Guys if you check this review http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/12/14/amd_radeon_hd_6970_6950_video_card_review/3 6970 goes head to head with 580 and wins sometimes, and when it looses it looses by very little, considering its 150$ cheaper. 6950 almost always beats 570, and its 50$ cheaper P.S BTW, IMO these cards have to be tested with power feature to maximum, its not an overclock and we use desktop PC's so there is no reason to use low power mode. So here is a few additional FPS that can be easily gained
All done on 2560x1600 and with different IQ settings for each card. If you go by this review the 6870 outperforms the 580 and 6970. Barely makes a difference. http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/24
Two things: 1. I know that at least two of those games suit 6970 well, F1 2010 and metro 2033, so it has a little bit better performance. In games that suit 580, like Dirt, 6970 is far behind. 2. 6970 has 2gb of memory, so it performs better at higher resolutions and high AA levels. For example: that F1 2010 test is done at 2560 8x. I guess there is a need for 3g 580s and 2.5g 570s.
Yet in Hilbert's review, the 580 is 5 fps faster than the 6970 under Metro 2033 with Depth of Field turned ON at 19x12 res. Going from 28 to 33 fps, that's a 17% difference. So let's just skip that setting and make the AMD card look better. The gagging on the F1 2011 framebuffer with 8x MSAA is hilarious. What a result.
I wasn't defending the 6970, nor saying that we should skip 1920; in fact that's one the most important and common resolutions out there, 2560 is in minority. I was just trying to elaborate.
I think that what he is talking about, the only reason why 6970 'perform better' is due to the 2GB of VRAM which limit the performance of 580 on high resolution that nobody playing at. This however would be a legit advantage if only they can perform well (no frame skipping and in the region of 60+FPS) in the normal resolution (1680*1050 or 1900 * 1200) which isn't the case. Until then, high resolution gaming isn't quite ready yet.
Im looking for a GPU for 3D stereo, i dont mind ATI, since i already use 5850 with DDD driver. But i want to get now either 580 or 6970.. Anyway, do you think that these benchmarks n uber resolution are more relevant to 3D stereo? Since stereo 3D renders in double and you need twice the frame buffer?
check this out it just too funny where you just have to laugh. The true reason behind the delay of AMD Cayman 6970/6950? - you'd never wanna know If you unmount the cooler of a reference card, you could notice an obvious abrasion over the corner of the inner 6/8-pin power connector socket. No, it ain't by chance you've got a bad pick. It's common among all the popular review sites. Yes, it's because if you don't polish that corner, you wouldn't be able to mount and install that cooler! Thus AMD spent a delay to fix that - they polish every card by hand, therefore each card is guaranteed to be a hand-crafted unique version! source http://www.chiphell.com/thread-148220-1-1.html thread here in anlish http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=263668
And I was just continuing where you left. Sometimes those HardOCP reviews become so vague you start wondering what the hell they're up to.
Oh, ok. Guess my english is still not good enough then. Yeah, HardOCP's method isn't good for direct comparisons.
Guessing people's intentions over the internet can be very difficult. Especially when they don't use emoticons
HardOCP uses the most logical, practical way to conduct GPU reviews (ie, max playable settings). But I hate reading their reviews, and their silly graphs are convoluted lines all in one jumbled mess, a true eyesore. Whenever I see links to their site I dont bother clicking. Back on topic. These new AMD cards were not intended to be 2nd placers at lowish prices, just that Nvidia pulled the rug from under them with the 580/570. I think AMD must have terrible margins with these cards as they're not selling at the price range they were originally targeted for. So on that basis, its a big win for Nvidia. From a consumer basis, AMD enthusiasts get good value, just will have to do with a slightly shrunken e-peen.