discussion AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 Review Comment Thread

[MacJunky]

Has anyone had an experience using the Hybrid PhysX mod? Going with a 6970 instead of a 580 leaves me with enough to get a GTS 250 or something off ebay, but I'm worried that it's an unreliable mess or an extraordinary hassle to get working.

I was using that with radeon 5750 and gf9600 and had no issues. but I do not know what drivers the gts250 requires so ymmv.

 

[Delavan]

EdHILARIO,

MSI has a RMA department in Canada...found that in another thread:

They sell Hd6970, although I don't think the price is competitive...

<table width="800" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="10"><tbody><tr><td>MSI Computer (Canada) Ltd.</td></tr><tr> </tr><tr><td>Unit 13, 120 West Beaver Creek Rd., Richmond Hill,Ontario,L4B 1L2 Canada</td></tr> <tr><td>Customer Care E-Mail : techsupport@msi-computer.ca
kenny.chen@msi-computer.ca</td></tr> <tr><td>Customer Care Number : +1-905-707-1880 # 101</td></tr> <tr><td>FAX: +1-905-707-6974</td></tr> <tr><td>For All RMA Request, please download the form below and email to techsupport@msi-computer.ca</td></tr> <tr><td>RMA Form</td></tr></tbody></table>

Here is the topic...
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/troubleshooting/14168-msi-rma-address.html

 

[Delavan]

Those MSI Twin Frozer III look sweet!!!
There is a HD6970 and a GTX580 version displayed here...

MSI shows next-gen motherboards, fresh graphics cards - The Tech Report

Too bad I still hesitate a little to trust MSI...seems like there is quite a few unsatisfied customers (noisy fans, artifacts)...they should start to offer lifetime warranty!!! THAT would be the way for them to take on the market.

 

[joseb]

I went with XFX HD 6970. I bought it at Memory Express (if you have one close to you) but PMed the price from NewEgg.ca. You get double the lifetime warranty for the price.

This is the first time I bought an XFX video card but have bought a power supply and warranty was great when I had problems with it.

Hope this helps.

JB..

Can someone recommend me a good brand/company to go with that's competitively price for the 6970?

I have done some searching in local stores and can only find either PowerColor for $367.99 (2-yr warranty) or the Sapphire for $369.99 (1-yr warranty). Obvious choice would be PowerColor. $2 less and 1 more year of warranty however I've never owned any of their products. Regardless they are still in the reference phase and they're just the same card with the sticker, I'd still prefer to get post-sales support for certain components.

I've only had good experiences and feedback with Asus, MSI and Gigabyte as far as video cards go. Back in the day, I would actually only buy ATI's own branded cards. These were the 9800 Pro, XT, and X850XT PE. I used to be able to just go to the Richmond Hill office and drop off an RMA and get a replacement shipped to my door within days through Fedex. Since the merge or buy-out by AMD, policies have changed. I was told by a CSR @ NCIX that Gigabyte has an office in BC so I wouldn't have to be charged extra for shipping or duties if it were coming from the US. The only thing is Gigabyte's card goes for $460 (retail).

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

dosent matter what brand you buy really since there all the same right now only when they start offering non reference designs does it start to actually matter

 

[merauder69]

I just grabbed a XFX 6950 and flashed it to a 6970. Was a breeze! Bot to take her through her paces.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

and being a dick dosent help as most of them all share the same warranty

with XFX cards ive seen nothing but trouble from there highly clocked version with more issues then other brands and there RMA policy takes awhile on the AMD front for GPUs

Sapphire is decent at 2 yrs but in general with them you can usually RMA through an etailer and only wait 2 weeks instead of 2 months

Gigabyte and Asus there warranties are decent but RMA is about the same as motherboards like pulling teeth.

so no i dont need to worry about reading comprehension as the warranties dont really mean much as 9/10 you will buy a new gpu and replace the one your currently looking at within 2 years anyway just avoid powercolor or diamond out of all companies to deal with your better off just bashing your head into a wall then dealing with them with an issue.

So really again dosent matter much which one you pick

Sapphire has been the easiest for me to deal with long term
XFX with regular models aka reference boards there fine and dandy anything special of theres just walk away there Nvidia offerings tend to be good AMD side they tend to just shit on the consumer from my standpoint
Gigabyte usually decent all around with aftermarket cards but theyve had some slip ups the 5850 wind or w.e was for example never came out of 3d clocks so it ran full bore 24.7 took a few months for a bios release but you get the idea
Asus there middle of the road most of the time little issue with them but there not my favorite vendor to deal with as theyve had a tendency to ship broken hardware back to me saying it was fine. making for a 4 month process or longer...

For the most part just pick a card you like the looks of twiddle your thumbs and wait for something to go wrong or buy it enjoy it and when something happens it happens.

 

[mikellini]

I've always been of the mind that warranties on electronics are generally a bad idea, especially if you pay "extra" for an "extended" warranty. Nine times out of ten you just end up paying for someone else's repair as nothing happens to your product; either that, or the damage conveniently falls just outside of the terms of the warranty. Plus all the hassle of shipping, phone calls, emails and being without a working product for an indefinite period... Warranties stink! But when they work, they work, I suppose...