6950 - Which brand?

[ET900]

Hi I've decided to treat myself to an ATI 6950 since my 4870's in crossfire are having a hard time in BF3!

I'm dead set on getting this card, but what I don't know is which brand should I go for?

I've heard that XFX offer a lifetime warranty which sounds amazing!
Do you guys know what the main benefits are to which brands? What could compete with a lifetime warranty? I'm hoping to order very soon so any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks

 

[geekapproved]

4870's in BF3 should NOT be having a hard time. A 6950 is slower than 4870's in crossfire anyways. What resolution??

4870's are WAAAAAAAY faster than the BF3 recommended HD5850. So you obviously have other issues.

As for the question, I tend to go with the ones that have the best warranty. XFX, EVGA.

 

[farrengottu]

they are perform the same at the same clocks (some come overclocked) ive never seen more than a frame per second difference in reviews. so it really comes down to cooling and warranties. cooling is all rather good now-a-days, yet still some are better than others.
i myself buy xfx because of their double lifetime warranties. i can sell the card and the person who buys it gets a lifetime warranty. after registering of course.

 

[ET900]

well yeh i thought crossfired 4870's should be doin good but ive realised the crossfire scaling on my cards is terrible in bf3, at least at this point. it doesn't really make any difference when i disable crossfire. ive been looking into stuff loads though and really want to get a 6950 and crossfire it next year

so xfx do have good warranties and im leaning towards gettin one for that reason. so what's the evga warranty like?

thanks for the replies!

 

[ET900]

hey i just looked here:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/ATI/ATI+6900+Series/XFX+ATI+Radeon+HD+6950+2048MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=46987

and it says the xfx 6950 only has 2 years warranty??

 

[Deemo13]

As said above, two 4870's should totally kill BF3 like it was nothing. Either way Tom's wrote an article that the 1GB 6950's were actually a better deal since on a 2GB 6950 like mine, the Cayman GPU would actually run out of juice before it got the most of the 2GB it has. In either spec though, the 6950 is a really good card, just don't make the mistake of getting a reference card like I did.

 

[ET900]

As said above, two 4870's should totally kill BF3 like it was nothing. Either way Tom's wrote an article that the 1GB 6950's were actually a better deal since on a 2GB 6950 like mine, the Cayman GPU would actually run out of juice before it got the most of the 2GB it has. In either spec though, the 6950 is a really good card, just don't make the mistake of getting a reference card like I did.

thanks for the tip man im not sure exactly what you mean by a "reference card" though? Is that xfx one a reference card?

 

[geekapproved]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530

The same card on newegg says lifetime warranty. So either it's because your in UK or the warranty is mis-stated or some other reason.

 

[rwayne]

Warranties over 3 years only interest me so much. Face it...In another 3 years you will likely be replacing this purchase with something else just like you are now with your 4870s. Many gamers do.

I have been really impressed with my recent ASUS purchase. Their super alloy components and Direct CU cooling units they use are just superb. Not only do they run cool but they typically are quiet also.

Check out this video from ASUS' Senior Technical Marketing Specialist. It is amazing how much quality they put into their cards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvx3twxDwdk

Below is the picture of my ASUS 6870 Direct CU. The packaging is the best I have ever seen. Nice THICK protective foam totally encases the card. It really gave me peace of mind when opening the package. It made me feel my investment was well protected while in transit to my house. ASUS' other models of cards are packaged similarly.

 

[ET900]

i looked on the xfx website and it confirms you get a double lifetime warranty if you register within 30 days of purchase. this is a pretty attractive offer. generally asus build good quality stuff so they would be an option also.

what do you guys think of this one?
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/ATI/ATI+6900+Series/MSI+ATI+Radeon+HD+6950+Twin+FrozR+II+OC+2048MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=43820

im still not sure how im supposed to tell if something is a reference design either?

thanks all.

 

[rwayne]

The MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 Twin FrozR II you linked is a good card and is definitely not reference.

Most reference cards look like a box (for both AMD and Nvidia)

Here is a 6970 with a reference cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517

Non-reference cards typically offer lower temps with less noise. This is not true in all cases however for the most part it is.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

The MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 Twin FrozR II you linked is a good card and is definitely not reference.

Most reference cards look like a box (for both AMD and Nvidia)

Here is a 6970 with a reference cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517

Non-reference cards typically offer lower temps with less noise. This is not true in all cases however for the most part it is.

+1 to the MSi twin frozr, not only will your card be near silent and cool, but it is good looking as a bonus

 

[geekapproved]

Warranties over 3 years only interest me so much. Face it...In another 3 years you will likely be replacing this purchase with something else just like you are now with your 4870s. Many gamers do.

