Thanks Triggaaar,

that's really depressing. I read through a fair bit of that thread and several of the links. It seems a fair bet the 6970 won't be out before Christmas unless AMD are sandbagging a little.

I now have to decide whether to go 5870 or get the rig minus the Graphics card and throw in my 7800GTs and wait until the 6970 is available. At least then I will know the performance and the price.

Or can I be patient enough to wait until Q1 2011.
Would probably make sense. Prices may have dropped on the 5870 if the 6970 doesn't turn out to be as good as the hype. Or not.

nnnnnngggg.... I want it now! :(

I didn't get the feeling that it won't be out for christmas. It's the information they've delayed, and if it's not going to be ready until after christmas, releasing the info on the 13th December doesn't make sense - ie, it's too late to stop some people buying a 580 before the 13th (they could release the info now if it's good news) and it's a bit early if the product still won't be ready. But we'll see.

It depends if there's a lot of games you're desperate to play now. I've built a new PC and I'm still using my 6600GT, as I'm in no hurry to get new games, and I want a card for SoW. If it's really for SoW, wait (not just for the 6970, but system requirements would be nice).

I don't think the 5870 will see much proce drop before we know about the 6970. If that turns out to be a good card and a decent price (and while I doubt it'll be as fast as the 580, it'll be faster than the 5870, crossfire better etc, and probably be a reasonable price), the 5870 should then see price drops.

My 2cts : Wait till SOW comes out and use your current card or a very cheap on the new rig till then.
(If that's possibel).
No use buying a nice card now and realising SOW is more demanding when it come's out.
That'll save some budget for a super card to get all the eye candy.

At least that's why I 'm waiting :)

I have decided to wait a month (until the supposed week 50 release) before deciding on the GPU and buying the package. It wasn't an easy decision.

Having unusually spare cash in the bank at risk from all of life's little foibles is like having a Ferrari on the drive but you can't find the key !

The 6000s out now are priced just at or above the 5000s they replace. I'm hoping the 6970/5870 situation will be the same.

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and advice. And any more that may come. I'll keep you posted.

I've ordered my system
 

Just reviving this thread to let you know what I've ordered and ask a question.

I've ordered everything I need except the video card. This is mainly because I want to beat the VAT increase (Jan 1st) and I don't expect any significant price changes for these parts between then and now. So I've ordered:

ASUS Sabertooth mobo
Intel i7 950 3.06GHz overclocked to 4.2GHz by supplier (o/c under warranty)
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B,Super 6 Heatpipe Tower Cooler
6Gb Corsair DDR3 RAM
128Gb SSD for the OS and Flying software (IL-2, FSX, SoW)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
750W Corsair HX PSU
Coolermaster HAF 912 case and extra 120mm top fan.

It's based around a Scan.co.uk "3XS SLIK i7 X58 950 BlackOps Bundle"....... modified. It will be built, o/clocked and tested by Scan.

I've taken advice from here and elsewhere to double the SSD size and up the Power Supply. I'll plug in my two 7800GTs for now until ATI release the 6970 when I'll be looking at price and performance. I expect it to outperform the 5870 and hopefully (from the 6850 and 6870 prices) will be in the same ballpark as the 5870. If that doesn't meet my hopes I'll go for the 5870. The 480GTX and 580 are outside my budget (which I'm already heading over) and the 480GTX also has a reputation for hot running.

I already have a new DVD drive and a couple of HDDs for other stuff (photos etc).

That's it. Come SoW, "six months" or whatever it's about as far as I can stretch so I've gone now.

It must be worth waiting for...
http://hw-lab.com/some-details-amd-r...es-leaked.html


OK MY QUESTION..
Does anyone have any indication that the 6970 release date is still on track, slipping again or what? Or info on likely price? Long shots I know.

S!

Latest rumour on 69XX-series (single GPU) release is around 13th of december. The dual-GPU's(Antilles?) are slated Q1 2011.

The 6970 will definitely outperfrom the 5870. It should be more expensive than the 480. It should be as quick or faster, as well as newer, cooler, quieter, use less power etc, so if the 480 is out of your budget, the 6970 will be - look at the 6950 instead.

i have a ATI 5850 and is a good videocard, DX11

but in arma 2 some times, she can't do all the job.
maybe i need some RAM, i have only 4GBRAM
i gonna buy another 4gbram and them i gonna tell you

Thanks Triggaaar,
I had in mind one of the two lower 69xx's.
http://img.hexus.net/v2/pmason/amd/6900/roadmap-2.jpg

The 6950 should outperform the 5870, as should any of the 69's, and comes with the new bells and whistles. The 6950 and 6970 look like having 2Gb RAM - but then the 6000 series are supposed to be cheaper to manufacture than 5000s. I would expect the 6990 to be near or perhaps more expensive than the 580 (I'm scared to look!) as it should outperform the 5970 but is cheaper to manufacture (?) but I'm not sure about the 6950/6970 over the 480GTX (£300 - £400 with 1.5Gb RAM, unless you mean the 480 price will get pushed down).

For comparison, the 6870 is cheaper than it's rivals 5850 and 5870 (about £185/195 vs £180/250 vs £250/300). So I would hope the 6950 will sit around or below the 5870 price, and the 6970... ????


Anyway if I can afford the 6970 I'll get it, otherwise the 6950.

That image only has three 69s on it. The 6990 is a dual card, so the 6970 should not be considered a 'lower' card. There's room for a 6930 later, depending on how the cards stack up against nvidia.

It definitely will outperform the 5970 (or they wouldn't release it), and it will be more expensive than the 580. It's a dual card. The 6970 will be closer to the 580 in terms of price and performance.

Although prices always fall, that's not what I meant. You said you'd look at the price and performance of the 6970, but that a 480 was above your budget - that's £300. You won't get a 6970 for less than that in the near future. By the time SoW comes out, who knows.

The 6870 is cheaper than the 5850 and 5870 because it is aimed at a lower section of the market. The 6870 is slower than the older 5870 because the 5870 was a high end card, and the 6870 is mid range (replacing the 5770). I appreciate that when buying a card now, with a given budget, you might compare the 6870 and 5870, but it's not a useful comparison for predicting the price of the next cards.

When the 6950 is released, it will be faster than the 5870, and more expensive (5870 price will drop). It should be a good card, not long to wait and see.