Radeon HD 6990 Bandwidth Comparison Test 16x vs 8x vs 4x 3DMark 11 Linus Tech Tips

[MazariPL]

@LinusTechTips Hey! I wanted to ask you something. I have GigaByte HD6850OC and Asus P7P55D Mobo. It has 2x pcie x16 slots but in CF it works only in x4/x4. Now i want to do little upgrade. I am considering getting second GB HD6850OC.

Is it worth it? Will i get decent performance boost? According to your vid pcie 2.0 x16/x4 [x4/x4] should not bottleneck it. Is it better than getting single Gtx560Ti? Heard CF 6850 compares to gtx580 or little above that.

Please tell me what you think!

[JigokuTrigger]

Soooo. does that mean i can sli two tripple slot gtx570 using the 16x and 4x slot? I know that in your new Corsair Dream PC build u said its ok to have them sideby side but if u can give it more cooling why not?

[MazariPL]

@JigokuTrigger Yes, and despite what most people will tell you running x4/x4 [well x16/x4] on pcie 2.0 will not bottleneck it. you'll lose ~2-5% performance max but the gain is still a lot better.

I want to CF my 6850OC since i already got one and buying another is cheaper and better than gtx580 :>

[classyaddy]

Where do you get those open air cases?

[Snipe4Life9001]

@classyaddy *extreme facepalm*

[Ri1seAgainst]

@classyaddy its a test bench but an open air case that is quite decent would be on newegg just paste /Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82­E16811353002&cm_mmc=SNC-YouTub­e-_-na-_-na-_-na after the newegg link or search DIYPC Alpha-GT3

[seroyer2]

that card is hilariously large.

[JDeNova007]

This is about single card performance using different bandwidths... NOT SLI performance... so this review has no bearing on SLI.

[Vikingdude2121]

So even running at x16/x4 would still improve performance, That nice to know!

[utmelidze]

the second test is counting still on the 6990.this review is really shit

[utmelidze]

r u crazy?the third pcie is not even connected to PCIE Lanes dude

it goes to SB directly

[VicViperXxXxX]

Wait... If the motherbord forces 8x per slot vs the 16x single .. why would you want to crossfire/sli if its cutting your performance in half anyway, wouldnt you get the same performance useing only one card? theres no point for the additional slots..... this doesnt make sence someone help

[HandicappedMind]

@VicViperXxXxX it dont cut the performance in half... did u even listen to a word he said?????????? he clearly deminstrates how little effect bandwith has on performance

[VicViperXxXxX]

@HandicappedMind Ah okay, I got scared there for a sec thinking that my 2 HD6990's wernt working like i hoped they would

[MartinChir]

I have an X-Fi so like a lot of PC users I can't my sound card in the x1 slot and my video card in the x16 slot

I tried putting the X-Fi in a PCI x4 slot and it just shows up as a "High Def. Audio Device" that I can't install the X-Fi drivers for...I also get a lot of audio distortion with any PCI/PCIe sound card, not having a great deal of luck....

[isogamer12]

How bout amd 7970 3 gb??

[EmoticonMayhem]

you should see what happens if you put it in a 1x slot XD

[rcarkk]

Nice. My P8Z8-V PRO is a good platform for GTX 470 SLI.

[SqueeksoAo]

I always cringe when I see Linus get his fingers near a fan...

[blanarahul]

WOW! YOU CAN SLI FOUR GTX 580s each running at 4x for a total of 16x bandwidth and STILL GET NO BOTTLENECK!

Sounds great for P55 users who only have a total of 16 lanes!

[pronOX66]

DO AMD PHENOM II X6 1100T BOTLENECK AMD RADEON HD 6990



[DarKcS2]

@pronOX66 yes, only 2500/2600k max most GPUs (+20-50fps over 1100T).

[colinprprpr]

@pronOX66 Well if you have it significantly overclocked, no.

[Mainekarter2004]

how about in 3 screen super high resolutions?

[iToXiCzZHD]

can you do 3 way crossfire @ 8x 8x 4x on this motherboard?

[charlesbego]

I don't know about you guys, but I no longer want to do Crossfire. Fraps and benchmarks show a good number when I do CrossFire. But when playing games my eyes didn't see smoother frame, not to mention worse input lag. Please believe your eyes and the smaller input lag, do not believe the benchmarks and frames number in the corner of your screen.

