14 DAY TRIAL // HIS decided it was time to make sure NVIDIA's new GTX 560 Ti didn't have an easy time when selling, so it put together two new versions of AMD's own high-end cards, the Radeon HD 6970 and 6950.
Like so many of its rivals, Hightech information Systems has been working on custom-cooled and factory-overclocked boards.
Since all of AMD;s partners have to compete not just with NVIDIA's offers, but with each other, they always have to ensure their devices stay doubly competitive.
HIS, thus, figured it was time to deliver a new pair of Radeon HD 6900 cards.
The formal announcement speaks of the Fan Turbo models, both of which come with higher clock speeds than their reference counterparts.
The HD 6970 Fan Turbo is, obviously, the stronger of the two, boasting a Cayman GPU (graphics processing unit) working at 900 MHz.
The model also has 1,536 Stream processors, as well as 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM clocked a 5,600 MHz.
For those that do not remember, AMD's original HD 6970 works at 880 MHz and 5,500 MHz, respectively.
Meanwhile, the HD 6950 Fan Turbo has 1,408 Stream processors, a GPU clock speed of 840 MHz instead of 820 MHz, plus the same amount of memory as above, only clocked at 5,120 MHz (5,000 MHz stock).
Both newcomers have a memory interface of 256 bits, a pair of mini DisplayPort connectors, HDMI, dual-DVI and CrossFireX support, plus HD3D and a dual-slot, single-fan cooler (each).
For those that do not know, HD3D offers support for stereo 3D gaming, Blu-ray 3D and 3rd Party Stereo 3D middleware software.
Other specifications include Eyefinity, for multi-display scenarios, AMD EyeSpeed technology (which improves video) and, obviously, DirectX 11.
Those interested in either model shouldn't have to wait too long to make a purchase. In fact, the HD 6950 Fan Turbo is already up for order, at $320.