AMD Radeon HD 6990m Launches!!!

Saw this on the web. the 6990m has been launched but no benchmarks or gaming specs available yet!

***"AMD has taken the wraps off of its latest graphics chip for notebooks, the Radeon HD6990M. The Barts-based GPU is its most powerful mobile graphics processor currently available from AMD’s line, and will be available in the Alienware M18x and other manufacturers from today.

The AMD announcement comes not long after NVIDIA’s launch of the GeForce GTX 580M a couple of weeks ago, and while we haven’t seen samples of either in the office yet, it should be a close run battle as to which is better.

As with most laptop GPUs, the Radeon HD6990M bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the dual-chip desktop monster that is the Radeon HD6990. This is a single chip, for a start, and it’s built around an older version of the Radeon architecture than the newer Cayman-based HD6xxx series on desktop.

That said, these high end laptop chips are catching up. The HD6990M comes with 1120 stream processors on board, as well as 56 texture units and 32 ROPS – it’s almost identical to a desktop HD6870, in other words, save for a slightly lower clockspeed. It also has 2GB of GDDR5 RAM, which should help it with effects like anti-aliasing at high resolutions.

Certainly it’s enough power for a 1080p laptop screen, and with the right CPU, could even be enough for 3D effects at a reasonable framerate – although that’s an area where NVIDIA continues to lead just in terms of hardware support (I’ve still never seen an AMD compatible 3D monitor, for example).

There’s no word yet as on the cost of laptops fitted out with either the GeForce GTX 580M or the HD6990M, but I’m hoping to put them head to head some time in the next couple of weeks." - PC Gamer

 

Also found this on the CNET website:
"AMD has since counterpunched with the AMD Radeon HD 6990M, its new, most high-end laptop graphics card, which the company now claims, as Nvidia did weeks ago, is the "fastest notebook GPU." This time, the edge indeed seems to belong to AMD. The company boasts a 25 percent improvement over the next-fastest notebook GPU. According to slides from AMD showing head-to-head performance benchmarks versus the GeForce GTX 580M, that statement seems to hold true."



Read more: AMD releases its 'fastest notebook GPU' too: AMD Radeon HD 6990M | Crave - CNET

 

The 6990m is up on the US site.

 

aye, the NDA ends today. KEEP IN MIND all benchmarks AMD is using is on an AMD cpu with a downclocked GTX 560ti--so take with a grain of salt--not a true GTX 580m.

 

to be sold separately as an upgrade?

 

Maybe this'll spawn Nvidia to launch the GTX 590m - maybe a desktop GTX 570 or something.

 

But what would the pricing be? IMHO Nvidia is charging way to much for the 580m.

 

Awesome! Getting mine on THE 8th of August witheet THE 6990

Can't wait!

 

Probably $1000 for one card, $2000 for SLI. Lol

 

Seems people are way more excited about the 6990M coming out than the 580M

 

$300 upgrade for 6990, which is only $50 more than the 6970, not bad . $600 for the 580m is too much.

 

Agreed.. 2x the price of a 6990 for a single card! This price, however, is a great reason to finally buy that laptop..

 

Yeah, you can get a 2720, 6990m, and 1080p for $2100 minus discounts plus tax.

 

Which package? Thats my pricepoint but I think I need at least 2 year adv. warranty, in case the worst happens

 

Base 1500+CPU 150+ GPU 300+ 1080p 150=$2100. You should be able to talk a phone rep into $50-150 off. Look at the orderin advice in the Alienware section. That should cover the tax.

 

How much would the 6990M cost alone?

 

Just guessing from the price it costs to upgrade from the 6970M, somewhere between $550 and $650.

 

This should be convincing enough for new buyers, not so much for someone with cash.

 

It's more about price vs. performance. If the 580M turns out say 8% faster, would someone with plenty of cash dish out an extra 300$?

I for one am waiting for a side-by-side comparison...

 

I wouldn't no, the 6990m and 580m should exchange blows pretty well. A lot of times when the Nvidia cards are run they only have an advantage in Nvidia fan boy games or games/apps that use Cuda or PhysX. A card that costs twice as much should deliver a minimum of 20%+ in just about everything performance wise. The 6990m is a good deal, the 580m is not.

 

so if a 6990m is just a better 6970m........ can't the 6990m vbios be flashed to a 6970m?

 

Who said it's only a better 6970M? If you were saying 580M, you'd be more right, but the 6990M has 1120 SP's and more texture units than the 6970M. Flashing won't be enough

 

It has more cores, in addition to being clocked faster. The specs state that it has 1120 stream processors and 56 texture units, compared to 960 and 48 for the 6970M. It is also clocked faster, 715 MHz to 680 MHz on the 6790M. It is a significant upgrade, not just an overclocked 6790.

 

Time to return my laptop.

 

Yeah the mobile cards don't have the physical SP's like what the 6950->6970 desktop cards had.

 

Im buying the 6990m as soon as i find a seller. Would it be as easy as just changing gpu's and then playing or does the bios have to be messed with??? Dont know much about the bios.

 

It should be as easy as swapping the chips. I doubt a BIOS update would be necessary, but should be easy if it is. I've done this with a Dell laptop in the past and not had to update my BIOS.

 

You mean desktop HD6850 & HD6870....and the extra SPU are on the mobile HD6900M GPU but that in no way guarantees they can be unlocked.

 

Anyone know where to buy the card separaetly?? Im gonna contact tech support to see how much it would be to buy it.

 

The 580m WAS a good deal as a $150 upgrade. I agree that it isn't a good deal now at $550.

 

Boo-urns! On the Canadian website, the 6990M is a $400 upgrade. The 580M is a $550 upgrade though. Weird. Everything else is pretty much dollar for dollar (as it should be with currencies at par or near par for quite a long run now).

Can I have your cheaper 6990M in exchange for our cheaper 580M?

 

There are a few gaming benches up for the 6990M. Check the link in my sig.
Also click on the 6990M to view the benchmarks such as 3DMark 11.

Edit: Just use this link. 6990M

 

I hope to see dual these beasts in r2 ASAP, anyone is willing try that?

 

Kinda disappointed I just ordered with 6970m. Oh well, the performance isn't that noticeable in games. My 6970 still eats the 560m alive, and is on par with the 580m.

 

Same here man, been about two weeks since i got my R3 i was so satisfied with the 6970 but man for $50 more i would have def got the 6990

 

I'm going to call and try to return my laptop today. I'm still within 30 days so returning shouldn't be an issue. I'll reconfigure and get the 6990m!

Its laughable that the 6990m is on par or exceeds the 580m and costs half!

 

Im within my 30 return period too but debating if i should return it and get the 6990... i mean it seems like just mere 7-10 fps gain and risking a perfectly R3 for a possible not so perfect one lol, any thoughts?

 

You could do like me and wait for it to be sold separately from a supplier and then put it in yourself. Thats what I'm doing. I called Alienware and they don't sell it separately yet because of their contract with AMD but in a week or 2 it might be lifted. I have a guy on ebay that sells GPU's. He has the 580m GTX available. Just waiting for him to get the 6990m.

 

True... there is always that option but spending another $500-600 vs spending $50.00 risk of defect R3 and another 2-3 weeks of wait... sigh in such a dillema lol

 

Can you plz share that contact?

 

It's Eurocom's eBay account. Link.

 

thx, rep + 1

 

6990m.....so excited!