[CRUSHFACTORPC]

@charlesbego I second that statement...crushfactorpcwordp­resscom

How many FPS justifies the price?? Get a PCIe SSD Boot Drive and enjoy a faster Computer and GAME ON.

[Kyzion1337]

does Radeon HD 6990 fit to P193 V3 ATX?

[Edge0fPain]

Thank you so much, so many people say "Don't bother with crossfiring on 16x and 4x" but the evidence always seems to say otherwise....

But, one question, how does 4x 4x (i.e. one in 16x slot and one in 4x slot) affect microstutter, anyone?

I wanna crossfire a pair of 6850s.

[amadzack666]

@Edge0fPain

i crossfire my hd6870 with x16 and x4 pci-e lane about a week ago..

so far i dont have microstutter problem..

i just lose 10% gpu usage on 2nd card over 1st card

just a little fps drop from x8 x8

that all i know for now..

[Edge0fPain]

@amadzack666

k awesome

[dannybeckett01]

great information linus, your effort is appreciated

[amadzack666]

emm,how about perfomance will decreace

when i crossfire in 16x and 4x pcie 2.0 slot with a hd6870 card?

[Tuningfreak899]

1:56  1st thing i thought: WTF is he gonna do now...?!?!?

[RudeyCapone]

I hope you're not ESD loaded at times when you touch the MOBO/GPU. :P Would be a shame if those cards die. >.<

[The12daughertye]

The 580 is a beast phsx card. :D

[VengeanceDUDE]

Holy shit thats huge!

[blolo8]

@VengeanceDUDE Thats what she said...

[TheWanted31]

.. comparing 16x16xand8x8xSLI..16x...two single gpu 8x8x4x4x in the 8x slot end then 2x2x in the 4x slot ! Amazing.. i got it.. but did all of the universe got the point..

[omfgg3tlost]

i like your shelving linus i use that shelving from cosco at my store all the time

[bastec666]

why not just test this on a board that has a x16 slot, x8 slot, and a x4 slot? isn't that how it works? cuz most board I see that say "3 cards run 16 8 8" the motherboard on the back shows the pins being 16 8 and 8. why not just test it in the proper slot and then show the scores? ive been out of computers for while been runned the same AM2 POS for awhile now.....

[cedar234]

disable the lanes in the bios? i accidently ran my GTX460 at 1x before lmao

[Arnoud1987000]

I tested it too the difference between 16x and 8x is 2% but 4x is really much slower

[schreech7202]

Heya guys im thinking of retirering my Club3d 5870

In the last couple of years ive been wanting to "build" my own pc and ive found some nice hardware. but atm i cant decide wether to buy either

2x 6970's running crossfire Or 1x 6990 (future crossfire would be nice, even though right now i cant afford it)

PLease respond :) i really need some help on this as the 2 setups cost close to the same and i really wanna get the most out of my money Thanks for reading <3

[F22skyhawk]

aww I was really crossing my fingers for you to shock your self rubbing your fingers over powered PCI-E slots =)

[kipdokken]

guys, i got a xfx 750i motherboard, it has 2 16x slot pcie and one pcie for your sound card, my question is, can i put a physx card in a pcie slot with a 4x bandwith? well, the pcie slot is not in standard or full length, it is only half in length. thanks

[adzo92]

So does this mean that pci-e 3.0 will have little to no effect on current gen cards?

[th4970]

@adzo92

Yes.

[IAmSomeoneOrOther]

0:04 Is that a banana clip I see?

[SymonDymond]

But isnt this never going to be an accurate test if your using a current sandybridge chip because the PCB lane splitter is still ultimately facing a bottleneck at the processor which can only support 16? Its one of the reasons I stayed x58 and am holding out for the new Z68. I can see a some real differences when I do this on either my Rampage III or MSI Big bang mobo using an i7 (980x or i7 950 respectively) I would be very interested in seeing this using a CPU thats non blocking

[SymonDymond]

@SymonDymond Really confused on this so would be very interested in some clarification on this. I have seen some very strong indications that sandybridge has an issue in this regard regardless of the motherboard. If someone has tested both along side one another using a more appropriate benchmark I think a lot of people would appreciate the clarity.

[NichoTBE]

Sounds a bit like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory.

[26psyside]

Only if you could test it with games..

3d mark is more compute intensive which tends to not show any difference in bandwidth. Real gaming, especially on games with large textures and a lot of pixel mapping the effect is more noticeable. I would expect even in 4x mode a performance delta of no more then 25%, meaning anyone using a x8 slot need not worry about it.

