Which card is better ati 6950 or gtx 560 ti

[Guest]

ASUS GTX 560 ti DirectCUII

-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425


XFX Radeon 6950

-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150524


Which card is better? I game a lot and I need something that will last a pretty decent time. (I won't be overclocking because doing so will decrease the lifetime)

Currently I'm using a gts 250, pretty bad @$$ card if you ask me, it wrecked back in the day. I played the BF3 beta and it hasn't been so great with full screen and it's not very smooth.

Both are good cards, I've seen them in benchmarks and they are both near the top, the price range is pretty much around what these cards cost so if you guys could suggest something better, please do so.

My pc specs:
amd x4 black edition 3.0 (water cooled with CoolIT, does a very good job with double fans over the heatsink)
ddr2 ram 1x4gb
22" lcd monitor
Azza case, lots of ventilation
EVGA gts 250
1 TB HD
Forgot to mention that I have a 700W PSU

 

[phishy714]

Both cards are the same. All that matters is what your preference is in manufacturers. The 6950 is overall SLIGHTLY barely better.. a couple fps here and there, but the 560ti has PhysX. So its honestly up to you and the resolution you play at.

BTW - just to clear something up about overclocking. While it is true that it cuts down on the life of the processor chip itself, its not something you will ever notice. It has to do with the PHYSICAL life of the chip.. which are usually made to last about 10 years. If you have a REALLY high and nasty overclock on the chip.. the physical life might be reduced to 8 years. Honestly though, you probably won't have that CPU more than 3 years anyways, so it doesn't really matter.

The reason I bring that up is because if you do not overclock your cpu a bit (or a get a newer one) it will bottleneck either one of the cards that you listed. If you overclock it just a bit, you will not notice at all any "decrease in life" and you will get higher performance out of it.

 

[geofelt]

Your links did not work for me.

From a performance point of view, they are identical. It takes a benchmark to tell the difference, depending on the game.
If you play one game exclusively, look for that specific benchmark.

Otherwise, I would favor the GTX560ti. Primarily because it sends the hot air out the back of the case, where the 6950 has a very restrictive exhaust, making your case cooling work harder, and heating up the cpu.

 

[assassin123]

yes the gtx 560 ti is better

 

[Guest]

Both cards are the same. All that matters is what your preference is in manufacturers. The 6950 is overall SLIGHTLY barely better.. a couple fps here and there, but the 560ti has PhysX. So its honestly up to you and the resolution you play at.

BTW - just to clear something up about overclocking. While it is true that it cuts down on the life of the processor chip itself, its not something you will ever notice. It has to do with the PHYSICAL life of the chip.. which are usually made to last about 10 years. If you have a REALLY high and nasty overclock on the chip.. the physical life might be reduced to 8 years. Honestly though, you probably won't have that CPU more than 3 years anyways, so it doesn't really matter.

The reason I bring that up is because if you do not overclock your cpu a bit (or a get a newer one) it will bottleneck either one of the cards that you listed. If you overclock it just a bit, you will not notice at all any "decrease in life" and you will get higher performance out of it.

What would be a good place to overclock from 3.0 on my cpu?

 

[phishy714]

What would be a good place to overclock from 3.0 on my cpu?

Anything from 3.4-3.6 will be plenty. What is the exact cpu that you have, though? cause some take a bit more workhow than others. If you don't know, you can download CPU-Z and it will tell you what cpu you have. Then its just a matter of looking it up online on how to do it and possibly getting an aftermarket cooler to keep the heat down. You shouldn't have to though with that small of an overclock. At around this speed, any bottleneck still there will not be noticeable.

 

[torque79]

When choosing a video card, simply reference the articles that come out every month for this purpose on this site. They are researched by Cleeve, who has been doing the thorough research I have not had to do for YEARS. I used to compare benchmark charts to his opinion and stopped bothering because he has always been accurate:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,3018.html

quote from the article:
"It outperforms the GeForce GTX 560 Ti in enough situations, on average, to score the sole recommendation."

 

[Guest]

Anything from 3.4-3.6 will be plenty. What is the exact cpu that you have, though? cause some take a bit more workhow than others. If you don't know, you can download CPU-Z and it will tell you what cpu you have. Then its just a matter of looking it up online on how to do it and possibly getting an aftermarket cooler to keep the heat down. You shouldn't have to though with that small of an overclock. At around this speed, any bottleneck still there will not be noticeable.

I have a AMD Phenom II 940 3.0 Black edition CPU

 

[phishy714]

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=16&threadid=108755

Check out that thread to see what to do. You definitely want something like CPU-z and HW monitor to see what your temps are at. Then download intel burn test and run it for a bit to stress your CPU out. If you get no errors and don't go over 58C in temps, you will be just fine. Otherwise, lower the multiplier and cpu voltage.

Lastly, you might want to invest in an aftermarket cooler to keep your cpu nice and chilly. Something like the Coolermaster hyper plus will work fine.

 

[Guest]

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=16&threadid=108755

Check out that thread to see what to do. You definitely want something like CPU-z and HW monitor to see what your temps are at. Then download intel burn test and run it for a bit to stress your CPU out. If you get no errors and don't go over 58C in temps, you will be just fine. Otherwise, lower the multiplier and cpu voltage.

Lastly, you might want to invest in an aftermarket cooler to keep your cpu nice and chilly. Something like the Coolermaster hyper plus will work fine.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to see what I get. Also, I already have a aftermarket cpu cooler, the CoolIT listed in my thread if you didn't see it.

 

[Guest]

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=16&threadid=108755

Check out that thread to see what to do. You definitely want something like CPU-z and HW monitor to see what your temps are at. Then download intel burn test and run it for a bit to stress your CPU out. If you get no errors and don't go over 58C in temps, you will be just fine. Otherwise, lower the multiplier and cpu voltage.

