• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Sapphire Readies New Custom-Design HD 6970 2 GB Graphics Card

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,274 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Sapphire is readying a new custom-design Radeon HD 6970 2 GB graphics card. The card uses a PCB that closely resembles the AMD reference-design PCB, but comes in blue color. It also uses a custom designed cooler that uses a traditional blower channeling air through a dense aluminum fin canal block. The most peculiar feature is a round rotary knob, which lets you switch between the two BIOS ROM chips on board, thereby letting you maintain two hardware-stored clock and fan profiles. This knob appears to be coin-turned. The Radeon HD 6970 packs 1536 VLIW4 stream processors, and connects to 2 GB of memory over a high-speed GDDR5 memory interface.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
Messages
5,047 (0.99/day)
Location
Iberian Peninsula
you cant use this in a Mac computer, because to use the switch you have to open the Mac first, something forbidden and a technical challenge :)
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,274 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro

Rebelstar

New Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
71 (0.01/day)
Location
Minsk, Belarus
Display(s) custom thin bezel eyefinity 1x3 portrait
Case Cooler Master HAF 932
Power Supply CoolerMaster SilentPro M850
Software Windows 7 Enterprise x64
Only for me design reminds nvidia cards?
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2010
Messages
3,455 (0.68/day)
Location
Portugal
System Name LenovoⓇ ThinkPad™ T430
Processor IntelⓇ Core™ i5-3210M processor (2 cores, 2.50GHz, 3MB cache), Intel Turbo Boost™ 2.0 (3.10GHz), HT™
Motherboard Lenovo 2344 (Mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset)
Cooling Single-pipe heatsink + Delta fan
Memory 2x 8GB KingstonⓇ HyperX™ Impact 2133MHz DDR3L SO-DIMM
Video Card(s) Intel HD Graphics™ 4000 (GPU clk: 1100MHz, vRAM clk: 1066MHz)
Storage SamsungⓇ 860 EVO mSATA (250GB) + 850 EVO (500GB) SATA
Display(s) 14.0" (355mm) HD (1366x768) color, anti-glare, LED backlight, 200 nits, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300:1 co
Case ThinkPad Roll Cage (one-piece magnesium frame)
Audio Device(s) HD Audio, RealtekⓇ ALC3202 codec, DolbyⓇ Advanced Audio™ v2 / stereo speakers, 1W x 2
Power Supply ThinkPad 65W AC Adapter + ThinkPad Battery 70++ (9-cell)
Mouse TrackPointⓇ pointing device + UltraNav™, wide touchpad below keyboard + ThinkLight™
Keyboard 6-row, 84-key, ThinkVantage button, spill-resistant, multimedia Fn keys, LED backlight (PT Layout)
Software MicrosoftⓇ WindowsⓇ 10 x86-64 (22H2)
OMG! SOLD!
It's so beautiful!
The coin-turner gives it a nice touch, but not very handy for crossfire configurations. Great on those Shuttle type chassis, tough.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
590 (0.12/day)
Location
Latvia
System Name Zen2600
Processor Ryzen 2600
Motherboard MSI B450-A Pro MAX
Cooling Captain120EX
Memory 2x8 GB Patriot Viper Steel 360000 @3400MHz [18-19-19-39-80] DDR4
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX5700XT Nitro+ @stock
Storage WD Black 500GB NVME
Display(s) LG 32GK850F
Case NZXT H440 EnvyUS
Audio Device(s) Custom HP AMP + Sennheiser HD380
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 650w
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard ElE Game1
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
I like the design and how air is exhausted outside case. I wonder what components it will use - Texas Instruments Dr.Mos or ones they used before. Also what voltage controllers CHIL ,uPI or Volterra? It is confusing because of how many options there are. I guess only a review will clear that for me.
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
1,821 (0.33/day)
Location
UK Warwickshire
System Name PC-Chips
Processor Ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
Cooling ID Cooling SE_225-XT Black with noctua fans
Memory Patriot Viper 32gig dual channel 3600mhz
Video Card(s) ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB TWIN EDGE OC
Storage 2X Samsung 860 EVO SSD's 500gig / 2TB crucial P3-NVME / WD-BLUE SN550 1TB M.2 / SP A55 512gig
Display(s) Panasonic 40-inch 4k TV
Case NZXT H510
Audio Device(s) Realtek S1220A - Yamaha A-S501 AMP - 4 x Wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers - Wharfedale SW150 sub
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA G6 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse Some cheap wireless thing
Keyboard Razer Cynosa lite
VR HMD Oculus Quest 2 128gig version
Software Windows 11 pro 64bit
I don't usualy comment on graphics cards looks but damn i like this, I'm back at work to now so gonna save and buy this fahoooker :D