[oOoOFaKeoOoO]

@26psyside check out this Test right here:

W W W DOT insidehw DOT com/Reviews/Graphics-cards/Cro­ssFire-x8/x8-or-x16/x4-The-Ong­oing-Dilemma DOT html

even in games, there wont be much of a difference

[tazss159]

@26psyside So when you're playing a game for real that's really intensive the difference will be more noticeable then it is here on 3DMark?

[26psyside]

@tazss159

Yea a bit more, but anything over x4 is good enough.

[tazss159]

@26psyside So if you'e playing a really intensive game lets say, and you're running you're GPU on PCI- 4x instead of 16x would the frame rate cut in half?

[26psyside]

@tazss159

Not in half dude, but about 10/20% i would say, depends from the game/settings resolution etc.

[tazss159]

@26psyside So say if you were too run a REALLY intesive game on a dual GPU card like the GTX 590 or Radeon 6990, how much of a difference would there be between those cards running in PCI-E 16x and PCI-E 4x? Would there be a MASSIVE difference or barely anything noticeable.

[26psyside]

@tazss159

Bro i already told you it depends from many things, but i would say around 10/15%.

[CorneliusFractogram]

@UltimateBadass007

GTX 480 SLI? Are you kidding? If you have robust liquid cooling solution and can get the 480's cheap, then why not. In any other case, you DON'T want 1st gen. Fermi, even less in SLI. The chips were notorious for overheating AND the scaling has improved in the 2nd gen. (500-series).

[venomblade891]

can i run two nvidia cards on a 16x/4x board?

[MrComputereviews]

that is a z68 mobo!!!

[saruxelis]

so its that means that PCI-E 8X = AGP 8X? or PCI-E 8X > AGP 8X?

[kniaugaudiskis]

@saruxelis

PCI-E 8X 1.0 = AGP 8X, but PCI-E 8X 2.0 = AGP 16x (if that existed).

[saruxelis]

Dekui uz atsakyma ;)

[dwasfsfsf]

You are one tiny little nerd.

[sp3ar2envi]

I didnt really understand any of this 8x 4x stuff o-o

[BeRBUMK3]

I would actually use a card like that on quake 3, But then again there's just not many good FPS games anymore.

[MrAnalpfropfen]

What a massive, expensive setup

pure nerdgasm

[protox4]

Would you get similar performance differences with pci-e SSDs?

[tubester4567]

Could you still get that performacne if your gay?

[Lermasd]

@tubester4567 I think you can.

[alzain16]

is the switch flipped??? thats its true performance

[ZeroInhibition]

Is this a good setup?

Core i5 2400 3.1 or possibly a 2500

ASUS P8P67 EVO

EVGA GTX 560 Ti

[sxnoss40]

@ZeroInhibition if you can spend the little extra on a 2500k then hell yeah. 

[ZeroInhibition]

@sxnoss40 Ok say most likely

Intel Core i5 2500K

ASUS P8P67 EVO

EVGA GTX 560 Ti

Corsair Vengeance 4GB RAM

[sxnoss40]

@ZeroInhibition yeah you will be able to run just about anything on that. i wouldn't say its quite "enthusiast level" but you'd be able to do all you need to do and more.

[ZeroInhibition]

@sxnoss40 i will probably get a 570

[jonassx100]

Linus take care of their veiwers

[yellowhyper]

6990 is actually two 6950's

[ParasiteXX]

@yellowhyper Errrr. no. Its 2x6970 GPUs that are underclocked.

[yellowhyper]

@ParasiteXX hey man thanks, you are right about the 6990 i guess I should have said 2x 6950 is roughly the same performance as the 6990. I hear the bios switch on 6990 on position 1 830/1250 frequencies (which is the 6950's clocks and position 2 is 880/1375 frequencies which is 6970's clocks, I would like to see confirmation on this as well.

[ParasiteXX]

@yellowhyper I read that the 6990 does have a switch where it does go into, what i think is called uber mode or some shit like that, where it clocks it self up to 6970 clocks.

[bvestationfan]

@yellowhyper no, its two underclocked 6970s

[gabrielkipp77]

was considering buying the 6990 but went with the gtx 580 instead, just because its nvidia XD

[xxnorxx24]

this card is a beast omfg you done with it plz send to me with the cat lolol

[fioryfox]

i want to see that 1 card bottle necking vid :3 it would actualy be pretty neet to find out what it does at that point XD

[Xolin11]

Where can I get evaluations for my custom computer build?

