AMD 6970 vs 6990

to0kenZA

to0kenZA

New member
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?
 
Ah Rambo!

let me say what im gonna say :D

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...
 
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/10227-Gainward-Nvidia-GTX-570-Phantom-Edition-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.
 
Last edited:
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!
 
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?
 
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 :)
 
Bunch of cards vs each other

or

imageview.php
 
to0kenZA said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
ogbuzz said:
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 :)
Click to expand...

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.
 
to0kenZA said:
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.
Click to expand...

That's a good price, and if it's within your budget then I say go for it :)
 
Tinman said:
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.
Click to expand...

I don't care so much for the noise. Having those G35's on my head makes me pretty much oblivious to any noise :D

What I'm looking to buy though is a very high performance card, so I think I might just go for the 570 or 580.
 
to0kenZA said:
I'm really considering it big-time dude.

This might be the first ever Nvidia card I buy.
Click to expand...

And a mistake it will be...


Hahaha, nah, get whichever makes the most sense. I say buy what your budget allows.

PS Praat me Trompie by Computersonly voor jy koop.
 
I went with the ASUS 6970 mainly cause I got it for R3500 on a one day special that PCInt had. It was at the beginning of the year when they were still selling for around R4500-R5000. At that price I just couldn't say no.

Just FYI, but my previous card was a 8800Ultra which I had almost 4 years. Not too bad an investment since I could still run most games on high at full HD resolutions.
 
With the 6990 you are looking at about R7500. Where as the 6970 is closer to the R4000 mark. If you are really after the 20 or so extra frames per second, then I guess the 6990. But it sure comes at a cost.

I was just looking at the Mygaming review for the GTX570 Phantom and it sure is a beast. I am actually considering going for something like that instead of the 6970 I was originally planning for. Then again, you could go for a 6950 which is at a really solid price.
 
XeroS1x said:
With the 6990 you are looking at about R7500. Where as the 6970 is closer to the R4000 mark. If you are really after the 20 or so extra frames per second, then I guess the 6990. But it sure comes at a cost.

I was just looking at the Mygaming review for the GTX570 Phantom and it sure is a beast. I am actually considering going for something like that instead of the 6970 I was originally planning for. Then again, you could go for a 6950 which is at a really solid price.
Click to expand...

I think I might go for the 580 at this point dude. That thing is really best compared to everything else. And the pricing isn't bad at all! I want something really awesome this time. I've been saving for a while so it's go big or go home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top