:toast:
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
5,614 (1.07/day)
Location
San Diego, CA
System Name White Boy
Processor Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CORSAIR H100
Memory CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Storage 2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Display(s) 1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case BIT FENIX Prodigy
Audio Device(s) none
Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software Windows Pro 7 64 bit || Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage
Why ?:wtf:

Also it's saphire . . .:shadedshu
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
1,151 (0.21/day)
Location
I live in Norway
Processor R9 5800x3d | R7 3900X | 4800H | 2x Xeon gold 6142
Motherboard Asrock X570M | AB350M Pro 4 | Asus Tuf A15
Cooling Air | Air | duh laptop
Memory 64gb G.skill SniperX @3600 CL16 | 128gb | 32GB | 192gb
Video Card(s) RTX 4080 |Quadro P5000 | RTX2060M
Storage Many drives
Display(s) M32Q,AOC 27" 144hz something.
Case Jonsbo D41
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse g502 Lightspeed
Keyboard G913 tkl
Software win11, proxmox
Benchmark Scores 33000FS, 16300 TS. Lappy, 7000 TS.
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
1,821 (0.33/day)
Location
UK Warwickshire
System Name PC-Chips
Processor Ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
Cooling ID Cooling SE_225-XT Black with noctua fans
Memory Patriot Viper 32gig dual channel 3600mhz
Video Card(s) ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB TWIN EDGE OC
Storage 2X Samsung 860 EVO SSD's 500gig / 2TB crucial P3-NVME / WD-BLUE SN550 1TB M.2 / SP A55 512gig
Display(s) Panasonic 40-inch 4k TV
Case NZXT H510
Audio Device(s) Realtek S1220A - Yamaha A-S501 AMP - 4 x Wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers - Wharfedale SW150 sub
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA G6 750W 80+ Gold
Mouse Some cheap wireless thing
Keyboard Razer Cynosa lite
VR HMD Oculus Quest 2 128gig version
Software Windows 11 pro 64bit

thiskar

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Messages
8 (0.00/day)
utterly gorgeous looking card, love that chrome stripe down the side!:)
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
9,899 (1.78/day)
Location
Essex, England
System Name My pc
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory 16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage 2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s) Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply 650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard Generic mechanical keyboard
Software Windows ten
I prefered the bios switch in the reference cards.

Small and in a sensible place.
 
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
78 (0.01/day)
Location
Toronto, Canada
Processor Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650
Motherboard ASUS P5Q DELUXE
Cooling Zalman CNPS9900A
Memory 8GB Mushkin DDR2-1066
Video Card(s) Sapphire Radeon 4870 512MB
Storage 2x WD 500GB 32MB cache
Display(s) Benq V2400W 24"
Case Cooler Master 690
Audio Device(s) Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty
Power Supply Cooler Master 550W
Software Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Benchmarking is for people with OCD.
I don't see how this is different from the current cards. They changed the colour of the PCB and the cooler and put a different bios switch on it. That's the only difference as far as I can tell.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
5,614 (1.07/day)
Location
San Diego, CA
System Name White Boy
Processor Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CORSAIR H100
Memory CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Storage 2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Display(s) 1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case BIT FENIX Prodigy
Audio Device(s) none
Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software Windows Pro 7 64 bit || Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
590 (0.12/day)
Location
Latvia
System Name Zen2600
Processor Ryzen 2600
Motherboard MSI B450-A Pro MAX
Cooling Captain120EX
Memory 2x8 GB Patriot Viper Steel 360000 @3400MHz [18-19-19-39-80] DDR4
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX5700XT Nitro+ @stock
Storage WD Black 500GB NVME
Display(s) LG 32GK850F
Case NZXT H440 EnvyUS
Audio Device(s) Custom HP AMP + Sennheiser HD380
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 650w
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard ElE Game1
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit

AsRock

TPU addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
18,851 (3.08/day)
Location
UK\USA
Processor AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling D15
Memory Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s) eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s) Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores Meh benchmarks.

LMAO, you believe the french testers to start with lol ?.. Were is XFX ?.. And most have different length warranty's.. The last 2 years just to warranty reasons i have skipped Sapphire as they only had 1 year on them at the time of buying were ASUS has 3 years.

Most of the time any thing like this is flawed.


Anyways love the simplicity about this card well near all of it as already pointed out the bios switch on it which it seems pretty dam dumb.