[TechMaxedReviews]

Can a HD6790 run on a PCI-E 1.0..??Really need help with that..!!!

[ShadowwwLFS]

Would be cool if you'd also run it in 1x slot :D

[000318661]

Great idea. But could you try it running some higher res. benchmark stuff? ie 5760x1080

[arranmc182]

So what about PCI-E x16 v1.0 vs v2.0/1?

[chuaisaac]

By the way, anyone know the model and brand of the air heatsink that Linus had lying around?

[AndreaFranchitti]

Why not Linus? Quake 3 in a VGA CRT monitor is amazing with this card XD

[gary199302]

i wish i had money like u. u are just great man!! i am never gonna afford these nuclear reactor motherboards and graphics card like u do!! and by the way, u are excellent in doing reviews. keep up the good work. that card is really sexy but i think ATI has compromised in some graphic drivers probably thats why its performance is practically a little less than gtx 590 but theoretically it is more. may be ATI fixes this issue with a driver update very soon.

[jamalakj]

man the card looks sexy...

[youngdones]

Maybe PCIe 2.0 x16 isn't enough. I believe PCIe 3.0 x32 is going to be included in the next generation of processors/chipsets from Intel and AMD.

[lenarass]

i want this case like yours. did u build it by your own ? where can i find one?

thanks

[ownTer]

Would be cool to see you do one with two of these bad boys.

[SirPhilby101]

Why upload this video if at the end you're going to tell us the test was inconclusive due to internal bottlenecks?

[freddieman23]

Amd is pure poop compared to into

[Metalwarrior130]

@freddieman23 ah yes, into is very good

fanboy

[skampiss]

@Metalwarrior130 HAHA!

[HardcoreCar19]

@freddieman23 Dude, Into? Learn to spell faggot.

[charlot1993]

lol having a gtx 580 and a hd6990 on the same computer at the same time is too dangerous!!! the moment you look away these 2 cards will try to destroy the other!!!

[lolatyoufools]

You need to find one of those open ended Pcie 1x slots or whatever. .5x per gpu sounds awesome!

[lolatyoufools]

580 for physx, ready set go.

[djelectric]

Linus should have compared graphics scores and not overall ones.

[ComputerProducts]

846 Videos already?

[Mirror245]

linus is gay!

[exmann94]

@Mirror245 I'm pretty sure electronical equipment doesn't care one way or the other. Neither do I. :l

[MrMonkeyface66]

Please test 16x + 4x Crossfire / SLI !

The cheap Sandy Bridge mobos have this configuration.

[igouroum]

time to compare the performance of a 6990 running on the fusion platform and on an amd phenom x6!

[cwbh10]

How come I can't overclock my AMD E350 to 2.0Ghz without it not starting up? I have gotten to 1.8 but thats it... Is it the Hudson chipset or CPU?

[CobraProductionsTV]

@cwbh10 Why overclock a Apu ? it's not for overclocking.

[cwbh10]

@CobraProductionsTV Because its quite slow :((((( I WANT SPEED!

[CobraProductionsTV]

@cwbh10 Then don't buy a 50 dollar Apu.get a Intel core 2600K and GTX 580.

[h3liumTV]

@CobraProductionsTV nothing is meant to be overclocked, but people do it anyway's.... so you just failed yourself lol :)

[CobraProductionsTV]

@h3liumTV Uhm look at GTX 580 lightning thats made for OC

[dacasman]

I have that same motherboard :D

the asus one

[danthaman7777]

xfx 790i

[LesbianSensations]

This is all very cool but could you show us this comparison in a game like BF2?

[AnDaTeSa]

your the next clover field camera man.

[xaero212]

Quake 3 is a great game, I still play it ;) Naah I don't have AMD 6990. Just AMD 5970...

[Piegoodman]

linus is the whitest black person i've ever seen.

[666krypt0nit3]

would having crossfire x hd6850 in a 16x and a 4x slot be a dumb idea? (Just for my own personal knowledge)

[frank141289]

dead linus:

when the heck are you going to give away at least one video card ?

[Beaverman20]

@frank141289 wait what?

[frank141289]

@Beaverman20 a mean "dear linus" LOL

[BassPounderX]

can you show us how it stacks up in games becuase these numbers mean nothing to me

[infrinous19]

use heaven dx 11 

[jfanderson14]

TIME FOR 2 OR 3 6990 IN CROSSFIRE

[Martinx88813]

Cool, now I know more about how it works... Thanks for you testing & tips....

