5870,6950,5970, or 6990??

fall · Mar 2, 2011

well right now Newegg has the Sapphire Radeon 5870 EyeFinity 6 edition for 280$. I was lookin to upgrade GPUs and get either the 2 5870s and CF them or 2 6950s and CF them. Then i saw that the 6990 is "possibly" getting released on the 8th, so that made me look at 5970 prices which will (cross my fingers) drop with 6990 release.

The 5970 im looking at is the XFX Black Eyefinity 6 Edition 2x2GB Card.

So i am wondering would it be a better deal to get the 5870s for 280 ea, or get 2 6950s? (i know ~ the same price) Or wait till the "8th" see what the 6990 brings and either snag one of those or watch the prices on 5970s drop and make a move?

Current Setup is 3 dell 23in monitors in suround with my 460s. and have a plan of 5 in portrait later on.

"top of the line" is NOT a must for me all i want to be able to do is max out all settings and have at least 2 or 4x AA in games and the 460s cannot do that at 3240X1920 or 5760X 1080.

Let me know what you would do or what you think!

Also Perfect CF scaling is not important i just want a GPU that will work with 5 monitors and will play games and at my Req. Settings.

shant · Mar 2, 2011

wait for the 6990 to release, you'd probably get those other 2 cheaper, it would be a win situation

fall · Mar 2, 2011

shant said:
wait for the 6990 to release, you'd probably get those other 2 cheaper, it would be a win situation

Hmm thats true only 5 days i guess i can wait that long!

shant · Mar 3, 2011

fall said:
Hmm thats true only 5 days i guess i can wait that long!

fall · Mar 3, 2011

shant said:

The only sad thing is the 6950s and 70s dont support 5x1p... why have 5 ports if you dont support it... dumb

Theocnoob · Mar 3, 2011

fall said:
The only sad thing is the 6950s and 70s dont support 5x1p... why have 5 ports if you dont support it... dumb

Are you serious? I didn't know that. THAT is quite ridiculous. :screwy:

ATI is dropping GPUs so fast man... 6950/70/90 like a month apart? 2? Nvidia too...

There are better GPUs dropping from the sky every two weeks right now man... :sly:

Remember when the ATi 6700 was the king of the hill for like... ever ? Like seven years ago? Simpler times...

hUMANbEATbOX · Mar 3, 2011

Theocnoob said:
Remember when the ATi 6700 was the king of the hill for like... ever ? Like seven years ago? Simpler times...

9700pro, but yes i remember. bought it on launch day, was on top of the world for like....ever.

kayson · Mar 4, 2011

I would get two 6950s, unlock the shaders, clock them up to 6970 speeds, and run them in crossfire. Crossfire scaling on the 6900s is substantially better than on the 5000s from what I've read, so you'll have yourself one hell of a setup. Price-wise it should be about the same as to 5870s but with a huge performance increase.

Just a nickname · Mar 4, 2011

kayson said:
I would get two 6950s, unlock the shaders, clock them up to 6970 speeds, and run them in crossfire. Crossfire scaling on the 6900s is substantially better than on the 5000s from what I've read, so you'll have yourself one hell of a setup. Price-wise it should be about the same as to 5870s but with a huge performance increase.

Not all 6950 will unlock (like 5-10%) nor overclock as well as 6970 (remember, cheaper memory on the 6950).

He will loses 2-9% perf due to shared PCI-e lane.

If the 6990 isn't overpriced and doing well, it looks like the way to go for me. He will spend at least 500-700 in a CF set-up (considering the 6950 @ 250$ and the 6970 @ 350). Sounds like pretty close to the possible 6990s price!

kayson · Mar 4, 2011

Just a nickname said:
Not all 6950 will unlock (like 5-10%) nor overclock as well as 6970 (remember, cheaper memory on the 6950).

He will loses 2-9% perf due to shared PCI-e lane.

If the 6990 isn't overpriced and doing well, it looks like the way to go for me. He will spend at least 500-700 in a CF set-up (considering the 6950 @ 250$ and the 6970 @ 350). Sounds like pretty close to the possible 6990s price!

almost every 6950 ive seen has unlocked and hit 6970 speeds. totally worth the risk IMO, but I think its a good idea to see what the price and performance is like for the 6990...

