- May 15, 2014
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I've been smacking my head against a wall over here for about a year. I thought tracking down and implementing a second reference HD 6950 was going to be this game-changing circumstance but it hasn't been all it's cracked up to be. I've researched and tweaked and researched some more when that didn't work out. I've done everything I can think of (and some things that didn't occur naturally between my ears) to make this very respectable set of cards do their thing but I can't seem to get what I want out of them.
I'm trying to use the bikini approach here (brief, but covers the essentials) so please bear with me. I wanted these cards to be the last set of video cards I bought for a few years but I can see another 8-900 USD purchase in my not too distant future if I can't my big rig running the way I want it to. I'm aware that I can flash these cards with the firmware for the 6970s but I'm not trying to heat up my unit for 112 or so more shading units. Besides, I don't think that's my problem. An example of underwhelming performance was revealed to me recently when I had to turn the resolution way, WAY down on Batman: Arkham Origins to keep it from dropping to 9 FPS (truth be told I don't put a ton of stock in the raw numbers in situations like this but instead trust my senses to tell me when a tweak works out).
Am I wrong to think that a set of 6950s without any sort of power shortage or lack of cooling are capable of considerably more than they've been producing? I'm not afraid to be taken to task on this matter but let me just reiterate that I'm not a huge fan of stressing and benchmarking because those are wasted cycles that I don't get to use and put undue stress on expensive equipment. But I fear there may be some critical step I missed last year when I put this PC together for the umpteenth time.
A closing note that may not appear in my signature (provided it shows up at all) I'm running Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium and the latest Catalyst drivers for these cards. I'm afraid I may have finally hit the end of the internet in regards to my GPUs because even in their heyday they were kind of 'boutique' in nature so even if a power gamer could afford a set they most likely went with a Nvidia product. On the other hand, a similar set can be had to the tune of around 500 USD on eBay for anyone who isn't into the latest and greatest.
EDIT: I just realized that I didn't mention my monitor. It's a simple affair, an ASUS 24" LED...nothing fancy 1920 x 1080 so I'm not trying to do anything crazy like 60 FPS on a 2560 x 1440 monitor (maybe one day but not today!). I just want to be able to rip it up without lagging or artifacts. Thanks in advance.
I'm trying to use the bikini approach here (brief, but covers the essentials) so please bear with me. I wanted these cards to be the last set of video cards I bought for a few years but I can see another 8-900 USD purchase in my not too distant future if I can't my big rig running the way I want it to. I'm aware that I can flash these cards with the firmware for the 6970s but I'm not trying to heat up my unit for 112 or so more shading units. Besides, I don't think that's my problem. An example of underwhelming performance was revealed to me recently when I had to turn the resolution way, WAY down on Batman: Arkham Origins to keep it from dropping to 9 FPS (truth be told I don't put a ton of stock in the raw numbers in situations like this but instead trust my senses to tell me when a tweak works out).
Am I wrong to think that a set of 6950s without any sort of power shortage or lack of cooling are capable of considerably more than they've been producing? I'm not afraid to be taken to task on this matter but let me just reiterate that I'm not a huge fan of stressing and benchmarking because those are wasted cycles that I don't get to use and put undue stress on expensive equipment. But I fear there may be some critical step I missed last year when I put this PC together for the umpteenth time.
A closing note that may not appear in my signature (provided it shows up at all) I'm running Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium and the latest Catalyst drivers for these cards. I'm afraid I may have finally hit the end of the internet in regards to my GPUs because even in their heyday they were kind of 'boutique' in nature so even if a power gamer could afford a set they most likely went with a Nvidia product. On the other hand, a similar set can be had to the tune of around 500 USD on eBay for anyone who isn't into the latest and greatest.
EDIT: I just realized that I didn't mention my monitor. It's a simple affair, an ASUS 24" LED...nothing fancy 1920 x 1080 so I'm not trying to do anything crazy like 60 FPS on a 2560 x 1440 monitor (maybe one day but not today!). I just want to be able to rip it up without lagging or artifacts. Thanks in advance.
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