5870 vs 6950

[CX55]

I'm not sure which one to buy 5870 or 6950?
The 5870 would cost 200 in total while the 6950 would cost 270 in total
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102883

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161355&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

 

[purple stain]

The 69xx series is meant to replace the 58xx series espically the 5870 so the prices are going to be a little higher since it's so new.
In performance their about equal but the 6950 pulls away with 10-15fps on average.
I would reccomend the 6950 because it is newer and you can flash the card to a 6970.
It all depends really on what monitor resoultion your using.The 69xx series will do way better at a higher resoultions than the 5870.(Ex.4000x900,etc.)

 

[Rogue77777]

If you already have an 5870, nows a good time to get a second one for crossfiire.
If you're buying new, get the 6970. Or you can get a 6950 and flash it to a 6970.

 

[dalauder]

6950 flash it to 6970

 

[marney_5]

6950 is a good buy. It's slightly faster than the 5870 and its better for tesselation, also you can unlock it to a 6970.

 

[4745454b]

Another vote for the 6950. No shame in buying the 5870, more so if you can get one cheap. But the $70 more for the 6950 makes it a better deal. More so when you consider the flashing abilities.

 

[mrjericho1991]

hd 5870 is better single card for less money,check thhttp://www.guruht.com/2010/12/hd-6970-hd-6950-vs-hd-6870-vs-hd-5870.htmlese benchmarks out.

 

[yesitsmario]

HD 6950 flashed into 6970.

 

[marney_5]

hd 5870 is better single card for less money,check thhttp://www.guruht.com/2010/12/hd-6970-hd-6950-vs-hd-6870-vs-hd-5870.htmlese benchmarks out.

Trust me it's not a better card.

 

[jjb8675309]

hd 5870 is better single card for less money,check thhttp://www.guruht.com/2010/12/hd-6970-hd-6950-vs-hd-6870-vs-hd-5870.htmlese benchmarks out.

you are absolutely...... wrong...... again..... I won't let the OP read your crap information again

 

[purple stain]

Even if you didn't want to flash the card it is still faster/better than a 5870.Doesn't seem like a good idea to be messing around with something you don't know how to do.I'm pretty sure it would void the warranty so that's something to think about.I hear of everyone saying what a good idea it is to flash the 6950 to a 70 but i doubt a 1/3 of them know how to do it.I think it's a bad idea but you can still buy the 6950 and not mess with it,it is still a better card than the 5870.And if you feel like you want to mess with it and feel confident you can.

 

[pnmhos]

Read the review and decide if you really want to pay the extra money for the 6950 when it really is just on par with the 5870. If minimal fps increase is worth the extra money ($30-40) to you, then get the 6950.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-12.html

 

[bystander]

Read the review and decide if you really want to pay the extra money for the 6950 when it really is just on par with the 5870. If minimal fps increase is worth the extra money ($30-40) to you, then get the 6950.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,2818-12.html

Wow, I never paid attention to the min fps. Min FPS is generally the most important thing, as it's the mins that you notice.

 

[purple stain]

6950's in crossfire will perform a lot better than 5870's in crossfire.

 

[pnmhos]

6950's in crossfire will perform a lot better than 5870's in crossfire.

But still only a minimal gain. The real gain will be when game engines adopt advanced features such as tessellation. Then the 6950 will be the real winner, but until then the cost difference is too high for the minimal gain of a 6950.

 

[Kewlx25]

6950 actually has quite a bit better performance in games that use more shader or tessellation.

I would say the 69XX is much more future proof.

 

[pnmhos]

I would say the 69XX is much more future proof.

True.

 

[purple stain]

Yah i was going just about to say,how long do you plan on owning this new GPU.
I wouldn't sepend $300 just to throw it away in 6 months.
The 69xx series are brand new cards,in about 6 months more games will come out and the 69xx series will really start to shine.

 

[rhsnipes]

Future proof? Is that possible

I think it's better to consider what game ur buying it for. If u can't think of a single game, coming out this year, that will take advantage of tessellation and shaders then get the 5870.

I believe u should by it as the need arises.

 

[Kewlx25]

"More Future proof" like how a 215lb person is less fat than a 220lb person

but really, the 6950 is running 8x AA with all the bells and whistles. in 2 years it may not be fast enough to run games like that, but with no AA, I'm sure the 6950 will be kicking the crap out of a 5870 in those games because of stronger shading and tessellation.

Oh, heads up, nVidia said that video cards should become ~16x's more powerful in the next 4 years because of the 40nm->28nm->20nm shrinks. Remember, GPU tech has been increasing, but GPU fabrication has been stuck.

If you can get a videocard that you can use for the next 2 years, you can have a card that is 4xs more powerful. I plan on skipping the 7k series unless I find some spare money.

 

[purple stain]

Any card right now will have problems display full AA in 2years.That is why you should buy another 6950 in 2 years for crossfire.Then everything will be just as good as the day you boguht the first one.

BTW i have seen a 6950 on newegg going for as low as $260.