PowerColor Radeon HD 6970 Pictured

[btarunr]

With its launch not too far, AMD partners are busy sending their Radeon HD 6970 samples to reviews. It is inevitable then, that some would actually post pictures of those on the web ahead of launch. Some such pictures made it to HardwareLuxx.de, which shows PowerColor Radeon HD 6970 in fresh out of its retail box. The card, and the box itself, reveal quite a bit about the HD 6970. To begin with, Radeon HD 6970 (and HD 6950), are high-end single GPU graphics cards based on AMD's new "Cayman" high-end GPU. The HD 6970 is about as long as a Radeon HD 5870 (which it's intended to replace), and retains product design carried forward from the HD 6800 series graphics cards.

The HD 6970 from PowerColor sports 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, perhaps some of the memory chips are located on the reverse side of the PCB, which is why a back-plate is used to cool them. The top side of the card reveals the power connectors: one 8-pin, and a 6-pin PCI-E power; two CrossFire bridge fingers, and a tiny switch. It is rumored that this switch lets users select between two BIOS ROM chips present on the cards; one chip is programmable, and partners can store an overclocked profile, while the other is not programmable, and stores the AMD reference profile. It gives users a nice fallback in case they brick the card with a bad BIOS.



Another revelation is that HD 6970 supports an updated AMD Eyefinity feature set that lets users connect four displays to the card (instead of three on the previous generation non-Eyefinity6 cards). Display connectivity includes two DVI, one HDMI 1.4a, and two DisplayPort 1.2. PowerColor's HD 6970 should be out by mid-December (in this week).

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Lionheart]

Looks nice, but seriously gimme benchies

 

[Volkszorn88]

Wow amazing looking card. If the price right, it'll be an instant buy.

 

[CBOT]

The Picture are all from Ducati750ss,he has Buyed one on German Shop.

All Infos and Benches are here : http://www.hardwareluxx.de/communit...le-technischen-daten-update-2-a-768017-7.html Post 167

 

[DanishDevil]

I seriously hope they're not as loud as the 6870s. I highly doubt it since they're more powerful and look to be using the same cooler, but I just hope it meets my strict noise standards. I can live with my reference 6870, but I'd much rather have something quieter under load.

 

[Lionheart]

I seriously hope they're not as loud as the 6870s. I highly doubt it since they're more powerful and look to be using the same cooler, but I just hope it meets my strict noise standards. I can live with my reference 6870, but I'd much rather have something quieter under load.

I never heard anything about the HD6870's been loud, unless its just your own opinion

 

[buggalugs]

Do we still need adapters for 3 monitors? Like, can we use 3 dvi monitors?

 

[gumpty]

I never heard anything about the HD6870's been loud, unless its just your own opinion

They are quiet at idle, but as soon as you ramp up in a game that blower gets going. Sure, it's not as loud as cards from a few years ago, but it's louder than I'd like. And it's definitely louder than you'd think a 150W card would be.

Can't wait to see how these perform.

 

[jasper1605]

that sticker is awesome. It's like transformers crossed with devil may cry/ffvii swords

 

[inferKNOX]

Oh, how I hope that the 6950 has good price, 2x6-pin and low noise.

 

[DanishDevil]

The 6870 isn't SUPER loud, but if you have an open air case and sit about 3 feet from your GPU, you're going to hear it while gaming unless you have headphones on with audio going constantly. Just a bit above my noise preference. My GTX 460 1GB from Gigabyte (dual fan version) was completely silent while gaming.

 

[Atom_Anti]

Looks nice, but seriously gimme benchies

 

[toyo]

After also reading the thread on that forums (Google translate though) I can only say that it is VERY disappointing. I expected AMD to come for once at least with the best single GPU on the market, but it seems a failure.
I'm not saying it's not marketable, just that it is not faster than the 580.
But since I haven't see an official review here, I cannot be definitive on my opinion - still I feel that ducatti is probably telling the truth.
Maybe new drivers will fix some lack of performance.

 

[Hayder_Master]

w1zzrad bunches please

 

[btarunr]

w1zzrad bunches please

Bunches coming right up

 

[the54thvoid]

I'm calling bull on the BFBC2 score. At 1920 res (looks close to what was benched for fps) a 6870 scores 52.9, a 5870 scores 58.4 and a GTX 480 scores 66.3. That puts a 480 as 13% faster than a 5870 and 25% faster than a 6870. (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_580/6.html)

The Ducatti dude post puts the 6970 at 8% slower than a gtx 480. So it's only 5-8% better than a 5870?

Given BFBC2 is DX11, and the 6970 seems to do well on DX11, i'm calling that a crock of poo.

I'll wait for W1zz's review. All this leaky speculation and homemade tables sucks balls.

 

[gumpty]

After also reading the thread on that forums (Google translate though) I can only say that it is VERY disappointing. I expected AMD to come for once at least with the best single GPU on the market, but it seems a failure.
I'm not saying it's not marketable, just that it is not faster than the 580.
But since I haven't see an official review here, I cannot be definitive on my opinion - still I feel that ducatti is probably telling the truth.
Maybe new drivers will fix some lack of performance.

AMD have done well over the last few generations by winning the price/performance battle at the pointy end of the market. If they price it well, it will be a win - getting the fastest GPU trophy would be a bonus, I'm guessing.

Another week of hanging out for W1zzies Benchies™. When does the NDA actually end?

 

[Flibolito]

Not sure if those benchies tell the whole story but hopefully by there end of this year we'll have an all-out GPU war on our hands. If those BC2 benches are accurate I am a bit disappointed by the low min fps as that is what the "high end" single gpu cards are for combat. Too early to tell, WHQL drivers later this year will show what we are really dealing with. Either way the consumer wins if these hold up against the 570/580 and will even out the price.

 

[Paintface]

remember proper drivers are only out with the official release of the card, so ignore all benches till then.

 

[makwy2]

remember proper drivers are only out with the official release of the card, so ignore all benches till then.

True dat! I am so excited for this card although I will never be able to afford one. I have a feeling that by Q2 2011 soooo much will be changed!

 

[Duckula]

More pictures.

Didn't see any memory chip on the rear side.

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

So the backplate is just for aesthetics? They shouldve just ditch the plate and lower the cost.

 

[crow1001]

From the German benchmarks where these card images come from, it looks like a complete fail.

 

[HammerON]

Need reviews from W1zzard~
Until then, all else is BS

 

[buggalugs]

So the backplate is just for aesthetics? They shouldve just ditch the plate and lower the cost.

The backplate does a few things but its good for shielding EMI especially if you have a soundcard right above it.

On topic, I never expected this card to be faster than the 580. It was designed to beat the 480(and it will) and was well into production when the 580 hit.

Its actually a good thing it means the 6970 will be cheap. Its always about price/performance.