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

By Chris Angelini
published

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: DiRT 2 (DX11)

Although this was one of AMD’s marquee titles during its Radeon HD 5870 launch, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 480 and 570 both outperform the Radeon HD 6970 here. The fastest performers are the GeForce GTX 460 cards in SLI, priced near $400, and the Radeon HD 6850 cards in CrossFire, commanding roughly $380. Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 580 is up there as well. However, that card’s price is really only worthwhile if you aren’t able to give up four expansion slots for the dual-board solutions.

The Radeon HD 6970 splits Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 480 and 470, nearly catching the 480 at 2560x1600. Unfortunately, the GeForce GTX 570 is even faster than Nvidia’s beleaguered former flagship, delivering better performance at a $350 price tag.

With the exception of 1680x1050, AMD’s Radeon HD 6950 slides in just behind the 5870, a $290 card. Given the Radeon HD 6870’s $240 price tag, we expect to see the newer 6950 somewhere in between—and indeed it should bear a $270 SRP.

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