Dooms101 · Mar 4, 2011

kayson said:
almost every 6950 ive seen has unlocked and hit 6970 speeds. totally worth the risk IMO, but I think its a good idea to see what the price and performance is like for the 6990...

That's what I've seen too. Its speculated that the 6990 will sell for 500 - 600. 6950 unlocked and clocked up to 6970 specs in crossfire would probably be better performing than a 6990. The only reason I say that is because the 5970 was like 5850's in cf, but not as good as 5870 in cf, so maybe its going to be the same situation with the 6000 series.

Just a nickname · Mar 4, 2011

You dun believe mwe

Hard forum even made a pool.

There is a reason why the 6950 is a 6950 at x$... If the products were both the same (bout components quality), then they would both be tagged at the same price don't you think?

I just let the OP know there is a risk his card won't unlock and he may not have the full potential of two 6970.

Dooms101 · Mar 4, 2011

Just a nickname said:
You dun believe mwe

Hard forum even made a pool.

There is a reason why the 6950 is a 6950 at x$... If the products were both the same (bout components quality), then they would both be tagged at the same price don't you think?

I just let the OP know there is a risk his card won't unlock and he may not have the full potential of two 6970.

Thanks for the poll, I figured it was too good to be true.

From what I know the reference 6950 is in every way designed exactly like the reference 6970 with a shader unit disabled via BIOS and slower stock clocks. It would make since that the reference 6950's might have lower binned parts than reference 6970's, but a 80Mhz overclock on ther core should be pretty easy, especially with a small voltage bump. Hard to say about the mem, although plenty report that their 6950's can do it. Its a whole other story for non-reference cards.

fall · Mar 4, 2011

Just a nickname said:
You dun believe mwe

Hard forum even made a pool.

There is a reason why the 6950 is a 6950 at x$... If the products were both the same (bout components quality), then they would both be tagged at the same price don't you think?

I just let the OP know there is a risk his card won't unlock and he may not have the full potential of two 6970.

i agree 2 6970s will probably be better than a 6990 but the only thing turning me off of the 6970 and 50 is the lack of 5x1 without a hub that is not even for sale...

hUMANbEATbOX · Mar 4, 2011

fall said:
i agree 2 6970s will probably be better than a 6990 but the only thing turning me off of the 6970 and 50 is the lack of 5x1 without a hub that is not even for sale...

I can't believe people are actually going to put 5 monitors on their desks. that's some crazy stuff. you plan on going that route?

Dooms101 · Mar 4, 2011

I thought you could run 5x1 with a crossfire setup?

kayson · Mar 4, 2011

Dooms101 said:
I thought you could run 5x1 with a crossfire setup?

That's what I thought too...

fall · Mar 4, 2011

hUMANbEATbOX said:
I can't believe people are actually going to put 5 monitors on their desks. that's some crazy stuff. you plan on going that route?

Yes i do plan on it, 5 monitors in portrait is = to 3 monitors in landscape but you have more vertical view for flight sims and what not.

Dooms101 said:
I thought you could run 5x1 with a crossfire setup?

no you cannot because once you plug a monitor into the 2nd card it disables CF...

Dooms101 · Mar 4, 2011

fall said:
Yes i do plan on it, 5 monitors in portrait is = to 3 monitors in landscape but you have more vertical view for flight sims and what not.

no you cannot because once you plug a monitor into the 2nd card it disables CF...

Hmmm... well don't the Eyefinity versions allow up to 6 monitors?

fall · Mar 4, 2011

Dooms101 said:
Hmmm... well don't the Eyefinity versions allow up to 6 monitors?

if you mean the E6 cards then yes. If you mean just a standard card that supports finity then no... well yes but with the help of DP splitters and hubs.

BTW i learned all this after i posted this thread due to me being a noob forum searcher and scowering many forums finding this info. So i am not for sure if it is still technically 100% true. But i am 100% on that the 6970 and 50 cannot do 5x1 without splitters or hubs... read on WGF

5870,6950,5970, or 6990??

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