I just completed quite a few upgrades to several builds in my home, including my own system, so I guess it's time to sit down and review it all now that I have had time to put all this new hardware to the test. I decided to kick it off with the new video card I purchased for my system to replace the HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 IceQ4+ Turbo 1GB GDDR5 card I have been running for a while now.
The HIS HD 4870 was, and still is, a fantastic card. I was still able to play the latest games at 1920x1080 and at maximum game settings with no video lag what so ever. For the 4000 series generation, it was by far one of the best cards you could get. However, the card was reaching it's limits and did not support DX11, only 10.1. I wanted DX11 support as well as the ability to take advantage of the latest architectural advancements and tessellation support of the next generation cards. So it was time to upgrade.
After quite a bit of research and debate, I ended up settling on the XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5. I departed from HIS and went with XFX for one main reason, that 2 year warranty. Something that's very nice to have when buying such a new piece of hardware. So I have nothing against HIS at all and XFX has always been a good brand in my opinion as well.
This XFX 6950 is an amazing card for the price. About $70 cheaper than the 6970's at the time of purchase, yet can be flashed to a 6970 if you choose to do so. It handles overclocking very well, and even at stock speeds is so close to the 6970 in real gaming performance that it's not even noticeable, the actual FPS differences are minuscule. If you do overclock it, you can easily run on par with the 6970 in the frames per second category.
Even though these cards can be flashed to a 6970, I will not be doing so, I do not see the need at all. Like I said above, the card performs amazingly well vs a 6970, the only real differences show up in synthetic benchmarks, and even then at all stock clocks, the difference is incredibly small. The 6970 has a PassMark score of 3090, and the 6950 has a score of 3017, a difference of only 73.
Of course, anyone that knows me also knows that I do not put much stock in synthetic benchmarks. The only numbers I care about are stable frames per second and if the hardware is able to provide me with a smooth fantastic gaming experience, and this XFX 6950 has no problems with any of that what so ever.
Even though I failed to actually record my numbers in most of the games I have tested out on this card, I can say that the numbers in most every case went up by quite a lot, and I got all the "eye candy" benefits of Dx11 when it was applicable. I will be going back and re-running many of the games I play and benchmarking the framerates here very soon. I will update this post with those numbers, as well as my Strider's Gaming Rig Specs and Benchmarks page.
So far, I have tested out these "higher-end" and/or newer games:
In each and every case, my stable frame rates went up. I was also able to notice visual improvements in games that support DX11. So I must say that I am very impressed and pleased with this XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 video card.
Now, will it compare to the top of the line Nvidia 580's? That depends. The 580's will beat it and the 6970 in benchmarks, however the 6900 series is not AMD's top of the line with this generation of cards. Also, the 580's are MUCH more expensive, at over $500. A 580 may beat a 6900 in numbers, but in real world gameplay, there will be NO noticeable difference what so ever short of PhysX effects in the few games that actually use it.
I got my buddy, an Nvidia guy, to give this 6950 a spin on my system and he could detect any differences in gameplay what so ever compared to his system running an MSI GTX 580 Fermi 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5, that he paid over $500 for. So again, I am all about real gameplay more than synthetic benchmarks or numbers.
The other factor to look at is the 6950's, at their current price point of about $280, make for a fantastic Crossfire setup. These cards scale incredibly well. At a minimum of 30%, with many games hitting 100% or darn close to it. So look at it this way. If you are more of a numbers person, 2 6950's in Crossfire will run you about $560 at the time of this review, where as a single GTX 580 will cost you about $500. So for $60 more, two 6950's will rip apart a 580 in every aspect. Right now, 6950's in Crossfire is one of the best price to performance ratios on the market.
If it's numbers you want, here is a short video from Motherboards.org that shows you how much more power you can get for only $60 over the cost of a single Nvidia GTX 580. You can also see how different games scale differently across the titles they used. Note that scaling is more about the individual game than the hardware. However even the games that showed only a 30% scale over a single card, still scored higher than the GTX 580, obviously. So you can easily see why a Crossfire 6950 setup at about $560 is a much better, in my opinion, than wasting your money on a single GTX 580 at about $500.
Now before you say "Well what about two 580's in SLI?" or something of that sort. You will still be spending about $1000, and the ONLY benefit would be synthetic numbers. When we are talking about stable framerates this high, it's only about bragging rights now, there is no longer any real benefit to the gaming. If you want to pay stupid amounts of cash to say you get 30 more FPS than me, more power to you, I on the other hand do not buy into the numbers game. If you have to spend that much money to beat a $560 6950 Crossfire setup, then in my opinion, I am the one who has the bragging rights.
So if you are looking for the best price to performance option right now, the 6950 is it, especially in Crossfire. If you want to wait though, the top of the line "enthusiast" GPU's from AMD are set to hit the market. From what I have read, the 580's days at the top in benchmarks is about to come to an abrupt end, just like it did last generation. So if you wait a short while, these new AMD cards may be just what you are looking for.
For me however, if I want to push the numbers for any reason, I will just pick up another one of these XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950's and let Crossfire do it's thing.
If you are curious what comes in the box, here is a short video clip of my card when it arrived and what it contains in the box. Sorry I sound a bit, off, I was fighting a nasty cold. The video clips are also not in HD, 480 only, I do not own an HD video camera since I do not have a real need for one as of yet.
I also neglected to mention in the video, when I say I only run a single 1080p display, that is for gaming only. I actually run a second display for Windows applications and work. This card has NO problems what so ever with that, or Eyefinity. It actually does amazing in multi-display setups, no matter if they are for gaming or not, I simply do not use mine for gaming since I only run 2 displays.
