AMD Radeon HD 6950 and HD 6970: launch-day pricing and availability

AMD has finally launched its answer to NVIDIA's GTX 500-series with the Cayman-based Radeon HD 6950 and HD 6970 cards.

While powerful, we were a little let down by the performance, at least based on our own expectations. GTX 580 killers these cards are not, but they still deliver a lot of high-end bang for your buck.

Based on our review, we thought that the HD 6970's £300 MSRP was a bit too high to justify the slim performance gains over the GTX 570, but at £225 the HD 6950 offered excellent value for money.

So without further ado, let's look at what's available today, and how much it'll cost you.

As of the time of writing, availability is looking pretty thin for the flagship HD 6970, with only ebuyer having any cards in stock today. This could be a result of the suspected manufacturing problems that have hampered AMD's attempts to make this very large GPU.

Of course, stock levels later in the week will probably be more telling than they are today, as shipments can take time to filter through to the retailers.

In terms of pricing, it's encouraging to see a few cards listed in the £270-280 price range. This puts them squarely up against the cheapest GTX 570, which delivers similar overall performance to the Radeon.

Our pick of the pair, the HD 6950, is equally difficult to find, with ebuyer again the only retailer with any stock. However, there are a few others that are expecting shipments before the end of the week.

At £225, the lesser Cayman gives great value for money, but there are already a few cards popping up for under £215-220, making it tough to ignore. At the same time, it's difficult to fathom the cards that are approaching £250 or £260, which come within spitting distance of the cheapest HD 6970s and GTX 570s.

Overall, the launch-day picture isn't great, but at least there are a few cards on the shelves for anyone looking for a last-minute Christmas present.

All pricing correct as of 10am, Wednesday December 15 2010.