair of these in Crossfire cost similar to a GTX 580, yet you get quite a lot more performance and hardly any extra power requirements. Which makes the 6950 ideal for those who want a great performing card and also for those who want some serious power. The 6970 can basically overclock further and has a few more shaders meaning it can practically match a stock GTX 580 when overclocked in certain benchmarks but still lags behind in others. But again its £100 cheaper and if you were to purchase a pair you have GTX 580 crushing performance. Neither of these cards can challenge the GTX 580 for outright power, but when overclocked they can come close, but they are considerably cheaper and the fact you can buy 2x 6950's for the price of one GTX 580 makes these mighty appealing.

Overclocking - Both cards did not support voltage tweak *YET* hence the best stable speeds I could reach was 930MHz Core and 5950MHz Memory on the 6950 and 980MHz Core and 6200MHz Memory on the 6870. I believe with voltage control we will see above 1000MHz and 6500MHz on the 6970's.
In Crossfire I could no longer use MSI Tweaker which meant I could only overclock the cards using the Overdrive in Catalyst which is why Crossfire overclock speeds are lower, so in Crossfire OC performance there is a lot more to come.


OcUK will put its stock live sometime after midnight tonight at which time you should check the following link as we have 1000+ in stock right now!!!!:-
BUY NOW! - 1000+ 6950 / 6970 Cards IN STOCK!http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1752

Remember we have GTX 580 and GTX 570 in stock amongst some amazing deals on ATI HD 5870 and GTX 480.



P.S. No more benchmarks will be run now, so don't request any other benchmarks or games, wait for the reviews to appear in a matter of hours!







If you buy in store we shall give you a further £5 discount and a free game, so come on down and visit us at our shop! (Must be instore transaction/purchase)! This offer is not available for web orders/counter collect! (This Offer/Promotion ends close of business Monday 20th December!!)


So basically come visit us and say hello!

 

[Gibbo]

A preview!

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Also remember in January prices will go up £10 on 6950 and £20 on 6970 plus an additional 2.5% for VAT increase. So be pre-warned AMD are doing very low prices for launch just like they did on 58xx series.

 

[Gibbo]

Too bad you guys couldn't bench em with those new drivers (shown here)! Nice results though!

The new drivers are much faster, but I did not get them in time. The new drivers basically mean a 6970 beats a GTX 580 in tessellation or at least is no longer chasing it.

Wait for reviews tomorrow guys, its a fantastic card for the money, but the GTX 580 does still have outright power, but it cost more.

For the same money I'd be bagging myself a pair of 6950's.

 

[Gibbo]

Judging by the ocuk pyramid they think they're going to sell a lot before Christmas. They're probably right.

That pyramid is only 1/10th of my actual stock hold, about 150 in the pyramid, over 1000 in stock!

Most other UK etailors will be lucky to get 10pc.

 

[Gibbo]

Well, considering the RRP for the 6970 is only £279 it's very tempting to wait for Antilles. But as Gibbo says, price hike upto £300 is on the cards in the New Year so it will probably be closer to £500 rather than the £450 hoped for.

Looks like a pair of 6950s before New Year for £220ish each will offer the best value for the time being.

PS Nice thread Andy, great to have a heads-up about performance

£279 is my price, a lot will be above £300 now trust me, could be £350ish in Jan......

 

[Gibbo]

indeed, stock 6970 up from 52fps to 67fps. ~30% increase?

Yeah wished I had driver earlier.


I might have a play tomorrow and just do a single 6970 bench clocked to maximum to try and break 70fps as that would put it well above a GTX 580 in the same machine.


If this new driver gives the same increases in games too, we could actually have a GTX 580 performer on our hands in games, but don't get your hopes up, if it does ATI are gonna clean up at these price points.

 

[Gibbo]

I think i am pretty dissapointed in amd tbh these cards do not seem to be a massive step up from my 6870. Faster off course but these new drivers better be where the rest of the performance comes from as a 6870 is a really good buy when i think of how much faster a 6950/70 is.

I understand amd's strategy but if this performance is all they can come up with against a gtx580 i think its pretty poor.

From my testing the major improvements over 5870/6870 are:-

1. Power consumption
2. Temperature/Noise
3. Tesellation Performance
4. Price!
5. HDMI 1.4

AMD have built themselves a future proof design, its cheap to build, they can produce quantity and it will be a favourite amongst system integrators, so sucess wise to AMD it will no doubt be excellent.

Yes I agree we all wanted it to have more raw speed, but AMD's answer to that is a very aggressive launch price. Fact is the 6950 beats a 5870 at everything I've thrown at it and more, the 5870 was a lot more money on launch and this new card can do a lot more.

 

[Gibbo]

279 for 6970 ? or 6950 ?

6970 will be £279 - £339
6950 will be £215 - £249

As of tomorrow!

 

[Gibbo]

If you buy in store we shall give you a further £5 discount and a free game, so come on down and visit us at our shop! (Must be instore transaction/purchase)! This offer is not available for web orders/counter collect!


So basically come visit us and say hello!

 

[Gibbo]

the range difference between brands?

So HIS will be 279 and 215?

OcUK brand will be cheapest which is VTX3D and Powercolor.



HIS, Sapphire and Powercolor are Tier1 Partners, basically the top 3 and AMD's best customers.


For me I'd always buy HIS and Sapphire personally.

 

[Gibbo]

do we get a burger for the pyramid?

Nope, its an OcUK mascott, not for sale.

 

[Gibbo]

how would a stock 6970 compare to a stock 570?

Wait for the reviews, as I did not test a 570. From what I've seen they will be close, though 6970 does seem to have better clocking potential.

 

[Gibbo]

Seems a little unfair !

Why not stick a Xmas £5 Discount Code up for all us Loyal Forum Members at Midnight

TODAY ONLY's are WEB ONLY, now were giving something back to our shop customers.

If we just keep doing web only then its very unfair on our loyal shoppers in the area to us, plus were looking to expand our retail business.

You guys who order online get countless deals.

 

[Gibbo]

Is it me or are these 6900 series complete fail and late.

We shall let the sales be the judge of that.

 

[Gibbo]

Those results especially the 6950 in xfire make my gtx470's overclocked cry

Your CPU is faster too.

 

[Gibbo]

Very nice set of reults and thanks for taking the time

I collated the Heaven stock results for ease of reference :

Now decisions decisions, cancell my pair of cheap GTX580s and go for a pair of 6970s ? :S

Thank you for that, looks awsome but your 6970CF minimum is wrong, min was like 69fps.

 

[Gibbo]

What about the ones who order online but pick it up instore?

No discount, clearly says not available with counter collect.

 

[Gibbo]

Definately driving down tommorow now for a nice new card with £5 off

Can you list which cards you actually have for sale tommorow please Gibbo? Usualy I'm a Sapphire/Asus fan. But the card with the longest warranty and best cooling will be my pick!

ONLY HIS in stock right now.

Sapphire, XFX and OcUK all due tomorrow afternoon courier permitting.

HIS is the safest bet.

 

[Gibbo]

and how much are the HIS ?

£220 and £290 delivered for forum members.