6950 (flashed to 6970) or.. 6970

Your chances of being able to buy a 6950 and unlocking it into a 6970 is becoming smaller and smaller all the time. I have a thread around that has directions to unlock the shaders, for all 6950's, and more and more people are finding their BIOS is locked, or the shaders do not unlock.

If you want 6970 performance, then I'd just buy the 6970, however, the 6950 is pretty good on its own, and has good overclocking room.

true.
I dont actually mind what Graphics card i get.
aslong as i can play Battlefield 3, modern warfare 3 and whatever future games for the next year. at near max settings  

The GTX570 is down to about $289 after rebates....10-20% faster than the 6970 in about 80% of games at 1080P....

I believe you are confusing the 6970 with the 6950. The 6970 is equal if not faster than the 570. They mostly trade blows.

mdd1963, 570 is around 5-10% faster than 6950... 6970 is a bit faster than 570.. around 5%.

OP: there's still a big chance that you will unlock shaders on 6950, but even if you won't it's strong enough to play all games on 1080P maxed *well maybe not metro2033*

EDIT: TYPOS