ASUS 6970 Direct CU II Unboxing and First Look

[brandonlconnor]

Will this fit in a:

ASROCK Z68 FATAL1TY PRO GEN3 board?

I know it takes up like 3 slots, big guy .. so just curious

[DavidsTechStuff]

@brandonlconnor it will fit in any PCIe slot that supports x16 length cards and if you have enough slots in your case to fit it. i would look more into how long of a card your case fits than your mobo. i dont however recommend running it at anything LESS THAN x8 electrical as this will degrade performance greatly especially in crossfire. however running at x8 should be ok with minimal (1-5% depending on application) performance loss compared to x16

[Tilan123]

Hey mate. Please respond to this comment. I've ordered this card today and I have the option to cancell it. The price is $389 AUD. I was just wondering if I should just wait for the Radeon 7970? I am using this for an AMD FX build. (AMD FX is yet to come out). Cheers mate :)

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Tilan123 hey sorry it took so long to get back to ya.

all i know on the rhd7k series is the release date is looking like jan/feb but with the current amd trend on their FX stuff im expecting it to be pushed back a bit.

the card is great

fast (able to run eyefinity 5960x1080 with only minor settings reduction)

quiet (actualy 100% silent till i added some volts)

overclocks real high (the core is binned and mine hit 1ghz ez)

wana wait for 7970 do it. if not get this or the MSI lightning.

[Tilan123]

@DavidsTechStuff Haha, thanks for getting back to me mate. I already bought the card, but I haven't used it yet because AMD have been bloody annoying not releasing the FX! Soon as they do, I will use this card. If the 7000 series does come out early next year do you think I would be able to sell this card for a decent price and pay a little more to get a 7970? Cheers!

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Tilan123 considering its an non-reference, performance oriented, and slightly limited production card, it will sell used for a bit more than the reference card. however i cant comment on the price just yet because that will be determined when the time comes. based off my previous experiences, im guessing 275-325ish when the 7k series comes out and if you get a reference 7k series your probably only paying about 50$ more.

anyway. enjoy the card.

[Tilan123]

@DavidsTechStuff Oh ok. Totally worth it. Thanks a lot for the advise mate :)

[Tilan123]

@DavidsTechStuff ONE LAST QUESTION!!! For this card, what case did you use? Would I be able to use an ANTEC Nine Hundred Two v3 or a Silverstone PS06? Can any mid-tower have this card inside it?

Cheers!

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Tilan123 sorry took so long to get back to ya (youtube decided not to email me notifications anymore)

anyway. I would think it would fit in the silverstone PS06 because they claim a 12.2'' graphics clearance however, it might be a tight fit

with the 902v3 it will fit easily as the case has 16" clearance

hope this helps

[Tilan123]

@DavidsTechStuff Thanks for the response mate. I'll let you know how everything goes. I'm not getting an FX! Haha, i7 :)

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Tilan123 eeeeeeeeewwww. intel.

[muffemod]

Good shit. Getting one of these for my second computer.

[MrJulzor]

Just wondering, what what you recommend, the asus card above, or the gigabyte 6970 oc2 edition. I can get them for the same price, so i really just wanna know how good they are or if there are no differences at all

any help is much appreciated :)

[DavidsTechStuff]

@MrJulzor well aside from the obvious differences in cooler and PCB design they should overclock about equal but with a SLIGHT edge to this one due to bigger cooler and ln2 OC grade components I personally don't like the blue PCB on the soc but the Asus has a 3 slot cooler so its up to you in the end there really isn't too much differences other than the cooling and noise levels for normal users

[DavidsTechStuff]

@MrJulzor well they are all good cards but there isn't too much of a difference however the oc2 is 2slot not 3 and is pre-overclocked

thats about it as they will perform about the same

[landy1337]

Hey mate how is the card going? i built a new rig about a month ago with this card and a 2500k and it is going great so far. I am just wondering do you think this card will be viable running battlefield 3 and skyrim at max settings with a smooth fps? i am considering buying a second 6970 down the track but not sure. Also i have never OC before if i was to do this to my 6970 will i actually be getting a decent increase in performance like 10%+? or is it waste of time for this gpu.

[DavidsTechStuff]

@landy1337 Unfortunately my card was DOA and i swapped it for a MSI 6970 lightning.

