Radeon HD 6850 vs nVidia GTX 560 Ti

[samuelspark]

I can either get a 6850, 8GB RAM, and a Hyper 212+ or 4GB RAM and GTX 560 Ti? Which would be better for gaming? I'm either going to use i3 2100 or Phenom II x4 970. If I get the 6850, I'll have the option to CF in the future as my PSU (OCZ Fatality 550w) can support x2 6850 but only one GTX 560 Ti.

 

[rolli59]

The GTX560Ti is going to give you better performance regardless of 4GB or 8GB, you are though making the argument with CF in the future which is something you will have to decide yourself!

 

[gnomio]

What the wise man above said.
Just to add you don't want to run the 6850/6870 in Crossfire.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21516
Problems with them and some other cards

 

[17seconds]

The amount of RAM will have its greatest effect on your operating system. 32-bit Windows can only use a maximum of 4 GB of RAM, while a 64-bit system works best with at least 6 GB.

 

[samuelspark]

What do you mean "works best"

 

[lordstormdragon]

@samuelspark: This is the main difference between 32-bit and 64-bit: the amount of addressable RAM. Anyone with 4GB or less: use 32-bit Windows. If you have 4GB or more: use 64-bit Windows. Having 6GB for 64-bit Windows isn't necessary, but it does negate the overhead of the 64-bit architecture during a Windows session.

 

[samuelspark]

Yeah I know that...... but... nvm. Gunna go with 560 ti and add in 4-12GB when I need to.

 

[rolli59]

What do you mean "works best"

It works fine with 2x2GB and fine with 2x4GB and so on. Only LGA1366 systems would be the ones where it would be logical to install 6GB that is 3 x 2GB in triple channel.

 

[17seconds]

You might want to read today's news story about the new GTX 560 Ti that is being released with 448 cores, instead of the current 384. This should make it a significant upgrade over the current GTX 560 Ti's. I would wait just a little bit to see how much these cost and if it lowers the cost of the current generation 560 Ti's.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-graphics-chip-gf110-gf114-Geforce-560-ti,13832.html

 

[Djentleman]

I think crossfire is fine - mainly because that's my plan. But i think if you can go with just a single card......... DO IT! I was on a budget, so that impacted my decision.