- Oct 12, 2011
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I just wanted to share my quick thoughts on the dual GPU solutions from AMD. I was a proud owner of a 5970 and more recently a 6990.
The good
- unlike the GTX 590, the 5970/6990 can be overclocked beyond their single GPU equivalent specifications (with sufficient cooling)
- they use the full proper chips (with higher binning) and are therefore not "neutered" dual gpu's like the competition
- due to using proper chips, one could even run 4-way crossfire and still have pci-express slots for something like a sound card, gaming nic, pci-e based SSD, etc. Personally, I will run on integrated graphics before I go without my sound card.
The bad
-the cards are not only uglier than the competition, but running another card next to it chockes the air intake. The bottom of the card near the intake fan is not angled to allow air in, necessitating free space between cards we can't always provide.
-this is my subjective opinion, but they way things stand right now I'm not buying 3D displays for AMD cards. If you were sad at Nvidia's proprietary, only-works-with-like-5-devices 3D solution, you'll slit your wrists when you see the compatibility list for AMD
The ugly
-stock cooler was decent on the 5970, but loud
-stock cooler blows air out both ends of the card on the 6990, and is even louder
-they suddenly stopped producing 6990s
-poor driver support (don't poo-poo me, if you run crossfire you know how many more issues we have getting TIMELY updates from AMD for new releases)
-no HDMI/second DVI port
-despite being dual GPU, still requires an active adaptor for the third monitor (and no, I'm not buying a weird niche expensive DP monitor)
The REALLY ugly
-still no option to disable crossfire (down to one GPU) if the 5970 or 6990 is the lead card in a multi-gpu configuration (THIS IS IMPORTANT DAMN IT) <- for older games, or games that are just released. also whenever the drivers are acting up, which is often.
TL;DR 5970/6990s are great cards, will require custom cooling to keep your sanity, but I highly recommend not getting a 6990 if it's going to be the lead (or only) card as you're at the mercy of AMD driver support.
The good
- unlike the GTX 590, the 5970/6990 can be overclocked beyond their single GPU equivalent specifications (with sufficient cooling)
- they use the full proper chips (with higher binning) and are therefore not "neutered" dual gpu's like the competition
- due to using proper chips, one could even run 4-way crossfire and still have pci-express slots for something like a sound card, gaming nic, pci-e based SSD, etc. Personally, I will run on integrated graphics before I go without my sound card.
The bad
-the cards are not only uglier than the competition, but running another card next to it chockes the air intake. The bottom of the card near the intake fan is not angled to allow air in, necessitating free space between cards we can't always provide.
-this is my subjective opinion, but they way things stand right now I'm not buying 3D displays for AMD cards. If you were sad at Nvidia's proprietary, only-works-with-like-5-devices 3D solution, you'll slit your wrists when you see the compatibility list for AMD
The ugly
-stock cooler was decent on the 5970, but loud
-stock cooler blows air out both ends of the card on the 6990, and is even louder
-they suddenly stopped producing 6990s
-poor driver support (don't poo-poo me, if you run crossfire you know how many more issues we have getting TIMELY updates from AMD for new releases)
-no HDMI/second DVI port
-despite being dual GPU, still requires an active adaptor for the third monitor (and no, I'm not buying a weird niche expensive DP monitor)
The REALLY ugly
-still no option to disable crossfire (down to one GPU) if the 5970 or 6990 is the lead card in a multi-gpu configuration (THIS IS IMPORTANT DAMN IT) <- for older games, or games that are just released. also whenever the drivers are acting up, which is often.
TL;DR 5970/6990s are great cards, will require custom cooling to keep your sanity, but I highly recommend not getting a 6990 if it's going to be the lead (or only) card as you're at the mercy of AMD driver support.
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