6990 - Who Still Makes Reference Design PCB's ?

[RedRaider]

First, I might be deciding to switch over to ATI at 11PM tonight. If I do, I have a few questions:


Who is the best manufacturer to buy from, in terms of quality of components and warranty?

Who is still currently making the reference design PCB? Need 100% confirmation on this.



Here are a few I've found:

XFX HD 6990 830M 4 GB DDR5 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RB6SUY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER)

Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD6990 4 GB DDR5 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SGJATE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER)

Sapphire Radeon HD 6990 4GB DDR5 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004R1Q4VW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER)

Diamond Multimedia AMD Radeon HD 6990 GDDR5 4G (http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Multimedia-Express-Graphic-6990PE54G/dp/B004SGJANA/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1305932983&sr=1-4)

VisionTek Radeon 6990 4 GB DDR5 (http://www.amazon.com/VisionTek-Radeon-Express-Graphics-900359/dp/B004SH5V0A/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1305932983&sr=1-5)

PowerColor ATI Radeon HD6990 4GB DDR5 (http://www.amazon.com/PowerColor-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-AX6990-4GBD5-M4D/dp/B004RBWMEU/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1305932983&sr=1-6)

[RedRaider]

Must have a REFERENCE DESIGN to roll this waterblock...:crack:


aquagrATIx for HD 6990 (http://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=2683)

[jtf2]

http://www.gpureview.com/Radeon-HD-6990-card-646.html
a bunch of info at this link,and scrolling down there are a couple of brands you posted

[RedRaider]

Thanks Roger:up:

[RedRaider]

I thought I read an article somewhere last week, stating ATI had already changed their 'reference dedign'?

[FaRKle!]

All 6990s are reference design, so you're getting the same thing with all of them. XFX is the the best considering they'll let you mount aftermarket coolers within warranty and have the double life time warranty.

I would stay away from Diamond and Visiontek. They have pretty bad records with regards to RMAs. Sapphire I've had RMA experience with and it was very smooth, quick, and painless.

Here's the order I'd get them in:
1) XFX
2) Sapphire
3) Gigabyte
4) Powercolor
5) Diamond
6) Visiontek

I thought I read an article somewhere last week, stating ATI had already changed their 'reference dedign'?

I've never heard this. They don't have any reason to change the design.

[runnin17]

Hmmm, I agree with farkle, but this is how I would rank them

1) XFX
-
-
-
-
6) Sapphire
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.
.
..
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.
.
.
.
.
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#) bright red blood stained shit
##) the rest of the brands :D

[RedRaider]

Thanks bro.

XFX is looking better and better...:)

XFX warranties HD 6990 4GB overclock switch (http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2011/03/16/xfx-to-warranty-hd-6990-4gb-overclock-switc/1)

[RedRaider]

Seems the faggots at OCN are split near 50/50 between PowerColor and XFX ...

XFX or Powercolor 6990: Which one?
(http://www.overclock.net/amd-ati/1004578-xfx-powercolor-6990-one.html)

[runnin17]

I have respect for XFX actually. They dropped nvidia because they were having issues with the company and some of their cards. Plus they saw the writing on the wall for nvidia.

nvidia will still come out with some good products, I just hope they look a little bit further ahead in designing their gaming cards. ATI made a really good decision when they went with a greater amount of VRAM due to them touting multiple-display gaming. They made a commitment to an enthusiast technology and backed up that commitment by giving people what was required to making that technology work well.

[0xygenthief]

I had good experiences with Sapphire in the past, way back when they had the 1900xtx and even the Radeon Pro 9700. LOL! Solid cards, never had any problems with them. Though in fairness I don't have any experience with other manufacturers...

[RedRaider]

Plus, XFX makes this ... :crack:



XFX Triple Display Monitor Stand (http://xfxforce.com/en-gb/Products/Accessories/Triple-Monitor-Stand.aspx)

[RedRaider]

Appears you can also run a 6970 with this beast for Tri-Xfire...:crack:

[FaRKle!]

Appears you can also run a 6970 with this beast for Tri-Xfire...:crack:

Yup. You can also run two 6990s for quad fire too. Although there may be some issues. See [H]'s latest article on two GTX 590s vs two 6990s.