On battlefield 3 you need a powerful quad core+ cpu too to run it (lots of physics) and your set for both as long as your running 4mil pixels or less you should be able to max it out.

On skyrim i have been asked this before and no official requirements have been released we dont even know what dx version it will run now being this a top of the line card i would say probably but i cant say for sure.

[landy1337]

@DavidsTechStuff I have an i5 2500k that is better then a quad core right?

[DavidsTechStuff]

@landy1337 well the 2500k is still a quad core so its not better than one. The important part is having 4 cores or more for the large amount of threaded physics and other cpu heavy computations in battlefield 3. Now the 2500k being a very powerful quad core is enough for battlefield 3 to run nicely. I have heard of people hitting 5ghz on 40$ air cooling so if you overclock it, you have a monster of a CPU on your hands.

[landy1337]

@DavidsTechStuff oh and thanks for the replies.

[DavidsTechStuff]

@landy1337 For running 2 of these in CfX I would only do it when it becomes necessary. Its a personal choice, if you do, expect to see a 75-95% performance increase.

On overclocking, I hear this card can hit 1.1ghz+ core which is a 25% speed boost i would expect more like 1-1.05ghz and thats still 15%+

With my card i personally am running at 1127mhz core.

If you are unsure how or are worried about damaging your hardware message me and i will walk you through how to safely overclock your card.

[frost279367]

I will buy this card soon with intel i5 661 processor too.

Myquestion was crossair 850W tap enough?

[DavidsTechStuff]

@frost279367 Its plenty of power for that setup even when overclocking I would say that setup draws about 450w and you want to overshoot your total power draw by 20% for stability reasons so 600+w should be good. If you intend to overclock add 75w to each part to be safe (total now is 750w). So even under worst possible conditions a 850w should work just make sure. Its quality (corsair is) because a cheap powersuply could cause stability issues and at the worst, fry your 1000$ system.

[landy1337]

@frost279367 get an i5 2500k if you can afford it.. i have this card and that cpu and they are both amazing (plus 2500k has massive OC potential)

[frost279367]

I will buy this card soon and also will buy iintel i5 661 processor with radeon 6970

My question was, crossair 850W tap enough?

[Gerlang09]

you know if it fits in antec 1200 case

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Gerlang09 Yup, it does. Also I just happen to use the 1200 personally so i can help ya with any problems you have. My tips are as follows: its a tight fit. to run 2 of them you have to take out your powersupply to get the lower one in because you have to tilt it then put it in then straighten it out to fit the slot. It also extends so close to (if not slightly into) the drive cages that you can't have a hard drive next to it. Tis a very large card.

[Gerlang09]

@DavidsTechStuff thanks for the quick reply ive ordered the card and also does it only work with asus card or any mobo works i have gigabyte mobo

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Gerlang09 can't comment on that from personal experience as i have an asus mobo however, from my research and the rules of crossfire x it should work. Just make sure you have a mobo and case combo that allows for dual 3 slot graphics cards preferably with 1 slot breathing room. The antec 1200 has 7 slots so if your boards slot arangement allows you can have breathing space on top card.

[Gerlang09]

@DavidsTechStuff also i have asus 5870 which is also a long card

[Harizzle1]

And I totally love your style, teasing us with all the extras for 7 minutes before showing us the goods - high quality vid.

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Harizzle1 lol xD thanks sorry for the whole 7min deal ill try to keep it like 3-4 in the future im just starting this whole youtube video thing and im hoping to improve in the future

[Harizzle1]

Thanks for sharing, and bringing this out to the public. Keep up the good work.

[MW2mostwanted]

how do they perform, do you think it will fit in to a alienware aurora alx?and is it worth upgrading from ati 5870???

[Venddenta]

@MW2mostwanted Not really. Its only a small boost.

[floflorian]

8. something is the display driver, not the catalyst version ;) Very nice card by the way !

[rad050564]

Great Video. The card is working great.

[Hugorost]

thanks for the video! ill most likely be getting this card

[DavidsTechStuff]

@Hugorost no problem

[bhe424]

I almost doze off @ 3:54 and got a headache with the camera movement at @ 5.22  zzzzzzzzz.....