AMD Radeon HD 6990 "Antilles" Sneek Peek @ [H]

Well, I guess I'm waiting to see how it stacks up to 2 6970 2gb models CF'ed. In the 4000 series if I recall, the dual gpu card was very close to 2 single gpu highends, while in the 5000 series it was not. From the sounds of it, it may be closer to the 4000 series again which is what compelled so many of us to get a 4870x2.

I guess for those waiting if you already have a 6970, unless there is something truly amazing that shows up, if you're looking for a graphical upgrade just buy another one for CF. However, those waiting and looking for a solo card may wish to go 6990. Details..details...
 
6970s by the leaked specs. Until release, which is when exactly? We just don't know for certain.
 
I'm pretty sure that in 24-36 hours [H] will have a nice review. Brent and Kyle have been pretty quiet lately, so it's very possible they're probably putting the finishing touches on the review. And videocard reviewers at other sites have also been silent so it points to a release shortly.
 
They go on sale in the UK at midnight. That's less than 5 hours from now. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18249974
imag0202su.jpg
 
Last edited:
Tak Ne said:
Does anyone know roughly how long it takes to design a gfx card?
I dont mean designing the GPU etc just figuring out the layout of the board and assembling it. I was just thinking that AMD guy showing off the dual gpu board a few weeks back was either a bluff or a dual 6950 (6980?). If Nvidia thought the 6990 was a pair of underclocked 6970s (with 6+8 power) they might have not pushed the specs on their own card as much. As they're releasing their own board very soon its probably too late to change their board before its released.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna guess and say that was an engineering sample.
 
Lorien said:
They go on sale in the UK at midnight. That's less than 5 hours from now.
Click to expand...

So a website based on Christmas Island could have published details on the HD6990 almost 12 hours ago? Interesting... :D

or are NDAs time specific too?
 
Tak Ne said:
So a website based on Christmas Island could have published details on the HD6990 almost 12 hours ago? Interesting... :D

or are NDAs time specific too?
Click to expand...

Well, a chinese site already published a review so they either ignored the time lift or NDAs are regional. It's 6:38am Tuesday over there.
 
I'm too lazy to google translate it into engrish but the figures seem about what everyone was expecting. I'd rather wait for a [H] review.

The full load power consumption figures seem wrong though. 23w lower than a 6970? then the OCd figure is 250w higher.
 
Im very excited to see its performance numbers.... specifically how it stacks up to GTX580s in SLI. My guess is that its going to be similar to all of the other Dual GPUs they've launched (i.e. crossfire on a card). Perhaps they have found a way to get more performance out of the GPUs. Either way, tomorrow should be a GREAT day. Now I wonder what Nvidia has up their sleeve? :D
 
I SEE THE STICKY REVIEW THREAD! I SEE IT! I SEE IT!

OH MY GOD THE ANTICIPATION!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
 
Does not give enough incentive to upgrade from my 5970. I’ll wait to see what Nvidia comes up with…
 
the 6990 is a 40-50% upgrade from the 5970...

i too have one and was awaiting this card soooooo eagerly...

BUT...

the fan noise is a HUGE killer.

performance is better than i expected but the cooler is not acceptable *sigh*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKWbwjiR7h8

the above video is an excellent example of the cooler noise problem.
particulary check the last part of video where he stops and starts the fan during Unigne loop...
truly one of the worst noise levels i have ever witnessed on a cooler! :mad:
 
Brandon.

The people buying the 6990 will watercool them first minute they have them. My 5970 and 5870 are whisper quiet with full waterblocks. The 5970 was crazy loud with stock cooler.

I really really hope there is not someone in here thinking of buying the 6990 or Nvidia 590 and NOT watercool them, and even thinking of using the stock cooler on those! Please! Those stock coolers are for show, and not useful at all.

I already have a 6970 with an EK waterblock on it at home, and will put an EK waterblock on my 6990 and go tri-Fire. It will be whisper quiet with 4 triple 120 rads, 3 dedicated loops.
 
I could never imagine spending about a thousand dollars on a 6990 and it's require waterblock, lol.
 
