6970 vs 5970 used

[voodoohao]

Hi I'm able to obtain a 5970 used video card with one year warranty remaining at 50 USD more than the cost of a brand new 6970 in my country. Which video card should I go for? Assuming efficiency in power usage, heat, noise and the fact that I'm only gaming at 1920x1080 resolution

 

[g00fysmiley]

5970 is a helluva card, it will out preform a 6970...

that said as it has 2 gpu's it will as i imagine you know already use more power, create more heat and liekly more noise than a 6970

gaming at 1920 x 1080 really either should be more than sufficient

 

[jaguarskx]

The HD 6970 should be more than enough for gaming @ 1920 x 1080.

The HD 5970 is more powerful and can push games @ 2560 x 1600. It has two GPUs so it uses more electricity, probably more noise and produces more heat than the HD 6970.

 

[jyjjy]

If you don't know an HD6950 can unlock into an HD6970 which is probably your best choice for the money.

 

[voodoohao]

okay i found out that a brand new 6970 in my country actually costs 420USD, while a 6950 costs around 310 USD. A used 5970 is going for around 390USD. So technically I should go for the 6950 due to the unlocking process right? Read up on it and quite interested in its potential

 

[aznshinobi]

You should. I would pick the 6950 IMO. Maybe wait a month though for non-reference coolers such as the directcu or Twin Frozr to come out. Since both will keep the unlocked card cooler than the reference by quite a bit.

 

[voodoohao]

oh okay thanks for all the suggestions...shall be deciding soon haha cuz I just sold my 5850

 

[Tamz_msc]

Its always preferable to get a single-GPU card since dual - GPU cards are not very well optimized.

 

[wh3resmycar]

Its always preferable to get a single-GPU card since dual - GPU cards are not very well optimized.

are you living under a rock?

 

[Tamz_msc]

are you living under a rock?

The rock is telling me that a HD 5970 gives single digit FPS in Crysis:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/165

 

[wh3resmycar]

^ and you'll be playing at the minimum frame rate of 1 or @ the average framerate of 38.6?

and since this 5970 happens to hit 1fps as minimum on a single game, we brand " dual - GPU cards are not very well optimized." so suddenly? i've seen rubbish before, but yours is in the top 5 of my list.

 

[Tamz_msc]

^ and you'll be playing at the minimum frame rate of 1 or @ the average framerate of 38.6?

and since this 5970 happens to hit 1fps as minimum on a single game, we brand "GPU cards are not very well optimized." so suddenly? i've seen rubbish before, but yours is in the top 5 of my list.

Care to explain why a 500$ card is slower than a 180$ one?

....... remember that the Radeon HD 5970 2GB still costs upwards of £490 and that it has the significant drawback of depending upon drivers to unlock all of its potential performance.

Or is it because microstuttering is of no importance to you?

While the HD 5970 2GB also put in some impressive numbers at 1,920 x 1,200, we encountered serious micro-stuttering at 2,560 x 1,200, meaning that the game was unplayable.

Source: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/11/09/nvidia-geforce-gtx-580-review/10

 

[wh3resmycar]

oh so you're in the business of graph selection. hmmm.. let me try it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/11/09/nvidia-geforce-gtx-580-review/7

from your link btw. care to explain why in a more graphical demanding game, bfbc2, the 5970 shines? (read the note below the page).

here's another example of how unoptimized dual cards can be.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/11/09/nvidia-geforce-gtx-580-review/4

oh look, neck and neck with a gtx580. crikey.

your statement could've made sense if we're talking about the 7950gx2/3970x2.

 

[Tamz_msc]

Where does it shine in BFBC2 when you turn on AA at full HD? And the note below states that microstuttering makes the game unplayable on a 5970 so your point is?

from your link btw. care to explain why in a more graphical demanding game, bfbc2, the 5970 shines? (read the note below the page).

You're almost saying as if the 5970 shines because of microstuttering. :lol: