Zaključak

Nova dvoglava zvjerka nije nas razočarala, no ni pretjerano oduševila. Što smo dobili sa HD5970 pretprošle godine, dobili smo i ove s HD6990. Iznimno brzu karticu, tj. najbržu u ovom trenutku pakiranu na jedan PCB (poprilične dužine). Sve prednosti i mane Cayman arhitekture su tu, samo udvostručene. Razlika u odnosu na HD5970 je u drugom, brže nastrojenom BIOS-u, no čini se kako je limit termalnog dizajna, tj. PowerTune taj koji koči performanse i puni potencijal HD6990 kartice. Brza je, i to joj ne možemo osporiti no jednostavno nije brza kao dvije HD6970 kartice. Rashladni sistem je posložen iznova i znatno je efikasniji od starog. Buka koju generira nije malena, no od high-end kartice drugo nije ni za očekivati. Na kraju, sve ovisi o potrebama i cijeni. Ukoliko jedna HD6990 bude koštala kao dvije ili više od dvije HD6970 ne isplati ju se nabavljati. Preporučena maloprodajna cijena u Americi je 699 USD, a to je točno duplo novca koji se traži za jednu HD6970. Tek treba vidjeti hoće li i kod nas to tako biti kada se cijene jednom stabiliziraju. Ukoliko cijena nije problem, a muči vas tipična potrošnja ili nedostatak mjesta za dvije HD6970 onda nabavite HD6990.

Nvidija ne spava i za idući bi tjedan (prema posljednjim informacijama), trebala lansirati svoju dvoglavu karticu – GTX590. Tek nakon što nju isprobamo moći ćemo zaključiti koja je nova kraljica desktop 3D grafike.

Conclusion

The new two-headed beast has neither disappointed us, nor are we overly impressed. What we got with the HD5970 before, we got it from the HD6990. Extremely fast card, in fact the fastest at this moment packaged on a single PCB. All the advantages and disadvantages of the Cayman architecture are here, only doubled. The difference when compared to the HD5970 is in the second, faster minded BIOS, but it seems that the PowerTune hampers performance a bit and the full potential of the HD6990 card. It’s fast, and that can`t be denied but it’s just not as fast as two HD6970 cards. Cooling system is newly arranged and is much more efficient than the old one (on HD5970). The noise generated is not small, but from the high-end card we didn`t expected otherwise. In the end, it all depends on the needs of the buyer and pricing. If the HD6990 ends up costing more than two HD6970’s it is not worth the purchase. Suggested retail price in USA is 699 USD, which is exactly twice the money required for a single HD6970 (recommended price). It remains to be seen whether this will be the case on our market once the prices settle down. If the price is not an issue, and you still want that single card with high performance, because of the lower typical power consumption, or you don`t have enough space for two HD6970`s, then we would suggest the purchase of HD6990.

Nvidia didn’t fall asleep, and are preparing to launch their two-headed card next week, model GTX590. After we test that card, we will be able to conclude which is the new queen of desktop 3D graphics.