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2 x 6950 or 6990 ?

sportbilly

sportbilly

sportbilly

Associate
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Posts
80
About to order a Sandybridge system based on either the Titan Spinosaur or the Titan Mosasaur

Not sure whether to try to get 2 x 6950's (rev 1) to flash to 6970's for around £200 each (if OcUk get in more rev 1 models - Gibbo seems to indicate they will be) or to just order the 6990 particularly whilst it's on special with free games etc.

I am maybe tending to the 6990 on the basis that the Sandybridge motherboard will only run 2 cards at 8x/8x rather than a single card at 16x speed. This may offset the higher clock speeds of the flashed 6950's to an extent ?

Plus if I have just one slot taken up I can alwas add a 6950,6970 or 6990 in the future for a boost if necessary.

I will be using the system for sim racing and triple screen gaming at 5760x1080 (plus bezel correction) so all the horse power available will be necessary.

Any views / experiences on which way to jump ?

Cheers
 
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get 2 6950. cheaper and same performance....

2 6950 will handly screen gaming at 5760x1080

i have a 6990 + 6950 and no games can max the gpu's out even with 24x AA.
 
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Doesnt the 6990 share the 16x between the two gpus inside to 8x 8x anyway? :S If it was me, i'd get the two 6950s and flash them to 6970s - wont run as hot and is 50 odd quid cheaper.
 
Definitely 2x 6950

Remember a 6990 at 16x still only has 8 lanes per GPU, so you're not losing any PCIe bandwith by going with two cards at 8x. Two 6950's flashed to 6970's will outperform a 6990 for less money.
 
Blue160 said:
Remember a 6990 at 16x still only has 8 lanes per GPU,
Click to expand...
are u sure?

why on mine both gpus say 16x?

gpu2.png
 
I'd guess both chips have access to all 16 lanes, but since they have to share them, it'll be 8 each with the card working at 100%.

Just a guess mind.
 
gareth170 said:
2 6950 will handly screen gaming at 5760x1080
Click to expand...

but at what settings? not maxed out for sure on most games. i had eyefinity running at 5760x1200 with a 26k at 4.4 for a very limited time and i wasnt getting the performance i hoped for...got my b3 board back now so will give it a proper gp
 
I do like the look of those tommy - but then the 6990 is on offer at 467.99 (with games) and I have a spare slot then to stick a 6950/70 into in the future.

If I go along the two card route I may just go with two MSI 6950 2gb model for £400.

Plus I'm not sure we have got to the bottom of this 16 x vs 8x / 8x issue. I am sure I saw a recent article linked from here covering this issue - not a huge difference but maybe 10% potentially negating any advantage for the twin cards ? I'll try to find it again.

Thanks for the views so far.
 
I went for the HIS 6990 for £467 that you're talking about. The 16x vs 8x doesn't make that much of a difference tbh. You get the power of two cards taking up only a single slot and you remove the issue of heat when the cards are close together. The card is performing great so far and that's only on the first revision of drivers. Then when the time comes to upgrade I'll have a 6990 and a new card, rather than the old "wtf will I do with this second 6950?". Also remember that the single 6990 can hold many more monitors than a single 6950 so you're getting that + the monitor capacity of a second card when you upgrade. You probably won't use that many monitors, but it's a bonus to consider. Oh, and 4 free games :P A lot of people complain about the stock cooler. Yes on 100% this thing is damn loud, but when you're not benching it doesn't get close to 100% fan speed. It also uses less power and outputs less overall heat than two cards. I don't know whether this is something you're considering, but the single card means you can get away with less radiators and only a single gpu block if you decide to put your setup under water.

When I originally looked at two cards vs the 590 @ £600 the two cards won hands down. When you're talking about a 6990 for just over £450 with free games...pfft.
 
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