Over the last 2 months HD6950 has been tested in various games, but mostly in new titles. Today i am testing it versus HD6850 simply to find out how much faster is it, and not "will it run that game". So i will be using 20 games, older and newer - but all can tell you the difference.
Today i will be reviewing these 2 cards:
Gigabyte Radeon HD6850 OC with 1 Gb of GDDR5:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3630#ov
XFX Radeon HD6950 with 2 Gb of GDDR:
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/HD 6000series/6950Standard.aspx
I am at my friends place, and brought the HD6950 for testing from my PC, and this is my friends test PC:
As you can see, HD6950 is a very large card, and actually if fitted inside the case, Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced, it would block 4 sata ports, coming from the motherboard. HD6850 is just slightly behind the ports by a few mm, so it is perfect for the machine. And here is the full rig:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 clocked at 3600 MHz
Gigabyte EP-45-EXTREME
Gigabyte Radeon HD6850 OC
2X2 Gb Kingston Hyper-X clocked at 1066 MHz DDR2
Enermax MODU82+ 625 W EPS12V
We are using Catalyst 11.2 drivers.
Now, to save time and show the real potential of the cards, we decided to do benchmarks only on 1600x1200 resolution, and if possible - with max AA, with all settings and effects set to max in every game. If a game has an option to select DX9 or DX10, it means DX10 is used. Some games have their own benchmarks, and those who don't - we use fraps. To make the tests as precise as one can do with fraps, for both video cards we used the same custom scene, running 15 seconds. During this time fraps measures the minimum, average and maximum frames, those will be dsiplayed in every screenshot. All the screenshots of the games show the actual moments of the benchmarks.
Lets' start.
Assassin's Creed 2 is perfect game to show the huge gap between the 2 cards. HD6950 is 2 times faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Avatar - The Game is not so demanding and runs smooth on both cards. HD6950 is about 15 % faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Bioshock was chosen for testing instead of Bioshock 2, as the later game is set at 60 FPS cap, and both cards never scored below 60 FPS. Anyway HD6950 is 25 % faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Battlestations Pacific is another system hog and HD6950 is 2 times faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Cryostasis is one of the most demanding games ever, and in fact, while i had a GTX280, the game lagged more than Crysis. Shadows and ice particles are the main cause for that, as i tested this subject separately. This game is an NVIDIA Physx game, and as such, it kills the HD6850; however, HD6950 manages simply to ignore the fact, that this is a Physx game and it crushes the HD6850 by 4 times here!!! There is nothing wrong with HD6850, as my friend had a HD4870 before, it scored only 7 - 10 FPS on the same rig. I expect that HD6950 has something that makes Physx a no problem. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
World In Conflict is very demanding strategy, but it is rather a cpu hog, and as such does not show that much difference between the cards, except for max frame rates. The game has it's own benchmark.
Dead Space results are rather disturbing for HD6850 as it gets wiped by HD6950 4 times here, although the game itself generally does not lag even on HD3870. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Dead Space 2 is great for both cards, however it is very important to notice, than when using older ATI drivers, HD6850 was lagging like hell with just 20 FPS on average. Now, with 11.2 it is fixed. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark. HD6950 is 25 % faster here.
GTA 4 is one sluggish game, but with the new 11.2 drivers, HD6850 frames went twice as high as with previous drivers and now it is not far behind the HD6950. GTA 4 has it's own benchmark.
The old Far Cry still perfectly fits for testing video cards. HD6950 is 2 times faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Far Cry 2 is the only game, where HD6850 was slightly faster than HD6950. I have no clue how is that... We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
FEAR was the most popular benchmarking game along with some others before Crysis appeared. Even to this day this game is perfect for testing video cards. As you see, HD6950 is from 2 to 3 times faster here. FEAR has it's own benchmark.
FEAR 2 seems to have the same results for both cards as HD6950 is about 250 % faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Jericho is another NVIDIA Physx game, and once again HD6850 is trashed to pieces, while HD6950 delivers excellent performance and outguns the HD6850 by some 300 %. Guess there is no need for NVIDIA card in your other PCI-E slot when you have HD6950. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Necrovision favors ATI cards in general, despite the NVIDIA logo, and from my experience, CrossFire scales over 90 % on high resolutions, while here HD6950 is 20 % faster. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark, even though the game has it's own - but it is bugged as hell.
Resident Evil 5 is great for both cards and the difference is small. The game has it's own benchmark.
Company Of Heroes is said to be working fine in a Pentium 4 with Radeon 9600, but if you crank up the game and use specific scenes, it can lag on GTX280 from my previous experience. Here the HD6950 is 10 % faster. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Serious Sam 2 is a big surprise - max out it makes the HD6850 look bad as the HD6950 destorys the HD6850 by some 250 %. And yes, this game lags on powerfull cards with 8X AA and all settings max. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Bulletstorm is the newest game around, definitely one of the BIG games of this year and it needs powerfull video cards to work. HD6950 is from 33 % on average frames to 50 % on minimum frames faster here. The game is set at 62 FPS cap, so we could not see the max frame rates of HD6950, but the rest results show the scene very good. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.
Crysis - need i say more? Perhaps only that HD6950 is from 33 % to 50 % faster here, and you won't be able to play this game with HD6850 on max settings smooth. As all know, Crysis has it's own benchmark tool.
For final words the HD6950 is one impressive card, that just does not lag, though for the most games HD6850 is fine. Take a notice that new ATI drivers make a big impact and as time will go by, we might see a dramatic FPS improvement for HD6850 as was here in some cases.
The rest comments i will leave for you.
Today i will be reviewing these 2 cards:
Gigabyte Radeon HD6850 OC with 1 Gb of GDDR5:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3630#ov
XFX Radeon HD6950 with 2 Gb of GDDR:
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/HD 6000series/6950Standard.aspx
I am at my friends place, and brought the HD6950 for testing from my PC, and this is my friends test PC:

