GTX560 or HD6870 or ?

[jackdeth]

Question 1.
The cards are
GTX560 - http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/ENGTX560_DC2DI1GD5/
HD6870 - http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/EAH6870_DC2DI2S1GD5/

Where I live both these cards are the same price. I will be upgrading from a (dead) 8800GTX 768

The rest of my system is a bit old like the 8800GTX but I can not afford to update anything else at this time.

Mother Board - GA-965P-DQ6 rev 1.0
CPU - Core 2 Duo e6700
Ram - 6 GB
OS - Win 7 64Bit
Monitor - Asus 22" 1680x1050 (I don't plan on upgrading this for at least a couple of years)

Everything I currently play runs fine on this system even Civ V is fast enough
Are there any problem with either of these cards that I should be aware of with this older setup?

Question 2.
If I decided to go cheap on the card now and buy a better one later when my finances are healthier, what would be a good cheap upgrade to the 8800GTX. Keeping in mind that I would like to play and enjoy Skyrm.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Maziar]

6870 is overall faster than 560 and will give you a huge boost over your old 8800GTX

 

[jackdeth]

Thank you for your reply, I just realized that my PCI-ex slots may only be ver. 1.0 (I am having trouble finding the info) Are the newer cards backward compatible?.

6870 is overall faster than 560 and will give you a huge boost over your old 8800GTX

 

[Maziar]

hmm,some PCI-E 2.1 cards have compatibility issues on PCI-E 1.0 boards,so you better ask Gigabyte support to be 100% sure

 

[rahulkadukar]

Your board and CPU are quite old. I think a better option would be to go for GTX 560 which you can get for around $150 after rebate. Then upgrade the system later. Also the resolutions you are gaming at 1680 x 1050 is perfect for the GTX 560.

6870 is better suited for higher resolutions.

 

[splatman213]

consider just waiting until your finances are better, you could rplace that aging processor, anyways it will probably just bottleneck your graphics card anyways. gaming fps takes a big dip when used on a dual core part. games now are optimaized for mutli threading. id just wait and get a better cpu as well but if you dont want to wait go for the 6870, more powerfull and has support for eyefinity. plus you could get this one fore with rebait $144

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141124

or this saphire one with a much better cooler for 155 with a rebait

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

 

[geofelt]

1) GTX560 and 6870 are comparable cards. You can only tell the difference with a benchmark of a specific game, and would not be able to tell any significant difference in real gameplay. Either would be a nice jump over a 8800GTX.
Since you already have Nvidia installed, I would favor the GTX560 which uses the same driver and you can just drop it in. You avoid driver removal/install issues.

2) pci-e 1/2 should not be an issue. They are forward and backwards compatible, and neither card can saturate the slower bus anyway.

3) I suggest a GTX550ti would do you very well at your current resolution. It would be a step up from the 8800GTX and should run cooler and quieter.
You might look at a EVGA version which gives you the option to trade it in for a better card within 90 days:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130629
I suspect you will not ever want to upgrade until you get a 1080P or larger monitor.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Since you already have Nvidia installed, I would favor the GTX560 which uses the same driver and you can just drop it in. You avoid driver removal/install issues.

Or not, my 8800GT and GTX560's don't like being swapped around unless a driver uninstall/reinstall takes place.

 

[McSwagger]

I really like the performance to price ratio with my 6870. I think it was $148 after rebate on newegg. I have no problems whatsoever. And will be able to play Battlefield 3 at high settings and get around 50-60fps

 

[nforce4max]

Or not, my 8800GT and GTX560's don't like being swapped around unless a driver uninstall/reinstall takes place.

That is rather odd, I have been able to swap around my gtx 460, gtx 280, and two 9800gt without issue.

 

[AtomicZ]

I got the Sapphire 6870 for 179.00 - 20 rebate + Dirt3 +

 

[Mousemonkey]

That is rather odd, I have been able to swap around my gtx 460, gtx 280, and two 9800gt without issue.

Neither of my rigs like it.

 

[jjb8675309]

Id go for a gtx 560ti either the msi tf2 or the asus dc2, both can be had for around ~250 USD I have the dc and it runs at 1ghz core without to much volt increase and never exceeds 72C, at those speeds it is basically a gtx 570, it will crush a 6870/6950 imo of course it depends on the game your looking at

 

[jjb8675309]

personally id always wipe the drivers before any gpu change even if its for a "just in case" scenario where the drivers are conflicting and therefore affect performance

 

[nforce4max]

Neither of my rigs like it.

Well my main rig even though it more like a rusty bucket has no issues with swapping cards while my better looking backup rig is the same way. I guess it is vista being the difference but had no issues under xp except for one old socket 7 box that is strangely picky.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Well my main rig even though it more like a rusty bucket has no issues with swapping cards while my better looking backup rig is the same way. I guess it is vista being the difference but had no issues under xp except for one old socket 7 box that is strangely picky.

I haven't used XP for ages so it could just be a W7 thing but I'm sure that I had a similar issue with a friends AMD/Vista rig.

 

[nforce4max]

I haven't used XP for ages so it could just be a W7 thing but I'm sure that I had a similar issue with a friends AMD/Vista rig.

Maybe I just had better luck than most but any way back to gaming.

PS enjoying overclocking my Llano based laptop

 

[jackdeth]

Best answer selected by jackdeth.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey