GTX 580m Sli & AMD 6990m Crossfire available in the UK now to order!

I was wondering upon a few things too.....mainly, for me, wether or not the heatsinks for the 6970's are exactly the same as the 6990's so it s a straightforward card swap-out without having to get new heatsinks too.....

 

24000+ on the system that Notebookcheck used....Clevo X7200 with Desktop 980xtreme cpu & 6gb ram with 580m Sli

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

IMO AMD is the only game in town as NV have just crapped the money bed with those 580m prices.

So onto the elusive 6990m phantom. Im liking the suspense. We're all like new Dad's in the waiting room. With all these peeps ordering them how come no one can produce a quote or ship date?

 

If these prices are correct and the specs are around 580M level, then I`m shocked how much difference there is between them

 

Im not sure Jono. Rest assured tho mate that the info I have is correct. My guy wouldnt tell me they were available if they werent. They may not be live yet but can be config'd manually during ordering. Cost is in line with AMD's previous offing (I actually thought it would be more!).

If Azza has placed his order already (He used my rep) then thats proof enough for me.....I am sure its just a matter of time before they go live and we start seeing order confirmations come through etc etc.....

And yeah, Nvidia kinda priced themselves outta the game in my book....I cant see 6990's being slower...I imagine if anything, they will be slightly faster that 580m's.....thats just my "guess" though.....

 

They will be changes to the M18X that's for sure if is not new GPU's every 6 months screens or something else and you will never be happy if you are enthusiast

the performance difference between upgrades is never that good but you always wonder why yours is not the best nature of human"

 

Quite true Speedy....we all want the best I guess....but it is true that with technology, one minute you are sitting at the top of the pile and the next, just like me having had my 6970's for all of 3 weeks, you get knocked off by the next best thing.....

If I had deep pockets, Id upgrade but as it stands now, Im happy. Sure, I may be a bit ticked off but its not like my cards have suddenly turned into couch potato "turds" overnight, if you get my drift?

One thing is for sure, if perfromance of 580 & 6990 are similar or very close, Nvidia really have dropped the ball on the pricing....BIG error on thier behalf I reckon which would probably have to be addressed pretty damn quick if they wanna sell many of those babies.....

 

Heheh! That's True

 

So who ordered a system with the 6990CF?? What's the Dell Part Order number?

For example:

XXX-XXXX CrossfireX 2GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon HD 6990M

Thanks.

 

Can anyone confirm if a single 6990m is available for the R3 in the UK. I talked to 2 reps and they told me the 6990m was not available even on the m18x. So can you guys talk to your reps if the single card is available for m17x r3.

 

hehe, if Clevo has the 6990M for their X7200, it should work in the R2 like the 6970Ms did.

The only problem I forsee is that there might be a powerdraw limit per MXM slot in the R2. When I had my ES 6970M card with 1120 shaders, it could easily overclock to 850/1100, but the system would abruptly shut down during the 2nd GPU test in 3Dmark Vantage and 5 seconds of Furmark (it went through the 1st test in 3d Vantage just fine at 850/1100). Temps were fine and everything, and it was with one card. If a BIOS mod can look into this and address this, you should be able to get past that hump if the 6990M is what we think it's going to be...

Also, it seems like the 6990M existed for some time officially since Eurocom made a mention of it around March and Dell is now claiming to have it ready for special order since the 15th of June...

 

I have just spoken to the tech support guys and he has taken an order for the CF 6990m. He will send me the quote in the next half hour , so hopefully I can produce something in writing. The system came to about £2700 with a blue ray, 630hd, 8 gig and some other candy. So base unit for about 2400 ballpark. Nice buy. Will drop the hammer if its valid.