I have been really impressed with my recent ASUS purchase. Their super alloy components and Direct CU cooling units they use are just superb. Not only do they run cool but they typically are quiet also.

Check out this video from ASUS' Senior Technical Marketing Specialist. It is amazing how much quality they put into their cards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvx3twxDwdk

Below is the picture of my ASUS 6870 Direct CU. The packaging is the best I have ever seen. Nice THICK protective foam totally encases the card. It really gave me peace of mind when opening the package. It made me feel my investment was well protected while in transit to my house. ASUS' other models of cards are packaged similarly.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/Rwayne/ASUS6.jpg

Your looking at it wrong if warranties over 3yrs don't interest you......If your card dies after 2yrs it'll be likely replaced with a newer card cause they don't make those cards anymore, so whether your even using it at the 3yr point or not, you can send it back and get a modern card in return.

How do you think I got my HD5850 a year and a half ago? I sent in a HD4770 that died after 2yrs and 2months. Seems interesting to me.

Besides, you'll have a much better chance at selling your old card to someone else on Ebay if you have a transferrable lifetime warranty vs trying to sell it "as is" with NO WARRANTY.

 

[ET900]

i see. so it's basically the plain lookin ones with a single fan that arelikely to be the reference models. thanks

there is a twin frozr III as well which is clocked pretty close to the 5970's speed. i think that would be the absolute limit of my budget though as i only have £235 to spend.

Althought the xfx warranty is amazing for resale value, i think im probably gonna go for the the 6950 twin frozr III as it looks like it will perform the best out of the lot. some websites are advertising 5970's within the same price range but they're out of stock. i'm buying tomorrow afternoon so will get whatever is the best thing available for my money then.

thanks for all the advice everyone

 

[ET900]

sorry a few typos in that reply. i meant some shops are advertising the 6970's in that price range...

 

[FlintIronStagg]

clocks dont have everything to do with speed, and the 6950 has better tesselation support than the 5970. the 5970 is a dual GPU card if youre into that sort of thing

 

[FlintIronStagg]

i stand corrected, lol the 6970 is around 15-20% faster than the 6950

 

[ET900]

clocks dont have everything to do with speed, and the 6950 has better tesselation support than the 5970. the 5970 is a dual GPU card if youre into that sort of thing

sorry that was another typo. i meant 6970 both times there, not 5970. been looking at to many 5 series cards on ebay lol... surely the clock speeds affect speed somewhat??

 

[FlintIronStagg]

the clock speeds help, but a 800/1600/2100 speed on a 6950 still doesnt beat or match a 800/1600/2100 on a 6970. it will increase the performance of that particular card, but the actual GPU has either more shaders, more power, etc. ....

 

[ET900]

the clock speeds help, but a 800/1600/2100 speed on a 6950 still doesnt beat or match a 800/1600/2100 on a 6970. it will increase the performance of that particular card, but the actual GPU has either more shaders, more power, etc. ....

yeh i get ya. ive heard talk of people flashing the 6950's with the 6970 bios. any idea how that works? i was wondering if they are essentially the same thing, just that the 6950 is underclocked to be sold at a cheaper price. i know this was the case with some of the phenom II processors...

 

[FlintIronStagg]

im sure to find a 6950 to flash is few and between nowadays.

 

[Gothams Finest]

I thought all 6950 toxics came with a preloaded 6970 bios

 

[ET900]

I thought all 6950 toxics came with a preloaded 6970 bios

im not sure whether it has the 6970 bios but it does appear to have the same clock speeds. however, it does look like a reference card if im not mistaken?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-274-SP&utm_source=froogle

 

[ET900]

guys ive been looking at 6950's for ages tonight and im really torn between the "twin frozr III" and the "toxic" version. the twin frozr has a pretty good overclock and better cooling. however, the toxic version has even higher clock speeds and still stays pretty cool from the reviews ive read. the problem is - i will be going crossfire with whichever card i chose next year at some point so i really need to take that into consideration.

i've had one crossfire setup and one sli setup since gaming on pc and both have had pretty bad problems with heat. ive had to use msi afterburner to kick the fans in at full speed a lot earlier than you normally would. so im wondering whether that toxic one will get to hot with a second one in there?

im actually finding it pretty hard to decide here and want to make the right choice. i will be buying tomorrow afternoon as i said so was hoping i could round up the opinions on which is the best option out of the 2 and go for it.

what do you all think?

really appreciate the advice... thanks!

 

[FlintIronStagg]

twin frozr