Upgrading from a GTX260 with around $300

[coletrain12]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Before Christmas

BUDGET RANGE: I was originally looking to keep it under $300 but I could possibly do a little above 300. I am looking for some advice on if a more expensive card was worth the price increase for me.

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Mainly upgrading for Star Wars The Old Republic, will also be used for watching blu-rays and normal computer use.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: EVGA GTX 260 Core 216, and Corsair 750W Power Supply

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Intel i7 920, Asus p6t Deluxe V2 board, 6 gigs of 1600 corsair ram,

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:Newegg

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference, I like EVGA for Nvidia, not too experienced with ATI although I hear good things about XFX and so that was mainly what I was looking at. I like the lifetime warranty.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe, no exact plans atm

SLI OR CROSSFIRE:Maybe, no exact plans atm

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Will be playing games on a 1080p 40inch Samsung LCD TV, as well as a Samsung 20 inch 1440x900 resolution monitor. The monitor is used for everyday computing, TV powered up for gaming.

I have basically been looking at the GTX 560ti and HD6950, in particular this card caught my interest:

XFX HD6950 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-150-549&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

I recently decided I could spend enough to possibly get a HD6970 or GTX 570, but was wondering if it would be worth the extra money. I know SWTOR will not be super graphics intensive and my GTX260 ran the beta pretty well. Was mainly looking to upgrade to get DX11 and to just have a better card. The new cards also give audio right out of the HDMI correct? (for the blu-rays). Any thoughts?

 

[Helltech]

The 6950 is 6 percent faster than the 560Ti, so yeah. The GTX 570 is 9 percent faster than the 6950.

However if you get the right 6950 you can mod it to a 6970.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/159

 

[Doctor_Den]

I'd go with a 560 Ti as it's a very good card for the money, but if you get two it can actually perform better than a GTX 580, which should be more than enough. Plus your 750w PSU would easily cope with 560 Ti SLI.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-sli-review/

 

[Helltech]

Except he has to keep it up 300 possibly a "little more".... Even the bare minimum for two 560 Tis would be $400. And that's after rebates.

 

[monsta]

Have a look at the new model GTX 560ti 448 core , it has the extra vram and punch and perfroms like a 570 in some scenarios, would be an awesome upgrade for you without going overboard.

 

[Warmacblu]

I agree with monsta, take a look at the GTX 560 Ti 448. If you can't find any of those, a regular GTX 560 Ti will be just fine and a great upgrade.

 

[swifty_morgan]

I have the XFX 6950 2gig with the single fan on it. Good to get the 2 fan model. promise it'll run everything you throw at it.

 

[bdizzle11]

You can get a 570 for under 300 after rebate. Might as well do that to future proof it more

 

[coletrain12]

Hmm, I have considered the 448 GTX560 but have read some hate for them. Saying the performance to price above the 6950 isn't worth it, plus they are not lifetime warrantied. There are too many options lol.

 

[Helltech]

Don't worry about lifetime warranty. Most warranties are 5years, which is beyond the useful life of the card anyway.

I would get a 6950 and flash it to a 6970 myself. Just make sure you get a 6950 that has a bios switch on it. I posted a good link to how to do this in my first post. The 6970 is equal to a GTX 570 in power.

Of course if you aren't comfortable with this (which may be the case since you're worried about warranty), then that's understandable, but you'll be saving a lot of money.

At a little over 300 dollars the GTX 570 is probably the best bet. It takes insane overclocks and an absolute stonking winner at the silicon lottery to get a GTX 560 448 that will beat a GTX 570.

 

[coletrain12]

Yeah, I am guessing that flashing the 6950 would void the warranty?

It seems though that it is successful enough to make me wanna give it a shot though.

 

[scsierror]

for 230 i got a powercolor 6950 2gb from ncix the other day. save yourself the 70 bucks !

 

[notagiant]

+1 to Monsta's idea.

Check out the comparison/reviews over at hardware canucks.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/48794-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-448-cores-review.html

Here they compare 3 different 448 core cards:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/48843-nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-448-roundup-evga-gigabyte-msi.html


I just upgraded from the exact same card to a 570 and the improvement is extremely noticeable. DX11 eye candy is pretty nice and the card's ability to handle almost anything that BF3 and Skyrim can throw at it on ultra.

 

[coletrain12]

I think I am just going to go with a GTX 570, however I have a question after looking around.

What is the difference between these two cards?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Mini-HDMI-Lifetime-Warranty-012-P3-1570-AR/dp/B004EHZD5W/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322846984&sr=1-6

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Lifetime-Warranty-Graphics-012-P3-1571-AR/dp/B004SMUT52/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322846984&sr=1-5

Looks like the heatsink/fan is different, but is one better than the other cause I have noticed the price difference too. One of them is sold out on Newegg. Just trying to get an idea on what EVGA GTX 570 is best, seems like they have a bunch of options that hard hard to figure out what the difference is.

 

[Helltech]

I can't find the proof for you (at work, no time) but I have read multiple reports where the HD gets warmer, but it has different ports, including a display port.

 

[Warmacblu]

The first card you linked exhausts the heat out the back of the case while the second one exhausts heat out the back and into the case.

Take a look at what MSI has to offer. Their GTX 570 Twin Frozr III card is superb.

 

[refillable]

I think I am just going to go with a GTX 570, however I have a question after looking around.

What is the difference between these two cards?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Mini-HDMI-Lifetime-Warranty-012-P3-1570-AR/dp/B004EHZD5W/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322846984&sr=1-6

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Lifetime-Warranty-Graphics-012-P3-1571-AR/dp/B004SMUT52/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1322846984&sr=1-5

Looks like the heatsink/fan is different, but is one better than the other cause I have noticed the price difference too. One of them is sold out on Newegg. Just trying to get an idea on what EVGA GTX 570 is best, seems like they have a bunch of options that hard hard to figure out what the difference is.

These are very good GPUs, I don't think there is a difference between these cards. I think the one with the heat sink fan in the back is cooler. But performance should be identical. You might also look at other GPU brands like MSI, Asus, etc. They are pretty decent too.

 

[coletrain12]

I went with the EVGA GTX 570 HD. I have a big case (antec 1200) so airflow should be good.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it. Hopefully this card will last me for a while.

 

[gamer25]

you can buy a new GTX 560 Ti for about $250