6950 CF vs 6990 different prices same performance

The 6990 doesn't exist as a reason to get cheaper performance, it exists to either run 4 GPUs in two PCIe slots, or run two GPUs in one slot.
If you have room for two cards, and only need 2 GPUs not four, then 6950CF is your obvious choice.
 
samuelmorris said:
The 6990 doesn't exist as a reason to get cheaper performance,
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Well it's different than the 5970 and 4870 x2 pricing at launch. We used to get cheaper performance out of a 2 gpu's on one card.

5970 was $599
2 5870 $800 ($400 a a piece)
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/11/18/amd_ati_radeon_hd_5970_video_card_review/8

4870 x2 was $549
2 4870 $600 (were $299 a piece))
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2567


I can see why a lot of people are disappointed with the launch price of the 6990 at $700.
 
I think OP needs to see those benchmarks again. The 6990 is not slower may be .5 frames slower in like 2 games. 80% of the time it almost matched the 6970. Actually you can argue that even 6970cf is not faster then hd 6950cf in some cases.

Yes the card is over priced for sure but you have to pay for the latest and greatest.
 
NKD said:
I think OP needs to see those benchmarks again. The 6990 is not slower may be .5 frames slower in like 2 games. 80% of the time it almost matched the 6970. Actually you can argue that even 6970cf is not faster then hd 6950cf in some cases.

Yes the card is over priced for sure but you have to pay for the latest and greatest.
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I have read other reviews... overclock hits 975mhz... up from hards test at 830mhz.... even just the 2nd bios setting runs stock 880mhz
 
Holy Scheiße!

What kind of fan did they put on that thing? The noise level OC'd is 2.1 times as loud as 2x GTX580 in SLI. :eek: Forget about putting your computer in another room. It needs to go in another house. ;)

35821.png
 
This card needs to be $50.00 cheaper and come with a non-reference cooling design to be worthwhile.
 
I'd like to see a full comparative between the 6990 and 6970 CrossFireX before I make any decisions, but from what it looks so far, for those without a current 6900 series card, the 6990 is a good decision if the price comes down and fancy coolers debut - the hardware is built up to snuff like the 4870x2 without the compromises of the 5970. I'm sure that before long the price will drop a bit.

For those who already have one 6970 or a 6950 2gb Unlocked, it may do just as well to buy a second one and CF them together for equal or better performance to the 6990, for less, due to lowering prices. I'm personally considering this option, but of course I'm on an X58 mobo that won't balk at giving the lanes required to 2 graphics cards. The one thing holding me back is wonder if Asus is going to produce a RoG Matrix 6970 card, like they did for the 5870, though their DirectCU II model is looking pretty good too.
 
Vega said:
Holy Scheiße!

What kind of fan did they put on that thing? The noise level OC'd is 2.1 times as loud as 2x GTX580 in SLI. :eek: Forget about putting your computer in another room. It needs to go in another house. ;)
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Wow, 10 db is a heck of a lot :eek: That would drive me nuts!
 
I wouldn't have another dual gpu card, my 4870x2 recently failed despite it being the Asus Tri-fan model, so it stayed pretty cool.

I certainly wouldn't want one with a reference cooler sounding like a leaf blower!

I've a pair of 6950's arriving tomorrow.... :)
 
fasteddy said:
I wouldn't have another dual gpu card, my 4870x2 recently failed despite it being the Asus Tri-fan model, so it stayed pretty cool.

I certainly wouldn't want one with a reference cooler sounding like a leaf blower!
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yeah... I wouldn't get a stock one either... wait till they have a wc one...
the 4870x2 had a failrate of 4.5% instead of 3.5% for the 4870 then again the 3870x2 had an 11% failure rate... so they have been learning... 9800gx2 had a 6% fail rate...
heck the gtx280 had a 10% failure rate...

http://www.techpowerup.com/88515/Study_Modern_Graphics_Card_Failure_Rates.html

I have seen newer studies... but meh
 
I'm pretty sure my 4870X2 would hit 85 on that scale, so the 6990 is still better than that.
 
samuelmorris said:
I'm pretty sure my 4870X2 would hit 85 on that scale, so the 6990 is still better than that.
Click to expand...

61.1. Its on the list look again.

@ OP, depends on what you want to do. Do you game, and at what resolution? I would say go dual HD 6950s either way though :D
 
The point of 6990s is to not be a pussy and buy four of them, duh

(not sure if thats even possible)
 
Vega said:
Holy Scheiße!

What kind of fan did they put on that thing? The noise level OC'd is 2.1 times as loud as 2x GTX580 in SLI. :eek: Forget about putting your computer in another room. It needs to go in another house. ;)

35821.png
Click to expand...

Im pretty sure you would go deaf if it was 2.1 times as loud as a pair of gtx580s.
 
