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

Sapphire Announces New HD 6970 Graphics Card with Dual-BIOS and Dual-Fan Cooling

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,277 (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 Technology has just announced a new model in its successful HD 6900 series of graphics cards - the HD 6970 2GB with a new super efficient Dual fan cooler and Dual BIOS giving users the choice of fast, quiet operation or performance tuning.

The new SAPPHIRE HD 6970 has the same internal architecture as the standard model, with 1536 stream processors and 96 texture processing units, and clock speeds are 880MHz for the core and 1375Mhz (5.5Gb/sec effective) for the 2GB of GDDR5 memory. This new design has two 90mm fans with thin impellers that can move the same amount of air at 10% lower rotation speeds than conventional fans, keeping noise low, and their special dust repelling bearings contribute to high reliability.



With the Dual BIOs set to the standard position, the Dual fans keep this model quiet and up to 25% cooler than the standard model even under load conditions. With the BIOS switched to the performance setting, the core voltage of the GPU is raised to 1.2V, the fan speed is set to a high performance profile and the powertune adjustment for overclocking is raised to 50% allowing the user to maximise performance of the card by increasing clock speeds either with AMD Overdrive or with SAPPHIRE TriXX up to a ceiling of 1500MHz core, 2000MHz memory.

SAPPHIRE TriXX is a dedicated overclocking tool which allows users to adjust and save settings of core clocks, memory clocks, core voltage and fan speeds to optimize performance whilst continuously monitoring temperature. It is available free for anyone to download from the SAPPHIRE website.

Eyefinity and APP acceleration
The SAPPHIRE HD 6970 has the versatile output configuration of two DVI, one HDMI and two mini DisplayPort connectors, and can support a VGA monitor with the dongle supplied. Using the DVI or HDMI outputs together with the two DisplayPorts enables this card to support multiple monitors in Eyefinity (SLS) mode.

The third generation UVD (Unified Video Decoder) in the SAPPHIRE HD 6970 supports MVC (Multi-view Video Coding) for the smooth decoding of Blu-Ray 3D with reduced CPU load as well as other file formats. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are supported, and HDMI capability has also been upgraded to HDMI 1.4a. This provides deep colour, enhanced high resolution output for Digital Theatre applications and 3D stereoscopic support as well as 7.1 high bit-rate audio.

The multiple stream processors of the HD 6900 series can be used to accelerate other applications such as video transcoding. The latest generation of web browsers can be GPU accelerated, and this is also supported for enhanced productivity in Microsoft Office 2010.

Second Generation DX11 support
The SAPPHIRE HD 6900 series features the second generation of graphics technology from AMD designed to support all the features of Microsoft DirectX 11 and DirectCompute 11. These GPUs are built in AMD's 40nm process to deliver high performance with low power consumption.

Advanced hardware features include an enhanced Tessellation unit, dedicated HDR Texture compression, multi-threaded communication with system CPU cores, embedded support for many of the DirectCompute 11 instructions, 3D stereoscopic support, HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2.

The SAPPHIRE HD 6900 series is supported by AMD's DirectX 11 WHQL certified graphics driver which delivers support for all of the key DirectX 11 features required for enhanced gaming experiences as well as GPU acceleration of supported applications.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
The heatpipes on this cooler seem HUGE. I also see VRMs ahve their own heatsink?

Seems like this is a good card for watercooling? It's too bad the PCB is blue though.
 

Edgarstrong

New Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
66 (0.01/day)
Location
Marsala
Is dual-fan design becoming the new norm these days? The card looks interesting but one thing bothers me - it took ages since the release of the reference Sapphire 6970 model to release this card (which isn't even available yet, just announced). So if you want to have higher-end last gen GPUs then you have to either use reference designs that run hotter and are noisier, or you have to wait for many months for a nicer, custom designed cards but at that point you are buying it not long before the next gen cards are announced.

In the case of 6850 and 6870 Sapphire released their custom cards pretty fast, in february/march I believe. But why do they wait so long with higher end models? If the current tendency persists, there will be a custom HD 7870 shortly after the 7xxx series go live, and it will cost only a fraction of this card's price.
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
Sapphire already has severla models with custom cooling...three or four, at least. Toxic Vapor-X Dirt3 edition, and the BF3 edition. There might be another 2 or three there as well.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=0&psn=000101&lid=1&leg=0


Most of the custom cards are 6950's but they are basically the same thing.

