6950 Reference VS. Non-reference

[unplugged23]

Hey guys,

I think I want to buy 2 6950's and crossfire the two. What I'm wondering is which of the following would allow for the best performance, and possible more "future proofing":

Buying 2 reference 6950's and unlocking them to a 6970

OR

Buying 2 non reference 6950's (with better heatsinks) and getting better overclocks?

Thanks guys!

 

[Kewlx25]

I would go with the better OC'c as it's much harder now to find a moddable 6950. They OC like mad anyway.

Or wait a few more months and get a 28nm 7k series.

Buy 1 6950 now and buy a 7k later. would be about the same price, except the 7k will be even more future proof.

 

[ilysaml]

nothing called a future proof, i also got hd 6950 and was so frustrated about that i won't be able to flash it, but i was impressed by the cooling performance, it's 75C in load and 49 at IDLE, so you better CF it and enjoy the overclocking performance with the cooled GPUs