I can confirm that the AMD Linux drivers are a proper dogs' dinner, haha. As for Windows ones, never had a problem at all, except for the Catalyst Control Centre being a real heap of crap. Oh yeah, and the big phase where Il-2 had various visual artifacts and the like, but hey, 10 year old game.

Well, considering I have machines running both Nvidia and ATI cards...
I'll never buy another AMD/ATI video card. Nothing but troubles.. and I hear the same thing from my flight sim friends with ATI. They are fine if you just want to tinker with Office applications... wont have one for gaming. My nvidia cards/drivers never seem to have an issue... but always running into little "things" with ATI.
And I know my way around a computer as well.. not like I buy compaq gaming rigs. I build my own.
Will be building a new machine just for COD.. and she'll be running Nvidia.

overpriced,overnoisy and overheated, just mho

Maybe, I just remember a personal nightmare with them from a few years ago. They may of improved them alot since then, I have not tried them out so I am just going from older experience and what people are saying.
Also I am not bashing them for the sake of it, nvidia does plenty of things wrong too.

You have it right, we can get by on lesser GPU's. What we really need is a CPU!
Something that clocks high like the new 2500K sandy balls! And before this starts a "but sandy bridge is broken" thread, Its not that big of a deal. I'd get:

2500K( 2600K is too much $ for for the difference)
Z68 MoBo (when they come out)
8GB 1600 RAM
I'm keeping my 2X HD 5770 CF AMD GPU (it = a 5870)
at least a 128GB SSD for OS and steam games(also don't start a whin fest bout steam) and old hard drive for other stuff

Actually any card that gives you >30 fps as a minimum at desired res and settings is fine. Yes higher is better but it wont make you a better pilot just lighten your wallet.

You forgot overkill

The main reason i bought my gtx580 is the low heat. It's absolutely stunning on that department with the stock cooler. Idles at 37 and just below 70 under gaming. Never seen it go over 70 yet. I love this card.

No offence to anyone but do people actually read the articles?

They've used the Cayman XT GPU's not the Bart GPU's for this card, so they've broken with tradition.

Huh? The 5800 and 6800 series of cards use less power and are quieter than the 480, even the 580 uses less than a 480. As for power load and temps on the 6990, this new card uses less than a 580 in SLI and produces more performance, and will no doubt cost less than a 580x2 SLI set up.

Everyone must remember that this card is not for everyone, hell I'd even recommend lower spec'd cards for CoD. But if you've got a multi monitor set up and want nothing but ALL the highest settings to be displayed then this is the card you'd want to get.

6990 does NOT perform better or even as 2x580, period. It doesnt even perform like 2x6970 but more like 2x6950 + its hotter, a fair chunk louder and more powerhungry, but hey, at least its more expensive.

Temps are high but would be even higher if the the fan wasnt working overtime to keep the heat at bay. Its the loudest card ever produced, hence, in extension the hottest (the stock cooler is a complete waste of space.)

The fact that many sites doing the tests got errors, black screens, refusal to even start applications etc, is just icing on the cake.(apparently)

Typical AMD cut and paste hope for the best dont worry about the driver, that we can fix in a month or two, maby approach.

The point of this card is beyond me and i feel for those suckered into buying it.