And the way it works, as far as I understand things, AMD OEM GPU partners have to buy so many reference cards bfore they are allowed to do their own cards. As the 6950 is so popular, it could simply be down to them being unable to sell all of the reference 6970 stock till now.

Either way, I really want a couple more AMD cards, hopefully by the time I'm ready buy, these will be in retail!
 

Edgarstrong

New Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
66 (0.01/day)
Location
Marsala
Sapphire already has severla models with custom cooling...three or four, at least. Toxic Vapor-X Dirt3 edition, and the BF3 edition. There might be another 2 or three ther eas well.

Sorry but I think you are getting confused there. There was a 6950 Dirt 3 duo-fan design, yes. And there was a 6950 Toxic (and even that was released pretty late actually, and isn't as widely available as lower end models).

Now, in case of 6970, I can't find any custom designed card by Sapphire. There was a BF:BC 2 edition but it wasn't any different from the reference one. And now there is this. This is it.

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=0&psn=000101&lid=1&leg=0

P.S. Just saw your edit.

Yes I guess they wanted to get rid of reference 6970s that probably weren't selling too well ( I don't have the numbers though). But still, buying this now is like buying some super custom edition of 4870 at full price not long before 5850 became available.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
3,145 (0.69/day)
Processor 8700k Intel
Motherboard z370 MSI Godlike Gaming
Cooling Triple Aquacomputer AMS Copper 840 with D5
Memory TridentZ RGB G.Skill C16 3600MHz
Video Card(s) GTX 1080 Ti
Storage Crucial MX SSDs
Display(s) Dell U3011 2560x1600 + Dell 2408WFP 1200x1920 (Portrait)
Case Core P5 Thermaltake
Audio Device(s) Essence STX
Power Supply AX 1500i
Mouse Logitech
Keyboard Corsair
Software Win10
I'm still a bit sad because Sapphire didn't release a beefed up air cooled version of the 6990 like this 6970, well no one did.
I know that such card screams for water and probably I'll switch to it because the heat they put up is unbelievable but anyway I would have loved a 6990 version of this :)
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
But still, buying this now is like buying some super custom edition of 4870 at full price right before 5850 became available


One:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1081&psn=&lid=1&leg=0


Two(FLEX is very close to reference, so I'll give you that, but the cooler IS differnt):

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1359&psn=&lid=1&leg=0


Plus the two reference makes for four models of the smae card, with 3 differnt cooling solutions. I mean, I understand where you are coming from, but this really is NOT the first custom-cooled 6970 from Sapphire. It IS, however, the first to catch my interest.

Anyway, do you know something I don't? Are new AMD VGAs near on the horizon? ;) :laugh:
 

Edgarstrong

New Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
66 (0.01/day)
Location
Marsala
One:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1081&psn=&lid=1&leg=0


Two(FLEX is very close to reference, so I'll give you that, but the cooler IS differnt):

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1359&psn=&lid=1&leg=0


Plus the two reference makes for four models of the smae card, with 3 differnt cooling solutions. I mean, I understand where you are coming from, but this really is NOT the first custom-cooled 6970 from Sapphire. It IS, however, the first to catch my interest.

Anyway, do you know something I don't? Are new AMD VGAs near on the horizon? ;) :laugh:

Well, the BF3 edition was released only recently, and this was my complaint in the first place - that for people who really wanted a custom sapphire 6970 the waiting period was too long. So both BF3/Flex edition and now this duo-fan version are pretty recent additions to the range.

Until Flex version appeared (which I personally can't find anywhere anyway), you really had to use the reference design or customize the card yourself (but it renders your warranty void, doesn't it?). Yes I know that there is an ASUS Direct CU version of 6970, but I've had by now like 8 years of Sapphire - only GPU experience with 0 troubles, so I am extremely reluctant to change the manufacturer.
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
You are right, that it has nearly been a year since these cards were launched. But at the same time, I think we are spoiled by these yearly releases of new GPUs. 10 months isn't really THAT long, and I gues that's the caveat for only purchasing from a specfic OEM. MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, and Powercolor have all had custom cooling and custom cards for months now.


I understand wanting different cooling, but dammit if I don't personally want nothing but refernce cards...I'm stuck with one refernce Sapphire 6950 2GB, and one non-reference XFX.
 
