AMD Radeon 6970

[Stevies3]

Is there any way to order a 21.5" (2011) iMac with the AMD 6970 video card? If not can it be installed afterwards?

 

[yonis]

Nope, not a BTO option. Can't be installed afterwards because it's soldered onto the motherboard.

 

[Kendo]

Not to hijack but since the OP's question has already been answered...

What kind of performance boost are we looking at from a 6970M to a 7970M (rumored to be in BTO iMac)? 50%?

 

[The-Pro]

Nope, not a BTO option. Can't be installed afterwards because it's soldered onto the motherboard.

They aren't soldered onto the motherboard. The GPU is on a separate MXM board and technically can be replaced. Don't think it has been done though. There are several threads here discussing it and someone wanted to try.

 

[forty2j]

Not to hijack but since the OP's question has already been answered...

What kind of performance boost are we looking at from a 6970M to a 7970M (rumored to be in BTO iMac)? 50%?

Benchmarks are out.. linked in another thread. Up to 100% depending on how you measure.