MSi ATi 6870 hawk

[grenadier]

I'm looking at getting a new Graphics card and i found this one ,the MSI ATi 6870 hawk . What want to no is it a good card and will it fit my MOB ,which is a MSI K9N6PGM2-V.

 

[mjsharma]

your motherboard has pcie 1.0 slot and wont support pcie 2.1 cards.. the card which you are goin to buy is pcie 2.1 card better go with an Nvidia card like gtx 560ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604&cm_re=gtx_560_ti-_-14-130-604-_-Product
this card will cost you only 204$ and performs much better than 6870
what are the rest of your system configuration?
it shouldn't be bottlenecked by your cpu that is why I am asking

 

[purple stain]

The slots are backwards compatible but their are known to be issues with 2.1 cards and 1.0 slots.

If you want to stay in the same price range just get a different 6870 that is 2.0.

XFX 6870
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6817295&CatId=3669

Saphire 6870

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7171596&CatId=3669

The XFX card isn't anything special,it has stock cooling and a locked multplier.But it comes with a free game Dirt 3 and it has a $30 MIR making the final price $165 + Free Game.The Saphire card has better cooling but no free game.Both cards are 2.0 and should work with your mobo no problem.Keep in mind that they aren't nearly as good as the Hawk version.

EDIT: After I actually researched your mobo I found out that you have an Nvidia NB.That means you can't run AMD/ATI cards.You'll have to go with an Nvidia card.A GTX560ti is a really good card but something more in the price range of the 6870 would be the GTX460.

 

[purple stain]

What are your full system specs?

 

[grenadier]

My spec is
MOB MSI K9N6PGM2-V
AMD phenom x4 9650 QUAD CORE
4GB fo RAM
650 POWER supply
windows 7 x 64

 

[mjsharma]

650 w psu? which make and model?

 

[grenadier]

could not tell you of my head ,at work, but what you are tell me is that my MOB will only work with Nvider cards

 

[mjsharma]

yeah.. it is an nvidia chipset so you can go with nvidia only..
by the way nvidia cards are better than ati cards
what is your budget ?
if its 200$ then gtx 560ti is the best choice
else 460 gtx which is in the same price as that of 6870

 

[purple stain]

I'm thinking with your first gen phenom that you will bottleneck any of these cards.I would suggest something like a 6850 or lower to lessen the bottleneck.

 

[mjsharma]

may be you are right, I don't know much about AMD cpus

 

[purple stain]

I know he will get a bottleneck if he decides to go with a GTX560ti but to what extent is unknown.It all depends on what resoultion the monitor is and what types of games hes playing.

 

[Mousemonkey]

EDIT: After I actually researched your mobo I found out that you have an Nvidia NB.That means you can't run AMD/ATI cards.You'll have to go with an Nvidia card.A GTX560ti is a really good card but something more in the price range of the 6870 would be the GTX460.

yeah.. it is an nvidia chipset so you can go with nvidia only..

I think it's safe to say that both of you are wrong, having an Nvidia chipset on a motherboard does not prevent the use of a single ATi/AMD card but it does make Crossfire a difficulty.

 

[mjsharma]

sorry, my bad

 

[purple stain]

My fault.Sorry.I assumed because of the Nvidia chipset on an ATI board that it only accepts Nvidia cards.

If Nvidia chipsets on AMD mobo's are for SLI then why is it on a board that can't SLI?

 

[Mousemonkey]

My fault.Sorry.I assumed because of the Nvidia chipset on an ATI board that it only accepts Nvidia cards.

If Nvidia chipsets on AMD mobo's are for SLI then why is it on a board that can't SLI?

That 'Chipset' is the onboard VGA.

 

[grenadier]

So are you saying then, that i can but the MSI ATI 6870 hawk on my MOB.?

 

[Mousemonkey]

So are you saying then, that i can but the MSI ATI 6870 hawk on my MOB.?

If you want.

 

[grenadier]

Sorry for keep asking question,s ,but will the MSI ati 6870 pci 2.1 port work on my MOB PCI 1.0 port.

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah I have an amd chipset and a gtx 570 with no issue whatsoever so that whole is out the window, furthermore there are sli hacks for am2+ and am3 boards out there so really it just comes down to your tech level

 

[jjb8675309]

OP: just go with a 2.0 card to ensure its compatibility otherwise its going to be a toss up and newegg makes you pay for shipping and restocking oftentimes on returns so I'd go with the 2.0 cards that you know beyond the shadow of a doubt; work. Personally I think the XFX for 164 AR is a good deal being that they have double lifetime warranty on the card meaning that if down the road you choose to sell it on ebay or something the lifetime warranty can be fully transferred to the new owner which imo is a nice feature

 

[grenadier]

Thanks for that but what about my other question about , will the MSI ati 6870 pci 2.1 port work on my MOB PCI 1.0 port.

 

[jjb8675309]

read above post , we must've posted at the same time, like people said above it may or may not work bc of known incompatibility issues with 1.0 and 2.1 cards so you are better off getting the 2.0 XFX 6870 imo

 

[purple stain]

I would have to agree.

Although the XFX 6870 is a reference version and it doesn't even come close to how good the cooling is on the Hawk you still get it for cheap,have a lifetime warranty and you get Dirt 3.I remember back in December I bought that same exact XFX 6870 for $240 with a $20 MIR.$165 after MIR is a really good deal.Almost cheaper than a 6850.

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah word, I bought an XFX 6870 back in feb for the same price now they are much cheaper, practically the same price as the 6850! Cooling works but the fan gets loud when ramped up and I was able to do a decent oc on mine as I remember while also keeping temps in check but something like that is subjective because I have decent cooling and ambient temps

be it a hawk or a reference, its still a 6870 and no matter what oc you throw on it it will still be in the ballpark of a 6870, no doubt the hawk is way nicer in terms of cooling and probably noise and oc ability, the XFX will get the job done and you won't be sacrificing much performance wise at all imo. Besides that you want to get something that is def compatible so again my vote is for the XFX, now time to purchase and get gaming!

 

[purple stain]

I dunno.I mean yah the XFX 6870 is still a 6870 but I took off the shell to put some arctic silver on it and I saw how horrible the heatsink is.Just 3 small pipes going to a 1 inch square of fins on the oppoiste end.When you look at that compared to the aftermarket coolers and how big they are it's no wonder they do so well in the benchmarks.