And having owned high end Sapphire, Powercolor, and XFX ATI cards within the past year I liked my XFX the best, followed by Sapphire, and then Powercolor. I haven't heard much about Powercolor's RMA service, but had a really good experience with Sapphire. My only gripe with XFX is that they tend to be pretty lean on the accessories, while Sapphire was the best.

[BDW88]

I'm running 6990+6970 tri-fire it's so fucking powerful! I'm about to switch to quad-fire cuz I picked up another 6990:coke:

The first 6990 I got is from XfX lifetime warranty,transferable, but..

Some people are having problems getting rma's approved or rejected for some bullshit (scratches on pcb) I got my 285 rejected for missing a screw on the bracket :mad:

The other 6990 I have is from MSI, OC's really good and doesn't need to be registered for rma. I have some friends who did rma's through MSI and no hassle and fast turnaround good times :D.

Sapphire is a good one but needs to be registered and heard stories about cards being DOA (6970 series though). Powercolor is decent and coming out with a LC 6990 EK block, but not so sure on how they treat rma's..



6990+6970 tri-fire is the sweet spot IMO tri-fire+ 3x30's = bliss


STAY AWAY FROM DIAMOND!!!




:edit: Saw a vid on a Powercolor 6990 and there's a sticker covering one of the screws on the backplate, it's one of those adhesives that say void when you peel it up..

The Xfx and MSI yellow stickers are just regular no void crap under it and no stickers completely covering any screws like the PC one :D

[BDW88]

Link for the Powercooler 6990 vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTzFGqa9Fd0&feature=player_embedded

[RedRaider]

Thanks for the input everyone.

BDW88, you have pics of your water-cooling setup for 6990 + 6970?

[BDW88]

I only got one with the 6990 installed only, I'll post pics of the quad 6990's as soon as the block get's in.


Had to pull out the 6970 temps are way off blocks not sitting right or something.
I'll get pics up after I get it back in the loop

EK block haha! :fight4::fight6:
http://img.techpowerup.org/110521/IMG_0177915.jpg

[Jtrain]

What about :bird: ATI/AMD Red? Are you going against your own beliefs?!

[RedRaider]

Well, EVGA can suck a fat :obama: cock for all I care. :bj3:



RED TEAM WINS !!!!

[jedimasterben]

Come to the Red side... we have cookies and tits.

As for manufacturer, I'd go with XFX or Asus. Asus because their warranty is by serial and is not voided by aftermarket cooling. I'm not 100% sure of XFX's policy on that.

[Tiny]

I have had good luck with all my Asus motherboards. If I ever have any problems with them I just take them straight back to microcenter for a full refund or a new board. Took my R2E back after a year and had no problems at all. The new R3E was $75.00 less than the R2E was and they gave me the difference back in cash. If you live near a microcenter I would say Asus is the way to go.

[cyriene]

After reading things online it seems XFX may void the warranty for adding after market coolers. Both of my XFX 6950s had little stickers on the heatsink that said void if removed. But, I have heard that if you call in and tell them you plan of add aftermarket cooler then they will update your info and allow it. I never called and asked, I just added my water blocks and kept it moving.

I have been happy with AMD video cards. But for people who are big nvidia fans I think they are better off staying with nvidia as AMD does have its issues to deal with sometimes.

[FaRKle!]

After reading things online it seems XFX may void the warranty for adding after market coolers. Both of my XFX 6950s had little stickers on the heatsink that said void if removed. But, I have heard that if you call in and tell them you plan of add aftermarket cooler then they will update your info and allow it. I never called and asked, I just added my water blocks and kept it moving.


In the USA you can remove the stickers and stock cooler while remaining within warranty. I got that straight from the XFX rep's mouth. Those stickers are on there becuase all the cards are produced in the same factory and not all locations are afforded that convenience.

[jedimasterben]

Red, have you decided on anything yet, or still waiting on proper water blocks for tri-fire?

If all else fails, and depending on your motherboard's PCI-e spacing, I would suggest using two 45 degree rotaries to help connect the GPUs. Wouldn't be the prettiest solution (would love to see one with the parallel bridge connecting them :crack:), but it would make it work. :shrug:

[ballz0r]

First, I might be deciding to switch over to ATI at 11PM tonight.

ok... who the fuck are you and what have you done with RedRaider? :bat: