The previously unseen AMD Radeon HD 6990 was seen this last weekend in a demo by the company’s graphics team manager Matt Skynner. The dual-chip graphics card was held up without explanation but confirmed rumors of a vapor chamber cooling system. Somewhat similar to NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 580, it would have a blower to bring in air and use this to help cool the vapor chamber that would draw heat away using moisture.
Some of the specifications have slipped out as well and suggest a major leap over the 5970. Each chip would have 1,920 shader (visual effect) processors and would combine to provide a total of 3,840 shaders versus the 5970’s 3,200. Each chip would have 2GB of RAM for a total of 4GB, giving it enough space to handle Eyefinity’s six displays. The design would have three mini DisplayPort connectors and dual-DVI outputs as an option.
The board as it could use 30W even at idle and 300W at peak. The 6990is plan to ship before the end of the first quarter and could ship as soon as late February
