Leaked: ATI Radeon HD 6990 specifications

Getting off the couch

Then i guess AMD is just like you--won't get off the couch. Luckily, nobody was asking you. When it comes to graphics cards, it's all about opinion. You might like NVIDIA, I might like AMD, my Fiancee might not even care, but it all depends on the person. I think we have to respect that everyone has there own opinions.

Hopefully he leans towards VIA/S3 -just in the interest of fair competition

And congratulations- I hope you and your future husband will be very happy together.



/fiancé = male betrothed, fiancée = female betrothed -FYI TS readers

Dividebyzero and Regenweald:

If I post this after your bed time, will you respond before or after school?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/hqv-2-radeon-geforce,2844.html#xtor=RSS-182

That's what else is important to some of us.... picture quality.... (who wants to fap to pixelated women?(or girls in your case))

If you look through the archives, in almost any given year ATI (now AMD) has had better quality rendering of graphics, at the expense of speed.

Who cares how many frames a second your GPU can do if it fails to actually render crystal clear images for every frame????

I, for one, will take mediocre frame rates with stunning visual accuracy over mega-inflated frame rates with pixelated blobs dancing around the screen.

By mediocre, I mean acceptably fast.... more precisely: at least 30FPS, and within a monitor's actual ability to display each and every frame.

So as long as I can display anything I want, games, movies, or fap material, at an enjoyable frame rate I will be happy with the higher accuracy of my AMD/ATI cards.

One last thing: You can't always equate price to quality.... it just doesn't work for everything marketed.

Google to see if others agree and why.....

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=sometimes+cheaper+is+better&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

I hope you consider these things and remember: You can lead a troll to the truth, but you can't make him believe it.....

Eric W

@Guest #44 (Eric W)
I suggest you get the card that makes you happier fapping- you seem well versed in it's application. Don't put your back out.

I'm sure you get a nice little stipend for plugging HQV, but it may have escaped your notice that the HD 6990 isn't being aimed at the HTPC market. Rest assured, if you were asking for a suitable card with which to view your .mpg girlfriend I'd most assuredly point you towards a HD5750 or similar.
Being a gaming orientated card it's probably best to focus on gaming in this case...

3DCentre.org
Oh and here's another article by Tom's Hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-570-gf110-performance,2806-5.html
and...
HT4U
and again, and...
ComputerBase
and...
ABT

Leaving aside the banding/shimmering due to LoD mapping settings in the AMD driver, you'll note that ALL the sites -as well as a myriad of others who have tested- have concluded that there is virtually no difference between the image quality of either manufacturers cards.
And here, lastly, is exactly the same viewpoint expressed by one of (if not the No.1) nvidia's detractors.

if it's anything like the 5970 (or hopefully alot better) i'd gladly buy one.

Looks like Kyle got a gold star from AMD -Quelle surprise.

Obviously the way to AMD's heart is through benchmarking in such a way as to make the amount of onboard VRAM the main differentiator...unless of course you're measuring one vendors 1Gb cards*...:suspiciou

*Note that [H] dropped one half of their review benchmarks (maximum playable settings) for this one product review.

I would think there would be yes....The whole thing was weird.

It was a decent review of the 6970 I guess..

Going over to S/A to see if Charlie got his sample.

I'm picking that last line is pure sarcasm...at least it should be.

S|A wont get a sample to review simply because there is no gain to be had for AMD. Sites like S|A, Rage3D and Beyond 3D are so unashamedly AMD-centric (check the number of AMD and Global Foundries employees that post there) that there is no cachet to be had with a preview/review. Not a hell of lot of difference from say, giving SLI Zone forums an nvidia card for the same purpose...basically you'll get a PR slanted review, and if it isn't, the suspicion of the majority of people (that are aware of these sites) will be to dismiss them on the basis of past articles. Kyle and Brent on the other hand have a reputation for, if not impartiality, then certainly a love of high-end tech (especially Eyefinity/Surround gaming in Kyle's case)- so it's all the more disappointing that they seem to be tailoring their benchmarking to fall into a company line.Hence the HD6950 2Gb v 1Gb review where the graphics results don't match the conclusion they reached.
Looking at the framerate results in the review you would be hard pressed to recommend the 2Gb version of the card over the 1Gb -something AMD I'm sure are quite keen on publicising- when a [H]'s usual max playable settings would have shown something more in line with this:
http://www.techspot.com/gallery/data/500/GTX-560-92.jpg
...rather than the more friendly 4xAA setting they chose to use on this isolated occasion.

My guess is that Kyle got special dispensation for towing the company line with recent reviews and editorials. I would go so far as to guarantee that no other mainstream site has the same favoured status- that is to say I fully expect no other AMD sanctioned "previews"

yes it was.
I didn't expect Charlie to get anything anything except possibly the more specific set of architectural slides.
I am just hugely surprised to see Kyle up to this, maybe I shouldn't be, but I am.
Not to mention that it was so restricted and full of "we cant reveal....right now" it was more maddening than anything. It appeared that what they (AMD and [H]) were doing all this 'orchestrated' benching to answer charges that the thing even existed. This is rather odd considering the way they are positioning themselves as having a chance to take the single card performance crown. Possible I guess (in certain benches) with the 300w equalizer they are working with.

Seems a little odd that AMD didn't take the opportunity to "launch" the card at CeBIT, rather than what looks like at first glance, preferential treatment for one tech site- it's not as if March 1st is that far away.
I'm pretty certain that if the role was reversed (i.e. Tom's publishing some nebulous "benchmarks" of the GTX 590 for instance, or Anand getting the heads-up on a new Intel architecture) then the forums would have been aflood with charges of the site being a PR lapdog, which is precisely why (IMO) AMD are using Kyle and Brent as their unofficial mouthpiece.
Very strange timing, very strange execution. 99% PR fluff, 1% actual info -and that's being generous. One "bench" on a demo using non-DX11 features at a resolution picked to show the best side of the card.

