FORUMS
PRICEWATCH
VIDEOS
Rumour: AMD preparing 1GB Radeon HD 6950/6970
Reported by Sub on Monday, January 10 2011 4:18 pm
AMD's decision to use 2GB GDDR5 as default on its Cayman cards - Radeon HD 6950 and HD 6970 - was questioned by some of the enthusiast community. However, it did mean that the HD6950/70 performed admirably in high resolution / high IQ settings, performing well above their price range. At more standard resolutions upto 1920x1080 and 4xAA, the extra memory is said to provide minimal boosts in framerates for most current games. It comes as no surprise that AMD is preparing a 1GB GDDR5 variant of Radeon HD 6950, with a lower cost and power consumption. This move will keep the upcoming GeForce GTX 560 at bay, and close the gap between the $230 HD 6870 and the $300 HD 6950.
AMD's decision to use 2GB GDDR5 as default on its Cayman cards - Radeon
HD 6950 and HD 6970 - was questioned by some of the enthusiast
community. However, it did mean that the HD6950/70 performed admirably
in high resolution / high IQ settings, performing well above their price
range. At more standard resolutions upto 1920x1080 and 4xAA, the extra
memory is said to provide minimal boosts in framerates for most current
games. It comes as no surprise that AMD is preparing a 1GB GDDR5 variant
of Radeon HD 6950, with a lower cost and power consumption. This move
will keep the upcoming GeForce GTX 560 at bay, and close the gap between
the $230 HD 6870 and the $300 HD 6950.
Somewhat surprisingly, there will be a 1GB variant for even the HD 6970. The gap between the HD 6950 and HD 6970 is already marginal (just over 10%) so it will be interesting to see where the HD 6970 1GB fits in. Certainly, at resolutions below 1080p, there will be next to no difference in performance between 1GB and 2GB, but then again, cards in the $100-$200 range are more appropriate for those resolutions. In addition to the reduced memory, future Cayman boards are rumoured to use a "revised" PCB.
Source: HT4U
Somewhat surprisingly, there will be a 1GB variant for even the HD 6970. The gap between the HD 6950 and HD 6970 is already marginal (just over 10%) so it will be interesting to see where the HD 6970 1GB fits in. Certainly, at resolutions below 1080p, there will be next to no difference in performance between 1GB and 2GB, but then again, cards in the $100-$200 range are more appropriate for those resolutions. In addition to the reduced memory, future Cayman boards are rumoured to use a "revised" PCB.
Source: HT4U
ARTICLE NAVIGATOR
