GTX 560 Ti or HD 6950 for gaming?

[hooah11]

Hi, I'm building a new rig with an intel 2500k and 8 gigs of ram running on windows 7. I'm looking to spend 250-300$ for a new video card to mainly play Skyrim and Diablo 3 maxed out. I need a card smaller than 12", quiet during idle and lower/average power consumption. Thanks!

 

[HostileDonut]

If I am correct, Diablo is an Nvidia game, grab the GTX 560 ti.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

they are both roughly the same overall and both can be well overclocked. I believe the 6950 has the lower power consumption. Its going to be hard to say what it will take to play skyrim maxed out, as previous TES titles couldnt be maxed out by the highest end hardware available at the time. But this title has been developed with PS3 and Xbox in mind, so the requirements might not be so insane.

 

[HostileDonut]

Also, the GTX 560 has a lower noise level. I do like AMD more, but they are the same price and Nvidia puts up a great fight with the 5xx series. Also, if you aren't afraid to unlock the hd6950 to a hd6970, you should grab the hd6950.

 

[hooah11]

Hey, thanks for the replies guys. For mobo, I'm probably going to buy the AsRock z68 extreme4 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157250

As for SLI, I'd rather not, since I would probably have to change my PSU, which is an OCZ 600W.

I wish the Radeon 7xxx would come out this year, this would be much easier. But I really don't feel like waiting at least another 3 months, so I have to go with one of these 2. As for unlocking the HD6950 to a 6970 - is that still possible?

BTW I was following Tom's monthly best video card for the price article, do you guys have any other specific cards in mind in the 250-300 range? I might go a little bit over budget if the improvement is really worth it.

 

[the fong]

a 6950 unlocked with a 6970 is still more than possible, and is a pretty great option given the good pricing from the 6950's nowadays. I have to agree with iam2thecrowe though, I doubt anything within that price range is going to handle Skyrim maxed out, all the previous gen of their games had a bad habit of bringing everything but the most bestial of gaming rigs to their knees when maxed out. On a side note, it's going to look freaking awesome on my 3x 1080p screens with eyefinity

 

[phishy714]

Diablo 3 is not going to be a crazy graphic intensive game at all. You will be fine with whatever modern card you pick. As for Skyrim - unfortunately, its a console port, so I don't expect the graphics to be overwhelming to a point that you won't be able to run stuff nicely.

With what you are looking to spend, I would get a nice 560ti, like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578

You can't go wrong with either and they will max out those games without much problem I think.

-edit-

I can vouche for the Asus card... its freaking whisper quiet. Even under heavy load, I have yet to hear it in my case, and I have a pretty quiet rig all together.

 

[C0rehound]

Not to hijack the thread but I thught I read that the newer 6950's couldn't be flashed/unlocked anymore. Kind wanted to try it but I don't want to brick my HiS IceQ 6950's.

Back on topic; I have a 6950 2GB (well actually two of them) and can vouche for their performance. No regrets at all.