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.