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Messages
2,198 (0.46/day)
Location
So. Cal.
I would say that Sapphire and others originally didn't see the need to release this type of thing (but probably have been design for sometime) or was actually considered for "Tahiti". I think several months back the slip of the 28Nm as to issues with TSMC, the implementation of GCN Architecture and XDR™2 memory are all probably making it a little tricky to get Tahiti out the door. The word is now at best like first weeks Q2 2012. While the "Lombok" still on the VLIW4 architecture will be the first SI card and quite soon.

So it means AIB are looking how best to refresh and possibly find opportunities to start using some of these new solutions right away. Sapphire and others had readied some of these solutions as I think AMD had already told AIB’s they would break from the tradition of reference design. Start almost from day one of 7XXX releases’ to be more like Nvidia allowing partners work their magic with cooling solutions and upgrade PCB/power sections. Yes, there will be still reference boards, but AMD will let loose the reigns to better compete with all the Nvidia partner boards and coolers that hit the market from the start and less reliance on reference models, it’s a market AMD doesn’t (as Nvidia has found) really improve the bottom line any longer.
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
4,054 (0.58/day)
Location
Ancient Greece, Acropolis (Time Lord)
System Name RiseZEN Gaming PC
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X @ Auto
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard
Cooling Corsair H115i Elite Capellix AIO, 280mm Radiator, Dual RGB 140mm ML Series PWM Fans
Memory G.Skill TridentZ 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 3200
Video Card(s) ASUS DUAL RX 6700 XT DUAL-RX6700XT-12G
Storage Corsair Force MP500 480GB M.2 & MP510 480GB M.2 - 2 x WD_BLACK 1TB SN850X NVMe 1TB
Display(s) ASUS ROG Strix 34” XG349C 180Hz 1440p + Asus ROG 27" MG278Q 144Hz WQHD 1440p
Case Corsair Obsidian Series 450D Gaming Case
Audio Device(s) SteelSeries 5Hv2 w/ Sound Blaster Z SE
Power Supply Corsair RM750x Power Supply
Mouse Razer Death-Adder + Viper 8K HZ Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse - Ergonomic Left Hand Edition
Keyboard Logitech G910 Orion Spectrum RGB Gaming Keyboard
Software Windows 11 Pro - 64-Bit Edition
Benchmark Scores I'm the Doctor, Doctor Who. The Definition of Gaming is PC Gaming...
Sapphire being one of ATI/AMD's most respected customers is continuing it's trend in which they release cool looking ATI based cards with neat coolers with current generation tech. and just before newer gen releases, in this case would be the pending HD 7000 series.

This IMO is an indication of a HD 7000 launch coming in the next few months.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
Is dual-fan design becoming the new norm these days? The card looks interesting but one thing bothers me - it took ages since the release of the reference Sapphire 6970 model to release this card (which isn't even available yet, just announced). So if you want to have higher-end last gen GPUs then you have to either use reference designs that run hotter and are noisier, or you have to wait for many months for a nicer, custom designed cards but at that point you are buying it not long before the next gen cards are announced.

In the case of 6850 and 6870 Sapphire released their custom cards pretty fast, in february/march I believe. But why do they wait so long with higher end models? If the current tendency persists, there will be a custom HD 7870 shortly after the 7xxx series go live, and it will cost only a fraction of this card's price.

I've found this to be the case since discreet GPU's have been popular.
 

mediasorcerer

New Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
978 (0.21/day)
Location
coast ,melbourne
System Name THE MEDIAMACHINE
Processor i5-3570k
Motherboard Asus gene v z-77 matx.
Cooling Antec h20 620
Memory 2x4gb g.skill ripjaws z 2400
Video Card(s) h.i.s radeon 7950 reference 3 gb- hooray!!!
Storage samsung 128gb~830 ssd. samsung 500gb hdrive.
Display(s) 22 inch tele.
Case circa 1996 grey rat box with no sides front.until my own is finished
Audio Device(s) inbuilt creative.supreme effects 3
Power Supply thermaltake tt-500w
Software win 7 x64-
Benchmark Scores Coming soon
Either way its still a funky looking card and probably goes like hell to most of the time.
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
2,666 (0.51/day)
System Name Old Gateway / Steam Deck OLED LE
Processor i5 4440 3.1ghz / Jupiter 4c 8t
Motherboard Gateway / Valve
Cooling Eh it doesn't thermal throttle
Memory 2x 8GB JEDEC 1600mhz DDR3 / 16gb DDR5 6400
Video Card(s) RX 560D 4GB / Navi II 8CU
Storage 240gb 2.5 SSD / 1TB nvme
Display(s) Dell @ 1280*1024 75hz / 800p OLED
Case Gateway / Valve LE
Audio Device(s) Gateway Diamond Audio EMC2.0-USB 5375U ($15 a long ass time ago), Valve
Power Supply 380w oem / 65w valve USB-C
Mouse Purple Walmart special, 1600dpi. Black desk mat
Keyboard SteelSeries Apex 100 / virtual
VR HMD Lmao
Software Windows 10 / Steam OS
Benchmark Scores It can run Crysis (Original), Doom 2016, and Halo MCC. SD LE 45fps
looks like someone paid attention to my comments about heat sink design on video cards a while back.
 
