Gtx 480 vs 6950 Unlocked

[djrabbit]

I need to know what graphic card is going to be good for my uses. I want nvidia because I can use gpu acceleration in premier pro but I am also going to be gaming on an 1680x1050 screen. I can get the gtx 480 for $200 and the unlcoked 6950 for $250. What would be best for gaming? I want to have atleast 40fps on most games with good settings.

 

[refillable]

As far as I know they have identical performance. If you can GTX 480 for a cheaper price get it. The only problem with GTX 480 is it's an older card and probably doesn't have features like the current GTX 570.

 

[djrabbit]

As far as I know they have identical performance. If you can GTX 480 for a cheaper price get it. The only problem with GTX 480 is it's an older card and probably doesn't have features like the current GTX 570.

What would be some of the features that I will miss out on?

 

[Max1s]

The 6950 is right in between the 560ti and 570, performance and price-wise. I wouldnt depend on unlocking the 6950 though, its already a very good card and the performance gain isnt worth it. I bought one recently and told myself that I would unlock it if it was too slow, but I've been playing Battlfield 3 and Crysis on highest settings at 1080p for a week. So at your resolution that card/560ti/570 should defiantly be powerful enough.

 

[refillable]

It's lack of Efficiency probably, because they improved the Fermi architecture to make a more efficiency architecture, other than that, I think they are really identical (like DirectX 11 support and OpenGL 4.1).

 

[tinmann]

The GTX 480 is still a very capable card even by today's standard, but if the 6950 has been unlocked to the 6970 I'd say go with the 6950. Less power consumption and the GTX 480 is know to operate at higher temps. On the other hand if the GTX 480 is new and is an Evga then it carries a lifetime warranty which makes it the clear winner in the event you have to RMA because they would have to send you something comparable and you might end up getting a GTX 580 in return since it's the next card in the line-up with 384bit bus width.

 

[xtreme5]

no features missing in gtx 480 which have in 6950 and also gtx 480 can outperform the 6950.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/309?vs=293

 

[de5_Roy]

gtx 480 should be able to outperform radeon hd 6950.
if one chooses that higher is always better, then the gtx 480 has soundly beaten the 6950 in terms of temperature (although it is card manufacturer dependent), idle and load power consumption.
thanks for providing the at comparison link btw, xtreme5.

 

[xtreme5]

welcome!

 

[jdwii]

What would be some of the features that I will miss out on?

Why would any one want a 480 when it runs so hot? and uses lots of power a 560TI or 6950 is a better choice just because of that.

 

[jdwii]

gtx 480 should be able to outperform radeon hd 6950.
if one chooses that higher is always better, then the gtx 480 has soundly beaten the 6950 in terms of temperature (although it is card manufacturer dependent), idle and load power consumption.
thanks for providing the at comparison link btw, xtreme5.

Its 16% faster at 1080P and it uses 100watts+ more on load to do it. Go figure!

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6950_1_GB/20.html

 

[djrabbit]

Well power is not a problem for me. I got a Corsair Tx650w PSU to power that beoch.

 

[larkspur]

A gtx480 will noticeably run hotter and louder than a 6950 or 6970. It will give you better performance than a 6950 and about even with a 6970. But it's a toaster. At your resolution either of those cards will do very well in games.

 

[jdwii]

Well power is not a problem for me. I got a Corsair Tx650w PSU to power that beoch.

If i where you i would get a a 6950 1GB or 2GB Version. They have ones that will run real cool.

SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

279.99$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945

GIGABYTE GV-R695OC-1GD Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
239.99$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385

But to be honest 1GB is not going to hurt performance in 1080P

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/40165-amd-radeon-hd-6950-1gb-review-17.html


But a 560TI is not bad either. I would just go with Amd plus if you ever want to CF two 6950's give about the same performance as two 570 in sli as seen here

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

 

[xtreme5]

Why would any one want a 480 when it runs so hot? and uses lots of power a 560TI or 6950 is a better choice just because of that.

if PSU is enough for the requirement of card then heatness is not an issue whether it's old or newer but in fact gtx 480 can easily beat up the newer HD 6950 and don't forget games require power of card no other things.

 

[bystander]

I wouldn't recommend the 480 only due to noise. The 470 and 480's are noisy cards.

 

[xtreme5]

really!!!

 

[jdwii]

really!!!

Show me this 480 you keep talking about. A 560 or a 6950 Would be better. Unless you can get a 480 at a much lower price.

 

[refillable]

The OP said he can get GTX 480 for $200, so I think this is a pretty good deal.

 

[xtreme5]

yeah! that's what i'm talking about....

 

[amuffin]

Does premier pro support open cl? I believe it supports CUDA but not sure about open cl.

 

[jdwii]

The OP said he can get GTX 480 for $200, so I think this is a pretty good deal.

Sounds like you where convinced before you asked here! Lol just kidding its a pretty good deal even though i still wouldn't do it just because its HOT And uses lots of power. If this does not bother you(as you stated) then get it.

 

[djrabbit]

Does premier pro support open cl? I believe it supports CUDA but not sure about open cl.

I think it is cuda. That is what they use to do gpu acceleration. Also thanks every one for your help. I have bought the gtx 480.

 

[djrabbit]

Best answer selected by djrabbit.