Moreover:

For the Attention of: xxxxx
Deliver To: me


Customer No: xxxxxx Quote Date 2011-07-05 Quote no: xxxxxx
xxxxxxx
Alienware M18x : Stealth Black Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 2720QM (2.20Ghz, 6MB, 4C) Display : 18.4in Widescreen Full High Definition (1920X1080) WLED LCD Camera : Integrated 3.0 Mega Pixel HD Camera Resource DVD :
Alienware M18x Ship Accessory : English Docs Memory : 8192MB (2x4096) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Hard Drive : 640GB (2x320GB) SATA Raid 0 "Stripe" (7,200rpm) Dual HDD Optical Drive :
Blu-Ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) Drive including software Power Cord :
UK 250V Power Supply : Alienware 330W AC Adapter Battery : Primary 12-cell 97W/HR LI-ION Carry Case : Not Included

Graphics : Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M CrossFireX Sound Card : Integrated High-Definition 5.1 Performance Audio Powered by Klipsch Bluetooth : European Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Card Wireless : Europe Intel Advanced N-6200 (a/g/n 2x2)

Keyboard : Internal UK/Irish QWERTY Keyboard Operating System : English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT) Software : Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic Avatar : Alienhead 3D AutoMatic Updates : AutoMatic updates - On Antivirus : McAfee SecurityCenter 15 Month Subscription Name Plate Engraving : Generic Standard Service - 1 year of Next Business Day coverage included with your PC 2 Year Hardware Support - Next Business Day No Accidental Damage Support Alienware M18x Order - UK HSB


VAT Summary
Type VAT Rate S 20
GBP Net
2,329.08

GBP VAT
465.82
GBP 2,311.69 17.39 465.82
Total 2,794.90

␣␣Registered in Ireland No. 191034, Registered Office: Dell Products, 70 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland, VAT Registration No. GB. 804 9468 11, WEE/CE0092VV. An up-to-date list of the name of every company director containing the particulars indicated in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Section 196 (1) of the Companies Act 1963, is available on application from the company's registered office.
Quote
Telephone: 0844 444 5986 ␣␣Dell Products www.dell.co.uk
c/o Dell House The Boulevard ␣ Cain Road Bracknell Berkshire RG12 1LF ␣
For the Attention of:
Deliver To:

Estimated Delivery date 25th July

 

Holy cow that is some serious amount of money

 

Told ya they were available Jono

Good luck with the purchase mate....nice spec! - dunno if you want my rep's details? - PM me if you do mate.

 

You were right all along Stevie, well played.

Still haven't got the old m17 r1 back from the depot yet. Don't know what that will come as. Have to take a view on it and decide (but a refresh is overdue)

Also @Cloudfire, if you strip out the extras the price will drop to £2259

 

Wouldn`t you save a crapload of money if you waited until US site got 6990M and order from there instead? The prices in UK and Europe is insane compared

 

Its possible. Importing to the UK is an additional 20% on top of "currency converted" prices (20% on top of total cost which includes shipping charges too, dont forget!) By the time these are factored in, its not quite so attractive.....

 

I know exactly what you say and no with that minimum performance upgrade your cards are not going to look like turds but you always wonder why you don't wait to have the best and like you say only people with deep pockets can keep up with tech

And I think having the best is not always the smartest move but people should do what make them happy

 

hrm my system is supposed to arrive today .... the question is do I keep it, or return it and reorder with 6990

 

Jono can you get the tech specs for the card ???

 

I dont know the tech specs and I don't think they do either. I think the 6990m has just recently been integrated into their systems but they have no other details as yet.

I don't want to call the chap to clarify as he will be trying to get me to buy it. (Still waiting on the sick R1 update).

 

I haven't had my M17x for a week and the 6990m comes out? I'm thinking about returning and reconfiguring with a 6990m. When does this arrive stateside?

 

Shaden, I'm PM'ing you for rep details. Fellow Cdn.

 

They should really have a leasing option on these machines. They have a shelf life of bananas

The weird thing is that the 6990 CF is coming up cheaper than the 6970 Cf with the same spec.

I think this is a very tempting machine and there's no sign of the 7000M (praise the lord) so this should give you a clear run until Xmas.

 

I just ordered my 580s. They will be here this friday!

