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

I really dont see why they dont do all display ports on the back of the card and maybe one dual link dvi. Then just include one adaptor for hdmi. Then they could have a full heat vent across the top. Instead of tossing a single link dvi on there thats not worth anything using up air flow.
 
There is no doubt that two HD6970's will out perform the HD6990 since the HD6990 will have to be down clocked in order to meet the PCIe spec, however, that doesn't mean you cannot overclock it to get more performance. The idea of a dual GPU card is that you only need one PCIe slot saving space. Plus it allows for quadfire with only two PCIe slots. Since SB is limited on PCIe lanes, anyone wanting to run Eyefinity at higher resolutions will want something like this. It's the main reason I am waiting on this card. A single HD6970 can't max out most game settings on newer cards in eyefinity, but this will be able too. Granted you could just run two HD6970's, but then you have added heat, takes more space, requires more power and costs about the same.
 
Makeroflostsouls said:
I really dont see why they dont do all display ports on the back of the card and maybe one dual link dvi. Then just include one adaptor for hdmi. Then they could have a full heat vent across the top. Instead of tossing a single link dvi on there thats not worth anything using up air flow.
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i'm guessing you are talking about the 6970? reason for that is cost factor for the end user and to AMD. along with less bitching from people needing to buy a passive/active DVI to DP to mini dp adapter. its more to solve a headache then anything else. if they had only used a single DVI port on the 6950/70 there would be so many people bitching about it and saying how nvidia is so much more superior because they have 2 DVI ports. it would get annoying fast.
 
I hope that there will be a review which compares similarly priced setups too.

Assuming $600-$700 for a Radeon 6990 that would mean GTX580 SLI vs. 6990+6970 Tri-Fire which both cost $1000. Interestingly this also gives you comparable power consumption.
 
I hope this is around $500 I can only hope. If it is I can justify the price and I will be buying it first day.
 
TechBoy said:
I hope this is around $500 I can only hope. If it is I can justify the price and I will be buying it first day.
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That would be amazingly cheap. I'm not holding my breath on any guesses less than $650 given what the 6970s cost at the moment.
 
I thought that such a behemoth would support at least 6 monitors, but I guess 5 if ok. I'm not really into eyefinity anyway.
 
It can support more than 5 if you get the displayport hubs or linking displays I would imagine.
 
Stoly said:
I thought that such a behemoth would support at least 6 monitors, but I guess 5 if ok. I'm not really into eyefinity anyway.
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If the 6970's can support up to 6 monitors, this badboy will as well.
 
Good thing Intel is coming out with the ThunderThighs interconnect; we're going to need something to hookup our outboard GPU solutions to our Mainboard + storage boxes. We'll start having outboard PSUs next.
 
AtkinS said:
my experiences.
3870x2 and 3870 crossfire'd nicely, even with 2x 3870 and 1x 3870x2.
4870x2 and 4870 crossfire'd too.
4870x2 was horrible
5970 was like a dual gpu dream, GTX295 is right behind it in terms of "just works" feel.
If they can keep its trend we'll be in for some pretty good dualgpu cards in the future :)

4870CF didnt always perform better than 4870x2 somehow, maybe internal PCI-e bridge, drivers, w/e. shoulda been the same, but wasnt always.

i'd go crossfire due to lower noise if you can.

Thanks for the photos Kyle.
2x8 pin o.0
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3870CF was pretty unpleasant for me, but a single 4870X2 and two 4870X2s in quadCF worked well, even on early drivers. I have high hopes for the 6990 being better still, given how well crossfire on the other 6 series cards is working out.

When the assumption this was 8+6-pin and two optimised HD6950s, I was anticipating a $600 price tag. Now it's 8+8-pin and two optimised HD6970s I'm not so sure. Am thinking it may retail for more like $750-$800. On the plus side, now AMD have something nvidia almost definitely can't compete with, unless they go 3x8-pin, with a waterblock as standard.
 
samuelmorris said:
3870CF was pretty unpleasant for me, but a single 4870X2 and two 4870X2s in quadCF worked well, even on early drivers. I have high hopes for the 6990 being better still, given how well crossfire on the other 6 series cards is working out.

When the assumption this was 8+6-pin and two optimised HD6950s, I was anticipating a $600 price tag. Now it's 8+8-pin and two optimised HD6970s I'm not so sure. Am thinking it may retail for more like $750-$800. On the plus side, now AMD have something nvidia almost definitely can't compete with, unless they go 3x8-pin, with a waterblock as standard.
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I think it will be either $599 or $659.

