GTX 560 ti or HD 6950 for my computer?

[hexagonalbolts]

Hello all,

I've got, very roughly, around £200 to spend on a graphics card. Would I be better off with the GTX 560 ti or the HD 6950? A specific model / brand would be appreciated as well. I've tried researching but all the different options really confuse me.

Will my PSU be good enough?

The other parts of the computer are:

Asus P5K Premium | Corsair 4GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500C5 | Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz | CM690 | Corsair HX Series 520W Modular PSU | 750GB HDD | Windows 7 x64 | Blu-ray drive | 1920x1080 27" LG monitor

Any help much appreciated!

 

[shrkbay]

your PSU will run the cards, but probably 560 will reduce it's life, 6950 overall performs 10% better than 560 and consumes less power, what will save you 10$ yearly, as far as i know your CPU won't bottleneck them, best 560 available is GIGABYTE SOC, but it won't run on your PSU, it needs at least 550W to run well

 

[shrkbay]

will you OC? what's your res?

 

[hexagonalbolts]

will you OC? what's your res?

1920 x 1080. I'm a bit intimidated by OCing (I've also read that unlocking the 6950 to 6970 may not be good for it in the long run), so really I'd prefer not to, at least not until the warranty ran out. If I was going to get the 6950 I'd get the 2gb version as it's hardly any money more.

 

[shrkbay]

only worth buying 560s are imo 260$+, while you can get a 2GB 6950 for ~230$, it's much better at stock than 560, also when OCed or unlocked into 6970, at that resolution 6950 has also a bit advantage over 560

 

[hexagonalbolts]

only worth buying 560s are imo 260$+, while you can get a 2GB 6950 for ~230$, it's much better at stock than 560, also when OCed or unlocked into 6970, at that resolution 6950 has also a bit advantage over 560

I'm in the UK so it's in pounds for me I'm afraid! It sounds like the 6950 is better at stock and overclocked then? I'm a bit confused by all the different models, the cheapest one i've found is this one, would this be ok? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254950

 

[hexagonalbolts]

Also, I've heard it's a large card, do you think it will fit in my computer?

 

[shrkbay]

that's a great card, will you be using CF/SLI? if so 6950 scales very good and runs head to head with 570 not 560, but they have issues

 

[shrkbay]

how much space do you have in your case?

 

[hexagonalbolts]

that's a great card, will you be using CF/SLI? if so 6950 scales very good and runs head to head with 570 not 560, but they have issues

I might do eventually when the card comes down in price. Will I need to buy exactly the same model (by powercolor) to use crossfire? Also, do you think the card will fit in my cm690 case?

 

[shrkbay]

i made some research and found that you'll be able to run 560, and the best i found on ebuyer are:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254483

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/259980

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254405

GIGABYTE is the fastest, coolest and quietest and is better than stock 6950, ASUS is very cool and quiet, but runs behind 6950 and takes 3 slots, KFA2 is a bit quieter than ASUS, but a bit hotter and runs same as ASUS

 

[shrkbay]

I might do eventually when the card comes down in price. Will I need to buy exactly the same model (by powercolor) to use crossfire? Also, do you think the card will fit in my cm690 case?

no you don't need the same model, but if you'll buy a card that has lower clock speed you'll run limited to the slower card. they will fit in your case

 

[shrkbay]

with these prices you can't go wrong imo, 6950 would be more future-proof and perform only few percent better than the ones i listed, but it will be noisier *few dBA* and hotter *few C*

 

[hexagonalbolts]

with these prices you can't go wrong imo, 6950 would be more future-proof and perform only few percent better than the ones i listed, but it will be noisier *few dBA* and hotter *few C*

Oooh how about this one? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-256-SP

 

[hexagonalbolts]

I found a GTX 560ti for £215 (would that run on my PSU though...?), will that not outperform the 6950 2GB?

 

[hexagonalbolts]

Hmmm I've been told to get full use out of my graphics card I will need to overclock my CPU and upgrade my cooling, can you recommend anything?

 

[Mousemonkey]

I found a GTX 560ti for £215 (would that run on my PSU though...?), will that not outperform the 6950 2GB?

Here is one for £195.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-114-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

 

[shrkbay]

the MSI mousemonkey listed is also a great choice, on ebuyer it was £200, so i didn't list it cause it runs noisier than ASUS and is hotter, imo if you can find 6950 2GB for ~£200 it'll be a great choice, and every 560 over £215 is overkill imo..., if the Sapphire 6950 you listed is cheapest 2GB version you can find

if you won't OC your GPU you will run the cards @ stock fine

also this one is fine:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-145-GW

it's the quietest 560 available...

this one will be quieter than MSI:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-004-KF

, but MSI card is designed for OCing, so you will be able to get more out of it

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-077-GI

the fastest 560, probably also the coolest

this one would be cooler than MSI/KFA2 and Phantom:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/254405

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-247-AS

it's up to you. from 6950 you get more performance and it'd be a bit more future-proof, while you can get best 560s for same price...

 

[hexagonalbolts]

Thanks so much you've helped me loads.

I've thought about it for ages and I think I'd rather get the 6950 because it's more future proof, and then of the different 6950 brands, sapphire is meant to have quite a bad returns policy whereas MSI's is meant to be good, they have a £205 option, and for £10 more you can get a better fan which I think is a fair enough exchange especially as I want to keep this thing going for a long time. It is also upgraded to have some of the 6970s architecture instead of keeping it at the 6950's levels and allowing it to be flashed (I did not want to flash it).

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II/OC 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Dual Mini DisplayPort HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/261138


Are you sure that there will not be a bottleneck with my CPU? On another forum quite a few people said there will be a bottle neck, I am thinking of buying a better fan so I can overclock my processor, it is one that is meant to be overclocked after all...

Do you have any advice on CPU fans?

Thank you very much again shrkbay.

 

[shrkbay]

to be sure i'd OC your CPU to 2,5-3GHz, 2,5 is easily reachable with stock cooler, but if you want higher, then i have heard that Hyper 212 is a good one