i'll call you "Hilly" but be careful who you ask to "smack that ass" 😛:p:p:p this also seems like the best value out of the current crop @1250, although i really like the white Nitro+ with this kind of performance it's no problem to recommend it to friends and clients between now and winter (RDNA 3) if they need a great 4k gpu esp. if the old one dies.

Thanks for the reviews on the cards. Put 6950XT in my cart at the local store for pickup and went to pay and the price jumped up $300 bucks lol. That was enough to discourage todays buy.

Iirc this is the first time since ... years (?) .... I see an AMD card leading the Shoot Out. 🙂

4 months to go till next gen cards. Cant see anyone forking over $1200+ for any card unless they dont mind upgrading again in such a short period.

Awesome. But hilbert could u please test a little more games like rdr2? Horizon zero dawn ? Metro?

Excellent reviews as always, thanks Mr. Hilbert. Dang, look at those Firestrike Ultra scores, broke the 15k barrier, I don't care what anyone says, that is extremely high and fast too, wow, SMFH, pure rasterization FTW. Thanks again for the reviews.

alanm:

4 months to go till next gen cards. Cant see anyone forking over $1200+ for any card unless they dont mind upgrading again in such a short period.

not picking nits as you're right. as an admitted serial system builder i would say it depends on the client and how much of a gamer they are. but there are going to be a few who will have to wait additional months for the same AIB version - so 8 months which i would still say wait. but for those like me that didn't wait when RDNA 2 was msrp, this would be worth the wait as i love my 6900xt. if i had waited then, i would buy the refresh for sure. but mainly because the games i like aren't as dependent on frames, other than basic fluid movement so i will be perfectly happy until RDNA 3 is more widely released (post-APU and mobile release) so at least two years of being able to wait which is why i can advise anyone that needs a 4k gpu - being "happy" for two years - for sure - is a big thing. because even allowing "just lil ole me" being picky - i know a lot of people like me don't mind upgrading just because it's new and/or shiny. to the people here if they asked me to build them a system to be delivered now - i would say what do you play? do you need above 120 FPS (big screen free-sync limit for majority) now? to those who say yes i will say what can you spend and what do you use it for? that's a whole different kettle of fish so don't kill me for what i say next for most people, what you want to spend on a system depends on how many "good bits" you already have. buying a gpu should match the monitor you have or plan to buy - if you're not just hooking this up to a Free-sync TV. if you are hooking this up to a "Free-Sync Premium" TV, you are guaranteed five years of fabulous gaming joy. if you are hooking this up to water-cooling or more advanced custom, this depends a lot on you and how long your expectation is for it to be S.O.T.A.? so if you're competitive in a high fps game and already have the monitor you like and the frames you like or can wait 4-8 months, wait. because then at this price point there will be a choice of both flavors of red and green

tunejunky:

not picking nits as you're right. as an admitted serial system builder i would say it depends on the client and how much of a gamer they are. but there are going to be a few who will have to wait additional months for the same AIB version - so 8 months which i would still say wait. but for those like me that didn't wait when RDNA 2 was msrp, this would be worth the wait as i love my 6900xt. if i had waited then, i would buy the refresh for sure. but mainly because the games i like aren't as dependent on frames, other than basic fluid movement so i will be perfectly happy until RDNA 3 is more widely released (post-APU and mobile release) so at least two years of being able to wait which is why i can advise anyone that needs a 4k gpu - being "happy" for two years - for sure - is a big thing. because even allowing "just lil ole me" being picky - i know a lot of people like me don't mind upgrading just because it's new and/or shiny. to the people here if they asked me to build them a system to be delivered now - i would say what do you play? do you need above 120 FPS (big screen free-sync limit for majority) now? to those who say yes i will say what can you spend and what do you use it for? that's a whole different kettle of fish so don't kill me for what i say next for most people, what you want to spend on a system depends on how many "good bits" you already have. buying a gpu should match the monitor you have or plan to buy - if you're not just hooking this up to a Free-sync TV. if you are hooking this up to a "Free-Sync Premium" TV, you are guaranteed five years of fabulous gaming joy. if you are hooking this up to water-cooling or more advanced custom, this depends a lot on you and how long your expectation is for it to be S.O.T.A.? so if you're competitive in a high fps game and already have the monitor you like and the frames you like or can wait 4-8 months, wait. because then at this price point there will be a choice of both flavors of red and green

