6870 vs 6950 vs GTX 560 ti Graphic Card Help!

[darthz]

Hey everyone,

I am currently in the process of building my first computer. I have been looking into different video cards, and I am having trouble finding which card will work best for me while at the same time not costing me a ton. I am not an overclocker, but I might look into it. My budget is around the 250 range, and the processor I will be getting is most likely the AMD phenom II x4 965. The cards I've been looking at include

ATI 6870 XFX Black Edition at $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150520&cm_re=xfx_6870-_-14-150-520-_-Product

ATI 6950 1gb at around 240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102921&cm_re=6950-_-14-102-921-_-Product

And NVIDIA GTX 560 ti at around 245
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130657

I am planning to play games at 1920 x 1080 on only one screen. I play a lot of games ranging from COD, crysis to starcraft 2

I am open to any other suggestions of other card models or brands. Thanks for all the help

On a side note, will all of these cards work fine with a corsair 550w psu?

 

[phishy714]

Hey everyone,

I am currently in the process of building my first computer. I have been looking into different video cards, and I am having trouble finding which card will work best for me while at the same time not costing me a ton. I am not an overclocker, but I might look into it. My budget is around the 250 range, and the processor I will be getting is most likely the AMD phenom II x4 965. The cards I've been looking at include

ATI 6870 XFX Black Edition at $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150520&cm_re=xfx_6870-_-14-150-520-_-Product

ATI 6950 1gb at around 240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102921&cm_re=6950-_-14-102-921-_-Product

And NVIDIA GTX 560 ti at around 245
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130657

I am planning to play games at 1920 x 1080 on only one screen. I play a lot of games ranging from COD, crysis to starcraft 2

I am open to any other suggestions of other card models or brands. Thanks for all the help

On a side note, will all of these cards work fine with a corsair 550w psu?

If you are not a big overclocker, I would spend the extra money on buying an already factory overclocked card. It will just give you a bit of a performance boost. Just my opinion on that, though its really not very hard to overclock cards..

The 6950 beats the 560ti in most situations and in most games in terms of performance, though really not by much at all. So my vote goes for that, especially since overclocking is not your thing and thats what the 560ti is known for. Both cards should run on that psu without much problem, the 6950 being overall quieter and less power hungry.

I would personally go with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150527

It has a great cooler, comes with a very good free game, and is the same price after the mail in rebate.

 

[browsingtheworld]

If you are not a big overclocker, I would spend the extra money on buying an already factory overclocked card. It will just give you a bit of a performance boost. Just my opinion on that, though its really not very hard to overclock cards..

The 6950 beats the 560ti in most situations and in most games in terms of performance, though really not by much at all. So my vote goes for that, especially since overclocking is not your thing and thats what the 560ti is known for. Both cards should run on that psu without much problem, the 6950 being overall quieter and less power hungry.

I would personally go with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150527

It has a great cooler, comes with a very good free game, and is the same price after the mail in rebate.

They have about the same performance:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=330

Their power consumption is about the same. The 6950 is significantly louder.

That's a terrible suggestion. $270 for a 1GB 6950 is a horrible price.

Get this if you want a 560:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4135/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-ti-upsetting-the-250-market/16
Or the 6950 you already picked.

 

[phishy714]

They have about the same performance:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=330

Their power consumption is about the same. The 6950 is significantly louder.

That's a terrible suggestion. $270 for a 1GB 6950 is a horrible price.

Get this if you want a 560:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4135/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-ti-upsetting-the-250-market/16
Or the 6950 you already picked.

Considering that he mentioned the price of some of the cards after their mir, means that he is taking as the price of the card, so no, its not a bad deal.

I have readthe exact opposite, that the 560ti is louder and hotter than the 6950, so I guess it depends on who you ask.. and that website you linked is notorious for inconsistent amd results (biased to nvidia maybe?) But still shows the 6950 winning in most situations, albeit by a few fps here and there.

I stand by my suggestion, thigh the 560ti is a great card too.

 

[purple stain]

What is the make/model of your Corsair PSU?

It's pretty equal.They are all whithin 15FPS of each other.

http://www.techspot.com/review/359-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560ti/page5.html

Really the only selling point here for each card would be the Nvidia card and the price of the 6870.Nvidia cards are known to work better in Blizzard's games, so you will see a performance increase using a GTX560ti than a 6950 just because thats how Blizzard games work.

I reccomend going with the 6870.$45 is a lot for pay for 10FPS,which is all of the difference is between the cards.I am the owner of an XFX 6870 with the 965 processor and it's really nice.