I await with keen interest the actual reviews....and which sites get to publish them at launch.

Yup, like I said before, everything about it is just weird.

Care to take a shot at who gets the launch samples?

...or better yet, who doesn't?

[H] (naturally), Guru3D, TPU, Bit-tech, Anand (wide circulation, vocal membership), Tweaktown, Tech Report, PC Perspective, Hardware.fr/Be.Hardware, Hexus (too influential not to include) - all nailed on certainties.

Techspot, Tom's, Bjorn 3D, OC3D, Legit Reviews -probable/possible- mainstream sites that don't court controvery

Hardware Secrets, Hardware Canucks, HT4U, Xbit, Benchmark Reviews - ???- All of these sites should have a review sample, but all have been either critical of AMD, or have published conclusions/editorials contrary to AMD's interests.

Hardware Heaven, Alienbabeltech - Both should have reviews, but like Hardware.fr and HT4U have large benchmarking suites and are traditionally a little later in posting their findings.

Just a rough guess off the top of my head.

EDIT: Maybe we should start a pool ! Too many sites to run a poll -and thats without taking into account some of the niche sites (OCIA, PureOC, VR Zone, HardwareOC, Ninjalane, Firing Squad etc.)

Thats a great idea Chef! maybe with the swing votes?

BTW I think Techpowerup gets one (because of their benchmarking suite). and I'm in for TS/Legion/Steve getting one, and Tom's ...because..... they're Tom's.

2 x 8pin PCI-E power.
So long PCI SIG it's been nice knowing you!

[source] [and the ever reliable Kyle and Brent]

At least I had one Nostradamus moment even if my prediction of the GTX 590 being GF114 was off base.

And here's the full specs it seems.
350-375w @ 830/830/5000 and 415-450w @ 880/880/5000 (OC'ed setting BIOS setting #2)
So the 2 x 8pin power isn't just for show. This card better be considerably cheaper than buying two HD6970's because It's not going to match them in performance on these numbers.

Note the fine print in the second picture:

Not the most reassuring caveat I've ever seen

I read that in the we smalls at Hex i think it was. I think if you check, I had an even more clairvoyant Nostradamus moment about them running roughshod over the PCIE spec
Although...I did start o wonder if these guys (both Green and Red) found some real gems from the binning process. I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be a grand total of 20 cards available.

That means all ten review samples will need to go back to AMD and re-boxed for sale :haha:

I do think you're definitely in the ballpark with those production figures (maybe with Asus DCII, MSI Lightning, Giga not-SOC we may get to triple figures).
It's going to be one very expensive board to produce- the extra power phases needed to handle ~450w are going to add some layers to the PCB, the extra power regulation circuits etc -for what should amount to slightly less than HD6970CFX performance thanks to the lower memory clock.

An engineering marvel to be sure- but I think this will be prohibitively priced to deter potential buyers and ensure that AMD/AIB's don't have produce many.

Should be interesting once the reviews hit the streets.
If I were a gambling man (and I am) I think I'd set a few lines:

Number of review sites getting two of these cards for CFX testing (over/under 2.5)
Number of sites topping 700w total system power (over/under 50% of reviews)
Number of reviews' benchmarks skewed from thermal throttling (over/under 75%)
Number of sites that play down the "warranty void if OC'ed" aspect (over/under 75%)
Number of review sites that admit to killing a card through overclocking (over/under 0.5)

EDIT: Just reading through some of the forums now. Amazing the sudden amount of acceptance for a power-hungry, hot and noisy card given the outrage and derision from the same people over the GTX 480 introduction. This is better than the sunday comics

I think they are taking the cue from the 1st round of Fermi releases. The (very few ) people who buy these cards are not going to care about its power consumption. actually IMO these cars are not going to be purchased by enthusiasts at all. A enthusiast more than likely has a board with a minimum of 2 PCIE slots ...probably 3 or four . and recognizes the Oc potential of a single card like this this is very limited and have a (to use a nascar term) restrictor plate on it. This a is an epeen, PR stunt. that can be outdone by a pair of the single GPU counterparts. Not to mention the history is one of driver problems and or slow remedy for it.
I would not invest in one of these foot long invitations to problems if you gave a 30% coupon.
But...it will be a fun launch day

Put me down for a hundred in the pick six exacta!

My thoughts exactly. I would think that a HD 6990 is likely to sell for around the same price as two 6970's. Given that a good 6970 should be able to hit 1k core (a better cooled DirectCu card probably a lot higher) it doesn't bode well for the 6990 - I'm pretty sure a 1000MHz core on a 6990 would look something like this. Things I would suggest look even less rosier for the GTX 590 given the voltage/amps constriction will likely affect it more than is the case with the 6990.

Watching the fanboy wars will be fun though, as will be seeing what lengths both AMD and Nvidia will go to to claim a crown that none of their fans will probably want to wear.
The hypocricy levels have already reached Defcon 2 and we're still a few days away from launch. What would make it complete would be for the GTX590 to post lower performance but also use less power. It would be truly ROFL-worthy to see two fanboy bases switch arguments in the space of a week.

Looks like my estimate of 20 cards was too conservative...who knew?!
Gibbo at overclockers.uk reckons he has 75% of the U.K.'s supply (~ 60 cards) in this picture, and total worldwide availability at less than a 1000 -so somewhat more of a collectors item than the Asus Ares.

And the review from Inpai- if anyone is interested.

NVIDIA can't never win GPU war,NVIDIA never managed to win hd5970