Upgrading my GPU (HD6950)?

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MangoMonkey

MangoMonkey

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Apr 29, 2013
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Hello all. Currently, my PC runs with the Asus HD6950 2gb card. For over two years now, she has served me faithfully and well. Sadly, she seems to be beginning to suffer somewhat - actually, I think she might be physically failing (I'm getting worse performance in several games and set-ups than I used to have - Skyrim + ENB is one good example, where I struggle to even maintain 30FPS). I call her Rosita, and it's time for her to sleep the endless sleep.

I'm looking at the HD7950, HD7970 and the GTX680 as reasonable replacements (the GTX670 is only ~£30 cheaper than the 7970, and was thus ignored). I've checked plenty of hierarchies and benchmarks, and all seem reasonable options. I can get the 7950 at £240, while the 7970 is £100 more than that and the 680 comes in at about £380. I AM on something of a budget - needs must and I'll pay what I have to but even £240 is a heavy hit to my finances.

So my question is: is the £100+ difference in price worth it for these cards, in your opinion? I'm running an AMD FX4350@4.33Ghz and 8gb Corsair Vengeance RAM on an ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 board, for reference. I upgrade my PC as I can, in increments, since I can't afford to build a new system anyway. The GPU needs to remain relevant for ~2 years, roughly. Any thoughts?
 
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ASHISH65

ASHISH65

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Oct 15, 2012
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:lol::lol: first person to see who have made name for gpu and "SHE" HAA

anways its fully worth it to spend on gpus

see the chart to compare

perfrel_1920.gif




 
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sincreator

sincreator

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If your on a budget then the HD7870xt (should probally be a HD7930) cards are probally the best bang for buck in the high end. They offer about the same performance as a HD7950 for about $50 less.

Here are a few models:

Sapphire: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b1186/sapphire-hd-7870-xt-boost.html

VTX3d: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b877/vtx3d-hd-7870-black-edition.html

Powercolor: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b814/powercolor-hd-7870-myst-edition.html

XFX: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b1743/xfx-double-d-hd-7870.html

Club 3d: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b762/club-3d-hd-7870-xt-jokercard.html

I found that the VTX3d is the cheapest while doing a quick search, but I couldn't see any info about the warranty period.

The XFX card probally has the best warranty, but still uses the older style ram clocked at 1250mhz by default instead of the other cards 1500mhz default memory clock.

Hope this helps. :)
 
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ASHISH65

ASHISH65

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so you are pointing me? lol that is techpowerup review on gtx 650ti boost,so they have made that chart with other card

i was showing him hd 7950,gtx670,7970 performance difference
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Jun 2, 2007
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What is Rositas temperature? She may just be getting too hot.
The GTX680 is overpriced, it's barely faster than the GTX670 which is, in turn, comparable to the HD7950.
Best value for the Pound in your pocket is the HD7870LE/XT but they're getting scarce.
See here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32671.html

Be aware, some of these cards require 8 pin connectors, so you may need to get hold of a 6-8 pin converter if your power supply has no 8 (or 6+2) pin plugs.
A few names to feed into your search engine: Dabs, CCL, Scan, Overclockers, Pixmania, Aria, Ebuyer, Novatech and Misco.
The XFX 7950 DD is going for about £230, it's the cheapest usually available it's only downside is it can get 'noticeable' under load ;)
If you can collar a 7870XT/LE for a fair bit less, I'd jump all over it myself, just remember not to expect to much of a boost in CPU intense games, where the little Fx, might prove to be a restriction.
One last point: What is the monitor resolution? You'd be surprised but some people are not gaming at 1080 rez!
 
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A

AdioKIP

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If you're on a budget, hands down the 7950 will give you the most value. As far as is it worth paying the extra $100 for the 7970/680, in my opinion I would say no, especially if you are willing to overclock your card. I run 2x 7950's (One OC edition, one boost edition) and I havent had a problem overclocking both of them higher than a stock 7970ghz edition. Yes the 7970 and 680 are faster cards stock and may have higher overclocking potential, but realistically you'll see a marginal increase in performance vs more than a 30% increase in price.

As far as the recommendations to go with a 7870, its a great card as well, but you mentioned wanting to keep the card a minimum of 2 years. The extra gig of ram on the 7950 vs a 7870 will help the card stay relevant longer.
 
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MangoMonkey

MangoMonkey

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My PSU is a CoolerMaster modular unit, so no worries with regards to power connector. My monitor resolution is 1920x1080 (I also run a second monitor, though games are run only on the single-screen and Aero is disabled). Rosita runs at ~80 Celsius at full load, according to CoreTemp and GPU-Z.

In response to everyone else, and appreciate all the suggestions. I'm not adverse to overclocking, though I haven't really ventured into it before - the extra shaders ARE unlocked on my HD6950, but it's running at stock clocks (any attempt to increase it in the CCC results in a driver crash). I'm happy to spend on the HD7950, though I appreciate those who suggest the 7870 - I was here running off the GPU Hierarchy that this site has, which suggest hopping up about 3-tiers for a reasonable gain in performance. My question is more based upon the difference between the 7950 and the other two (7970 and GTX 680), in terms of price versus power.

EDIT: As an aside, I'm interested in your comments about the FX8350. While not, admittedly, up their with the high-tier Intel models (they weren't an option for the upgrade, since I already had an AM3+ Mobo), I was under the impression that the FX was one of the highest-quality AMD processors available? I've fitted it with a Hyper 212 Evo cooler, so I can overclock it if it turns out to be necessary in the future. Besides the point, I know, just an interesting comment.
 
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sincreator

sincreator

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HD7950 would be the best bang for buck option then, allthough the 7870xt is almost exactly the same performance(faster in some cases) as a 7950 for quite a bit less... Look at the reviews I posted. You will see that the 7950 really does not pull out ahead until you pass 1080p. It's your money though, so do whatever you please. :)
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Sounds like you know what you're doing, mate, but do Rosita a favour, give her a clean out, cards tend to get a little 'difficult' as they get older and become less tolerant of higher temperatures.
Had the same with my 6950-unlocked very nicely but baulked at an overclock once flashed.
Forget the GTX680, it's not much faster than the GTX670 which, in turn, is comparable with the HD7950.
I'd look for either a HD7950 or HD7870XT/LE.
 
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MangoMonkey

MangoMonkey

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Apr 29, 2013
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You raise a good point - I apologise for skipping over your last post, those benchmarks and reviews were pretty interesting. Likewise, I'm grateful you went out of your way to find the VTX3D card on Amazon, that was a big help!

Alright, so it seems the consensus is that the Hd7950 or the 7870XT are the best choices here, for price compared to power. Not worth the big jump to the HD7970. I'll shop around a bit for these two cards, see how much money I've got to play with. Might end up plumping for the 7870, if the difference really is like £60. I mean, I could grab an SSD for that price... though the VRAM boost on the 7950 might be useful for next-gen games and texture mods...
 
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