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
The heatpipes on this cooler seem HUGE. I also see VRMs ahve their own heatsink?

Seems like this is a good card for watercooling? It's too bad the PCB is blue though.

I can't see the vrm heatsink could you circle it?

I'm surprised the ram isn't actively cooled ....

Ahh well I can order custom ram unisinks these days :laugh:
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
1,453 (0.28/day)
System Name 2K Gamer
Processor AMD 8370 @ 4.5GHZ
Motherboard ASUS Pro Gaming / Aura 970
Cooling Corsair H60 AIO
Memory 16GB G. Skill RipJaw @ 1600MHZ
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP! GTX 1070
Storage Samsung 600 Gig HDD (Raid 0 @ 7,500) / WD 1TB Blue @ 7,200 / PNY 128 GB SSD For Linux
Display(s) 27'' ASUS 144MHZ G-SYNC Read 1400p Gaming Monitor / 23'' LG LCD Flatron W2361VG 1080p @ 50,000:1
Case NZXT Source 530
Audio Device(s) Onboard 7.1 HD Realtek
Power Supply 750w Corsair HX
Mouse Cougar Gaming Mouse
Keyboard Saitek Eclipse
Software Windows 10 64bit Education Edition
The card looks badass, but I'll wait till the 7xxx series come out :)
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
I can't see the vrm heatsink could you circle it?

Yep:

7c.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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
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
looks solid, would look better if Sapphire didn't make it.
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2008
Messages
1,877 (0.32/day)
Location
Cobourg,Ontario
System Name RyZen FX
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite AX V2
Cooling DeepCool AK400 Zero Dark Plus
Memory Corsair CMK32GX4M2E3200C16 X2 32gig dual channel
Video Card(s) ASUS RX 7700XT TUF OC
Storage x2 Lexar SSD NM710 2TB 2XSeagate 1Terrabyte 1x Seagate 2 Terrabyte
Display(s) 40 Inch Samsung HDTV (monitor)
Case HAF-X:)
Audio Device(s) AMD/HDMI to Onkyo HT-R508 Receiver
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G2 Power Supply
Software Windows 10 Pro X64
looks solid, would look better if Sapphire didn't make it.

Uh ? Sapphire makes half of AMD`s reference boards so if you have one that is black with AMD at the gold fingers chances are your using a Sapphire card,also Diamond does the rest (after Sapphire reaches its cote so they can do there own).

Also Dave that one 6970 that you posted with the big silver button on the heat-sink is also the bios switch,There is also 6970 BC2Vietnam (with free game ,I still have 2 codes for it ) http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1019&psn=&lid=1&leg=0 That was out when 6970 launched ,I have one Also there is this http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1018&psn=&lid=1&leg=0 with aluminum case (like the XFX one the year before)also cost about 75$ more for it.Now in the last 3 weeks they have had 4 new cards out see this http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1359&psn=&lid=1&leg=0 They release cards with new coolers like a porn star gets STD .....:roll::roll::roll:
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
3,159 (0.56/day)
System Name White Theme
Processor Intel 12700K CPU
Motherboard ASUS STRIX Z690-A D4
Cooling Lian Li Galahad Uni w/ AL120 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Aero 4080 Super 16GB
Storage 2TB Samsung 980 Pro PCIE 4.0
Display(s) Alienware 38" 3840x1600 (165Hz)
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO White
Audio Device(s) 2i2 Scarlett Solo + Schiit Magni 3 AMP
Power Supply Corsair HX 1000 Platinum
Heatsinks are the same as the DiRt3 editions

 
Top