AMD Radeon HD 6990 Official: World's Fastest Graphics Card

We've been tracking AMD's beastly Radeon HD 6990 for a few months now, and the company has finally seen fit to make it official. Billed as the world's fastest graphics card, the AMD Radeon HD 6990 packs 3,072 Stream Processors, 64 ROPs and 4GB of GDDR5 memory, together good for a borderline-ridiculous 11,865 score in 3DMark11.

Up to five simultaneous displays are supported – boosted to six with DisplayPort 1.2 components available for purchase later this year – while a dual-BIOS toggle switch allows the 830MHz clock speed to be pushed up to 880MHz. There's AMD HD3D support, for stereoscopic 3D gaming and movies over HDMI 1.4a, and of course DirectX11 and CrossFireX support.

Cards from AMD's hardware partners will go on sale today, priced at around $699, which almost seems like a bargain when you consider what you're getting.

Press Release:

AMD Extends Graphics Performance Lead, Launches World's Fastest Graphics Card... AGAIN!

AMD Radeon™ HD 6990 utilizes sophisticated AMD PowerTune intelligent power management technology, delivers native support for wraparound 5x1 gaming with AMD Eyefinity technology

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the launch of the fastest graphics card in the world, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6990, packing so much raw performance it delivered a new single graphics card world record score of P11865 in the industry standard 3DMark11 benchmark1. AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics cards are available immediately from retailers worldwide, with select models starting at US $699 MSRP.

Designed for the power gamer, AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics cards include AMD's second-generation, Microsoft DirectX® 11-capable architecture, advanced image quality features for the best looking games, and AMD PowerTune intelligent technology to enable higher clock speeds and faster gaming. The AMD Radeon HD 6990 offers the ultimate in immersive HD gaming and computing with native support for up to five displays using AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, with six display support possible via DisplayPort 1.2 components available for purchase later this year.3 The AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics cards also feature a dual-BIOS toggle switch, allowing enthusiast gamers to unlock the card and rev up the clocks and voltages for even more performance.4 Finally, AMD HD3D technology provides a cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D gaming and movie experience, thanks to HDMI 1.4a support.5

"Packing more raw performance than any consumer graphics card ever created, the AMD Radeon HD 6990 provides the latest for the ultimate gaming advantage," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, GPU division, AMD. "Coupled with AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, AMD PowerTune power management and AMD HD3D, this card is so powerful it can take on even the most demanding ultra-enthusiast tasks."

Leading Graphics with second-generation DirectX 11-capable Technology

New AMD PowerTune technology: Designed to perform real-time intelligent power management, AMD PowerTune technology on the AMD Radeon HD 6990 automatically enables higher clock speeds and faster performance in the hottest games.1

Increased memory for higher image quality: With 4GB of ultra-fast GDDR5 memory, gamers can enjoy superior detail in their favorite games, even on up to five simultaneous displays.

The Ultimate Visual Experience™: As AMD's most advanced DirectX® 11-capable GPU, AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics processors also enable an exceptional game play experience in DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, DirectX® 10.1 and OpenGL titles in single card or multi-card AMD CrossFireX™ configurations.6

Improved image quality: Advanced anti-aliasing features enable dramatically enhanced image quality for intensely realistic gaming. Enhanced-Quality Anti-Aliasing (EQAA) uses a new sampling technique to help improve visual quality, while Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA) uses DirectCompute acceleration to provide anti-aliasing on any DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, or DirectX® 11 application.

An Immersive Gaming Experience with AMD Eyefinity Technology and Advanced Display Options

Simple, flexible, affordable multi-display computing with AMD Eyefinity technology: Providing an expanded and more immersive field of view, AMD Eyefinity technology continues to be the most affordable multi-display solution available, offering dozens of possible configurations of up to five simultaneous displays.2 New to the AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics processor is the ability to configure up to five monitors in portrait mode. Making innovative technologies more affordable and accessible than ever before, the AMD Eyefinity Validated & Ready Testing Program helps ensure a seamless customer multi-display experience, with more than 70 tested and validated AMD Eyefinity-compatible titles for the greatest assurance of quality and interoperability. Continued industry leadership in multi-display computing: AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics cards offer support for both DisplayPort 1.2 features and HDMI 1.4a, offering enthusiasts incredible multi-monitor configuration options, flexibility in display selection, and new DisplayPort audio features.

Faster Applications and Brilliant Video with AMD EyeSpeed Technology

AMD EyeSpeed visual acceleration technology lets you do more, faster: Tapping the tremendous power of the AMD Radeon HD 6990, enthusiasts will enjoy clearer and more vibrant videos, as well as improved performance and new features in top media, entertainment and productivity applications with AMD EyeSpeed technology.7

Incredible compute capabilities: Featuring leading support for IEEE 754 double precision floating point ops, the AMD Radeon HD 6990 is equipped to dominate computationally intense workloads.

Enhanced video quality features: AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics cards feature Unified Video Decoder 3 (UVD3), a dedicated video playback accelerator that helps users get the most out of HD video, online video and Blu-ray™ 3D, while enjoying a range of video quality improvements such as advanced post-processing and scaling, dynamic contrast enhancement, color correction and more.

3D entertainment choices with AMD HD3D technology: AMD continues to deliver a broad and affordable selection of 3D solutions with AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics cards, featuring AMD HD3D technology, backed by AMD's open 3D initiative for stereo 3D gaming and movies.3