Gtx 560 vs gtx 560 ti vs radeon 6870

[lessthanflawles]

Heres the cards I'm looking at:

radeon 6870 $190
gtx 560 $190
gtx 560 ti $230

I building a new gaming system, but am on a little bit of a budget.

How do the 6870 and 560 compare? and is the 560 ti worth the extra money? Also are there any other comparable cards in this price range? The 560 ti is already a little out of my price range but if it will be worth it then I wouldn't mind splurging a bit =].

specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3
GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-USB3 AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC602 600W ATX12V Ver.2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready PSU

I will be OCing the cpu also, if that matters. Thanks!

 

[clonazepam]

"As we suspected at the start of this piece, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 560 performs very closely to AMD's Radeon HD 6870 on average, although the minimum frame rates are a bit lower. Nevertheless, if we see these cards at the suggested $199 retail price, AMD will face some stiff competition.

When it comes to factory-overclocked models, making recommendations (not surprisingly) gets more difficult. After all, now we're talking about derivatives in between aggressively-priced reference models. There’s not a lot of breathing room between a $200 GeForce GTX 560 and a $240 GeForce GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 6950.

If you aren’t into overclocking your own graphics cards, the Zotac and Asus factory-tweaked models deliver good value at about $220. But with only $20 between them and higher-end products, making the right choice is hard. Enthusiasts should spend a little extra cash on something with more overclocking headroom. However, gamers without the desire to dig around under the hood will find more value in a product that is already overclocked and (perhaps more important) protected by a warranty.

It’s true that these GeForce cards use more power than their Radeon competition. And while some folks find that compelling, most won't notice or care. If a single-card, triple-display setup is in the cards, AMD is your only option. If 3D Vision and CUDA support for apps like Premiere Pro CS5 matter to you, Nvidia has the upper hand.

Bottom line, a $200 GeForce GTX 560 is a solid buy and a compelling alternative to the Radeon HD 6870. The worst thing you can say about either card is that they’re almost uncomfortably close to the superior Radeon HD 6950 and GeForce GTX 560 Ti. Then again, if you don't have the extra cash for those higher-end boards, that fact matters little. The $200 price point still offers more today than it ever has before."

Conclusion: The Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Review: Take Off Your Ti
9:00 AM - May 17, 2011 by Don Woligroski

Article Link -- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-560-amp-edition-gtx-560-directcu-ii-top,2944.html

 

[lessthanflawles]

Thanks for the link, I'm leaning towards the 6870. But how long would that last compared to the 560 ti in terms of future upgrades?

 

[clonazepam]

Probably about the same and Im jus pullin that out of my butt. If future games have a plethora of options for adjusting quality then any particular card can maintain playable results. You either buy for the price range or say to hell with a budget and get the absolute best you can afford. I'm sure any choice will be great until the next-next gen consoles hit.

Edit: Oh and the best graphics card for the money: june should be landing any day... not that you'd need it. I guess you could look up overclocks on these cards too. Maybe the ATI card you have in mind will overclock nicely and surpass expectations. idk.

 

[ko888]

TechPowerUp's ranking when they reviewed the MSI GeForce GTX 560 Twin Frozr II OC 1 GB on May 17, 2011 :

GeForce GTX 560 810 MHz
MSI GTX 560 TF II 870 MHz
GeForce GTX 560 Ti 823 MHz
Radeon HD 6870 900 MHz

 

[lessthanflawles]

true, both will probably be considered low end in a few years anyways, thanks for the help!

 

[lessthanflawles]

Best answer selected by lessthanflawles.

 

[mikhas24]

I was actually deciding between these cards as well. Although I am deciding witch one would be better to crossfire or sli?

My set up is 3 20" monitors
i5-2500k
8gb Memory
seagate 1tb
asus vpro mobo
ect

I was going to go with the 6870 crossfire with eyefinity, untill i was told that if i am running eyefinity crossfired i would not benefit from the second card at all. Is this true?

What are the Major differences between the 560 and the 560 ti?

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

With recent price drops on the 6870, and seeing how that card draws significantly less watts than the GTX560, I would go with the AMD card in that comparison. The only downside to the AMD cards is the drivers for really old games are not great. Not sure about the crossfire vs sli thing, the bottom line for me it the Nvidia cards are overpriced (560 series) to their competition and they draw too much power.