Right now you can pick up a 6970 for around $315 on newegg (thats with a MIR)

I guess it was a 24 hour sale....so yea lol
 
2x$315 would be $630, and that's a one-day deal on a card, with a rebate. Take the rebate off (launch 6990s are unlikely to get them immediately, and after-MIR price, is not the MSRP!) and then remember that dual cards cost a bit more than two of the single card from which they are derived, I think we're looking at $750 at least, sad to say.
 
samuelmorris said:
2x$315 would be $630, and that's a one-day deal on a card, with a rebate. Take the rebate off (launch 6990s are unlikely to get them immediately, and after-MIR price, is not the MSRP!) and then remember that dual cards cost a bit more than two of the single card from which they are derived, I think we're looking at $750 at least, sad to say.
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Well since I am buying one, Lets hope for the $649 price tag :p
 
I think they might try and push the envelope to get the gotta have it guys. $700. I kinda get the feeling, after seeing the photos, that we should wait for the after market cards with better cooling.
 
I'm interested in knowing whether this video card makes sense for someone playing on a 1680x1050 resolution.

and just how much cpu do you need to make sure that video card isn't limited at 1680 x 1050.
 
fausto412 said:
I'm interested in knowing whether this video card makes sense for someone playing on a 1680x1050 resolution.

and just how much cpu do you need to make sure that video card isn't limited at 1680 x 1050.
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1. Very little, unless you want to use 16xAA in 3D. (and if you're using 3D, you should be looking at a geforce instead)
2. Outrageous amounts, because you'll be looking at frame rates typically in the 200s. To avoid CPU limits there you'd need a 5Ghz Sandy Bridge in a lot of titles. Of course, I would stress that such frame rates are usually pointless.

If you're even considering an HD6990 you want a much bigger monitor than 1680x1050. If you don't want a bigger monitor you should look at crossfire HD6850s or HD6870s, at most. If you can't afford a bigger monitor you definitely won't be able to afford an HD6990.
 
fausto412 said:
I'm interested in knowing whether this video card makes sense for someone playing on a 1680x1050 resolution.

and just how much cpu do you need to make sure that video card isn't limited at 1680 x 1050.
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You can play almost any game out right now on 1680 x 1050 with an AMD 5850 or an nvidia GTX 560 Ti or even GTX 460 1GB.

With those cards you can even dial in all specs to high or very high excepting the AA.

A 6990 would be wasted on that small a monitor.

My daughter uses an ATI 4890 VaporX card and can play just about anything she wants just fine on a 22" monitor at 1680 x 1050.
 
The most popular current top-tier titles:
bfbc2_1680_1050.gif

crysis_1680_1050.gif

metro_2033_1680_1050.gif

30fps is generally considered fairly acceptable in crysis with a single card, and an HD6870 is able to take BFBC2 on (60fps), as well as Crysis, as a result of that. Metro 2033's the only tricky one, and performance can be greatly enhanced by disabling depth of field which doesn't affect image quality too badly. I still think Metro at 1680x1050 is a crossfire title, but with depth of field off, two 6870s should manage 50fps+ at that res.

Meanwhile, in regular game land:
cod4_1680_1050.gif

As you can see, even an HD5750 would do here.
 
DisplayPort 1.2 supports 4 displays (upto 1920x1200 I think) from one port using a hub.
 
samuelmorris said:
investinwaffles: If you want new hardware now, why not just get two 6950s?
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I was hoping to watercool it with a simple 240mm radiator setup and FC block. I will only have room for one card if I do that and I want solid eyefinity performance out of that one card.

I could fit 2 cards in, but Im going for style and function over straight performance. I also want to step up to a full WC setup in my Lian Li V1000 and there is very little room for 2 video cards with a rad up top (probably 20mm of clearance between the top video card)


Also, what is the actual difference between a 6970 and 6950? Just locked shaders, better ram, and a higher binned core? Im really hoping the 6990 releases with the 6970 ram and binned cores :D
 
Does anyone know if using a DP hub (or active adapters) add much latency?
It wouldn't matter as much if you used all DP but with a mix of connectors it might be noticeable.

That got me thinking how cool it would be if the 6990 used HyperTransport to link the two GPUs.
HT is quite low latency and would let both chips access a full 4Gb (not 2Gb each).
 
get a couple of those bad boys and you'll need a nuclear reactor....lol

I mean 2 X 8 pins sheesh.

only thing is i never realized this before but is 1 fan enough for 2 gpus?
 
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About 10% in terms of real world performance (6970 vs 6950)

puttersonsale: Two of these will still use less power than three GTX580s, so keep that in mind :p
 
2x 8 pin power so that you can overclock the card to 6970 speeds! GTX 590 is in trouble, unless nvidia can figure out that the ram issue....
 
Jon55 said:
+1

If this card is going to be $600, they can afford to toss in at least one DVI to DP cable.
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The absolute price of a product says nothing about the ratio of MSRP to manufacturing cost.

When I sold home theater back when I was a kid, I was amazed at how some of the $5000 receivers made me $200 in commission, while others made me $600. Then, I looked at the 'cost' to see what was the absolute lowest I could sell it for, and I was shocked.
 
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