The HIS HD 4870 was, and still is, a fantastic card. I was still able to play the latest games at 1920x1080 and at maximum game settings with no video lag what so ever. For the 4000 series generation, it was by far one of the best cards you could get. However, the card was reaching it's limits and did not support DX11, only 10.1. I wanted DX11 support as well as the ability to take advantage of the latest architectural advancements and tessellation support of the next generation cards. So it was time to upgrade.
After quite a bit of research and debate, I ended up settling on the XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5. I departed from HIS and went with XFX for one main reason, that 2 year warranty. Something that's very nice to have when buying such a new piece of hardware. So I have nothing against HIS at all and XFX has always been a good brand in my opinion as well.
This XFX 6950 is an amazing card for the price. About $70 cheaper than the 6970's at the time of purchase, yet can be flashed to a 6970 if you choose to do so. It handles overclocking very well, and even at stock speeds is so close to the 6970 in real gaming performance that it's not even noticeable, the actual FPS differences are minuscule. If you do overclock it, you can easily run on par with the 6970 in the frames per second category.
Even though these cards can be flashed to a 6970, I will not be doing so, I do not see the need at all. Like I said above, the card performs amazingly well vs a 6970, the only real differences show up in synthetic benchmarks, and even then at all stock clocks, the difference is incredibly small. The 6970 has a PassMark score of 3090, and the 6950 has a score of 3017, a difference of only 73.
Of course, anyone that knows me also knows that I do not put much stock in synthetic benchmarks. The only numbers I care about are stable frames per second and if the hardware is able to provide me with a smooth fantastic gaming experience, and this XFX 6950 has no problems with any of that what so ever.
Even though I failed to actually record my numbers in most of the games I have tested out on this card, I can say that the numbers in most every case went up by quite a lot, and I got all the "eye candy" benefits of Dx11 when it was applicable. I will be going back and re-running many of the games I play and benchmarking the framerates here very soon. I will update this post with those numbers, as well as my Strider's Gaming Rig Specs and Benchmarks page.
So far, I have tested out these "higher-end" and/or newer games:
- ArmA II
- Bad Company 2 Vietnam
- Metro 2033
- Dirt 2
- Stalker Call of Prypiat
- Just Cause 2
- Darksiders
- Crysis Wars
- Crysis Warhead
- Breach
- Medal of Honor 2010
- Battlefield Play4Free
In each and every case, my stable frame rates went up. I was also able to notice visual improvements in games that support DX11. So I must say that I am very impressed and pleased with this XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 video card.
Now, will it compare to the top of the line Nvidia 580's? That depends. The 580's will beat it and the 6970 in benchmarks, however the 6900 series is not AMD's top of the line with this generation of cards. Also, the 580's are MUCH more expensive, at over $500. A 580 may beat a 6900 in numbers, but in real world gameplay, there will be NO noticeable difference what so ever short of PhysX effects in the few games that actually use it.
I got my buddy, an Nvidia guy, to give this 6950 a spin on my system and he could detect any differences in gameplay what so ever compared to his system running an MSI GTX 580 Fermi 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5, that he paid over $500 for. So again, I am all about real gameplay more than synthetic benchmarks or numbers.
The other factor to look at is the 6950's, at their current price point of about $280, make for a fantastic Crossfire setup. These cards scale incredibly well. At a minimum of 30%, with many games hitting 100% or darn close to it. So look at it this way. If you are more of a numbers person, 2 6950's in Crossfire will run you about $560 at the time of this review, where as a single GTX 580 will cost you about $500. So for $60 more, two 6950's will rip apart a 580 in every aspect. Right now, 6950's in Crossfire is one of the best price to performance ratios on the market.
If it's numbers you want, here is a short video from Motherboards.org that shows you how much more power you can get for only $60 over the cost of a single Nvidia GTX 580. You can also see how different games scale differently across the titles they used. Note that scaling is more about the individual game than the hardware. However even the games that showed only a 30% scale over a single card, still scored higher than the GTX 580, obviously. So you can easily see why a Crossfire 6950 setup at about $560 is a much better, in my opinion, than wasting your money on a single GTX 580 at about $500.
Now before you say "Well what about two 580's in SLI?" or something of that sort. You will still be spending about $1000, and the ONLY benefit would be synthetic numbers. When we are talking about stable framerates this high, it's only about bragging rights now, there is no longer any real benefit to the gaming. If you want to pay stupid amounts of cash to say you get 30 more FPS than me, more power to you, I on the other hand do not buy into the numbers game. If you have to spend that much money to beat a $560 6950 Crossfire setup, then in my opinion, I am the one who has the bragging rights.
So if you are looking for the best price to performance option right now, the 6950 is it, especially in Crossfire. If you want to wait though, the top of the line "enthusiast" GPU's from AMD are set to hit the market. From what I have read, the 580's days at the top in benchmarks is about to come to an abrupt end, just like it did last generation. So if you wait a short while, these new AMD cards may be just what you are looking for.
For me however, if I want to push the numbers for any reason, I will just pick up another one of these XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950's and let Crossfire do it's thing.
If you are curious what comes in the box, here is a short video clip of my card when it arrived and what it contains in the box. Sorry I sound a bit, off, I was fighting a nasty cold. The video clips are also not in HD, 480 only, I do not own an HD video camera since I do not have a real need for one as of yet.
I also neglected to mention in the video, when I say I only run a single 1080p display, that is for gaming only. I actually run a second display for Windows applications and work. This card has NO problems what so ever with that, or Eyefinity. It actually does amazing in multi-display setups, no matter if they are for gaming or not, I simply do not use mine for gaming since I only run 2 displays.
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