Search
Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

6950 or 6970?

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
Share

Just wondering which cards people recommend. i would like a card that does put out great performance, preferably enthusiast :D 

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within 4 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: under $450 au After Rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Game: Skyrim, BF3. Work: 3dsMax, Zbrush, Photoshop

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 1000W, No current GPU

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: G.Skill 8gb RAM 2x4, i5 2500k

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.pccasegear.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia, Victoria

PARTS PREFERENCES: i really don't mind

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

sorry about my premature thread before.

Thanks for any replies.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: (e.g.: 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: (e.g.: Need to have better than stock cooling; Want a card with a lifetime warranty; Must run Crysis with full AA on a three-display setup, etc.)

More about : 6950 6970

Register or log in to remove

the price difference is more like $100 because the 6950 is on special and the 6970 is just the normal price. But with that said $100 really isnt that bad, just one day's work and im on school holidays soon.

getting the 6950 is much better because in every benchmark i saw both have similar performance to each other but 6970 is only 3 or 4 % better but won't really help in games and oh, you can also able to unlock the 6950 to 6970 so same thing.
Related ressources
Ask the community
Graphics card Authority

pro-gamer1 said:
getting the 6950 is much better because in every benchmark i saw both have similar performance to each other but 6970 is only 3 or 4 % better but won't really help in games and oh, you can also able to unlock the 6950 to 6970 so same thing.


Um, no. The 6970 is substantially faster than the 6950- it's a more powerful card to be sure. That being said, in the spectrum of all graphics cards they do fall pretty close together. Is the extra money worth it? Depends on your purpose and what level of performance you want. Either card is a great product. As are the GTX 560 ti (6950 competitor) and GTX 570 (6970 competitor).

Unlocking a 6950 to a 6970 isn't a sure bet anymore. Many non-reference cards can't be unlocked and many inexperienced users may not feel comfortable making those kinds of tweaks. That being said, look into it if you do decide on a 6950.

If you're intending to play newer games with all settings cranked up on 3 (assuming 1920x1080) monitors you probably aren't going to achieve that with a single card. That kind of setup requires a lot of horsepower!
Graphics card Expert

I would like to clarify the issue of unlocking. I have my 6950 unlocked. It is incorrect to say that the additional shaders make it a 6970. The 6970 has different memory timings and memory clock rates. It has other components that differ also. When unlocked a 6950 falls in between the two cards. If done successfully it does make the card a value. However if you can afford it, get the 6970. It is one of best single cards available right now. You might say for 90% of the use there is little difference between the two. It is that 10% that you pay the up charge for.

beltzy said:
Um, no. The 6970 is substantially faster than the 6950- it's a more powerful card to be sure. That being said, in the spectrum of all graphics cards they do fall pretty close together. Is the extra money worth it? Depends on your purpose and what level of performance you want. Either card is a great product. As are the GTX 560 ti (6950 competitor) and GTX 570 (6970 competitor).

Unlocking a 6950 to a 6970 isn't a sure bet anymore. Many non-reference cards can't be unlocked and many inexperienced users may not feel comfortable making those kinds of tweaks. That being said, look into it if you do decide on a 6950.

If you're intending to play newer games with all settings cranked up on 3 (assuming 1920x1080) monitors you probably aren't going to achieve that with a single card. That kind of setup requires a lot of horsepower!

ahh! ok see in the link i don't saw a really big difference so no need to waste money rather gtx 570 is better than both but a little expensive.

beltzy said:
Um, no. The 6970 is substantially faster than the 6950- it's a more powerful card to be sure. That being said, in the spectrum of all graphics cards they do fall pretty close together. Is the extra money worth it? Depends on your purpose and what level of performance you want. Either card is a great product. As are the GTX 560 ti (6950 competitor) and GTX 570 (6970 competitor).

Unlocking a 6950 to a 6970 isn't a sure bet anymore. Many non-reference cards can't be unlocked and many inexperienced users may not feel comfortable making those kinds of tweaks. That being said, look into it if you do decide on a 6950.

