As others have stated it just doesnt make sense for amd to make a card (6970) that is only 35 percent faster than the 6870. So a 6950 is only going to be 15-20 percent faster than amds mid range card? thats abunch of hog wash.
Yeah, personally I think the 6970 will be faster than the 580 by 10-20% or even more if raven is right
as it really wouldn't make much sense for them to bring out a slower card, but then as has been mentioned before AMD/ATI target is to produce cards for a better price to performance, noise and heat etc. and plus the fact that these cards are using different architecture and also the fact that the 6870 is on par with the 5870 (which leads me to think that it will be faster) as opposed to the refresh of the 480, which IMO should have been the 485 not the 580.
But at the end of the day, if it doesn't and it is priced a lot cheaper than the 580 and has the other important factors better than the 580 like noise etc. then in my books that declares the 6970 the winner for all round features like performance/price, quiet card etc. which to me is more important than just having sheer performance. However everyone will have different requirements to what I want.
It matters because these cards have been hyped up so much that everyone anticipate a Ferminator. There is no guarentee that 6970 will have better cooling or be quieter than the GTX580, you only need to look as for as 6800 vs GTX460 to see that. The coolers on the 5x0 cards are actually most impressive, much better than anything ATI has produced so far.
I tend to buy whatever top dog card is out at the time. If the 6970 is best I will get one, if GTX580 is best it will save me the bother.
edit: There is also slight reluctance on my part to purchase a £350-£400 card that costs half as much to produce as a similar £400 card which I already own. I feel that NVidia "virtually" provides better value for money.
For one, these rumors that have been spreading saying that they will be a lot faster than the 580, has been from us lot and others (mostly ATI fanboys) and ravens source
, not from AMD or any other official sources.
There is no guarantee that it will, but generally AMD/ATI cards have always been the better choice for people like me who want a card that is quieter, less power consumption and less heat produced than what nvidia have offered.
Also there isn't a massive difference between the 460 and the 68xx cards, the 460 according to some reviews is better at those factors than the 6870 but in some other reviews the 6870 is claimed to be better than the 460. Either way I would be happy with the 460 or 6870 as there both good cards considering the price, the difference isn't that big to sway me over to either a 460 or 6870.
Yeah, that comes down to personal preference in the end and also if people need eyefinity or physx or whatever a certain card can do that the other can't and also the brand they prefer, personally for me I don't care, whatever fills my needs the best for the money that I am willing to spend whether it be a nvidia or an AMD card.
I am not bothered either about 3D, eyefinity, physx etc.
The cards, which I am/will be considering to get will either be a 6950, 6870, 460 or a 570 and if they do bring one out, a 560
lol
,, send one to an eskimo and youl be giving them hawaii
.