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Our sample of the HD6950 DD was supplied in the older box, as XFX sent us one of the first samples. The image above shows the new box shape and artwork behind the HD6950, which is in the older style packaging.
The bundle is pretty much identical to the other cards, although this time we have a Crossfire bridge. This is always a welcome addition, although I probably have about 50 in a drawer now.
Déjà vu? Yep, it looks identical to the other cards on test today. Same sexy black PCB, dual fan configuration and black plastic shroud.
One of the view visible differences – the HD6950 has two Crossfire connectors, for 2,3 and 4 way configurations. It requires 2 x 6 pin connectors for correct operation.
The HD 6950 DD has two DVI ports on the I/O plate, with a full size HDMI connector and two mini displayport connectors. There is full support for AMD Eyefinity and the card features the same nifty ‘XFX' logo cut into the backplate.
To get access to the card we need to remove mounting screws, PCB screws and backplate screws. Doing this will invalidate your warranty, as XFX have tamper proof stickers over two of the mounting screws.
The cooler is identical to the one on the other two cards with three thick direct contact copper heatpipes leading out into two seperate racks of aluminum fins on either side of the core. These are cooled from above by the two fans. We guess using the same cooler saves on engineering costs, but it sure means the owner of the HD6790 DD is getting a great deal.
The PCB on the HD6950 DD is significantly different and they have switched from Elpida memory to 2GB of Hynix GDDR5.
Above, a GPUz screenshot of the XFX HD6950 DD. It runs at 830mhz core and 1300mhz via the 2GB of GDDR5 memory (5200mhz effective) which is connected via a 256 bit interface. The card is based on the 40nm AMD Cayman core and has 1408 unified shaders and 32 ROPS.
Very nice indeed, HD6870 is by far b est value, thats a bargain.
Excellent, I agree HD6870 is best and its very well priced. I dont get paid for 2 weeks sadly 🙁
Thought they had vanished off the face of the earth there for a while. nice to see them back … with a bang.
Never mind the 6870, the 6790 is really more than most people would ever need, quite surprised how well it performs even at 1080p. But for the small price increase, 6870 is much better value.
Very good, thanks for review.
I like XFX< always had good luck with their cards. shame they stopped the cool X shaped boxes they used to have.
are they the first to have used a direct touch heatpipe cooler like this?
Two of the HD6870s seem best to me, just a little more than one of the 6950’s.
They should lower the 6950 price to £199 inc vat IMO or even £190.
Great review man, im really looking at one of those 6790s for my media center, but it seems poor value when the 6870 is only 25 quid more.
6870 FTW. those are great cards. XFX DD version is a bargain, orfered one.
really cool. And the price isn’t really bad…