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XFX HD6970 3-way CFx & HD6950 CFx review

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

  • Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
  • Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
  • Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
  • Multicore CPU support
  • Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
  • Powerful C++ API
  • Comprehensive performance profiling system
  • Flexible XML-based data structures

We test at 1080p so that all video cards can be compared throughout our reviews. Obviously driver updates might enhance performance slightly over time, but as a rule, its a useful way for us to present the findings.

The nVidia GTX580 is the fastest single card in this tessellation heavy benchmark with the single HD6970 in second place, trailing by under 7 frames per second. Crossfire scaling is very strong for the new cards, with the XFX HD6970 in 3 way Cfx delivering a staggering 133.5 frames per second average.

We have included a video of the XFX HD6970 in 3 way Crossfire X rendering the Unigine Benchmark at 1080p. Keep your eye on the FRAPS counter top left.

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17 comments

  1. Wow this is incredible performance levels, price isnt bad either. cant believe the test 2 is delivering the same levels of performance as the XFX black edition 5970s in crossfire X. thats really interesting !

  2. I think these are good boards, even though a lot of people will be disappointed with the fact the 580 is still leading the single card attack

  3. CFX x 3 is awesome . blown away by the frame rates its generating. Noise might not suit everyone though :p

  4. The price is the biggest selling point. I dont think they are the performance killers we expected, but the 280 price for the 6970 means its actually only 30 more than the 5850 was at launch. thats quite a good figure for them to achieve. I think they are doing what they do against intel in the CPU sector. drop pricing as low as poss.

  5. Way to go, lol Crossfire in x3. thats a nice addition. XFX seem to love Kitguru. scaling is good in some of the games, but not so good in others. unigine at 133 fps caught my eye. mental

  6. That was brilliant read. loads of testing and AMD have made a rockin card. the 6950 seems to be really well price positioned. cFx3 was fun, thanks

  7. Nice work Zardon, get some sleep, too much for one man 🙂

  8. Shit on a stick. CF x 3 is awesome. ill be sitting here green with envy, knowing I was shovelling snow from my driveway while I knew you were playing games with that setup

  9. I wasnt expecting 3 way CFx to work so sun out of the gate. that should really kick nvidai in the nuts. im all for that.

  10. Hey zardon if you are finished with the 40 cards you have can you send a few my way for a long term loaner? 🙂

  11. Many people seem disappointed about the fact the 580 is still the performance king.

    What about the price? 420 quid for a graphics card? its 140 quid more than the 6970. no thanks.

  12. The bundle needs to be better. We need to start getting converters for 3 screens. mini displayport? no monitor supports that as far as I know apart from apple. a big converter cable like powercolor offer would be much better than anything else ive seen. No more Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s please, everyone has this game, years ago. Seems odd that no partners are selling these with better 3 screen out of the box suppotr. cables, converters etc.

  13. @ Long Flow. I think you need to realise that about 0.5 percent of the potential audience have more than one screen, regardless of what AMD try to push. I agree in theory though, its hard to sell 3 screen cards if you need converters etc, as well as a displayport monitor. Sapphire should sell a flex gaming edition, that would sell bucketloads. Something more powerful than a 5770 !

  14. over 100c in 3 way sli. They need to put the slots further apart in some motherboards for this. three cards in 3 way generate such heat and its pushed into the cards beside. Love the performance, but the noise and temps would put me off immediately. dual CFx though for certain. ill probably get two 6950’s in Cfx in the new year.

  15. These are really great cards. I dont care for a 430 quid board, 220 quid for the 6950 though? yes please !

  16. I think that most enthusiast gamers will stretch to £300 for a board, putting the 570 and 6970 in the top end for most people. id like to see the followup with 570 against 6970. the three monitor support is a selling point, ive already two screens, one more is only 130 quid. if I want this with 570 I need another card. nvidia are lagging here. but I prefer their drivers. no idea what to buy now 🙁

  17. awesome work , those are mega cards. need to sell my dog to get some.