Final thoughts and rating
Lord of the pixels
The AMD Radeon HD 6990 4GB is the fastest graphics card in the world. No ifs, no buts, no maybes. Don't even bother considering it if you game at 1,680x1,050. Heck, even a full-HD resolution barely tickles the GPUs. Our testing shows that this card is designed for running many-monitor setups via AMD's Eyefinity technology, perhaps with a 3D cherry on top, because doing otherwise makes little sense.
Putting the performance into context, the card is comfortably faster than anything that has come before, and it better NVIDIA's best by, on average, 55 per cent in our range of games. There's nothing elegant here, dear reader, the Radeon HD 6990 is all about brute power above all else. This isn't a well-balanced card that ticks all the boxes. No, sir, it goes after the performance box and ticks so hard that it cuts clean through the paper.
Speed at any cost
But bringing the benchmark-busting mojo by harnessing two Radeon HD 6900-series GPUs on to one PCB means it pulls more watts than any other card, considerably more once the Switch of Awesomeness has been flicked on. What's more, it's the loudest card we've ever tested, and it nicely doubles-up as a room heater in winter. Win, eh?
While monstrously quick and capable of spitting out ludicrous numbers, the card's performance can be surpassed by throwing in a couple of regular HD 6970s into a motherboard. You know, it's hard to be disappointed when viewing such high frame-rates, but AMD really should have clocked the HD 6990 in at HD 6970 speeds. Wouldn't that have been something?
Then we come to the price. We'd ordinarily say that £550 is a silly amount of money to put down on one card, especially in light of how few must-have games are currently available, yet it's about right, given the performance, if you're a proper gaming enthusiast. AMD isn't looking to sell large quantities of this halo product. Rather, it's all about performance visibility. You literally pay through the nose for owning the best of anything.
GTX 590, over to you, hombre
Ultimately, the Radeon HD 6990 4GB's main purpose isn't to offer value; it's to be the fastest graphics card around. It is that, and some, right now, but a green spectre looms distractingly large on the horizon. GeForce GTX 590 is the name and murdering the Radeon HD 6990 is very much the game. There can be only one sheriff of GPUville at any one time - no deputies here, thanks - and we can't wait until the twin gun-slinging GTX 590 rides in at the end of the month.
The Good
Fastest graphics card in the world, no question
Pulverises the competition
No larger than last-generation HD 5970
Pretty good temps, all things considered
The Bad
Should have been two full-fat HD 6970s
Can be made to wail like a banshee in pain
Needs multiple monitor investment
to realise performance
HEXUS Rating
HEXUS Awards
HEXUS Where2Buy
TBC.
HEXUS Right2Reply
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