Lastly, you might want to invest in an aftermarket cooler to keep your cpu nice and chilly. Something like the Coolermaster hyper plus will work fine.

Just tested it, ran 20 times in 64-bit mode, stress level at standard (1024 MB). The results were all the same and my temps were at 51-52C. I get roughly around 41-42C without the test.

 

[phishy714]

Just tested it, ran 20 times in 64-bit mode, stress level at standard (1024 MB). The results were all the same and my temps were at 51-52C. I get roughly around 41-42C without the test.

Sir, it looks like you got yourself a stable overclock, good job! And yeah, sorry, I didn't see that you had a water cooler for the CPU there.

Now just go get yourself your new GPU and you will be all set to enjoy it without any problems. Keep in mind that you real world usage of that CPU will NEVER be as stressful as that test you just ran, so your real world temps will actually be much lower, so you are good to go.

As for your GPU choice, I honestly just went with the 560ti myself. This one to be specific: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

The 6950 might be MARGINALLY better, but I honestly have had better luck with Nvidia myself. Just from personal experience I have found that Nvidia drivers are bette, but once again thats just me. Not to mention the fact that you get a free game (which you can either play or resell on ebay to make some money back) and the 560ti is a great value, but the choice is yours. The 6950 is an excellent card as well.

 

[torque79]

At most tiers these days the competition is so tight that either card will give you a good value. There used to be less tiers and frequently one card was more obviously better, but now the battle is making it harder to choose.

The only way to choose which one is "better" for you, is to look at benchmarks for each card and see if a particular game you want to play does better with one card or the other. If you plan to play many different games so that's not easy to determine, I'd go with Cleeve's suggestion from his article because the AMD card is overall a little faster when considering a variety of games.

As for drivers, I have also never had problems with any AMD drivers from day1 releases I've purchased. this is very game dependent though, perhaps if I had chosen to play other games I may have had problems, and the same with an nvidia card. no manufacturer can have perfect drivers for every game all the time on release day. Don't let people's personal (typically very limited) experience sway you. Your own research is much more reliable than one individual's experience, because perhaps that person only plays certain types of games you will never play, etc.

 

[Guest]

Sir, it looks like you got yourself a stable overclock, good job! And yeah, sorry, I didn't see that you had a water cooler for the CPU there.

Now just go get yourself your new GPU and you will be all set to enjoy it without any problems. Keep in mind that you real world usage of that CPU will NEVER be as stressful as that test you just ran, so your real world temps will actually be much lower, so you are good to go.

As for your GPU choice, I honestly just went with the 560ti myself. This one to be specific: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

The 6950 might be MARGINALLY better, but I honestly have had better luck with Nvidia myself. Just from personal experience I have found that Nvidia drivers are bette, but once again thats just me. Not to mention the fact that you get a free game (which you can either play or resell on ebay to make some money back) and the 560ti is a great value, but the choice is yours. The 6950 is an excellent card as well.

But I haven't overclocked anything ?? I don't know how to actually, I checked that thread, I couldn't do what they told me through bios because it's not in it. I have a MSI 770-C35 motherboard. My brother, on the other hand, has a C45 which can overclock right from the motherboard, all you have to do is flip a switch or two and your set.

 

[phishy714]

After a quick look at the motherboard, you are able to overclock from this particular one without much trouble. Seeing as your temps are already in the low 50's through a burn test, I dont think you will have alot of luck with overclocking because your temps will get too hot (over 58C).

Until you are able to upgrade that motherboard/cpu, then I wouldn't worry too much about overclocking. Just get the GPU you want and enjoy the upgrade. While it might bottleneck you, you will still enjoy a hefty performance gain.

 

[monsta]

Def go the GTX560ti

 

[Guest]

Now that you guys are telling me to get the 560 ti, I'm deciding to replace the ASUS GTX 560 TI with a MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk GeForce GTX 560 Ti, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578 . By the reviews, this card can handle OC very well and is a great card in general. But idk which I should get, I mean, people OC'd the ASUS by 100-200 MHz, so why couldn't I? Maybe save a few bucks but I also like the MSI card. Help me out here please.

 

[monsta]

The MSI will overclock very well, if you really like the card then you should get it!

 

[Guest]

Do you know anything about there warranty and customer support? Those are some of the most important qualities when buying a video card, I tried googling it but couldn't find much, all I heard was that MSI offers lifetime warranty (maybe this is wrong) but on newegg it's 3 years I believe.

 

[wargasimxd]

Sorry but do not listen to the ones that say the 560ti is better or the 6950 is just a little faster. The 6950 blowes the 560ti out of the water by alot. I had the 560ti and was getting around 45 fps in bf3, I bought a 6950 and was getting around 65 to 70 lol I decided to buy another one and go crossfire and I get around 150 FPS on ultra in game full 64 man server. My brother has 2 560ti in sli and barley can get 100 fps both of us running ultra. With fraps running i'm still around 80-100 fps. 2 6950's out perform both the 590 gtx and the 6990 if you dont believe me check my youtube video out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i19GZsu1ll4

 

[esrever]

in any game not sponsored by nvidia the 6950 wins by about 10%, in the nvidia titles the 6950 loses by maybe 5%. Consider that there aren't that many nvidia games the 6950 is substantially faster than the 560 ti.

In AMD favoured games you can see as much as 15% increase over the 560 ti. The 6950 also runs with less heat and less power than the 560 ti. If you aren't going to OC then the 6950 is definitely the better card.

Once you factor in OC, they are pretty much even.