Raedeon 6850, 6950 or 6970

[Raineman]

I need to get a new grafics card because my last 2 5570's blew up but I am not sure I have narrowed it to

2x6850 crossfired or one 6950 or one 6970 and I dont know what to choose, also I am tossing up between saphire and asus cards. I game a little bit like Dragon age, 1 and 2, and wow a little bu I want skyrim and I am sure i will get into a few more games later on and my wife plays sims and civilization so i dont know what will serve my purpose for the near future and now. (the cards were bad I didnt blow them gameing) also I want to run a 42 inch 1080p tv off the card using hdmi to watch movies from my comp direct.

I have I5 760 2.8 chip
p55-usb3.0 board (upgradeing the board in a month for new 6gbs hard drive)
8GB kingston ram
850 watty power supply aic i think
coolmaster water cooler and soon a wd blue cavier 1tb hard drive
I use a 1080p screen (lg 22 inch LED)

Please help I only have 1 more day to choose so I can use the credit from my blown card for my new one

 

[Raineman]

I need to get a new grafics card because my last 2 5570's blew up but I am not sure I have narrowed it to

2x6850 crossfired or one 6950 or one 6970 and I dont know what to choose, also I am tossing up between saphire and asus cards. I game a little bit like Dragon age, 1 and 2, and wow a little bu I want skyrim and I am sure i will get into a few more games later on and my wife plays sims and civilization so i dont know what will serve my purpose for the near future and now. (the cards were bad I didnt blow them gameing) also I want to run a 42 inch 1080p tv off the card using hdmi to watch movies from my comp direct.

I have I5 760 2.8 chip
p55-usb3.0 board (upgradeing the board in a month for new 6gbs hard drive)
8GB kingston ram
850 watty power supply aic i think
coolmaster water cooler and soon a wd blue cavier 1tb hard drive
I use a 1080p screen (lg 22 inch LED)

Please help I only have 1 more day to choose so I can use the credit from my blown card for my new one

also i use an antec 300 case

 

[BeeBahBoo]

Not something you suggested but I'd get a HD 6870 and overclock it to a 6950.
That's what I did, works amazingly well. Going to crossfire with another before too long.
And at $150, pretty great deal (comes with Shogun 2 as well).

 

[Raineman]

how do U overclock it?

 

[chinoroy]

MSI Afterburner. its a good tool for overclocking GPU's.

 

[BeeBahBoo]

The basics

It's a little dated but still relevant.
I'd use MSI Afterburner and FurMark to overclock.

 

[Raineman]

so the best card for price to get is a 6870 and overclock it! because in australia the asus 6870 is actually $260.00 the his $230

the 6850-
asus-236
his-232
saphire-222

the 6950
asus 1gb-321 - 2gb-369
saphire 1gb-269- 2bg-327

the 6970-
asus-453
saphire-369

so if a saphire is as good as asus (I am not saying it is I just get told mixed some say they are great others sayy asus is better and lasts longer) then I can buy the 6950 saphire for what I am paying for a 6870 and it really is tthe 6950 so if I overclock it it will go harder than the 6870 asus overclocked to the 6950. I am really sorry for being a pest its just every time I make a decision another variable I didnt know presents itself. I thought coming and discussing it with people who know much more than i do would help. I tried computer shops but they seem to tell me the complete opposite of the other shops I talk to

 

[BeeBahBoo]

Best bang for your buck, I'd say so.
Especially after seeing those prices.

What about XFX models? (although from what I've heard there support there is nothing like it is in the US)

 

[Raineman]

what is xfx? a brand or another type like Nvidea and raedeon?

 

[Raineman]

disregard that its a type . wow so much cheaper there wish I was back in canada

 

[hasappra]

before you decide buying HD6850 or HD6870, please check whether Sapphire HD5850 Xtreme is available in your country. If yes, just buy it. Since Sapphire HD5850 Xtreme is much cheaper (In Indonesia Sapphire HD5850 Xtreme is $160, Cheapest HD6850 available is $190 and Cheapest HD6870 is $225) and it is 5%-10% better performance than any reference HD6850 and as fast as HD6870.

It has a very good OC capability too. I overclock my Sapphire HD5850 Xtreme using only AMD Catalyst from 725/1000 to 850/1200 (Max temp using Crysis 2 ultra directx 11 high texture only 68C w/ ambient temp of 29C, Fan auto), and using Sapphire Trixx to 1000/1250 (max temp using crysis 2 ultra directx11 high texture 80C ambient temp 29C Fan Maximum).

 

[chinoroy]

yeah get the Sapphire HD 5850 Xtreme. its cheaper but better than the HD 6850.

 

[Raineman]

and if I cant get the 5850 because I have to use a credit with the company for my warrenty to replace my 5570. so is the 6850 the next best?

 

[hasappra]

and if I cant get the 5850 because I have to use a credit with the company for my warrenty to replace my 5570. so is the 6850 the next best?

6870 is actually $260.00 the his $230

the 6850-
asus-236
his-232
saphire-222

If the the prices that you mention before are true ... choose HIS 6870, because it's cheaper than 6850.

 

[Raineman]

but the warranty and brand is asus better than his? 4 dollars for a longer warranty and better card and saphire is cheaper or is saphire a really bad brand?

 

[hasappra]

Sapphire is a very good brand and has 2 years warranty in my country and if you speak of AMD (ATI) Cards, so many people consider it as one of the best brand. Being cheaper doesn't mean bad quality or brand. This HD5850 Xtreme card is a very good card. It has lower power consumption, smaller PCB design, better cooling solution compare to its reference design.


Although so many people consider Asus is a respectable brand, but in my own experience Asus is an overpriced stuff with so so quality. All of my Asus products (I bought 2 products and my sister one product) cannot last more than 1.5 years.

Two things that I remember the most of having Asus' Product.
First is its MB, I was overclocking my Graphic Cards and suddenly I can't boot my PC. I thought I fried my Graphic Cards but actually my Asus' MB died successfully.
Second is by having Asus' CD-ROM, it means you will see so many flying CD when you opened its tray :-(. However, that's my opinion about Asus, but not everyone has the same BAD experience with Asus.

 

[Embra]

I would recommend the 6870 as well. For what you are playing and using it for, it will handle it just fine. 5850 are hard to find. Sapphire makes very good cards, Asus are good as well.