Interesting fact about the Radeon 6950 1GB

AMD released its 6900 cards in 2GB form when they first came out, but the also just released a 1GB version of the 6950. Odd thing is...the 6950 1GB beats the 2GB version in nearly all the benchmarks...except at 2560 x 1600 and only on certain games. This is quite odd...

http://techgage.com/article/amd_radeon_hd_6950_1gb/3

Where did you read that info.

the link is in the post. lol. Techgage.com forums.

I know and i checked it out but i didn't find it.

I know and i checked it out but i didn't find it.

read the charts. those show the FPS benchmarks. The 6970 1GB beats the 6970 2GB.

charts like this one:



and also Rob's comments at the bottom of each page.

But it's weird, i don't see why they would do that, it's not about money.

But it's weird, i don't see why they would do that, it's not about money.

Seriously! You're getting nearly the EXACT same performance for $20 less than the 2GB model. It makes no sense.

They have a reason, maybe they are aready thinking about how the next one is going to be, they just gonna put some new adds to the 6970.

Probably cause most programs or games right now don't even utilize 2GB of dedicated VRAM, especially when the test systems they use have 8GB RAM or more, and almost always top end components.

Processor
Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition - Quad-Core @ 4.05GHz - 1.40v
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME - F13j BIOS (08/02/2010)
Memory
Corsair DOMINATOR - 12GB DDR3-1333 7-7-7-24-1T, 1.60v

With those specs, the Graphics cards will always be the bottleneck...so the results are mundane and meaningless.

All benchmarks shouldn't be taken that seriously/precisely cause it just goes to show, that even the smallest changes in specifications can make a difference.

I agree.

With those specs, the Graphics cards will always be the bottleneck...so the results are mundane and meaningless.

In response to Slevin, I thought what you said sounded possible, so I asked the editor of TechGage about it, and this is what he said:

If all it took was additional RAM to be added to the PC to alleviate GPU issues, we might not see 2GB cards at all ;-)

Our rig is "ultra high-end" because we want to make sure it's not a bottleneck. It's all left up to the GPU at that point to strut its stuff. I don't think the mass of RAM we have installed has anything to do with it at all, nor do I believe a lower-end machine would see benefits on the 2GB card.

Still there testing a Mid-Range graphics card with a Ultra Enthusiast Machine. The GPU won't strut much when its not doing all the instructions. And, if you look at the article, they turn off about 100 Non essential windows services which 95% of the time, people dont really modify.

Its all about the Drivers of the GPU and the programs/games that utilize them that actually effectively utilizes the memory and drives the performance.

I have 6GB of RAM on my computer and I never exceed 40-50% of it at any time under extreme loads (Crysis Max Settings, CAD software)I also have 1GB of VRAM, which i can't see how much is being utilized. But if i had 2GB of VRAM, I still wouldn't see all that being used just like how my RAM is being used.
My 5870 also has the option to (and all ati cards) use system RAM as video ram if it needs it. So if I have a 1GB or 2GB videoram with 12gb ram, the system will dedicate some if needed, thus evening the playing field for a mere 1 or 2 gb of dedicated vram.
(With 6GB, my system says it can allow up to 3gb to be shared with the gpu or system, so with 12gb you could see up to 6gb allotted to that test system.

Just wait a few months when drivers are tweaked and you will see the 2GB model outperform the 1GB.

I'm not trying to make an argument or anything, but lots of the Benchmarks are just guides to follow, and if you looked at the dozens of tech websites that do these tests, you will see some will favour one gpu or the other. Thus confirming that even small changes to the test system can yield different benchmark results.

True

Just wait a few months when drivers are tweaked and you will see the 2GB model outperform the 1GB.