HD 5870 VS HD 6950.. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO GET

[Nin9tySe7en]

So whats better as a single card hd 5870 1GB OR THE hd 6950 2GB ? and by how much more is it better ?
for crossfire what is better? and by how much is it better ?
Is there something better than them both for about the same price ?

What graphics card should i get for the new computer im buying ?
And im not very experienced with overclocking so you could take that out of the equation.

and im going to be using my 32" flat screen tv as a monitor, so I dont know the resolution that would be...

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

Don't need 2GB vram with a 32" tv monitor. Look into the GTX 470. Alittle faster then the 5870 and less money.

What aboout the GTX 470 compared to the hd 6950 ? Also is the GTX 470 better in crossfire ?

 

[17seconds]

You can SLI GTX470's if you have a SLI-certified motherboard. You can Crossfire 5870's or 6950's on any motherboard that has two PCIe slots. A GTX570 costs about $350. The GTX560 should be out on January 25th and will be comparable to the 6950, but a little cheaper.

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

You can SLI GTX470's if you have a SLI-certified motherboard. You can Crossfire 5870's or 6950's on any motherboard that has two PCIe slots. A GTX570 costs about $350. The GTX560 should be out on January 25th and will be comparable to the 6950, but a little cheaper [/url]

So would you suggest getting the hd 6950 ? what would you choose ?

 

[z06psi]

5870 would be my choice. Crossfire another one and skip the 7000 series and wait for the 8000 series before upgrading.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i would go the newer 6950 over 5870 if your thinking of crossfire later down the track. 5870's will become hard to get hold of as they wont be making them and supply will run short and you may be forced to buy a 2nd hand one. People say 2gb vram not necessary, but you never know what the future may hold. At the time i got my 640mb 8800gt over the 320mb one, people said at the time, you dont need the extra ram, now you do need the extra ram. I think it may be worth it on a higher end gfx card.

 

[nativeson8803]

matto, how do you get those charts?

as to the point of the thread, I can say that my GTX 470 is a great card and I'd buy it all over again if the price were right. Also, with the 470, you have 1280 VRAM, not just 1gb. I have seen this extra VRAM come in handy in games like BFBC2 and GTA4 gaming at 1920x1080 with AA on.

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

5870 would be my choice. Crossfire another one and skip the 7000 series and wait for the 8000 series before upgrading.

why would you choose 5870 ?
cuz apparently people say the 6950 is better for crossfire ...

also at my local retailer the 6950 and 5870 are the exact same price currently, so....

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

Im still getting no where -.- .. everyone has there answer/opinion but i still dont have a majority vote on one of the cards, and im stuck on the decision.
Im leaning towards the hd 6950, but my i talked to someone at canada computers and he said hd 5870 is a good buy.
and also now people are suggesting the gtx 470

is there any proof, charts, graphs that show what cards are better in what scenarios ? if so, link me

 

[17seconds]

So would you suggest getting the hd 6950 ? what would you choose ?

It seems like you have a top budget around $300. The way I see it, you have two choices:
1) Get the 6950 now. It's a good card, you can overclock it easily, and it doesn't have some of the negatives associated with the 5870's (poor DirectX 11 tesselation performance for one).
2) Wait one more week and see how much the GTX560 costs and what performance it will deliver. I'm actually expecting it will beat the 6950 and cost less. If it is at the same level as the 6950, then I would get a GTX560, mainly to get PhysX, better drivers, even better DirectX 11 tesselation performance, and what I'm assuming will be a very quiet and effective vapor chamber cooler.

For nativeson, I get those charts from techpowerup.com.

 

[marney_5]

I upgraded from a sapphire 5870 to a XFX 6950 and the performance difference is marginal with the 6950 being better for tesselation.

The only reason I upgaded to the 6950 is because im buying another one at the end of the month for CF.

If you were going to pick between the 2 then I would say get the 6950 as its better for tessellation.

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

What is this "flash to 6970" that I've heard the 6950 is capable of ?
how do yu do it ?
does it void the warranty?

is it really worth it ? or if I had the 6950 would it be smart to just leave it as is ?

 

[Tamz_msc]

Just wait for the GTX 560.

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

I called the store im buying my computer from, they said it comes out next month. I dont know if I can wait that long.

is it really going to be worth the wait ? what do we know about it know ?

 

[17seconds]

I called the store im buying my computer from, they said it comes out next month. I dont know if I can wait that long.

is it really going to be worth the wait ? what do we know about it know ?

It will be out on January 25th. Can you wait that long?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

wait, wait, wait....you will be waiting forever as new cards get released every few months. the gtx560 will just be a revised gtx460 so i wouldnt expect better than gtx470 performance from it.

 

[17seconds]

wait, wait, wait....you will be waiting forever as new cards get released every few months. the gtx560 will just be a revised gtx460 so i wouldnt expect better than gtx470 performance from it.

According to the leaked photos on this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/307727-33-pics-leaked-benchmarks#t2300498

The Gigabyte GTX560 with the Windforce cooler is capable of overclocking to 1 GHZ on the core and delivering a 3D Mark Vantage score equal to that of a GTX580. If true, and I'm not saying it is, that would be worth waiting 4 days for.

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

Im going to be doing 3D gaming at the moment. so.....

do you still suggest I wait for it ?

Im just hesitant on waiting for it because the local store said about 1 or 2 months till it's out, and you guys are saying Jan. 25
also we dont really know if the specs are legit...

Ill most likely end up waiting cuz, i have to get my ram, cooling, and power supply shipped to the store.

 

[intelx]

jan 25 is the release date, local stores usually take longer to get them in stock, just buy it online and wait 3 days shipping if your local store gonna take a month to get it in.

if you dont wanna wait then just go to your local store and get 6950 its the better price/performance atm.

 

[17seconds]

Everything I'm seeing is saying that the wait of a few days will be worth it.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

It seems like you have a top budget around $300. The way I see it, you have two choices:
1) Get the 6950 now. It's a good card, you can overclock it easily, and it doesn't have some of the negatives associated with the 5870's (poor DirectX 11 tesselation performance for one).
2) Wait one more week and see how much the GTX560 costs and what performance it will deliver. I'm actually expecting it will beat the 6950 and cost less. If it is at the same level as the 6950, then I would get a GTX560, mainly to get PhysX, better drivers, even better DirectX 11 tesselation performance, and what I'm assuming will be a very quiet and effective vapor chamber cooler.

For nativeson, I get those charts from techpowerup.com.

The 6950 is only marginally better than the 5870 for tessellation. The small improvement doesn't warrant the price.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1085/pg11/gtx-570-vs-radeon-6970-and-6950-vs-radeon-5870-all-overclocked-review-hawx-2.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/18.html

 

[Nin9tySe7en]

OK! so the gtx 560 ti 1GB just came out yesterday at the store im going to.
It is priced at $269.99, and the HD 6950 2GB is at $309.99.

I have a 32" LCD Sharp Aquos, that runs at 1920 x 1080 resolution.
I will be gaming with high quality games like crysis 2.

I would just like to confirm everyone's opinion, so what should I buy?
To have the best performance for my set up?


PS: next year or the year after. I am pretty positive that I will buy another graphics
card to go into crossfire or SLI. So keep this in mind.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[prototypex]

I have a question to add? isnt the 6950 a better choice,just because the fact you can flash it to a 6970?

 

[17seconds]

The 560 is a bargain for that price relative to the 6950.

 

[tomasswood]

Go the GTX 560 and SLI it when you need to