 

Just been speaking to my rep and i dont know if anyone has posted this or how helpful this but this is the spec i have just been given for the 6990M

Performance Specifications
■Engine clock speed: 580-680 MHz
■Processing power (single precision): 1.1-1.3 TeraFLOPS
■Polygon throughput: 580-680M polygons/sec
■Data fetch rate (32-bit): 111-130 billion fetches/sec
■Texel fill rate (bilinear filtered): 27.84-32.64 Gigatexels/sec
■Pixel fill rate: 18.56-21.76 Gigapixels/sec
■Anti-aliased pixel fill rate: 74.24-87.04 Gigasamples/sec
■Memory clock speed: 900 MHz
■Memory data rate: 3.6 Gbps
■Memory bandwidth: 115.2 GB/sec

 

Those are stats on the 6970, same thing a rep gave me ... they are just cutting and pasting from the AMD site below ... but thats the 6970m


AMD Radeon? HD 6900M Series Graphics

 

Post some benches when you get a chance I'm interesting I'm the actual battery life of this config. I plan on using my m18 for school so battery life is important.

 

I ordered a m17x r3 with the 6990m today. It was not listed on the site but the rep could order it for me.

There is no sign of them in the US. Very strange.

 

So anyone correct me if I'm wrong so by going from a 6970 to a 6990 it's still a 6900m series card so there really won't be very many changes right? If they changed clock speeds and shaders and big differences wouldn it have to be a 7970m card? Nvidia went from a 480 to a 580 right? Different cores etc. No?

 

Nigel, the 485m and the 580m are almost identical ... they really aren't a generational difference between them. Thats why in fact Nvidia released 580 comparisons to the 480. Its pretty well accepted that the 480 was a complete crap card. The 470 could out perform it. The 580 is really just a rebranding, it is a slightly overclocked 485m ... that is all, no real other changes, although they claim less power leakage ...

The guesses on the 6990, are that it is actually slightly different architecture, that it is similar to the 6970 es versions ... the 6970 in cf has 960 shaders, the speculation is that the 6990 will have 1120 shaders, it may also have high clock rates, but we don't know for sure.

My best guess is that the it will be a 1120 shader version of the 6970, and even if its clocks aren't higher, you could very easily OC it ... but I am hoping its clocks will be higher as well.

And its currently the same price as the 6970 in European markets, which if that translates here, would be 1/3 the price of the 580m SLI ... and it should perform about the same possibly better, likely the 580s will play some games better and the 6990s will play some better ...

 

unfortunately they ordered the 580 desktop version lol... 580m not available for separate purchase yet .

 

LOL fckn Dell reps ... idiots

 

Ok cool. Thanks for that info shaden. Gpu cards are soooo confusing to figure out. Thata why I'm here looking for expert opinions on people who grasp this kind of stuff.

So 580's are out for me then. It's just a matter for me to decide if it's worth the wait for the 6990cf. I really want my M18x though like "yesterday" and I don't know if it's worth waiting for the 6990. 5 days, sure, but another month? Aaagggghhhh

 

Sh#$t and I just ordered my 6970 a week ago...

 

I want a 13" laptop with HD6990 badly

 

Only a couple of points where I disagree. The 580m is a new architecture (GF114 vs GF104 (485m) or something like that). That allows it to have better heat management, hence the higher stock clocks. This also expands the overclock potential.

The 480m definitely outperformed the 470m (notebookcheck may say otherwise), and if you ask around in clevo forums you will see clear indications of it beating it. It was a crap card no doubt (youtube vids of people frying eggs on their 480m/gtx480/gtx465)

The 6990m won't be a different architecture. That will be the 28nm shrink (7000 series) late 2011 or early 2012, potentially later. I agree that it most likely will be a 6970m with the full unlocked shaders, as a 6970m with higher stock clocks would be pointless. That should be enough to at the least match the 580m, and quite possibly overtake it.

