First Impressions: Crossfired 6950's

[3DVagabond]

Quick update for those asking about temps. At 840/1325 (CCC Max) running through the Stalker benchmark on high settings, one card hit 82C and the other hit 95C. Fan hit a max of 36% and 57% respectively. Temp should improve a lot for the card in slot 1 when I separate the cards more.

I'd be curious, if you want to be bothered, try switching them around and see if temps stay the same in the same positions on the board. IE the top card still runs mid 90's. It seems that there can be big differences in the way heatsinks are seated and TIM is applied on videocards. Personally, I think they should send them not mounted and make it something the user/retailer does.

 

[Will Robinson]

I hear they run real hot like 89c under a full load. have you loaded them up yet?
Can you confirm that they run about as hot as a gtx480 like some review sites are saying?

Those same review sites are saying GTX480 Thermi runs at 94C under the same conditions...so no...they aren't as crazy hot as a GTX480.^_^

 

[Petey!]

I'd be curious, if you want to be bothered, try switching them around and see if temps stay the same in the same positions on the board. IE the top card still runs mid 90's. It seems that there can be big differences in the way heatsinks are seated and TIM is applied on videocards. Personally, I think they should send them not mounted and make it something the user/retailer does.

Sandwiched cards with reference designs typically make the top card run anywhere from 5-10C hotter depending on your case airflow.

So they definitely run hotter then the 5xx series. From the bottom cards temp alone, it runs pretty much at the same temp as my 470. What are the acoustics like? My card never goes much over 54-58% which is inaudible.

 

[Cuular]

Is it possible to buy a longer CrossFire connector by itself?

amazon has one http://www.amazon.com/ATI-CrossFire-.../ref=pd_cp_e_1


As do a few other places.

 

[Elfear]

Found some long Crossfire connectors and temps have gone down a lot. Running through the same Stalker benchmark at high settings the cards hit 80C and 82C. A little breathing room makes a big difference.

Sandwiched cards with reference designs typically make the top card run anywhere from 5-10C hotter depending on your case airflow.

So they definitely run hotter then the 5xx series. From the bottom cards temp alone, it runs pretty much at the same temp as my 470. What are the acoustics like? My card never goes much over 54-58% which is inaudible.

Cards are definitely audible during the middle of the Stalker benchmark and during Starcraft II gameplay with cards stacked right next to each other. Maybe a little louder than my 5850@38% fan speed.

With the cards spaced out they each hit 35% fan speed at max. Much better for the top card which was hitting 57%.

 

[Mistwalker]

Found some long Crossfire connectors and temps have gone down a lot. Running through the same Stalker benchmark at high settings the cards hit 80C and 82C. A little breathing room makes a big difference.

Cards are definitely audible during the middle of the Stalker benchmark and during Starcraft II gameplay with cards stacked right next to each other. Maybe a little louder than my 5850@38% fan speed.

With the cards spaced out they each hit 35% fan speed at max. Much better for the top card which was hitting 57%.

Wow, that is a huge difference! I still think 6950 CF is absolutely the best high-performing deal out there, but will need to add the caveat "if you have room to space them" as those temps/noise deltas are significant.

Good to know a little space makes it all alright though. :thumbsup:

 

[betasub]

Found some long Crossfire connectors

Did you already have these (packaged with a motherboard or older gfx card)? Or have you obtained them separately?

 

[flopper]

Wow, that is a huge difference! I still think 6950 CF is absolutely the best high-performing deal out there, but will need to add the caveat "if you have room to space them" as those temps/noise deltas are significant.

Good to know a little space makes it all alright though. :thumbsup:

or watercool them as I did
38c/30c idle
Loving it.

 

[Elfear]

Played Starcraft II for a while last night and cards were pretty quiet. I'm pretty happy with the acoustics at this point.

Did you already have these (packaged with a motherboard or older gfx card)? Or have you obtained them separately?

Found them on Ebay for $17.50 shipped. Just do a search for "Long Crossfire Connector". I wasn't excited about spending more money but I can use them in the future if the 7000 series proves to be good or resell them if Nvidia's offering is better.

or watercool them as I did
38c/30c idle
Loving it.

The 6900 series looks like a good candidate for watercooling. When software overclocking apps come out, you'll have to see how far those cards will go.

 

[niemion]

Has there been any patches from Blizzard that improved crossfire / SLI performance in Starcraft 2? Initially it was very poor i remember.

Can any of you test how low FPS goes with 200/200 supply battles? Could be very cool. I can help stage the 200 / 200 custom game if you add me.

 

[betasub]

I'll be getting one of these non-reference cards to go as the lower card in crossfire with my reference 6950:

http://www.techpowerup.com/137172/P...gn-Radeon-HD-6970-HD-6950-Graphics-Cards.html

But that's for after I've finished playing with BIOS flashes for overclocking: my 6950 seems to works well with a 6970 BIOS.

 

[Elfear]

Got both my cards unlocked. Process was very simple per the TPU instructions. Ran through a bunch of Stalker: COP benchmarks and have seen no artifacting. Oced to 925/1400 with no issue on stock voltage. I did have to up my Powertune bar to +10% to avoid the 2nd gpu decreasing the core clock. Never thought these cards would turn out to be such a good buy.:awe:

Stalker results are below at high settings. I've also added scores for an overclocked 5850 and the stock 6950's for contrast. I've noticed the minimum frames can be rather erratic and unrepeatable in the Stalker benchmark. The averages seem to correlate quite well with increased shader power and overclocking though.

5850@970/1170


Stock 6950's


Unlocked 6950's@800/1250



Unlocked 6950's@925/1400

 

[Sentry2]

^ Very nice

 

[bryanW1995]

I agree. I just installed two 6970's tonight in crossfire, replacing a single 5870 and I am loving how they are running now.

You are right about them being quite large. The 6970 is the same size as the 6950, and mine just barely fit in my mid-sized antec 900-two -

nice thing about that case is that you can run that setup like that and just turn the front fans up to medium or high to get good airflow on the cards.