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Writing a conclusion for this kind of product is much simpler than for graphics cards in the ‘value' space. Cards like the GTX580, Radeon HD 5970 and Radeon HD 6990 are all about one thing. Pure pixel pushing performance.
The AMD Radeon HD 6990 is a powerhouse of a graphics card which redefines the high end market. It is noticeably faster than the class leading XFX HD5970 Black Edition Limited 4GB card, which was released last year at a staggering £900.
When we compare performance figures of the gaming tests against the nVidia GTX580 flagship solution, we can easily see the raw performance available from the new AMD HD6990.
Some of the games we tested today show increases from 20% (Lost Planet 2) to 88% (Alien V Predator). Whichever way you look at it, AMD has stormed past the GTX580, easily surpassed its last generation HD5970 and pushed the performance levels into a new zone.
3DMark Vantage shows that the HD6990 has a 38 percent performance advantage when compared against the GTX580, scoring around 35,000 points. Interestingly, 3DMark 11 highlights cutting edge Direct X 11 performance, with the HD6990 delivering almost 60 percent higher frame rates than Nvidia's current flagship. While we didn't concentrate on CrossFireX performance today, we have been working on another article in parallel, and later this week we will release the results.
The single most surprising result from KitGuru's Lab has to be tessellation. Before the launch of the Radeon HD 6990, the top 4 spots on our tessellation chart were all occupied by nVidia's GeForce technology. The Radeon HD 6990 changes all that. It's not just in the nVidia-friendly Stone Giant test that we saw an improvement. Tessellation is famously used in Aliens vs Predator and, in this game, the Radeon HD 6990 can get as much as 88% faster than a standard GTX580.
Acoustically, any card that can eat up more the 400 watts in performance mode, is going to struggle to dissipate the heat produced under load. While we understand the difficulties of producing a capable, quiet cooler, AMD will always be hampered by using a small, single fan configuration on its high-end reference cards. As expected, this opens the market up to AMD partners such as Sapphire, PowerColor and XFX who will assuredly release updated versions of the card, with dual fan configurations, improved airflow and reduced noise levels. The reference card has been configured to keep temperatures well under 90c at all times, but it can also get loud – especially in high performance mode.
So, the big question is, how much will this cost? Our latest feedback from AMD before going to press indicates that the HD6990 is going to cost between £530 and £550 ($699 US), which clearly means it will only be an option for the wealthier enthusiast gamer.
In closing, frame rate junkies who love high resolution, multi-screen gaming are going to find AMD's Radeon HD 6990 the perfect fix.
Pros
- World's fastest graphics card by some distance
- DirectX 11 performance is fantastic
- Staggering improvement in tessellation processing capability
- Fan profile is more aggressive than previous dual GPU cards, keeping temperatures well in check
- Dual BIOS profile is a nice touch
- Idle power drain is very well optimised
Cons
- Can get loud
- Power drain under load is substantial
- Expensive
KitGuru says: The AMD Radeon HD 6990 is the ultimate graphics card, but we wonder for how long? The high power demands translate into a need for cooling, which we hope AIBs will fine-tune over the coming months. The stage has been set for a battle royal when the GTX590 comes out to play in a few weeks' time.
Awesome, time to get every thing i need ready and read what I’ve been waiting for.
damn that is a powerful card!
Very impressive card, but its out of reach for most people. it costs a few quid in the UK
GTX590 up for the challenge, thats what I want to see 🙂
I wish that AMd would sort out their coolers, those fans have been used now for about 10 years. its really a tough decision buying one of these due to the noise levels, but no more so that all the other dual gpu cards from AMD, at least this one isnt running at 100c+
The kettle is one, time for a good read, thanks.
what a mega product, I wasn’t expecting it to be so quick. Nvidia need to come up with something now 🙂 im sure they will
Actually when you look at the price, which will be say £550, compared to GTX480 at £400. The performance, per pound is excpetionally good for the added price difference
Well I might be very wrong here, but Nvidia will have a very tough time beating this card. The temperatures are the killer.
Two GTX570’s in a high bandwidth state could possibly beat this board, but the engineering would be difficult, a single GTX570 runs hot as it is.
I think their cooler is extremely impressive for a reference solution, sure its loud, but they aren’t letting it get into the 90c’s which is always good to see. thats why their older dual GPU cards failed. this one shouldnt.
I could live with the noise for that level of power. no more worrying about IQ settings.
What a fantastic product. even if its more expensive that my monthly rent !
It will be really interesting to see what nvidia come up with. I think they can beat this. but its all about the cooling. AMD struggled with this, its clear to see, and its noisy. I dread to think how loud the nvidia card would be.
whats next? 550W graphics cards? its starting to really get out of hand now. two of these would consume 800w when gaming? the bill at the quarter would be insane.
Just a heads up for anyone buying the card and wanting to remove the stock cooler…. There is a small screw on the back that is covered by two stickers with (its under the two stickers that look like a barcode). Well removing that you will then notice a void logo underneath it… I just wanted to point it out to you all…
Didnt bother us too much here seen as ours is sample but I know to some droppin £550ish UK is quite a bit of cash and if all you are doing is having an inquisitive look it seems a shame to void your warranty :-S
So if you change the bios switch to OC mode you void your warranty. If you take the cooler off for a look you also void it? Anything else? plugging in a DVI cable maybe?
“whats next? 550W graphics cards? its starting to really get out of hand now. two of these would consume 800w when gaming? the bill at the quarter would be insane”
I also just wanted to touch on that comment. Whilst these cards seem excessive to some you have to remember that @ this moment in time they are as I dub it the veyron moment like others in the past the concorde moment. They might not be for most people practical but to its like me saying to my team, look lets see what we can do. Not only that but having the crown of fastest single card (agreed single card but multi gpu) goes a long way to brand loyalty and advertising.
An example I like to use is the GTX 560. Its a fantastic card and in many ways better… hang with me a second. In terms of actual raw power you get for sub £200 is incredible also factor in its quiet and wont eat through your electricity like a mouth through primark. But…. to not produce these high end cards would be criminal. We need people to keep pushing as hard and fast (that sounds so wrong) at the the boundaries(agreed quite crudely in the 6990 case but hey I dont sit in either camp just wait a few days for the 590 for brute but crude).
with the reduction in nm to 28 the power consumption and heat will be brought down further (dont need pointing out here that a lot of factors at play here it was just a generalisation) but sure we could see just as big and hot cards within practical reason.
I would not say out of hand I would say its progress and with progress we can learn
DO NOT take off the cooler, according to AMD this time around they have used a new thermal compound they are transitioning to that is better than anything on the market. The claim is that once this compound is broken, ie the cooler removed it cannot work anymore and you will suffer higher temps when you put on another compound to replace it.
The logic with the GTX560 is true. I dont think many people can afford a 6990 or 580 gtx even. but they are showcase cards of how ‘advanced’ the companies are. and I agree with the intro in the review that people always opt for a card in the range of a ‘performance leader’ higher up the chain.
Interesting to read about the phase change paste.
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”
You would not mind spell checking it also would you ;-P
Damn predictive text
It is a mighty impressive card, but I see it as totally overkill. Im probably one of the few. I can understand the point of it and its extremely quick, but id be happy with a 460 or 560, or even a 6870.
Many people buy these cards and have a 1080p screen, which to me is the stupidest decision you could ever make, even a 2560×1600 screen is easily powered by a GTX570 or 6970.
Now give us some after market cooling versions for both 6990 and 590. Drolling already.
the VGA cards get me insane…!