[ttolmbrftttwtbopat]

can i have one of those 500 to 700 dollar cards you have strewn around your store ?u can mail em to me ill pay postage.

[3Z3K13L08]

My GTX 580 2-way SLI gets X3887 with a core of 823MHz (stock voltage). Cool that it beats the HD 6990.

[alexbeast14]

@3Z3K13L08 Wow. Wanna cookie, lol.

[3Z3K13L08]

@alexbeast14 Not really. It's just interesting that's all.

[alexbeast14]

@3Z3K13L08 True

[lolatyoufools]

@3Z3K13L08 how much did both of those cost?

[3Z3K13L08]

@lolatyoufools In Australia they cost me $620 each (MSI Twin Frozr II OC). You can get stock EVGA 580's for $579. One 6990 is $750-$850 and a GTX 590 is $900. Keep in mind our dollar is actually STRONGER than the US one at the moment. So we get screwed up the arse for PC hardware prices :(.

[CreativeBoy100]

@3Z3K13L08 yea tell me about it so gay

[3Z3K13L08]

@CreativeBoy100 Agreed. We pay more than $200 US/Aus for the GTX 590. and over $100 for a 580. A total joke.

[pr0jectSkyneT]

@linus how bout benchmark run with fraps on metro instead of 3D mark?

[EphraimJWitchwood]

Wait, what? I'm sure someone out there will get bored at some point and start playing Quake LIVE on their 6990. I know I would. That game is fun even if you suck at it, which is something that can't be said for many other games.

[Sambrero44]

hi linus

when I take a MSI P55-ED55 and then two ATI Radeon HD 5770 on it, grab

I then double or nearly double the performance?

[nofyt]

@Sambrero44 In Specefications:Yes. In FPS/games:No.

[Sambrero44]

@nofyt and when i take a 1366 motherboard?

[ButaChicken]

@Sambrero44 actually depending on the game, and resolution. You can sometimes come CLOSE to doubling performance with a 2nd card of the same spec. I use to have 2 older 9800GTX+ and when i added a 2nd card on 1920x1200 i doubled my frames no joke. On games such as crysis, COD, and battlefield BC2. Also, some games dont support SLI/crossfire very well if at all. That also makes it a dependant factor on whether 2 cards is worth it or not.

[Sambrero44]

@ButaChicken ok thanks

[Jaywed]

I WANT PCIE x32!

[ottermanuk]

if you can find a mobo with the slot, 6990 on PCI-e 1x

[NOXXism]

@ottermanuk It won't run

[lestube001]

it would great if made a video.on set up which great for video editing and rendering

[Lunarvx22]

The 6990 reminds me of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey

[xfx6]

hi, guys

i have a i5 2500K & MSI P67A-GD65

how can i get my CPU to 4 Ghz in daily???

i never made OC :P

[Stanlyok]

@xfx6 you should configure BIOS (or rather EFI)

google for tutorials, but it is really simple in P67 case - you basically increase turbo ratio and voltage(not over 1.35V though) ... then check if system is stable and monitor your CPU cores temperatures(should not peak above 70C for daily overclock)

[BikerBry]

You guys thinking a "gaming" benchmark would be a better gauge are absolute idiots. The idea here is to visually show that there is NO ralistic bottle neck between a *x and 16X PCIe lane because THE AVAILABLE BANDWIDTH IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING SATURATED BY ANY MODERN GRAPHICS CARD!!! If you had ANY clue how a PC worked, you wouldn't even need to see these benchmarks. It's like screwing your mom... throwing a hot dog down a hallway!

[ruhulaminutube]

Is this result thanks to the CPU or mobo?

[buXBRYLLEXub]

wth is bottle necking?

[edtri19]

@buXBRYLLEXub Bottle-necking is so called because all motherboards are made from recycled beer bottles and the brand of beer bottle determines the speed of a component therefore if he says bottle necking it means that something is being slowed down by inferior bottles

[potheadpickle]

@edtri19 Lmao... Good one.

[edtri19]

@potheadpickle trolling is a art

[potheadpickle]

@edtri19 You Sir... Have earned the Medal. I tip my hat to you.

[GameModzz]

@edtri19 loving this

[Meyohe]

@edtri19 lol....

[gmk120]

@edtri19 epic lulz