Arcygenical said:
I could never imagine spending about a thousand dollars on a 6990 and it's require waterblock, lol.
Click to expand...

~$800 with water block... 580s without is a grand... and 200w more power....
 
Arcygenical said:
I could never imagine spending about a thousand dollars on a 6990 and it's require waterblock, lol.
Click to expand...

Then the 6990 is not for you, simply. You shouldn't even look at it. AMD didn't designed that card for you. :)

Alot of people don't realize that the 6990, and the upcoming Nvidia 590, are for extreme users only, and those users always watercool. Those cards are a statement. It's the beginning of a new era of forgetting PCIe power specs, throwing them out the windows, and going all out! You need serious power supply power and cooling to run those.

580 SLI + waterblocks is around 1200-1300$. 6990+6970 + waterblocks is around 1200-1300$... BUT with 3 GPUs. So it will rape the 580 SLI. :)
 
Alot of people TOTALLY don't understand why AMD designed that card, and for whom. Same thing for the Nvidia 590.

AMD and Nvidia are fighting for the top-of-the-line ''Mercedes syndrome''. People buy lower model down the line because the top-of-the-line is ''da best''. Psycological behavior 101. AMD and Nvidia wants to be able to say they have the fastest available videocard on the market.

Like someone said on another forum:

''Its the Corvette in the middle of the showroom so you buy the Cavalier''.
 
Zero noise without Waterblocks
Not everyone uses waterblocks. A few years ago I decided to run a 50' 24awg in-wall insulated hdmi cable from my htpc through my basement cieling to my living room , along with usb over cat6 adapter to a usb hub. You really don't realize how much noise many electronic devices produce until you have a *completely* silent room.
..
..It worked so well (once I switched from nvidia 9600gt to an ati 5000 series anyway) that I decided to do the same for my main desktop rig. The main desktop is a lot closer to the "whopper room" so gets away with a much smaller run, and can even use an active usb extender instead of the usb over cat6. It can use analog audio lines too since I'm still using my klipsch promedia2 5.1 surround (orange,green,black 3.5mm pins) . Monoprice cables for everything pretty much, bought heavier gauge. I also bought a 24awg minidp extension cable I found off an online vendor, so I have several 35' in-wall insulated hdmi cables, some hdmi-to-dvi adapters, and a mini dp extension cable. I velcro strap and ziptie up everything, and sleeve it. Eventually I may box-trough it with wood (like wall moulding/small heat exchanger) or plastic gutters to make the run look even better yet still be able to add/remove cables. I plan on adding wall plates with hdmi and ethernet jacks on them in a few rooms of the house too.
..
.. The end result - zero noise in my rooms, zero heat (other than lcd's I suppose), no stale/plastic-y power supply air, dust banking/spreading. And I can crank my fans to max. It also keeps a lot of the cabling, power blocks and other hardware out of sight (cases, universal power supplies, router, etc).
..
.. A water block still uses a cooling fan on the water reservoir I believe, and runs a small aquarium pump. No comparison in noise to a regular desktop but I'd still keep it in my 'mainframe room' if I had a water block setup for the above reasons.
..
My current situation
.. I'm not at the most extreme rig at the moment since I've been running this rig for 3 yrs now other than gpu upgrade. A ~ 4ghz quad with 12mb cache is still doing pretty well though even today. I'm seriously considering getting the 6990 because I'd have to get a used crossfire board for around $80 - $100 if I wanted to do 6950 or 6970 crossfire since I am now on a matx board that can't do crossfire. Two 6970's without considering rebates ($640) + an $80 used crossfire board is the same cost at a 6990 (~ $720) so it sort of makes sense. I'm upgrading my displays (27" ips) and gpu for now.. later this year when I pay them off I'll upgrade to a sandy bridge or ivy bridge rig.
..
.. Just thought I'd pass this along since some of this may not have occurred to some people, and I might get some feedback about the position I'm in vs buying a 6990.
..
..
 
LEVESQUE said:
''Its the Corvette in the middle of the showroom so you buy the Cavalier''.
Click to expand...

When was this said, 2004?

I'd be confused as hell if I walked into a car dealership today and seen they had even one Cavalier....lol


Sorry, had to!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top