 

[browsingtheworld]

Considering that he mentioned the price of some of the cards after their mir, means that he is taking as the price of the card, so no, its not a bad deal.

I have readthe exact opposite, that the 560ti is louder and hotter than the 6950, so I guess it depends on who you ask.. and that website you linked is notorious for inconsistent amd results (biased to nvidia maybe?) But still shows the 6950 winning in most situations, albeit by a few fps here and there.

I stand by my suggestion, thigh the 560ti is a great card too.

The price of the card OP linked was before MIR. After MIR it's $230 or so making it a much better deal than the card you linked. $270 for a HD 6950 is a horrible deal even with MIR.

I am providing hard evidence instead of hearsay. Anandtech is one of the most trusted and best tech review sites out there, certainly more thorough than Tom's. If you can't provide any hard evidence of the GTX 560 being hotter and noisier than the HD 6950 please take back that BS you just spewed instead of coming up with pathetic excuses like nvidia bias.

Your suggestion still sucks.

Sapphire HD6870 USD180
better choice than the XFX 6870 the OP linked IMO.

well, truth is the 6950 does outperform the GTX560 Ti slightly, stock vs. stock especially at 1920*1080. However 6950 1GBs are generally cheaper
Trouble is, all the cheap and good 6950 1GBs on the egg are completely sold out, so Here we have tigerdirect.........
Sapphire HD6950 1GB USD 229

Note that these benchies, compares a 560Ti with a 6950 2Gb, remember they use the same GPUs so performance does not differ between the 1 GB and 2GB versions of the 6950

http://media.bestofmicro.com/N/W/278204/original/Battlefield BC2 1920.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/N/Z/278207/original/F1 2010 1920.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/O/K/278228/original/Metro 2033 1920.png


http://media.bestofmicro.com/M/2/285914/original/Crysis2 hrdcre 1920.png

The TD video card you linked has a $20 MIR. It's not any cheaper than newegg, in fact it costs more.

It's easy to cherrypick benchmarks to make one look faster than the other. In truth they're within 5% of each other and the HD 6950 1GB is more than 5% more expensive than the 560 Ti.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/40119-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-1gb-review-20.html

At 1920x1080 these cards are within 1-3% of each other.

 

[darthz]

Thanks For the responses

@greghome Ive seen that 6870 model, however I think it is basically a reference model. Would the difference in performance between that and the black edition 6870 be noticable at the stated resolutions?

I guess my original question basically My question boils down to this: Do the differences in performance between the cards justify the larger pricetags? Are the differences noticeable such that If I pay the 20-40 dollars more for a 6950 over a 6870 BE, then I am getting the noticeably better performing card?

I forgot to mention that I am also taking crossfiring in the future into strong consideration

@purple My corsair PSU is this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

 

[purple stain]

A 30-40mhz O.C. would give you about 5-8FPS increase.It is very small and frankly you can easily achieve that and higher if you O.C. it yourself.I think it's a waste of money to pay for those factory O.C'd versions unless they have a really high O.C.

I would suggest going with this card.

MSI 6870 Twin Frozr II $215=$195 after MIR + $5 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127545&cm_re=6870-_-14-127-545-_-Product

The Twin Frozr 6870 is way better than the XFX version in cooling.If you are considering crossfiring later on then all you will need is a 6870.

What mobo do you have? Or haven't decided yet?

 

[browsingtheworld]

A 30-40mhz O.C. would give you about 5-8FPS increase.It is very small and frankly you can easily achieve that and higher if you O.C. it yourself.I think it's a waste of money to pay for those factory O.C'd versions unless they have a really high O.C.

I would suggest going with this card.

MSI 6870 Twin Frozr II $215=$195 after MIR + $5 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127545&cm_re=6870-_-14-127-545-_-Product

The Twin Frozr 6870 is way better than the XFX version in cooling.If you are considering crossfiring later on then all you will need is a 6870.

What mobo do you have? Or haven't decided yet?

Terrible suggestion. Did you try to pick the most overpriced HD 6870?

For a measly $10 more you can get a GTX 560 Ti which is much faster:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx%20560%20Ti&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

In fact, the 560 Ti is cheaper after mail in rebate.

 

[purple stain]

Terrible suggestion. Did you try to pick the most overpriced HD 6870?

For a measly $10 more you can get a GTX 560 Ti which is much faster:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx%20560%20Ti&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

In fact, the 560 Ti is cheaper after mail in rebate.