 

lol i suppose you are simply using the technical use of architecture in GPU sense where as I was using it in a more construction sense.... IE 580 has same structure as 485 ... but yes with better heat management and higher clocks... where as the 6990 should actually look different, ie: more shaders ... and possibly higher clocks.

But yes, I see you point Bunny, and I agree with your assessment, equal to or overtaking the 580m

 

and quite possibly a third of the price

 

Just gimme a 24" laptop with four 580m's, dual desktop 990 extremes, four 580m's , liquid nitrogen cooled, hooked up to the national grid for power......might last a few months before its upgraded again

 

Very interesting points killerbunny, ok, so for a dummy like me, can a 6970 be possibly theoretically "unlocked into 6990's by changing/unlocking something on the card or is it probably a de-solder x chip and replace it with y chip?

Thx

 

Thats a good question Nigel as I remember years back people unlocking "pipelines" in older Nvidia cards. I am ignorant to new architecture and it would be interesting to see if people could venture down that road like they used to. However, if memory serves correctly, it was no easy task and if it could be accomplished wouldn't likely be recommended for nubs like us peace.

 

Anything is possible. Is it worth it? No. You would have to modify the cards, the chips, even get new chips, etc. The costs would be outrageous. Gotta remember, big companies get stuff at a cheap price because they buy in massive bulk and it is put together on a line more than likely.

 

Any word one when it will hit the US configurator or when we can order through the US VIA speaking to reps? Haven't heard it mentioned?

 

i tried today, and will continue every day until we can ...

 

Yes, exactly my thoughts. If we can at least figure out what makes a 6990 a 6990 then maybe we can feel better buying the 6970 today still. If its just a tweak here or there, then OK, I'll keep my order on the 6970 but if its a whole new card.......... aagghhhh.

I agree, it's probably not worth it, I just want to know what the diff is between the 2 amd cards.

It's all speculation until someone in the "know" gets their hands on one to figure out the differences for us though.

 

@Nigel8600

You're probably a far smarter technie than me. I honestly have no idea if they are the same card, but the 6990m just has unlocked shaders. You can overclock a standard 6970m into stock 6990m territory I suppose, but for actually unlocking the shaders, I have no idea. You could ask one of the guys who has the 6970m with unlocked shaders

 

HD6970M = Bart Pro and HD6990M = Bart Xt ?

 

Guys the thing that i cannot get my head around is the price, the 6970m was priced at £490 last week (UK prices), now the 6990m is priced at £470. I've followed AMD/Ati, Intel/nVidia, desktop products for many years i've only just jumped on board the laptop bandwagon.

When a company like AMD release a new high end product the price has always been more than the previous high end component especially if its a better spec, faster product. So for AMD to come out and release a new component and it be £20 cheaper kinda makes me think its not going to be a massive step forwards in terms of performance against the 6970, its just common sense surely...

If the 6990m was blisteringly fast and anywhere near the 580m surely there wouldn't be such a price difference...you'd never see such a price different in the desktop high end cards between nvidia and ati/amd if they are closely matched.

Example, the nVidia 590 is pricey, its slightly faster (debatable) than the 6990 and quieter, therefore it justifies being £30/50 more expensive over the ati 6990 but my point is there isn't a £400 price difference between the two, like there is between these laptop versions because they are so closely matched in general performance.

My hunch is the 6990 is maybe 5/8% faster than an 6970 and still around 10/15% or more depending on the games slower the 580m. nVidia has seriously overpriced their latest offerings tho.

I could be seriously wrong here, but it just seems the more obvious outcome.

 

I think Dell will phase out the 6970M. They are in control of the price points and no one knows what they pay for them apart from Dell and AMD.

NV have shoot themselves in the foot with the 580m. Quite why they think people are going to pay 70& extra for 10% performance increase smacks of arrogance and being out of touch with their consumers base.

I think the 6990 M will have the same performance variance of the 580m and its close relations. The AMD option is without doubt the best. Its strange that you can order them and have a blind date with a GPU. Maybe she's a stunner?