Would of been better to put it on the back bracket if possible or just leave it how it was in the 1st place.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
5,614 (1.07/day)
Location
San Diego, CA
System Name White Boy
Processor Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CORSAIR H100
Memory CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Storage 2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Display(s) 1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case BIT FENIX Prodigy
Audio Device(s) none
Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software Windows Pro 7 64 bit || Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage

LMAO, you believe the french testers to start with lol ?.. Were is XFX ?.. And most have different length warranty's.. The last 2 years just to warranty reasons i have skipped Sapphire as they only had 1 year on them at the time of buying were ASUS has 3 years.

Most of the time any thing like this is flawed.

Also there are no current gen cards included in that article.

As well as my experience dictates differently, their RMA is the worst I have ever had to deal with!
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
590 (0.12/day)
Location
Latvia
System Name Zen2600
Processor Ryzen 2600
Motherboard MSI B450-A Pro MAX
Cooling Captain120EX
Memory 2x8 GB Patriot Viper Steel 360000 @3400MHz [18-19-19-39-80] DDR4
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX5700XT Nitro+ @stock
Storage WD Black 500GB NVME
Display(s) LG 32GK850F
Case NZXT H440 EnvyUS
Audio Device(s) Custom HP AMP + Sennheiser HD380
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 650w
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard ElE Game1
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
I was just trying to bring some proof. Imsochobo maybe have something better to offer. Sapphire is AMD partner Nr.1 so I use it too, I believe it would not be like that if it was "junk". I have never RMA'ed anything to them, that's why I cannot comment it. I have never had any problems with their cards, and I had 3 of them. My friend had faulty HD4850, but it doesn't mean that Sapphire makes only junk.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
Bleh, I really don't think that what brand you have makes a difference. The RMA rates are so low anyway. I just buy whatever brand offers best bang for the buck atm.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
590 (0.12/day)
Location
Latvia
System Name Zen2600
Processor Ryzen 2600
Motherboard MSI B450-A Pro MAX
Cooling Captain120EX
Memory 2x8 GB Patriot Viper Steel 360000 @3400MHz [18-19-19-39-80] DDR4
Video Card(s) Sapphire RX5700XT Nitro+ @stock
Storage WD Black 500GB NVME
Display(s) LG 32GK850F
Case NZXT H440 EnvyUS
Audio Device(s) Custom HP AMP + Sennheiser HD380
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 650w
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard ElE Game1
Software Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Bleh, I really don't think that what brand you have makes a difference. The RMA rates are so low anyway. I just buy whatever brand offers best bang for the buck atm.

Well, for some reason I don't like Club 3D cards, maybe because they are cheapest of all, and I think because of how cheap they are, they use cheapest components.
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
Source ?

Given I have gotten a card with the wrong BIOS on it, I payed for a 9600xt, but it came flashed as a 9600.

Saphire = over priced junk.




Wow my that sucks.:wtf:
First, what happened in teh 9600 days is hardly a true representation of their quality now. Secondly, they aren't any worse than any other manufacturer on the same tier.

As for the Mac, no, it doesn't suck. It's great for everything but hardcore gaming and heavy encoding (due to being on older dual core iMac 20"). That's what I have the PC for. OS X is great, and the iMac is the only all-in-one that has good screens in them.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
3,638 (0.63/day)
Location
California
As for the Mac, no, it doesn't suck. It's great for everything but hardcore gaming and heavy encoding (due to being on older dual core iMac 20"). That's what I have the PC for. OS X is great, and the iMac is the only all-in-one that has good screens in them.

It's great for other people, not for you. I kinda feel it's not you at all to use a Mac, maybe your wife does?
 

Wile E

Power User
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Messages
24,318 (3.81/day)
System Name The ClusterF**k
Processor 980X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 BIOS F12
Cooling MCR-320, DDC-1 pump w/Bitspower res top (1/2" fittings), Koolance CPU-360
Memory 3x2GB Mushkin Redlines 1600Mhz 6-8-6-24 1T
Video Card(s) Evga GTX 580
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, 2xSeagate 320GB RAID0; 2xSeagate 3TB; 2xSamsung 2TB; Samsung 1.5TB
Display(s) HP LP2475w 24" 1920x1200 IPS
Case Technofront Bench Station
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte into Onkyo SR606 and Polk TSi200's + RM6750
Power Supply ENERMAX Galaxy EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W
Software Win7 Ultimate N x64, OSX 10.8.4
It's great for other people, not for you. I kinda feel it's not you at all to use a Mac, maybe your wife does?

It's my bedroom computer. I use it all the time. She does use it more often tho. It's nicer for managing multiple programs and windows for me. I wish Windows had Expose.
 
Top