Well each to their own and their particular scenarios. But one thing that I know would rankle me is buying an expensive card then seeing a few months later a mid-range card obliterating it for half the price. I am a very patient man. Before my stop off point was usually 6 months till which I then I just wait for a new GPU release. Have upgraded every gen for last 20 years till the big price/shortage crisis hit us couple years ago. Now I have acquired greater patience and can even skip a gen without breaking a sweat. 😀

as an early adopter i'm used to it. for my friends, not at all. particularly with hardware, so i will be delighted to see a $600 card "rule the world". i'm especially glad whatever the price is for RDNA 3, the performance for the dollar will be astronomical. and even if Nvidia is "flat footed" or is "caught napping", their mid-range Lovelace will be delivering that too... so much so i don't need a psychic act to know they'll sell a ton.

No award for the conclusion?

alanm:

4 months to go till next gen cards. Cant see anyone forking over $1200+ for any card unless they dont mind upgrading again in such a short period.

You know how this works. Even if they announce it in september it takes two moths to wait for them to be on stock then another one for aib models. Still if aiming for high end gpu i do recommend waiting.

When people say dont upgrade yet, ok but lets look at the 6950XT, its £1080, lets say it turns out that its as powerful as 7700XT but what if the 7700XT turn out to also be £1080 at launch. Essentially you are waiting a fair few months to pay the same money for the same performance.

pegasus1:

When people say dont upgrade yet, ok but lets look at the 6950XT, its £1080, lets say it turns out that its as powerful as 7700XT but what if the 7700XT turn out to also be £1080 at launch. Essentially you are waiting a fair few months to pay the same money for the same performance.

I would say the new card: 1) will probably have new useful features. 2) will probably be better optimised for future games, so will tend to pull away from the older card as time goes by. 3) might be a new architecture. This matters because the driver team sub-divides supported cards by architecture, and the older your cards architecture the less they will care about it.

Dribble:

I would say the new card: 1) will probably have new useful features. 2) will probably be better optimised for future games, so will tend to pull away from the older card as time goes by. 3) might be a new architecture. This matters because the driver team sub-divides supported cards by architecture, and the older your cards architecture the less they will care about it.

I agree with everything you said but 'might' and 'probably' shouldn't be the driving force when people think about upgrading, if i didnt have a 6900xt and still used my 1080Ti i would go for a 6950xt now and wait and see how the 7000 series pans out whenever it does arrive, and if it arrives at a competitive price and in numbers. Many people said i was mad to buy my 1080Ti on release day at (i think) £699, then the prices went up through the roof shortly after ha ha ha

I think The "7900xt" Will certainly be a better more exciting GPU, but it will be at least $1500 or more msrp. The days of $699 top end GPUs are long gone.

Embra:

I think The "7900xt" Will certainly be a better more exciting GPU, but it will be at least $1500 or more msrp. The days of $699 top end GPUs are long gone.

Agreed but say a 7600xt costs £1000, will it be as fast as a 6950xt which also costs a £1000 right now.

RTX 3070 is at a similar level as the 2080ti. How do their msrp's compare? Actual costs will of course skew them from the msrp.

Embra:

RTX 3070 is at a similar level as the 2080ti. How do their msrp's compare? Actual costs will of course skew them from the msrp.

Exectly, its more than possible that when the new cards come out, £1000 gets you the same or maybe even lower performance as a £1000 card right now.

pegasus1:

Agreed but say a 7600xt costs £1000, will it be as fast as a 6950xt which also costs a £1000 right now.

What if 7600xt costs 479$ and its fast as 6900xt? Then you can bang you head against the wall.

Undying:

What if 7600xt costs 479$ and its fast as 6900xt? Then you can bang you head against the wall.

There's always what if's. Purchase paralysis is no fun, buy now, game on, upgrade later.