AMD Radeon HD 6990 - More details released

Skellig · 9 Feb 2011 at 14:13

I don't know. Considering route the ATI did with the 6950 and 6970 (cooler with with less power for great performance) I can imagine the 6990 not trying for the performance crown at all.

95% performance of the next nVidia card for 75% of the price? Sounds highly profitable to me.

Rroff · 9 Feb 2011 at 14:15

6644kp said:
Well both the GTX 295 and the Radeon 5970 had only one fan and they did fine.

They were both back ported tho - I can't imagine its possible on a central positioned fan without weakening the PCB too much (you have a lot of weight balanced each side).

kitch9 · 9 Feb 2011 at 14:23

Having gone from 2x460's to 1x480 I can honestly say I'm never going Crossfire / SLI again.

1 gpu just feels better than 2. I was in denial when I had 2 cards, but now I'm back to one I have to admit I was wrong.

Rroff · 9 Feb 2011 at 14:29

Been through a lot of dual and single GPUs and can't say I've noticed it that bad. Only time I've had a huge difference in smoothness was going from GTX260 SLI to a single GTX470 and that was due to the 470 having more consistant framerates with higher min fps.

TheRealDeal · 9 Feb 2011 at 14:30

kitch9 said:
Having gone from 2x460's to 1x480 I can honestly say I'm never going Crossfire / SLI again.

1 gpu just feels better than 2. I was in denial when I had 2 cards, but now I'm back to one I have to admit I was wrong.

I can't say i have ever noticed a difference and i am constantly playing with a single card on my own machine and then on my mates who has used sli/crossfire for years. We have our own lans at my house for years so the machines have been side by side and not once have i ever thought mine was any smoother than his.

kylew · 9 Feb 2011 at 14:54

TheRealDeal said:
I can't say i have ever noticed a difference and i am constantly playing with a single card on my own machine and then on my mates who has used sli/crossfire for years. We have our own lans at my house for years so the machines have been side by side and not once have i ever thought mine was any smoother than his.

It's called PEBKAC.

straxusii · 9 Feb 2011 at 15:00

Skellig said:
I don't know. Considering route the ATI did with the 6950 and 6970 (cooler with with less power for great performance) I can imagine the 6990 not trying for the performance crown at all.

95% performance of the next nVidia card for 75% of the price? Sounds highly profitable to me.

I think this is likely, given the performance difference of 6970 and GTX580

Depends how much both parties have to downclock though in the end.

I'm guessing GTX590 at £550 using 2x8 pin and 6990 at £400 with 90% the performance

Rroff · 9 Feb 2011 at 15:05

I suspect a dual nVidia card would be more like £599.99 than £550. If they have to use a 300 watt limiter I doubt either card is gonna be exactly spectacular performance wise.

Skellig · 9 Feb 2011 at 15:40

Don't really know why I'm speculating. I'll doubt I'll ever buy these cards until they hit they £250 mark

Rroff · 9 Feb 2011 at 16:52

Well I won't be buying either

and my current setup was vastly cheaper than either are likely to be.

iBSOD · 9 Feb 2011 at 17:04

(@ the cards cooler)

This is why I <3 Arctic Cooling. Custom cooler tyme!!

I hope this isn't going to be a huge failure like the 4870X2. I heard some guy RMA'd his one 5 times and then just gave up.

jigger · 9 Feb 2011 at 17:09

iBSOD said:
(@ the cards cooler)
I hope this isn't going to be a huge failure like the 4870X2.

Do tell more.

TheRealDeal · 9 Feb 2011 at 17:15

The 4870x2 cooler from what i know was loud and the card was a monster in its day for the performance it put out. If people want to run a dual gpu card especially if its a stock card then they better be prepared for noise. It sounds like his friend was expecting a quiet x2 which was never gonna happen.

arc@css · 9 Feb 2011 at 17:16

iBSOD said:
(@ the cards cooler)

This is why I <3 Arctic Cooling. Custom cooler tyme!!

I hope this isn't going to be a huge failure like the 4870X2. I heard some guy RMA'd his one 5 times and then just gave up.

I must have got very lucky then, one of the best cards I've owned.

arc@css · 9 Feb 2011 at 17:22

TheRealDeal said:
The 4870x2 cooler from what i know was loud and the card was a monster in its day for the performance it put out. If people want to run a dual gpu card especially if its a stock card then they better be prepared for noise. It sounds like his friend was expecting a quiet x2 which was never gonna happen.

Unless you tack on a cooler like the Arctic Accelero. At idle I found it quiet, but yeah under load it was the loudest so far I've experienced.

iBSOD · 11 Feb 2011 at 07:22

It's (was) a fast card. But efficeciency and heat output weren't its strengths.

straxusii · 11 Feb 2011 at 07:50

iBSOD said:
It's (was) a fast card. But efficeciency and heat output weren't its strengths.

Unlike all the other dual GPU cards there have ever been

Jibber55 · 11 Feb 2011 at 11:02

iBSOD said:
It's (was) a fast card. But efficeciency and heat output weren't its strengths.

And that makes it a 'huge failure' ???? :confused:

or the same as EVERY dual GPU card? I think we're making a mountain out of a mole-hill here aren't we. :rolleyes:

Redmint · 11 Feb 2011 at 11:08

Dual GPU cards are always going to have a higher failure rate due to the higher heat output and the larger number of components which can go wrong...

Mojo · 11 Feb 2011 at 12:32

I'm always just amazed at how they can manage to stick two GPUs on one card, especially when those two GPUs are pushing 250w on their own anyway. Surely the performance is affected, not just by the lowered speeds on the core/ram, but by the lesser pcb space available to each card?