You are right about that.Didn't look at the GTX560ti prices because you gotta put them in your cart.I was actually comparing the XFX 6870 the OP had chose to the MSI 6870.But for $225 a GTX560ti is a really good deal.I remember I paid $240 for my 6870 when it came out.

 

[browsingtheworld]

Rule #1: Avoid cards by Palit, ECS und PNY, (bad past experiences and feedback from people who bought them)
Rule #2: this is the 560Ti that people should buy MSI Hawk 560Ti

I like how you just make up BS rules. What's wrong with PNY and ECS? Please provide some links to your so called feedback and explain what your previous experience with a GTX 560 Ti from PNY is...

That's a terrible suggestion for a video card. $270 for any GTX 560 Ti is asinine.

 

[browsingtheworld]

well, it's USd250 after MIR, and since everyone's taking MIR into account, I figured.why not? besides the 560Ti Oc'ed at 950mhz can match the GTX570 and HD6970.
ECS makes crap silicon, everyone who's ever had a ECS motherboard would tell u that.
and I actually had a PNY 8400GS overheat, BSOD and dies on stock clock with a stock cooler, in fact, a capacitor even exploded or leaked...whichever term u think sounds better.

I think u seem to agree with me that Palit cards are a no go though :lol:

I have a 9600 GSO from ECS that's still kicking after 4 years of overclocks. Since I am included in the broad generalization of everyone, I can vouch that ECS is better than a lot of other companies.

So your experience with a 8400GS translates to the 560 Ti . . . ? PNY has better customer service than 90% of manufacturers out there and we know they're going to stick around.

I wouldn't mind buying a well-priced Palit card. I would just burn it in when I got it and return to newegg before 30 days. It's not that I believe Palit make bad cards, they just don't have a NA department.

Anyways the point is brand doesn't matter for nvidia cards because their reference coolers are very good.

 

[darthz]

How are XFX, EVGA, sapphire etc. with rebates? I've had good and bad experiences with rebates in the past with other items, So when I see the price after rebate, I dont actually take it into consideration because i'm not too sure if I will get that money.

 

[browsingtheworld]

Never count on mail in rebates. Credit card companies don't take "it's in the mail" as an excuse.

Plus nowadays they send you pre-paid cards which is even more annoying.

 

[purple stain]

I bought the XFX 6870 reference model way back and on newegg it was listed with a $20 MIR but when I got the card it had no MIR forms and I tryed on XFX's website and it wasn't there either.That may have been newegg's fault but i'm not sure.

 

[darthz]

Looking at what all the posts, and looking at several comparisons done by sites, It looks like the general view is
6950>560ti>6870

I will probably pony up the extra 20ish for either a 6950 or 560ti.

I am not too familiar with NVIDIA cards as I am with ATI. Apparently I've been reading that the one I chose is not that great. Are their any particular models of the GTX 560ti which I should look at in particular?

 

[spentshells]

Rule #1: Avoid cards by Palit, ECS und PNY, (bad past experiences and feedback from people who bought them)
Rule #2: this is the 560Ti that people should buy MSI Hawk 560Ti

correction avoid base model PNY XLR8 models are really good

not sure about palit but I have not seena good ecs product ever

 

[purple stain]

Be sure that when your looking for a motherboard that you choose one of the 990FX series boards as those are the only AMD based motherboards that support SLI.

When looking for a card I always look for godo aftermarket cooling like Asus and MSI offer.Although they will be a bit more expensive I think it's well worth it in the long run.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Rule #1: Avoid cards by Palit, ECS und PNY, (bad past experiences and feedback from people who bought them)
Rule #2: this is the 560Ti that people should buy MSI Hawk 560Ti

I have a pair of Palit cards that are supposed to have blown up by now but they haven't and I also know of a pair of Palit 8800GT's that are still going strong after some three years of abuse, so what's so wrong with Palit?

 

[randomkid]

ECS makes crap silicon, everyone who's ever had a ECS motherboard would tell u that.

I got and ECS 8200A Black that is still working since 2008 which have gone through a BIOS update. And another very old ECS P4VMM2 which is still working.
The point is, do not speak for anyone else other than yourself.

 

[spentshells]

I meant to come back (was busy gaming) ECS does make stable comercial boards

 

[purple stain]

I've had a PNY in the past(9600GT).Was a good GPU and i'm sure it would have lasted longer but I was young then and I didn't know about power requirements,lol.

 

[marney_5]

6950 is the better choice in my opinion, although I would get the 2gb version instead.