Reminds me of keysplars 480 review,! Looking forward to seeing the final 'product'
I hope to deliver :thumbsup:
If you think you're hitting a vRAM wall you could run a test on the 6950 where you just test if there is a linear (or close to) change in performance when you change the memory frequency.
That's assuming that the access speeds can overcome a capacity insufficiency, which I don't believe is how it works (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
I got her installed and benching @ stock on air,
Yes, I know my tubing looks disgusting. The flash makes it look worse than it really is and I'll be changing it out tomorrow. The reason for tomorrow is my new XSPC RayStorm for my CPU has
not arrived yet, so I won't be taking apart my loop yet. That's actually a good thing I think, since I'll be using the same loop for my 7970 tests, which will keep things very consistent. I'll also be able to run some quick tests again to see how well the new blocks (and clean out) up the performance of my loop. I'll report back with some initial air cooling data for those interested, and then I'll immediately throw it on water. I think it's only fair for the card to be on water for both the stock and OC tests in order to maintain consistency.
For first impressions - the card is the same size as the 6950, which is easily manageable in a midtower. The fan itself is amazing, AMD outdid themselves here. At idle, it stays at 20% and is silent. The XFX card only comes with a DVI->HDMI adapter, so if you're an Eyefinity user, the Sapphire model is the way to go for now. Also, I have to put in a plug for NCIXUS - awesome company. This XFX arrived at my door in Boston, MA from CA in less than 24 hours. Their service, especially customer service, is top notch. If you're looking for an alternative to Newegg or Amazon, especially for big ticket items, they're the best. More to come .