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6990 or crossfire 6950?

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Joined
6 Oct 2011
Posts
105
Location
Malta
i would like to know which i should get , 1 HD 6990 or 2 HD6950 in crossfire .
is there a big difference in performance ? the 6990 is more expensive than 2 6950's so i guessing it is better ?
anyway which should i treat myself to for xmas? :)
thanks for the help
 
also i know the 7000 series is comming out soon but i think i will get another 6990 in the future ( if i get that card )
 
The 6990 is the fastest single card solution on the market, it has 2 highly binned cayman gpu's. It is quicker than crossfire 6950's but not by a lot. Using the second bios on the 6990 takes the card to 6970 speeds as well at the cost of more power draw and noise. I have found the second bios is good for 1000mhz+ core with no extra voltage needed.

Do you have decent spacing between the pci-e slots you will be using as crossfire will generate a lot of heat and close cards often suffer with heat and noise.

What psu do you have and resolution you play at.
 
Using the second bios on the 6990 takes the card to 6970 speeds as well at the cost of more power draw and noise. I have found the second bios is good for 1000mhz+ core with no extra voltage needed.

As we discussed in another thread it seems that XFX are the only supplier of the HD 6990 who do not void the warranty if the second BIOS is used.

Worth thinking about for anyone considering a HD 6990 purchase.

Purely in terms of value a pair of HD 6950's, for as little as £400 from OcUK, is easily a better purchase than a HD 6990 at £575.
 
As we discussed in another thread it seems that XFX are the only supplier of the HD 6990 who do not void the warranty if the second BIOS is used.

Worth thinking about for anyone considering a HD 6990 purchase.

Purely in terms of value a pair of HD 6950's, for as little as £400 from OcUK, is easily a better purchase than a HD 6990 at £575.

From memory i'm sure its IS possible to move the switch on the card without removing / damaging the sticker if your careful. ;)
 
As we discussed in another thread it seems that XFX are the only supplier of the HD 6990 who do not void the warranty if the second BIOS is used.

Worth thinking about for anyone considering a HD 6990 purchase.

Purely in terms of value a pair of HD 6950's, for as little as £400 from OcUK, is easily a better purchase than a HD 6990 at £575.

It is easy to get to the switch without voiding the warranty though :)

Definitely better value to get a pair of 6950s, however, I prefer to have everything on the same board. Just comes down to preference.
 
From what I hear, those 6990's are very noisy, if you hate the noise, you might want to consider putting them under water, which will add a lot more to the cost.
 
The stock 6990 fan is no noisier than other noisy cards i have owned (8800 ultra and x1900xtx being the noisiest). Watercooling really brings out the best in the 6990, slashing temps to the mid 30's for me with no noise :)
 
I have a 5970 and it is certainly a noisy card under load, especially when overclocked - it can be pretty intrusive. And the reviews clearly show that the 6990 is louder. This isn't a case of people making things up... this is a case of the card being objectively louder than other cards.
 
Clearance Lines » Graphics Cards

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=595&catid=683


There is lots of 6950's there.

**B Grade** OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express G (GX-147-OK)

£169.99 inc VAT
10+ in stock.




**B Grade** Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 FLEX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

£187.99 inc VAT
1 instock.


BG-078-SP_200.jpg


;)

Great price for a 6950 and great for people looking to try out crossfire.



Also there are many 5850's too.


**B Grade** Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card + Call Of Duty: Mode (GX-229-SP)

£149.99 inc VAT
10+ in stock.
 
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