I would bargain that AMD released the 6990 to do 6x crossfire in new bulldozer platforms because they will probably support it. LOL I dont know why. I think its just more product selection for the folks like me and you.
 
xIronCrossx said:
61.1. Its on the list look again.

@ OP, depends on what you want to do. Do you game, and at what resolution? I would say go dual HD 6950s either way though :D
Click to expand...

I have been enjoying my gfx solution only taking up one slot...

have open slots for other devices...

and if you plan on putting water on... its $30 more for the dual gpu block..
so 2x 120 vs 1 x 150... then overclocking opens back up...

I run at 6440x1152 bevel comp(3x 23" 2048x1152)
 
reposting this reply I put up on the
"AMD Radeon HD 6990 "Antilles" Video Card Review @ [H] " thread since its relevant (if accurate)
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1036963000&postcount=151

--------------------------------------------------------

6990 = 49C idle / 89C under load
I've seen other sites list 62C/91C , 40C / 78~82C, etc.
vs gtx580 sli 46c / 90c , 48C/89C . etc
..
Noise level : Idle: 44.9db , Load: 70.2 stock / 77.3 (overclocked)

--------------------------------------

According to guru3d.com , a lot of sites test the dBa way too close to the card for standardization purposes, rather than a reasonable distance you might be from the pc.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6990-review/13

"There are a lot of differences in measurements amongst websites. Some even place the dBA meter 10cm away from the card. Considering that's not where you ear is located, we do it our way. For each dBA test we close the PC/chassis and move the dBA gun 75 cm away from the PC. Roughly the same proximity you'll have from a PC in a real-world situation. Above IDLE noise levels."

According to their testing, which is at approximately 2.5 ' away from a closed pc case.. the 6990 is 38 dBa idle, and only 46 dBa under load (47 dBa overclocked under load). Thats quite a real-world difference from actually hearing something hit your ears at 70.1 - 77.3 dBa

"For the card in IDLE we measure 38 DBa which hardly can be heard really. And fully stressed... 46~47 DBA. Now that might sounds (and is) on the high side but I really do need to make a remark here. Explaining sounds pressure is a hard thing to do. Sometimes 44 DBa can be annoying and 46 pretty acceptable. That's the case with the R6990 as you are not hearing the fan whirring or anything, no it's pure airflow that you hear. So while the card obviously is noisy, it's not at a frustrating level. "
..
..
Click to expand...
 
lol...hmmm I guess I will sell a few more random bits then order one instead of waiting for the water block to come out...
 
There is no ''official'' drivers for the 6990 yet. But 11.4 preview drivers are suppose to bring the 6990 to another level:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst114earlypreview.aspx

They claim 70% improvement in fps for Civ V for exemple. There was something amiss with this game in early benchmark. They talk about 20-70% improvement for the 6990 with those upcoming drivers.

So take all the early benmarks of the last weeks with a grain of salt...
 
HD 6990 is not worth the money. If you have a crossfire capable motherboard, get 2 HD 6950's and unlock them.
 
^Strike said:
HD 6990 is not worth the money. If you have a crossfire capable motherboard, get 2 HD 6950's and unlock them.
Click to expand...

For 24'' LCD and under, you are right... They didn't put the 6990 on the market for those users. But...

I f you play on a 30'' LCD and want to max AA and AF, or using multiple screen set-ups, then yes the 6990 is worth the money. If you have a Crossfire motherboard, you can get a Tri-Fire set-up with a 6990 in 1 slot and unlock 6950 in the other. ;)

Max AA, max AF, 2560X1660 and up, Tri-Fire is the way to go. They made the 6990 for those guys. And for those, it's worth it.
 
Two of them 8 screens vs two 6950 run on a lower ram speed and 6 screens possible.
 
BTW, people often forgot that ''is not worth it'' should be writen ''not worth it for me''. Not the same thing. Not the same meaning. The world is not turning around your belly button and your keyboard. :)

They sell the 6990 faster that they can build them. There is a market for those. If you are not in that demographic, then ''It's not worth it'' should be ''it's not worth it for ME''. :)

Since people are buying them the minute they show up... I really think there's no point arguing that fact. ;)
 
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+1. Just because it's not worth it for you, doesn't mean it's not worth it for someone else. There are cases where the HD6990 is by far the better choice.
 
LEVESQUE said:
Since people are buying them the minute they show up... I really think there's no point arguing that fact. ;)
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that's true. There are some people who would buy it even if it was priced $900 or $1000. Either they just want the fastest single card, or they have a lot of disposable income.

Economist would call they inelastic buyers. Companies love those type of buyers since they generate the most profit per sale.
 
elvn said:
reposting this reply I put up on the
"AMD Radeon HD 6990 "Antilles" Video Card Review @ [H] " thread since its relevant (if accurate)
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1036963000&postcount=151

--------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...

