*** The Official ATI Radeon HD 6970 & 6950 Reviews, Discussion and Overclocking Thread ***

[RavenXXX2]

only problem i see is the temps and noise of the 6970. i expected it to match 5870 at least.

What what!!

 

[highendgamer]

Hi Everyone,

Here is a review i've found on KitGuru, I don't think its been added to the list yet.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/his-hd6970-cfx-graphics-card-review/

 

[opethdisciple]

All in all good cards, especially atthe prices they are going for.

Shame tesselation couldnt be better, butin my experience with my 5870, I havent noticed any problems..

 

[wolvers]

I bought a 5850 earlier this year only to discover I couldn't watch BBC HD or ITV HD via Freesat with it, then discovered this was a known issue that affected everyone, had been extant for months and yet there was no fix available!

I've been watching BBCHD on my 5850 since I bought it on release. Didn't even realise there was a problem.

 

[chris_uk333]

Just ordered an XFX 6950 to replace my 5850 Could not resist.

 

[Freddie1980]

I have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed by these cards, the 6950 looks like a good buy though but still its disapointing.

 

[Rezident]

This is disappointing. Between the 5970 underperforming and the 580 overpricing, I've decided to buy neither. Would love to splash out for Christmas but the truth is my 4890 still plays all the games I play smoothly and I don’t see any need to part with my cash unless there are price-drops or newer cards.

I heard 6970 prices would go UP in Jan, does it not seem more likely they would now fall?

 

[opethdisciple]

This is disappointing. Between the 5970 underperforming and the 580 overpricing, I've decided to buy neither. Would love to splash out for Christmas but the truth is my 4890 still plays all the games I play smoothly and I don’t see any need to part with my cash unless there are price-drops or newer cards.

I heard 6970 prices would go UP in Jan, does it not seem more likely they would now fall?

I wouldnt be shocked to see prices go up. Prices atm seem very very good.

If your 4890 is still doing the job, then holding off is never a bad thing. But also, a 6970 or a 570 would be a good upgrade.

I think the cards are equal. The only difference, is the 6970 has 2gb ram whilst the GTX 570 will be better at tesselation.

Actually the 6970 is amazingly quiet and cool as well, from benchmarks Raven has posted.

 

[tmaxxthomson]

looks like i will be keeping my pair of 5870's then! these cards dont look that fast afterall. whats the point on selling my powerfull duo for pennies and spending bug bucks on a new name? Haha

 

[flopper]

2x6950 on route.
1. tesselation is fine, no games needs the power of tesselation yet.
2. enjoy new tech.
3. for the price, its just nuts to pass up. I got 2 cards for 580euro here with shipping.
4. selling off my 6850x2, I upgrade for a nicer set up with new tech.

I will run some tests since I play at 5760x1080 later on.

 

[psychas]

mhhh im confused now the guy from overclock 3d says that you will not be able to voltage tweak his cards ? so can you or you cant ?

 

[RavenXXX2]

2x6950 on route.
1. tesselation is fine, no games needs the power of tesselation yet.
.

The 6970 shows massive gains in stalker in DX11 with tessellation goodness.

mhhh im confused now the guy from overclock 3d says that you will not be able to voltage tweak his cards ? so can you or you cant ?

The Radeon HD 6900 Series are the first graphics cards to use the Volterra VT1556. It offers extensive voltage control and monitoring via I2C. At this time no software supports this controller yet, but I am sure this will change in the weeks to come.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6970/5.html

 

[arc@css]

Not a failure, though not as good as I had expected. No doubt future drivers will help a little. (nutshell)

I'll 'probably' upgrade around kepler / 7000 series.

 

[Purgatory]

Yes not a great jump from a 5870 to 6970.. in most games.. Will wait for the 7xxx series and see what they pull out of the hat with the 28 nanometer process. Was hoping for a 4870 to 5870 sort of upgrade but does not seem that way to me this time round so will hold out this year. Had my wallet ready too grrr ...

 

[Fanatic]

For me it is a jump from 4870 1GB to 6950, so hopefully should see a good boost.

 

[Defunkt]

I'm not a huge gamer but like to keep an eye on new hardware and have been following the build up to these cards release out of curiosity. The reason I say this is because 1 year ago I built an i7 rig with the 5870.
My observations over 1 year of PC progress/evolution is this...
Not much has moved on!

With the exception of SSD technology (mainly due to SandForce) nothing has really happened.
Nvidia really did hit the mark when they were given the time to sort the fermi fiasco out (I feel for those who bought into 470/480 early)
We have had only minor changes/progress? in the CPU market and we have been introduced to new USB and SATA standard. (How useful either of those are right now is debatable)
...And now the new AMD cards.

The games this year havent really moved on in their requirements to run so, if you had a card that ran the latest games well this time last year you can be sure that very same card will run 99% of this years games equally as well.
I would go as far as to say BOTH these new 6xxx cards are obsolete already!
I know this may sound an outrageous thing to say but keeping in mind that the next gen of GFX cards are going to be a BIG step forward i can see no reason for somebody to purchase either of these cards unless you need extreme high res/eyefinity.

For those of us that have 5xxx (and even dare I say 4 series) I would think most are thinking the same as me and just keeping hold of them this time around and wait. If I was a serious gamer or just looking for a new high-end I would prolly be looking at switching back to nvidia now for a single card solution but just how tempting is it now to crossfire a couple of 5850's or 5870's at the low prices I have seen them being sold at recently!
snap up the cheap 5xxx bargains that will be had for a short time and wait till 7xxx is where the smart money is. (or 1 of those very nice nvidia revisions) 6xxx offers very, very little in terms of moving tech forward.

2010. The year very little happened.

 

[Purgatory]

For me it is a jump from 4870 1GB to 6950, so hopefully should see a good boost.

Yes you will, was a great jump for me when I jumped from a Saphire 4870 toxic to the Asus 5870..

 

[gareth170]

Just ordered an XFX 6950 to replace my 5850 Could not resist.

me too, i ordered a HIS 6950..

now i'm not buying anymore hardware for about a year or so.

 

[Pug]

Well I have noticed some games dragging on my 5770 at 1920x1200 and it's compounded when I dial in AA.

I was going to jump to a 5870, but with the gap so close on these and the 6950 meant I plumper for the 6950.

I'm hoping it will mean I can run with vsync and AA at native res and be happy.

 

[opethdisciple]

2x6950 on route.
1. tesselation is fine, no games needs the power of tesselation yet.
2. enjoy new tech.
3. for the price, its just nuts to pass up. I got 2 cards for 580euro here with shipping.
4. selling off my 6850x2, I upgrade for a nicer set up with new tech.

I will run some tests since I play at 5760x1080 later on.

This did cross my mind, with crossfire scalling being as good as it is with the 6000 series, 2x 6950's is better value than a GTX 580....

(Although I havent look at any benchmarks to back this up)