Should I get 6950 or 6970 or any other card?

[mariosx]

Hello!
I'm really thinking about purchasing an 6970 but the only thing that holds me from purchasing it is this article: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/159
Is this really true? Have you tried it out? Does it work?
Based on the article a modded 6950 +20% overclock has the exact perfomance with less power consumption than an 6970 +20%

Also here's the template:
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week on rebates
BUDGET RANGE: 200-350€ [MAX:400] Notice: I'm paying in euro so 400€ = 532$ but I will have to think hard about spending so much for a graphic card

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Everything, I would like it to last at least 3 years and run games on that time at least at medium detail on 1980*1080

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Sapphire HD4870 1GB and Coolermaster M850

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4.0 GHZ
M/B: MSI X58A-GD65
Memory: 3x2GB OCZ Intel Core i7 Edition (8-8-8-24) XMP Profile 1 @ 1600 Mhz
HDD: 80 Intel Postville SSD, 2x1TB Sata 2 WDD Caviar Black [Raid 0], 1x2TB Sata 3 WDD Caviar Black, 1x640GB Sata 3 Caviar Black [Gaming]
Case: Coolermaster COSMOS RC1000
Cooling: CPU Cooler: Coolermaster V8, Default air cooling

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Shipping to Europe/Greece such as amazon

PARTS PREFERENCES: I don't really know if NVidia worth a go and about brands well Sapphire has never caused me any problems but a friend of mine prefers ASUS or XFX for overclocking.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe if I ever need more performance
CROSSFIRE: Maybe some time in the future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1980x1080 must
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Better than 4870 1GB of course, 2 years warranty is preferred. If possible, Skyrim on max details

EDIT: Please forget everything about Skyrim

 

[Frizzo]

i would recommend this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595

lifetime warranty also

 

[17seconds]

i would recommend this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595

lifetime warranty also

I agree with the GTX 570, particularly for playing Skyrim. That game plays much more smoothly on Nvidia cards.

I doubt you can still find a 6950 that can be unlocked to a 6970, but if you can find one, that would be a good value. The GTX 570 will still perform better in Skyrim.

From the Hard OCP Skyrim performance review:
"We witnessed the very best performance with a pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580s installed and operating in SLI mode. After that, the single GeForce GTX 580 was the best performer, followed by the GeForce GTX 570. AMD video cards have some performance issues in Skyrim, and we do hope that AMD can improve this with driver updates. It would be difficult to recommend an AMD video card to any gamer looking to upgrade his or her computer in order to play Skyrim. For this game at least, NVIDIA-GPU based current generation video cards is where it's at, whether you are packing a 30" monitor running at 2560x1600, a 1080p panel, or a multi-monitor gaming solution, they are simply faster."
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/21/elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_performance_iq_review/7

 

[mariosx]

So 6950 no longer get unlocked?
Also what about other games?
Is GTX 570 better than other cards including 6970?

 

[mariosx]

Skyrim uses a bad engine I guess based on that article and that's why there are issues.
So let's forget everything Skyrim related.

Should I go for GTX 570?
PsysX support sure would be nice.


Sorry wasn't able to edit my msg

 

[d00kiejones]

One of my 6870s 1gb @ 1020mhz core 1300mhz VRam is nearly as good as a 560 ti twin frozr 3, Which is a great buy if you like nvidia . It also performs close to a 6950 with just a bit less AA. While I am happy with these cards I now wish I had just gotten the 6970s 2gb. If all you care about is skyrim 1 6870 1gb is good enough for me to run at ultra but get the 2gb model as it will do better down the road. Can't really speak on any other newer cards as I dont have any experience with them.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Sorry wasn't able to edit my msg

Use the quick edit button.

 

[mariosx]

No, let's forget about Skyrim.
Let's talk about gaming in general.

 

[mariosx]

Use the quick edit button.

I did but I received an error "You are not allowed to edit this message!"

OK My bad. I was pressing the left button.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I did but I received an error "You are not allowed to edit this message!"

Was that the middle button or the one on the left?

 

[Warmacblu]

No, let's forget about Skyrim.
Let's talk about gaming in general.

In general ... HD 6970 ~ GTX 570 > GTX 560 Ti Core 448 > HD 6950 ~ GTX 560 Ti

The HD 6970 is a tiny bit faster than the GTX 570. Any one of the cards listed above are great and you will be happy with either choice.

 

[d00kiejones]

Ok single 6870 1gb not overclocked can handle Battlefield 3 @ 1080p all on ultra except AA medium post AA and no MSAA butter smooth 55+ fps. I have an Amd 1100t 6core @ 4ghz and 16gb 1600mhz ram not oced.

EDIT: theres like 20 difference after rebates in the 1 and 2 gb 6870s at newegg

 

[monsta]

If you basically want a card that will play anything well a 580, 6970 and 570 would be great cards to use for the latest games.

 

[szymek]

Come on, all 6950 can be unlocked. They just do not have double bioses and that 'magic' switch. And you no longer do this by flashing 6970 bios but by modifying your own 6950 bios and unlocking shaders.
Whatever you pick, it will be fine. Just pick one with good cooling, cheap and from good brands(Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, His, Sapphire - in the order I said, however Asus and Gigabyte are quite equal.)

 

[mariosx]

Alright.
Is GTX570's poor SLI support final?

Also, does 2GB memory on an 6970 has any difference?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Alright.
Is GTX570's poor SLI support final?

Also, does 2GB memory on an 6970 has any difference?

Poor SLi support? Where did you get that from?

 

[Warmacblu]

Alright.
Is GTX570's poor SLI support final?

Also, does 2GB memory on an 6970 has any difference?

SLi support is superb, the drivers are generally better than CrossfireX drivers. I think you meant scaling? SLi scaling in general is a little bit worse than CrossfireX scaling.

The 2GB does help in some games but at 1920x1080 resolution, the 1.25GB on the GTX 570 is enough.

 

[17seconds]

SLi scaling in general is a little bit worse than CrossfireX scaling.

SLI scaling is worse than Crossfire scaling? Where'd you get that from?

 

[Warmacblu]

SLI scaling is worse than Crossfire scaling? Where'd you get that from?

Tom's Hardware did some testing a while back:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crossfire-sli-3-way-scaling,2865-12.html

I am not saying this review is the end-all discussion about which is better at scaling but I have seen this conclusion pop up multiple times around the web.

It's not like CrossfireX scaling is much much much better, but for the price and sometimes performance it is.

 

[mariosx]

About SLI support: I got the idea from tom's hardware graphic card comparison article.

Also which one of these?
http://www.evga.com/products/compareV.asp?products=012-P3-1572-AR!012-P3-1573-AR

HD or the other one? I don't care about displayport I believe I'll never use it.
The only thing I care about is perfomance & cooling.
Is it my idea that "EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Superclocked" has better cooling?

 

[Warmacblu]

If all you care about is cooling and performance, look at some of the other vendors who offer aftermarket coolers. MSI, ASUS, Galaxy, maybe PNY?

 

[mariosx]

If all you care about is cooling and performance, look at some of the other vendors who offer aftermarket coolers. MSI, ASUS, Galaxy, maybe PNY?

Erm.. no I'm interested in eVGA for it's lifetime warranty and would like to choose one of the two.

Do other vendors have any difference in terms of performance?

 

[Warmacblu]

Erm.. no I'm interested in eVGA for it's lifetime warranty and would like to choose one of the two.

Do other vendors have any difference in terms of performance?

Sorry for the delayed response. The other vendors may be able to eek out a few more frames because they can overclock higher with their non-reference coolers.