AMD 6970 vs 6990

[to0kenZA]

Hi guys,

I have a few questions to discuss.

I'm considering buying a new GPU. I'm indecisive at the moment whether I should get the 6970 or the 6990. I've read everywhere that it would be a waste to buy a 6990 if you don't have multiple monitors. Which I can understand, given the cards monstrous computing power and 4GB RAM.

I was looking at some benchmarks and one that particularity raised a question was one of Metro 2033.

As we know, that game pretty much rapes every PC. The 6970 only got something like 27 fps with all settings on full. The 6990, on the other hand, got 50+ fps with all settings on full.

That's a huge difference...They didn't specify whether they were using multiple displays on either of these cards, but geez, even if that's with one display, that difference is big enough for me to justify getting the 6990 instead.

Would it be worth getting this card? Or if I put it this way, is there any reason NOT to get this card, even though I'm not planning on getting another monitor?

[OGBuzz]

Ah Rambo!

let me say what im gonna say

IMO if you can afford the 6990, get it! Simple really, if its that much more fps wise then def get it, look also at graphics card chart rankings, see how close the two are to eachother, just dont buy the one card and then regret you did not get the other.

Get the 6990 if you can afford it, remember too, it may be more now but its LONGEVITY counts in favour too....and that makes it well worth it...

[OGBuzz]

see this

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

[Tinman]

I have had the opportunity to run both of these cards for extended periods of times. For about 6 weeks I actually had them both sitting at home, and was undecided on which to use so I kept switching between them.

To be honest, I did not notice any discernable difference in gaming performance between them at 1920x1200 with everything maxed. The HD 6990 is much louder and that could become irritating at times, so I ended up sticking with the HD 6970 which I currently have installed and am very pleased with. To be fair, I do not play Metro 2033, but in BC2, Black Ops, Dragon Age 2, StarCraft II, Dawn of War 2, Crysis 2, Shogun 2, Portal 2 and Bulletstorm, there is no noticable difference.

For me, as long as a card can manage 60fps in a FPS, 50fps in most other games, I'm happy, and bar Metro 2033 and maybe one or two other exceptions, the HD 6970 can do that.

I have yet to encounter a game which the HD 6970 can't handle maxed out, so my advice would be the HD 6970.

However, the most impressive card I have played with this year is Nvidia's GTX 570 Phantom Edition. Review - http://mygaming.co.za/news/hardware/...on-review.html

It's a real beast and very well priced.

Edit

I know you're a BC2 nut, so even more reason to check out the GTX 570 - in my experience the Frostbite engine prefers Nvidia.

[PaPaRaZZ!]

I'd consider the 6950 above the 6970! will be cheaper as well. also you can unlock extra shaders on it by flashing the bios. then you even get better performance, but yes, if you can afford the 6990, go for it!

[to0kenZA]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

@Buzz

The thing is, I've put away a lot of money for an upgrade. I can afford the 6990 but I don't want to buy it if it's really not worth all that money. I mean, if the 6970, or even the 570, will offer me longevity for at least 2 years or so, that should be more than fine. Then I can use the extra R4000 that would've been spent on the 6990 and contribute that to a motherboard and CPU upgrade. See where I'm going?

@Tinman

Since you've had the cards for so long, I'll take your word for it dude. But you know what, I've actually been looking at the 570 because I saw that being ahead of the 6970 in all benchmarks. It does seem like quite a beast of note! But what about the 580?

[OGBuzz]

Well from what Tinman has just said

go with the 6970.....

the 5870 is also quite the beast too, its gonna be ur desicion really

perhaps a new GPU and a MOBO upgrade is a better idea, thats what im planning on doing

[DenSweeP]

Bunch of cards vs each other

or

[Tinman]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

@Buzz

The thing is, I've put away a lot of money for an upgrade. I can afford the 6990 but I don't want to buy it if it's really not worth all that money. I mean, if the 6970, or even the 570, will offer me longevity for at least 2 years or so, that should be more than fine. Then I can use the extra R4000 that would've been spent on the 6990 and contribute that to a motherboard and CPU upgrade. See where I'm going?

@Tinman

Since you've had the cards for so long, I'll take your word for it dude. But you know what, I've actually been looking at the 570 because I saw that being ahead of the 6970 in all benchmarks. It does seem like quite a beast of note! But what about the 580?

GTX 580 is also a monster. In fact, for a few weeks I had the HD 6970, HD 6990, GTX 570 Phantom and GTX 580 to play with. I ended up using the GTX 570 when I was done benching all the others.

Suffice to say, that if I were buy a graphics card today it would be the GTX 570 Phantom. Evetech has it for R3600 and it beats the HD 6970 in the important benchies. Also, I would be confident that it would hold up very well for the next two years.

Having said that, you will not be disapointed with the performance on offer in the HD 6970 - great card, I'm using one now and have no gripes

Oh, also, GTX 570 Phantom Edition is much quieter than GTX 580 and not that far behind in terms of performance in my experience.

[to0kenZA]

Well from what Tinman has just said

go with the 6970.....

the 5870 is also quite the beast too, its gonna be ur desicion really

perhaps a new GPU and a MOBO upgrade is a better idea, thats what im planning on doing

I just had a look at the Nvidia GTX 580. Dude, that thing is beast. The ASUS 580 is going for R5300. That's much less that I had budgeted for.