Hardware ATI Radeon HD 6950 Review

i think that's nRollo. this one's vanilla.

 

WOW, a semi-positive AMD card review and no one questioning the benchtest results and adding links from other sites telling Bit-Tech they are wrong and not thorough enough.

Strange how that works.

 

The 6xxx Series is not just about fps though, for example there are new AA modes and UVD improvements.

I have to agree with the no thanks to Multi gpu solutions, while they can provide a great performance boost when they work fine the downsides are just too big, prize, size, power consumption and heat are stupidly high and the performance advantage is not guaranteed due to driver issues, so for 400£ a GTX580 just seems the better deal than 2x 6950.

 

Well, judging by Guru3D's article on CFX performance scaling is hit & miss as usual. But if it's hit... it's ****-YEAH-IN-YOUR-FACE hit. Scaling between 1.8x-2x is quite nice. And yes, that is actually performance DOUBLED in 1-2 games when adding a second card.
Still wouldn't go SLI/CFX myself but it's an impressive result nonetheless.

And about 6xxx series not being solely about FPS: Yep, true. It's also about lowering power intake and heat output. I don't think UVD improvements are meant to be a selling point for 68xx & 69xx, though. Will be for 67xx, I'd say, as these cards are low power & aimed at the HTPC market.

 

Well I have a GTX 480 and was considering a upgrade to a GTX 580 or 2, and giving my dad my GTX 480 but was waiting for this card to come out before I made my choice.

Choice has been made all most now, I am now going to wait for the GTX 595 or GTX 590 which ever they call it and see how it compares to the 6990, and the GTX 580 probably though it will be Nvidia.

ATI/AMD have really made a mistake releasing this card that only manages to perform a little better than the 5870, and almost on a par with a GTX 480 slower and faster dependant on game and resolution and setting's etc.

Simple answer for me is the same as has been ever since the 8800's were released if you want performance and don't mind the price and running cost's then go for Nvidia as ATI just don't seem to be able to keep up now, they had a chance to release a card to compete with the Nvidia GTX 580 considering they has nearly 12 month's to develop and release a faster card, but no they decided to release a card that performs worse and cost's the same as the GTX 580.

6970 cost's from £280 up to £410 I have seen the price's at overclockers.co.uk.

GTX 480 cost's from £250 up to £380 at overclockers.co.uk

GTX 580 cost's from £370 up to £450 at overclockers.co.uk

Go for a Nvidia if you want performance, if you want cheap and cheerful go for ATI if you don't mind loosing performance for roughly the same price.

 

The 6970 is better than the 480, particularly at higher resolutions. Don't even get me started on heat and noise.

 

lol im not a nvidia fan boy and use 5870s in crossfire

ill usauly buy the best card of each gen and sell my old cards whilst they have value but theres not enough reason too this gen

 

With the 5870 still comparatively strong - if you're like me and running an Eyefinity setup, there really isn't much motivation to upgrade yet.

 

Don't worry, Rollo. I thought you were someone else.......

Anyway, the 5870 or 6950 should satisfy most folks.

 

Given that the 6970 review came out just before this one and was pretty damn close to the 570 in most respects, it would be reasonable for Bit-tech to assume that the 6950, an inferior card to the 6970 wouldn't surpass it.

So where was your comment going again?

Anyway, the GTX460 or GTX570 should satisfy most folks.

 

Well, given that you clearly misinterpreted what I said, I'll explain it again. Bit-Tech slapped the 570 with an award of "excellence," right? This award came without any hesitation, regardless of the impending release of the 69xx series, right? However, when the 6950 releases and is reviewed, bit-tech doesn't even give the card a marginal recommendation (despite the score given). No, they don't recommend the card because they're certain that Nvidia will release a product to usurp it. My question is, why wasn't that same hesitation and self-assurance displayed in the 570 review, particularly when one reflects on the impending release of the 69xx series? Hopefully I've explained it so you can now understand.

If not, I'll ask you this:

So, where was your comment going again?

Oh, and in regards to me recommending the 6950 and 5870, (which you clearly took offense to), I was replying to the two people before me who were discussing the appropriate card for "eyefinity" and whether upgrading from a 5870 is necessary. Tell me does the 460 and 570 support Eyefinity? I know of Surround. Furthermore, this is a review about the 6950, right?

 

In Finland the 6950 is cheaper (300€) than the 5870 (330€), so this seems like a no-brainer. Just ordered one to replace my old GTX 260.

 

From what I read, Bit-Tech had already been testing the 69xx series (or at least had heard "stuff" about them) before they reviewed the 570, but AMD forbade them from releasing any info until they wanted them to.

At least, that's what I inferred from their comment of "we've heard plenty of interesting things about the ATI 6900 series, but we're not allowed to reveal them yet".

 

Exactly Valinor. Bit-Tech already knew the outcome of the tests when they posted their review of the 570/580 in comparison to the 6950/6970.

So Googoo, what was your point again?

 

I just explained it to you, thoroughly. If it still flew over your head......Well....That can't be helped. You could, however, profit off your ability to read minds, or, perhaps I'm mistaken, and you actually work for BT.

If so, my sincerest apologies.

Furthermore, if they knew about the capabilities of the 69xx series before hand, they likely would not have slapped the 570 with an "excellence" award, seeing as how the 6970 is equivalent in performance. In other words-by claiming that they knew "exactly" what the results were prior to the actual review- you are making my case for me.

Thank you.

 

This does remind me of the 4850, a great value card that would also be of interest to those using crossfire to improve relative perfomance in games (£440 for 2 GPU's that will beat a 580 in the majority of scenarios). Then again, i think anyone with a 460, 6850, 6870 or 5870 will still be happy with their choice of card.

It has been a good few months for graphics card releases, with plenty of competition and decent performance at the £150-£250 level.

 

The reason I'm glad this exists.

It pulls down the prices of the midrange even more. How low can they go?

 

Wait till you see the crossfire numbers of the 6950 under Eyefinity:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/AMD_Radeon_6970_6950_-_Featured_Review

Sweeet!!!

 

All I know is I am glad that the 6970 fell short of the mark for a "so called high end card", and the price is a joke even £300 is not worth it.

For now I am going to spend £250 on a GTX 480 and go to sli and watch them destroy everything I throw at it, untill March next year when I upgrade to 2x GTX 580's or if the GTX 595 or 590 what ever they call it perform's then it might be one of those.

Considering it is supposed to be a high end card and only just manages to compete with a GTX 480 and GTX 570, and cost's more than both you would have to be insane to buy the ATI card.

 

Why bother with the 480? The 570 outperforms it AND fixes all the heat and power issues which are probabyl even more relevant if you're going the SLI route. Oh and it overclocks better.