As you can see, HD6950 is a very large card, and actually if fitted inside the case, Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced, it would block 4 sata ports, coming from the motherboard. HD6850 is just slightly behind the ports by a few mm, so it is perfect for the machine. And here is the full rig:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 clocked at 3600 MHz
Gigabyte EP-45-EXTREME
Gigabyte Radeon HD6850 OC
2X2 Gb Kingston Hyper-X clocked at 1066 MHz DDR2
Enermax MODU82+ 625 W EPS12V
We are using Catalyst 11.2 drivers.
Now, to save time and show the real potential of the cards, we decided to do benchmarks only on 1600x1200 resolution, and if possible - with max AA, with all settings and effects set to max in every game. If a game has an option to select DX9 or DX10, it means DX10 is used. Some games have their own benchmarks, and those who don't - we use fraps. To make the tests as precise as one can do with fraps, for both video cards we used the same custom scene, running 15 seconds. During this time fraps measures the minimum, average and maximum frames, those will be dsiplayed in every screenshot. All the screenshots of the games show the actual moments of the benchmarks.
Lets' start.
Assassin's Creed 2 is perfect game to show the huge gap between the 2 cards. HD6950 is 2 times faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Avatar - The Game is not so demanding and runs smooth on both cards. HD6950 is about 15 % faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Bioshock was chosen for testing instead of Bioshock 2, as the later game is set at 60 FPS cap, and both cards never scored below 60 FPS. Anyway HD6950 is 25 % faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Battlestations Pacific is another system hog and HD6950 is 2 times faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Cryostasis is one of the most demanding games ever, and in fact, while i had a GTX280, the game lagged more than Crysis. Shadows and ice particles are the main cause for that, as i tested this subject separately. This game is an NVIDIA Physx game, and as such, it kills the HD6850; however, HD6950 manages simply to ignore the fact, that this is a Physx game and it crushes the HD6850 by 4 times here!!! There is nothing wrong with HD6850, as my friend had a HD4870 before, it scored only 7 - 10 FPS on the same rig. I expect that HD6950 has something that makes Physx a no problem. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

World In Conflict is very demanding strategy, but it is rather a cpu hog, and as such does not show that much difference between the cards, except for max frame rates. The game has it's own benchmark.

Dead Space results are rather disturbing for HD6850 as it gets wiped by HD6950 4 times here, although the game itself generally does not lag even on HD3870. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Dead Space 2 is great for both cards, however it is very important to notice, than when using older ATI drivers, HD6850 was lagging like hell with just 20 FPS on average. Now, with 11.2 it is fixed. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark. HD6950 is 25 % faster here.

GTA 4 is one sluggish game, but with the new 11.2 drivers, HD6850 frames went twice as high as with previous drivers and now it is not far behind the HD6950. GTA 4 has it's own benchmark.

The old Far Cry still perfectly fits for testing video cards. HD6950 is 2 times faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Far Cry 2 is the only game, where HD6850 was slightly faster than HD6950. I have no clue how is that... We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

FEAR was the most popular benchmarking game along with some others before Crysis appeared. Even to this day this game is perfect for testing video cards. As you see, HD6950 is from 2 to 3 times faster here. FEAR has it's own benchmark.

FEAR 2 seems to have the same results for both cards as HD6950 is about 250 % faster here. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Jericho is another NVIDIA Physx game, and once again HD6850 is trashed to pieces, while HD6950 delivers excellent performance and outguns the HD6850 by some 300 %. Guess there is no need for NVIDIA card in your other PCI-E slot when you have HD6950. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Necrovision favors ATI cards in general, despite the NVIDIA logo, and from my experience, CrossFire scales over 90 % on high resolutions, while here HD6950 is 20 % faster. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark, even though the game has it's own - but it is bugged as hell.

Resident Evil 5 is great for both cards and the difference is small. The game has it's own benchmark.

Company Of Heroes is said to be working fine in a Pentium 4 with Radeon 9600, but if you crank up the game and use specific scenes, it can lag on GTX280 from my previous experience. Here the HD6950 is 10 % faster. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Serious Sam 2 is a big surprise - max out it makes the HD6850 look bad as the HD6950 destorys the HD6850 by some 250 %. And yes, this game lags on powerfull cards with 8X AA and all settings max. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Bulletstorm is the newest game around, definitely one of the BIG games of this year and it needs powerfull video cards to work. HD6950 is from 33 % on average frames to 50 % on minimum frames faster here. The game is set at 62 FPS cap, so we could not see the max frame rates of HD6950, but the rest results show the scene very good. We are using a custom 15 seconds fraps benchmark.

Crysis - need i say more? Perhaps only that HD6950 is from 33 % to 50 % faster here, and you won't be able to play this game with HD6850 on max settings smooth. As all know, Crysis has it's own benchmark tool.

For final words the HD6950 is one impressive card, that just does not lag, though for the most games HD6850 is fine. Take a notice that new ATI drivers make a big impact and as time will go by, we might see a dramatic FPS improvement for HD6850 as was here in some cases.
The rest comments i will leave for you.
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