6950 - good time to upgrade and are they quiet?

[Frosties]

what temps you're getting with shaman cooler, and what about ocing? And is it hard to fit it?
sry for OT post.

Idle 30
Load (Kombustor) 50

This is with a reference Sapphire 6970 core overclocked at 950/1450. It was crashing in Black Ops with the stock cooler when OC , with shaman its fine so I should be able to push it higher I just don't have the time right now

Fitting was pretty standard no problems except that the fan connector on the card had a small plastic cover that couldn't fit with the Thermalright fan. You could probably remove it if you are careful enough or you can connect the fan to one of your motherboard headers.

I can confirm that the shaman could potentially block the upper PCI slot due to the protruding screws. I only have an Asus Xense card to try and it's been blocked due to the shroud on the card (haven't try without it) , some slim cards may fit though.

 

[Ardbeg]

Really, really tempted to sell my XFX 5970 to get two of these. Though it doesn't struggle in any games it feels old tech. Two of these unlocked to a 6970 kill my 5970 in bench scores also, don't know what to do now...

Sold my 5970 for similar reasons, got £380 on the bay for it, this practically paid for my 2x 6950's. Am having no regrets, they are noticably quicker (especially in benchs) and quieter.

 

[ryan4227]

I am seriously thinking about getting one of these my 8800 does not cut it anymore.

Saying that you couldn't get a great deal warmer or louder than the G80.
Should be nice and quiet if you have a good case