Which 6950 for CF?

[apav]

Hey guys, I'm building my first computer and I'm wondering which graphics card is better for CF.

This is the card I'm most likely to get:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945

But for $25 more, I can get this guy, which is is OC'ed and can be unlocked to 6970:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102951

I plan to play BF3, Skyrim(graphics mods and such when they are released) and future games all settings maxed at 1080p. I feel like both of these cards can handle that in CF setup, but is it worth to choose the toxic over the dirt 3 edition? Also, how is the toxic's cooling? It has a reference card design over the other's dual fan setup, will it run hotter?

Also do you think the toxic will still be in stock and will either of these cards most likely be on sale for black friday? I'll probably pick them up then.

Thanks guys!

 

[kyle382]

I dont think overheating is a big issue with these cards so both would be fine unless your case lacks good ventilation.

I would get the cheaper one and oc it myself especially since it comes with the additional fans as u mentioned. The MSI twin frozr 6950 is attractive to me as well.

You may not need the 2gb of ram, but its probably only a $20-30 difference from the 1gb card so thats a personal decision for future-proofing.

Unless I missed the news, I think its very difficult to find a 6950 that unlocks to a 6970 anymore. If you have heard otherwise please do tell.

 

[apav]

I dont think overheating is a big issue with these cards so both would be fine unless your case lacks good ventilation.

I would get the cheaper one and oc it myself especially since it comes with the additional fans as u mentioned. The MSI twin frozr 6950 is attractive to me as well.

You may not need the 2gb of ram, but its probably only a $20-30 difference from the 1gb card so thats a personal decision for future-proofing.

Unless I missed the news, I think its very difficult to find a 6950 that unlocks to a 6970 anymore. If you have heard otherwise please do tell.

The thing that the 6950 Toxic's are known for, is the card has a dual bios switch with the 6970 bios preloaded, all you do is flip the switch, turn the machine on and the success rate is really high, I hear ~80%. Read the reviews on newegg, this card is a bonafide 6970 with Dirt 3 I just don't know if thats overkill for my needs though, and if crossfire is an even greater overkill.

 

[apav]

So I ordered 1... how much of a performance increase overall in games like Battlefield 3 will I get if I get another one and crossfire them?

 

[phamhlam]

MSI Twin Frozr III PE/OC. They are the best. They stay under 64C always in BF3 but CF might rise the top one by 5-10 which is still not bad. They even idle at 35ish.

 

[cheezstik]

Well in this benchmark i read a 6850 was getting 10 frames less then the 6950 but he put 2 6850s in crossfire then it got 15 frames more then the 6950 so maybe you can expect an extra 20 frames at the least for bf3 if you cf. Also, I highly recommend you don't unlock to 6970 as some people that did this experienced many problems with it such as screen-tearing and crashes, bad performance etc. and a real 6970 doesn't get that much more frames then a real 6950 anyway so putting up with the issues isn't worth getting 5-10 more frames.

 

[Embra]

Tell us all your systems specs.
If your playing 1080p, one will do very well.

 

[apav]

Asus P8Z68-V Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb 1600 DDR3
i5 2500k
1(or 2) 6950's toxic
1080p monitor(Still haven't decided on which)

Current games I know I will be playing are Skyrim(and graphics mods when they come out), BF3, AC Revelations and any future demanding games maxed out completely and have playable fps, 40 minimum, prefer 55-60 and up

 

[apav]

And I'm not sure if I'm going to get a 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 yet. But I heard 2 cards for BF3 aren't overkill

 

[bwilliams83]

6950 crossfire will run a little hot but nothing major. Running furmark on my rig will give me max temps on my XFX 2gb 6950's at 85c. I really do not think crossfire is overkill for BF3 any performance boost is going to help you in game. You will be happier if you do since you are already thinking about it. Just make sure your case is large enough and has proper airflow. What PSU are you running?

 

[apav]

Sorry for the delayed response!

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

The only thing is the PSU sits at the bottom in the case, does that mean I will install the psu with the fan facing upwards?

My friend told me that no graphics card is really overkill since eventually games will catch up. And since I won't be home all that much, when I am home I better enjoy an incredible gaming experience! It's $100 more than I expected but so what? I'd pay $100 for 10 or even more frames more in games. So I'm pretty sure I'm going with the two.

Also about the cooling, this is a reference card and it has a vapor chamber which a lot of reference cards don't have so it'll run cooler correct?

 

[kyle382]

No, the fan in your PSU will face down. It will not exhaust into your case.

I have a storm sniper. It will be a good case if you really decide to get into crossfire. It has an absurd amount of space. I would check out the new corsair 500r if your into that type of thing. Its cheaper, slicker and is backed by a quality company. Those corsair modular psu's are really worth the money as well. Good pick. You wont need that much wattage if you use one card obviously.

I'm pretty sure a reference card refers to a stock card as it is shipped directly from the factory to companies such as sapphire who then put a *** ton of plastic and fans all over it. So these are not reference cards, but yes they do have excellent cooling. So does the twin frozr as mentioned.

I would still encourage you to just get the single 6950 thou. Yes, its true you can never have 2 much gpu power as your friend suggested, but 2 months from now you will be kicking yourself in the ass for not having 2x 7k series (whatever the new ati cards are called).

Unless you absolutely have to have battlefield at 80fps or you have more money than you can capacitate..you will be fine with one card. With good one card setups you can also save a bit of money on your psu, case and cooling solutions.

 

[apav]

Thanks for the reply but I bought two I don't really know the pricing or performance difference with the 7950's but I think 2 6950's will last me for a long time where I can actually get a 7xxx gpu for cheap! And you'd be surprised, I saw these google spreadsheet of people playing BF3 on ultra. 1 6950 @ max settings 1080p barely broke 45 fps for the most part, and the ultra in the beta is going to be high in the final version. I think it's worth the buy Besides, I was planning on getting 2 dirt 3 cards, so the toxics are only $50 more which I can work off in less than a day. I think its a good buy for me. Thank you all!