If you're intending to play newer games with all settings cranked up on 3 (assuming 1920x1080) monitors you probably aren't going to achieve that with a single card. That kind of setup requires a lot of horsepower!

+1
The 6950 and 6970 are different cards. There is no more new 6950 cards that can be unlucked to a 6970. If you lucky to find a old production reference card with a dual bios switch then you can unlock it to a 6970. Still this card will perform a little inferior to a normal 6970 at stock speed. One of my friend failed to unlock a sephire 6950 to 6970 and he can't switch back to old bios so his card is dead(though he got it replaced through RMA). So if the price gap is less than 50$ in the reference versions of 6950 and 6970 then buy the 6970.

IsketchI said:
the price difference is more like $100 because the 6950 is on special and the 6970 is just the normal price. But with that said $100 really isnt that bad, just one day's work and im on school holidays soon.


Will the special still be good 4 weeks from now?
Graphics card Authority

pro-gamer1 said:
ahh! ok see in the link i don't saw a really big difference so no need to waste money rather gtx 570 is better than both but a little expensive.


Also not true :)  the GTX 570 and 6970 are very comparable. Brand preference is ok for people to have but don't present it to others as fact!

Thanks for all of the responses. so to clear up a few things i will be using a monitor with a 1920x1080 resolution. And i really do want to be able to turn the graphics up to max with no lag.. with my question i am mainly asking because i would like to know is it worth buying a better (more costly) card. i am thinking long term here, would it be worth it or would i be upgrading to the newer cards before i need to worry about lag with max graphics games?
Graphics card Expert

beltzy said:
Um, no. The 6970 is substantially faster than the 6950- it's a more powerful card to be sure. That being said, in the spectrum of all graphics cards they do fall pretty close together. Is the extra money worth it? Depends on your purpose and what level of performance you want. Either card is a great product. As are the GTX 560 ti (6950 competitor) and GTX 570 (6970 competitor).

Unlocking a 6950 to a 6970 isn't a sure bet anymore. Many non-reference cards can't be unlocked and many inexperienced users may not feel comfortable making those kinds of tweaks. That being said, look into it if you do decide on a 6950.

If you're intending to play newer games with all settings cranked up on 3 (assuming 1920x1080) monitors you probably aren't going to achieve that with a single card. That kind of setup requires a lot of horsepower!

Where I work, I have unlocked more than 30 or so HD6950s to 6970s. Sapphire and powercolors always do it, and even most ASUS, MSI and XFX cards can make it as well.

Get a 6950. Not worth the extra $100
Graphics card Authority

The 6990 isn't a bad option. However, 6950's in crossfire will cost you around $500 and provide roughly the same performance as the $700 6990. The 6990 does eliminate the hassle of having 2 cards (it's crossfire on a single board) so just decide if that's worth the price difference.

If it were me, I'd go with the 6950's- no question. I would also attempt to unlock the 6950's, but I certainly wouldn't bank on it.

ok so i will get a 6950 which is something that i wanted to find out because it means i can get this all quicker. i will be getting the asus 6950 2gb direct cool 2. i would like to know if this can be oc easily?
also would getting another one later on be ok? like a year from now if i need a bit more power could i get another of the same card?

IsketchI said:
ok so i will get a 6950 which is something that i wanted to find out because it means i can get this all quicker. i will be getting the asus 6950 2gb direct cool 2. i would like to know if this can be oc easily?
also would getting another one later on be ok? like a year from now if i need a bit more power could i get another of the same card?


I'm a newb, but I did do some research by toms hardware on 5 different brands of 6950s. Almost all of the games they used NEVER need the extra 1gb. Only once at the 2500x1600 setting did a card with the extra 1gb prove more than last place in FPS. I just myself bought the Gigabyte model 6950 1gb model after reading reviews. Sapphire does run closely second. And for the issues of NOT being able to boot back the BIOS, I will just keep my card a 6950 and not try to unlock the shaders. =)

I guess I could be wrong, since the benchmarks were done in October. Maybe BF3 does need the extra memory, lots of other games really don't though.
Register or log in to remove
 
Ask the community
Read discussions in other Graphics & Displays categories
!