MSI 6950 Twin Forzr III PE/OC or Sapphire 6950 2gb

[lucifer_9mm]

Hi folks,

Please help me decide between the two, MSI 6950 twin frozr iii oc edition or Sapphire 6950 2gb. The former is said to have better overclocking capacity, is it true? is it really better than the Sapphire card. I'm gonna make a purchase tomorrow evening so please help me out here, and please remember, MSI and Sapphire are the only brands available where I'm gonna get it so do not suggest any other, just help me decide between the two. I'm desperately waiting for your inputs, thanks in advance friends.

 

[farrengottu]

just pick the cheaper one. the best ive seen these overclocked with out water or nitrogen gets a few more percent performance. if its under 60fps that doesnt equal much and if its over 60fps you wont notice the difference.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

So the overclocking on twin frozr iii does not make a significant difference than the Sapphire one, is it?

 

[thrakazog]

The OC is nice, but not a huge deal. The cooling and part quality are the nicer features, with the factory OC the icing on the cake. I have 2 of the MSI twin 3's in X-fire, and absolutely love them. Living in New Orleans, it can get a bit warm, but these cards maintain amazingly low temps even when I push them with Crysis 2 ( DX11 ultra and Hi-res texture pack ).......and they crush every other game I've thrown at them. The problem right now is they seem to be sold out at a lot of places. I got mine from Newegg for $299, but now that they are sold out, I am seeing them at inflated prices as high as $387 on amazon. If price is your main concern, go with the cheapest card you trust. You wouldn't be disappointed with the twin frozr 3 by any means, but DO NOT pay over $300 for it.

 

[bystander]

The one thing that makes the MSI twin frozr III better at overclocking is the special bios that you can flash. It will unlock all factory limitations on overclocking. While you can use MSI Afterburner with either card and go beyond their limits, the 6900 cards have a special PowerTune feature in CCC which you lose the use of is you use MSI Afterburner. This means that if you don't use this special bios, your card will throttle performance when it put under enough stress to require more power than the stock PowerTune settings allow. It also makes it a lot easier to overclock with crossfire, because MSI afterburner doesn't sync properly with the 6900 cards in crossfire.

Here is the bios I'm talking about, which used to unlock shaders before they started locking them. If you are lucky, you'll get that too: http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html

Another option that I've seen is the HIS 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2GB, which I have heard people being able to unlock recently, using these instructions: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/316974-33-radeon-6950-shader-unlock-instructions

 

[lucifer_9mm]

I will keep that in mind, twin frozr iii is around $333 here but unfortunately it is the only MSI 6950 available here, the Sapphire one is a little bit cheaper though still more than $300. I'm gonna have to think about it, thanks for helping me out bro!

 

[lucifer_9mm]

That is really very useful information, I didnt know that, now I'm definitely gonna buy the twin frozr iii oc. Although I'm not sure whether the card would be able to unlock the extra shaders but I'll still get the extra headroom for oc'ing . That was great dude, thanks a lot, helped me a lot. : )

 

[Rizlla]

Both cards are great. If you are still unsure look at what you get with the cards like the warranty for example.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

I went to the market today and they were all out of 6950 stock, neither MSI nor Sapphire, its all been sold out, told me to check back next week. Though there was 6950 twin frozr ii available but i've heard its not as good as twin frozr iii and is more difficult to unlock so I've decided to wait till next week. Any suggestions for twin frozr ii? its cheaper but I'm doubtful.

 

[apache_lives]

bla MSI is rubbish

 

[bystander]

I went to the market today and they were all out of 6950 stock, neither MSI nor Sapphire, its all been sold out, told me to check back next week. Though there was 6950 twin frozr ii available but i've heard its not as good as twin frozr iii and is more difficult to unlock so I've decided to wait till next week. Any suggestions for twin frozr ii? its cheaper but I'm doubtful.

The bios flash I mentioned above, with the unlocked OC limits will work on the Twin Frozr II. I have one, and it is a nice card.

 

[Rizlla]

bla MSI is rubbish

Are you just trolling or are you going to contribute to this thread? By the looks of your pic you are obviously a fanboy.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Good, then I'm gonna wait till next week, twin frozr iiis are hardly available and quickly sold out and prices on ebay are crazy. If I dont get a frozr iii next week i'll rather buy the frozr ii. Thanks bro, cheers!!

 

[lucifer_9mm]

bla MSI is rubbish

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Btw, what I've heard is 6950 twin frozr ii does not have a dual bios switch, so can a fror ii be as easily unlocked as a frozr iii. I'm sorry but I'm a total newb when it comes to unlocking a card, I just want to make sure?

 

[bystander]

Btw, what I've heard is 6950 twin frozr ii does not have a dual bios switch, so can a fror ii be as easily unlocked as a frozr iii. I'm sorry but I'm a total newb when it comes to unlocking a card, I just want to make sure?

The bios switch is not required to unlock the card using these directions: http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html

or these directions: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/316974-33-radeon-6950-shader-unlock-instructions#t2368661

The Twin frozr III doesn't have a dual bios switch either. It has a switch in the same location, but from what I've been reported, it's used to change different fan profiles.

The dual bios switch is for backup in case you screw up with the flash and cannot recover. Realize it can be a bit of a risk to flash your bios, be sure to follow the directions closely to prevent mistakes.

 

[hents1230]

sorry for off topic but does 6950 have D-DVI connector for 120hz?

 

[bystander]

sorry for off topic but does 6950 have D-DVI connector for 120hz?

They have DVI-I connectors. DVI-I allows for both dual link digital and analog signals, which include DVI-D cables.

 

[hents1230]

They have DVI-I connectors. DVI-I allows for both dual link digital and analog signals, which include DVI-D cables.

thanks alot mate

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Finally bought the Sapphire 6950 2gb dirt3 edition, my thanks to all you guys for your inputs, ciao!!

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Sure, I already have the game so I wont be needing it, gimme your email address, i'll give it to you

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Guys!!! please help me out here, I bought this damn card just yesterday....I overclocked it a little following a professional guide on youtube, bumped the clock speed to 900 and memory to 1400, it all worked fine for hours until while playing crysis the display literally split in two, i had to stop the game and return to the desktop, and guess what, weird colored artifacts showed up and system froze, had to restart but it happened again n again.

I had to remove the card, uninstall the driver, use driver sweeper to remove it completely then re-insert the card and the artifacting stopped. I downloaded the latest driver from Sapphire website and re installed, its working fine now. Although now i'm really terrified, i bought this card with great expectations with my hard earned money. Was it a driver problem or faulty hardware?? should i ask the dealer for a replacement?? HELP PLEASE