OC3D Review HIS 6950 and 6970 Review

[Rahu X]

So I guess the leaks were right after all. That is, the 6970 being more a direct competitor with the 570/480 rather than the 580.

With how it's priced though, this really has me leaning more towards Team Green in order to have a holly jolly Christmas this year. I'm going to try to get a 580, but if I can't manage to find them in stores or on the manufacturer's website, I guess I'll go 570.

Thanks for another great Review, Tom.

 

[tiagojcp]

I used to love ATI not only for their products, but also for their market aproach and company philosophy. Now it seems that all that as changed, and I feel like a lost child looking at an evil green dude reaching his green hand towards me. And I feel tempted to follow him and "greenise" myself.

Lets hope that something like the Sapphire Toxic 6970 saves de product and the company.

But I really think this is a nice humility lesson for AMD, like the one ATI gave to Nvidia some time ago (and they've learned it well).

OR MAYBE, this is just a curse! The guy that came up with the ATI name many years ago, didn´t like to see some AMD dude messing with his legacy.

 

[bertdasquirt]

@ tom i was wondering if its worth going for the 6950 instead of the 6870 for the extra £20 or so???

 

[murphy7801]

From what I've read these cards pick up the pace when you go to extreme resolutions. I might have to keep an eye out on those new ASUS cards especially if I pick up a new monitor. That seems to be a total game changer for these cards.

Only reason I can imagine they do better on extreme res is due to having 2 gb gddr5 which means can handle more textures at larger sizes if they do a double gddr 570/580 I would like to see how they perform ?

 

[Blackwhite]

I thought that 69xx will perform much better, shame as Nvidia wont lower their prices now

 

[alienware]

@ tom i was wondering if its worth going for the 6950 instead of the 6870 for the extra £20 or so???

Neither. Get a 570.

Honestly this is one of those situations where the answer is so clear cut that you would be a complete berk to ignore it and go with AMD. I mean, at least wait for the next decent AMD card.

BTW. Does any one find it the least bit strange that since changing the brand name to AMD they've been a bit tom tit? no OC headroom and pretty dissapointing?

 

[murphy7801]

Neither. Get a 570.

Honestly this is one of those situations where the answer is so clear cut that you would be a complete berk to ignore it and go with AMD. I mean, at least wait for the next decent AMD card.

BTW. Does any one find it the least bit strange that since changing the brand name to AMD they've been a bit tom tit? no OC headroom and pretty dissapointing?

It just seems they recycled the old 5000 series and tried to push that tech to the max with fine tuning and revisions I mean the 6970 has less stream processors than the 5870 (6970=1536 5870=1600) how is that progression ?

 

[Dewinte]

The GTX 570 being recommended makes even more sense with the price rise I saw on aria for the GTX 580... From £405 to £460, happening after an underwhelming 6970 well just lol. Wish I'd got my money already to do the order before the price rise. The GTX 570 seems a wonderful card to anyone considering a new GPU and has ~£300 to spend.

 

[Stryker64]

Great review TTL and Bryan. It's reviews like this that make this my review site of choice, you guys don't sugarcoat anything, you just tell it as it is.

 

[alienware]

It just seems they recycled the old 5000 series and tried to push that tech to the max with fine tuning and revisions I mean the 6970 has less stream processors than the 5870 (6970=1536 5870=1600) how is that progression ?

Yup spot on. Looking at the 470 vs 5870 reviews it's pretty clear to see that the 6970 is pretty much on the same performance level as the 5870 when compared to the 570. I don't know if the 6970 is a recycled 5870 because the chip has a different name but I guess only AMD know that. If it is a new chip that could explain the crappy overclock yields. But yeah, the worst thing about these 6 series cards is that they are what they are. You have no performance to squeeze out of them you just have to take them as they are. And I guess that's fine if you're a complete AMD die hard but there really is no reason to buy them unless you're a die hard.

This once again comes back to the "don't buy brand new hardware when it's released unless it's an exception to the rule".

The 570 @ £260 or so was that exception. Amazing performance, cool, quiet and bloody fast. The 6 series are not. The 5850 now costs bugger all for a great CF setup, the 5870 costs bugger all (at last look around £170 or so) meaning the extra £100+ for a 6970 just isn't worth it. I mean yes, the 6970 is a fast card for sure, but then so is an overclocked 5870 for sure.

I got a 470 for £173. I've not overclocked it yet but I bet if I did it would run right up the bum of the 6970 for £110 less.

 

[Rastalovich]

Be very weary of dismissing the 6970 out-of-hand in this/these intial testing(s). Don't fall into that trap.

I have a feeling pre-christmas was a necessity just to cash in on pressies for the period. Do-not be suprised if this/these get revisited by reviewers who give a damn later in Q1'11.

I really don't think the story is quite over yet.

 

[Rastalovich]

Erm, you stick too much juice over that pcie 8x pin connector ? Or clumsy with the screwdriver ?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Erm, you stick too much juice over that pcie 8x pin connector ? Or clumsy with the screwdriver ?

All the cards are like that, AMD made the coolers wrong and everyone had to be hand filed before shipping!

If you look carefully there is also something on the pcb around that area too

 

[Stryker64]

Well perhaps when the next generation of games with full on tessellation that will put Uniengine to shame. Although I haven't heard of any game on the radar that is even close to bring out the full potential of the improved tessellation of these cards; so atm nVidia FTW for better or worse.

 

[Rastalovich]

All the cards are like that, AMD made the coolers wrong and everyone had to be hand filed before shipping!

If you look carefully there is also something on the pcb around that area too

Argh, I'm probably looking too closely and missing it, what's on there ?

I have a feeling that cooler shroud was a last minute thing. A plan B if you like.

 

[alienware]

If you look carefully there is also something on the pcb around that area too

Looks like pigeon poo solder to me.

 

[VonBlade]

Do-not be suprised if this/these get revisited by reviewers who give a damn later in Q1'11.

Not sure if I like the implications there Mr Rastalovich

 

[Rastalovich]

Many sites will review an item and not review it's revisions, further releases or updates - which from that initial point forward bases all their opinions on the original release. These mistakes are costly to the consumers/enthusiasts who'll swallow that initial judgement and miss out on what a good product it may really be months down the line.

 

[tinytomlogan]

We'll be back with more and newer cards, we are glutton for punishment here

 

[alienware]

Many sites will review an item and not review it's revisions, further releases or updates - which from that initial point forward bases all their opinions on the original release. These mistakes are costly to the consumers/enthusiasts who'll swallow that initial judgement and miss out on what a good product it may really be months down the line.

I sort of understand what you're saying but in a way mate I see it like this.

A card when released is reviewed on its merits when released. Not when the company decide to pull their fingers from their backsides and sort out the drivers. Yes, the cards will no doubt improve down the line because heck, the 470 and 480 sure have with the inclusion of adaptive performance. But, those fixes do not really excuse a poor initial release.

I, personally, would not expect Tom and Bryan to spend hours going back over trodden ground just because AMD were not patient enough to fix the issues that might need resolving before bolting their load and chucking the cards out. The very fact that the PCIE power socket needed rigging just shows to me what a poor release effort this is. Thus, they should definitely be taken at face value on a release product at release prices at the time of release.

Just my 2p worth. I mean, let's face it the 5xx Geforce cards were an instant success at launch because this time around Nvidia did their homework, took their time and did it right. Same thing with the 5xxx Radeons.

This 69xx release however is piss poor IMO.