Radeon HD 6970 And 6950 Review: Is Cayman A Gator Or A Crock?

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Last month, Nvidia launched its GeForce GTX 580, but we told you to hold off on buying it. A week ago, Nvidia launched GeForce GTX 570 and we again said "wait." AMD's Cayman was our impetus. Were Radeon HD 6970 and 6950 worth the wait? Read on for more!

Benchmark Results: Lost Planet 2 (DX11)

Our current test suite contains a mix of titles backed by AMD and others emphasized by Nvidia. Lost Planet 2 falls into the latter category, evidenced by the strong finishes by Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 580 and 460s in SLI. Nevertheless, two Radeon HD 6850s climb the ranks, passing the GeForce GTX 570 to essentially tie a $500 GTX 580 at 2560x1600.

AMD’s Radeon HD 6970 is found down the chart a ways, behind the Radeon HD 5970 and GeForce GTX 480. Its performance isn’t bad, per se. However, when you consider the Radeon HD 6850s in CrossFire trending toward the top of the chart at a price under $400, it really seems like there’s little reason to favor the single-GPU board, which is significantly slower.

It’s also interesting that the Radeon HD 6950 offers frame rates close to what we see from the 6970. Give the expected ~$70 difference between the two, the 6950 appears to be a much better value, even besting the Radeon HD 5870.

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
217 Comments Comment from the forums
  • terror112
    WOW not impressed.
    Reply
  • Annisman
    Thanks for the review Angelini, these new naming schemes are hurting my head, sometimes the only way to tell (at a quick glance) which AMD card matches up to what Nvidia card, is by comparing the prices, which I think is bad for the average consumer.
    Reply
  • rohitbaran
    These cards are to GTX 500 series what 4000 series was to GTX 200. Not the fastest at their time but offer killer performance and feature set for the price. I too expected 6900 to be close to GTX 580, but it didn't turn out that way. Still, it is the card I have waited for to upgrade. Right in my budget.
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    imagine when this hits 32nm?
    Reply
  • notty22
    AMD's top card is about a draw with the gtx 570.
    Pricing is in line.
    Gives AMD only hold outs buying options, Nvidia already offered
    Merry Christmas
    Reply
  • microterf
    Why drop the 580 when it comes to the multi-gpu scaling??
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    Sorry all i read was this
    "This helps catch AMD up to Nvidia. However, Intel has something waiting in the wings that’ll take both graphics companies by surprise. In a couple of weeks, we'll be able to tell you more." and now i'm fixated to weather or not intel's gpu's can actually commit to proper playback.
    Reply
  • andrewcutter
    but from what i read at hardocp, though it is priced alongside the 570, 6970 was benched against the 580 and they were trading blows... So toms has it at par with 570 but hard has it on par with 580.. now im confused because if it can give 580 perfomance or almost 580 performance at 570 price and power then this one is a winner. Sim a 6950 was trading blows with 570 there. So i am very confused
    Reply
  • sgt bombulous
    This is hilarious... How long ago was it that there were ATI fanboys blabbering "The 6970 is gonna be 80% faster than the GTX 580!!!". And then reality hit...
    Reply
  • manitoublack
    I'd have to say wait until the christmas new years dust settles
    Reply