How close they measure the noise levels doesn't matter whether it's realistic enough, just so long as the other cards they graph are measured at the same distance to give accurate relativity to competing cards. As long as they've done that, the 6990 is one loud ass leaf blower! :eek:
 
KVW said:
How close they measure the noise levels doesn't matter whether it's realistic enough, just so long as the other cards they graph are measured at the same distance to give accurate relativity to competing cards. As long as they've done that, the 6990 is one loud ass leaf blower! :eek:
Click to expand...

actually if you don't measure sounds correctly you won't get accurate measures...

for instance... if they measure right at exhaust... their noise levels would be higher than the actual noise because of the air current... it may not sound or be loud but it would test loud... if you measure too close in an environment that people won't be using... you are not
giving accurate results...
 
The biggest cards SilentPCReview (the only site I know to test noise properly) rate, at idle/furmark respectively:

HD4870: 13/22dB
HD4890: 16/30dB
HD5870: 18/34dB
HD6870: 15/34dB

That's a bit different to the 50dB odd baseline some sites use which highlights the inaccuracy you're going to see in the results. Baseline needs to be much lower than 30dB to get a reasonable estimate of how modern cards perform acoustically. The baseline for SPCR's test PC is 13dB.
Fortunately, they're sensible enough to provide fan speed measurements alongside.
The 15dB for the 6870 was obtained at 1050rpm, and noise remained within a decibel of that figure up to 1200rpm. The furmark result, 34dB was taken at 3000rpm, or 90C. (Lack of case cooling takes its toll on GPU cooling performance, if you ran some moderate case fans next to the card you'd get those temps/fan speeds lower, and reduce the noise of the system as a result)
Thus, since almost all Radeon HD fans are pretty much the same, any of them at 3000rpm are going to be roughly 34dB, within a couple of decibels, assuming no case vibrations or bearing variance. Nobody has posted the maximum speed of the HD6990 fan, whether it's 5000 like previous Radeon coolers, or 6000 like the 6970. Assuming it's 6000, then in the quadCF test in furmark, it will have reached around 5300-5500. That's likely to work out around 50dB ish. 50dB is pretty excruciating for a PC, but you wouldn't think it reading some other websites' tests.

Here's a link to one of the noisier PSUs out there, the PCP&C Silencer (yes, ironic title) 610W.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/sounds/psu/pcpc610-anechoic-20-24-38-49dba.mp3
Listen to the bit at the end. That's around 4200rpm on a 80mm fan in a PSU, at 50dB. 50dB sound quiet now? :p
 
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the guru3d.com review and info I linked earlier in this thread measures with a closed case at around 2.5 ' away (10 cm). Their results, if accurate, show 38 dBa at idle, and 46 dBa under load (47 dBa overclocked under load).
..
..I just wanted to pass the info along but for me it doesn't matter since I run hdmi cables and an active usb extender to my desktop pc from a different room (usb over cat6 in the longer run from my htpc to living room). The mainframe/server room idea was invented for a reason (and is still used for servers in businesses obviously). It works well if you have a spare room for it in your house. Noise, added room heat, perhaps even air quality, and much of the clutter becomes a non-issue.

According to guru3d.com , a lot of sites test the dBa way too close to the card for standardization purposes, rather than a reasonable distance you might be from the pc.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6990-review/13

"There are a lot of differences in measurements amongst websites. Some even place the dBA meter 10cm away from the card. Considering that's not where you ear is located, we do it our way. For each dBA test we close the PC/chassis and move the dBA gun 75 cm away from the PC. Roughly the same proximity you'll have from a PC in a real-world situation. Above IDLE noise levels."

According to their testing, which is at approximately 2.5 ' away from a closed pc case.. the 6990 is 38 dBa idle, and only 46 dBa under load (47 dBa overclocked under load). Thats quite a real-world difference from actually hearing something hit your ears at 70.1 - 77.3 dBa

"For the card in IDLE we measure 38 DBa which hardly can be heard really. And fully stressed... 46~47 DBA. Now that might sounds (and is) on the high side but I really do need to make a remark here. Explaining sounds pressure is a hard thing to do. Sometimes 44 DBa can be annoying and 46 pretty acceptable. That's the case with the R6990 as you are not hearing the fan whirring or anything, no it's pure airflow that you hear. So while the card obviously is noisy, it's not at a frustrating level. "
Click to expand...
 
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I posted a thread last week concerning the 6990's price in reference to what's available and like others have said, the market is out there. I, for one, am apart of that market, but will wait till the prices settle to make my purchase. Just wait for the GTX 590 to release this month and we should see a price drop. Hopefully!:D
 
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