AMD Radeon HD 6990 Pictured, Launch Imminent

[Iphikratous]

Has anyone noticed just how much this looks like the XFX Special Edition 5970? Almost the exact same cooler, and the board layout is nearly identical as well.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

how do you like the acoustics? ;)

How do I like them? I don't know. It's sitting here without drivers right now...

[Delavan]

How do I like them? I don't know. It's sitting here without drivers right now...

WHAT!!!!!!! No proper driver support on your review sample??? Review delayed I guess...it blows..

On the BIOS switch issue,

I read somewhere that the switch gives you the 375 watts and the 450 watts options...

so to keep within specs, you use the 375 watts setting, and if you go 450 watts, AMD doesn't cover damages? What could happen?

If we consider the PCI-E slot provides 75 watts and each PCI-E connectors a max of 150 watts (for 375 watts max theorical spec), how could you possibly feed ABOVE SPEC powa to a card?

Anyway, SkyMTL will feed us the info when time comes..

[CMetaphor]

If i remember, 150w is from a 6-pin connector. 200w is an 8-pin. S0 the 6990that uses 2x 8-pin pcie power connectors = ( 200w x2 ) + 75w = 475w. it IS possible.... but will amd warranty such power usage? good question there... they Better.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by Delavan

WHAT!!!!!!! No proper driver support on your review sample??? Review delayed I guess...it blows....

No delays. It just means less time to test which may mean the elimination of certain tests (Eyefinity, Powertune, etc). To a certain extent, I am happy they are delaying the official press release driver since it seriously cuts down on the number of leaks.

On the BIOS switch issue,

I read somewhere that the switch gives you the 375 watts and the 450 watts options

so to keep within specs, you use the 375 watts setting, and if you go 450 watts, AMD doesn't cover damages? What could happen?...

AMD does not warrant overclocking. Their board partners are allowed to factor in their own warranties though.

If we consider the PCI-E slot provides 75 watts and each PCI-E connectors a max of 150 watts (for 375 watts max theorical spec), how could you possibly feed ABOVE SPEC powa to a card?

The slot can provide up to 150W of power and each 8-pin connector 150W (6-pin connectors are good for 75W) for a total of 450W. The use of an external connector (molex, etc) needs to be used on the mobo though.

HOWEVER, in order to make the spec backwards compatible with PCI-E 1.x, the PCI-E specification states that no more than 75W can be drawn through the slot.

One of the issues here is the "multi rail" PSUs that exist on the market. Dual GPU cards which draw this kind of power usually do so through the PCI-E connectors. If these are attached to a multi rail PSU with an OCP of 18A (216W) per rail, a user needs to be VERY careful when connecting the card to the PCI-E connectors. They need to ensure each PCI-E connecor is attached to a different rail.

[_dangtx_]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

How do I like them? I don't know. It's sitting here without drivers right now...

so what, plug it in, dont be chicken. before the boot screen pops up the fans will go up high and you can tell already what high means to your ears, after that itll quiet down a bit which will give you a good idea of what idle-mididle means.
unless yours came with a revised fan profile :)

and then when you go to winders try a driver thats already out. cant hurt to try unless you wanna stick by the fresh install rules.

[SKYMTL]

Fans on AMD cards run to 100% at start up as their BIOS versions are checked. How in the world will that allow me to accurately judge in-game acoustical performance?

[_dangtx_]

like i said, you can tell by the high how bad or not so bad it can be. come on, takes you 30 secs :)

so far an earlier one was a bit on the bad side, but the last one is quite acceptable.

call it whoosh or whatever nothing major here.

[Supergrover]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

Fans on AMD cards run to 100% at start up as their BIOS versions are checked. How in the world will that allow me to accurately judge in-game acoustical performance?

Totally agree Mike, I would rather know "real world' acoustic's myself.

I thought the pcie slots only delivered 75w unless a molex was attached to the mobo?

Did this change or am I just plain wrong........... again?

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by Supergrover

Totally agree Mike, I would rather know "real world' acoustic's myself.

I thought the pcie slots only delivered 75w unless a molex was attached to the mobo?

Did this change or am I just plain wrong........... again?

There is a difference in the PCI-E spec between capability and "certified output". PCI-E slots and the traces leading to them are mandated to have a capacity of 150W+ but any certified device is only allowed to pull 75W. The PCI Sig does this in order to maintain backwards compatibility with PCI-E 1.x.