560 or 6950

[irfan88]

Hi,

I have Phenom II x4 955 BE and an SLI motherboard ASUS M4N75TD.

Please suggest me a graphic card that could max out games at 1920x1080.

Should I go with the GTX 560 Ti, GTX 460 1GB Hawk, HD 6870 or HD 6950. (Please suggest me considering that I have an SLI board. I want to go for a Bulldozer in near future).

Facts:

1. HD 6950 1GB model is cheaper than GTX 560
2. HD 6950 2GB model is 30$ more than the 560
3. HD 6870 is cheaper than GTX 560 and the HD 6950 1GB

 

[mactronix]

As far as i know the 1GB 6950 cant be unlocked using a Bios flash to make it a 6970 while the 2GB card can. As you have an SLI board then obviously if you even think you might consider dual cards then it has to be the 560.
The 6870 would be cheaper as its noticeably weaker.

So as i see it your choice comes down to, do you want 2 cards in the future ? Do you want to try to unlock a 2GB 6950 to a 6970 ? Or do you just want the best bang for the buck single card now ?

If the 2GB 6950 didn't unlock to a 6970 for any reason ( I have not heard of one that didn't yet) As this is possible as all hardware is not the same and there is no guarantee, then its of around the same performance level as a 560 both of which can obviously be overclocked. Again no guarantee what speed you could get.

So unless you know you want 2 cards in the future the best bet is to get the 2 GB 6950 and try to unlock it.

Mactronix

 

[matta85]

I would recommend the Gigabyte GTX560 TI SO (Super Overclocked), it's really bang for buck at the same time it preforms as good as 6970 and GTX570 in many benchmarks @ 1920x1080. It crushes 6950 in most tests i've seen. For sure the card i'll chose for my next build if nothing more bang for buck shows up within LGA2011.

 

[Onus]

Check the benchmarks of the games you wish to play. Faced with a similar choice a few weeks ago, I chose the GTX560 after seeing how it utterly destroys the ATi cards in Civ V, the game I was most interested in maxing. I could see that for other titles, the HD6950 would have been better. So, check those benchmarks!

 

[17seconds]

Since most 6950's are clocked at reference speeds, and most GTX 560's are sold with factory overclocks, the strategy for making benchmark comparisons should be to compare a particular GTX 560 version to the standard 6950. Like this review, for example, of a moderately overclocked MSI Twin Frozr:

 

[megamanx00]

How about two 460s? Just saying.

Anyway, don't count on being able to upgrade to Bulldozer without replacing your motherboard. Bulldozer CPUs will need AM3+ boards and will not work on AM3 boards. I think they are adding a few pins to prevent you from even trying. If you're going to upgrade your board in the future anyway then I say go with a 6950 now and add another latter.

 

[irfan88]

I will definitely go for an AM3+ socket motherboard and use my phenom II x4 955 BE with it for some time and then later on upgrade to bulldozer chip.

So if I go with 2 GTX 460's now, will I be able to use them on the upcoming AM3+ socket motherboards (SLI) or am I only left with AMD graphic cards to choose from.

 

[irfan88]

I am going to opt for an AM3+ socket motherboard and use my phenom II x4 955 BE with it for some time and then later on upgrade to bulldozer chip.

So if I go with 2 GTX 460's now, will I be able to use them on the upcoming AM3+ socket motherboards (SLI) or am I only left with AMD graphic cards to choose from.

 

[17seconds]

So long as your motherboard is SLI certified, you will be fine. It must say "SLI Certified", though.

 

[irfan88]

what I asked was, will the upcoming AM3+ socket motherboards support SLI as well or do they support crossfire only.