1GB or 2GB 6950 for my system?

[Ripebear]

OK here are my system specs:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Intel Core 2 duo E6850 @3.1GHZ
500 GB HDD
Radeon 4870 HD
4 GB Ram
600W PSU
IP35 Pro Mboard-
22" Monitor @ 1680x1050 resolution.

I will play games at that resolution. Game I will be playing mainly is Star wars: The old republic.

This is a weak system to play it, so I'm upgrading the Mboard, CPU and Graphics card.

My friend is going to help me with the mboard and CPU so that's fine, but I wonder should I get the 1GB 6950 for around 110 pounds? Or get the 2GB version for 200? I can afford the 200 pounds one, but I'm told that my system and specs won't benefit fully from the 2GB, is this true?

I don't really need it to be very future proof. I only really play MMO's.

 

[antonisrsx]

for 1680x1050 resolution 1gb is enough... save your money..

 

[Ripebear]

Cheers dude. I wonder though, is the standard for gaming nowadays is 1920x1080 is there a massive difference between that and 1680x1050?

 

[unlaughable]

i have 1.28gb gtx 570 and its not enough for some games.
why not buy the 2gb 6950 just incase you upgrade your monitor or buy games that come out this year?

 

[Ripebear]

It's a tough decision, but I

 

[Ripebear]

Is the difference in having it running at 1920x1080 with a 2GB card worth the extra say, 200 pounds?

 

[antonisrsx]

from my experience yes..but generally i think as much less inch is the monitor, the difference is smaller..

 

[antonisrsx]

Cheers dude. I wonder though, is the standard for gaming nowadays is 1920x1080 is there a massive difference between that and 1680x1050?

from my experience yes..but generally i think as much less inch is the monitor, the difference is smaller..

 

[unlaughable]

200pound diffrence from 1gb to 2 gb no!
90 pound diffrence mabye.

get the 2gb version so you dont regret it.

 

[Ripebear]

If you include a monitor as well.

 

[antonisrsx]

i have 1.28gb gtx 570 and its not enough for some games.
??what games do you mean? in what res?

 

[unlaughable]

lsn since your prices in your country are wierd.
get 2 6950 1gb and have fun.
they wont become 2gb but they are better than one 2gb version at that res.
when you want to upgrade your monitor sell your cards and buy a 79**

 

[Ripebear]

Star Wars: The Old republic and new Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Maybe future MMO's as well.

right now at 1680x1050. If I got a new monitor 1920x1080.

 

[unlaughable]

i have 1.28gb gtx 570 and its not enough for some games.
??what games do you mean? in what res?

at 1080p
battlefield 3 lags sometimes becuase becuase of vram
crysis 2 dx11 with high res pack
batman arkham city.
its not alot but its there

 

[A Bad Day]

I would recommend 2 GB, especially for higher end GPUs and high resolutions. My Mobility Radeon 5730 chokes when playing BF3 at medium settings (1366x768 res) no matter how much I OC'ed the core and memory. The 1 GB VRAM wasn't enough for medium settings and the only workaround is to OC the RAM, which isn't an option on my laptop.

I'm fairly sure within a few years from now, a lot more games will demand more than 1 GB VRAM or you can park in the low graphic/resolution setting. It's better to have a little too much VRAM than too less, because unlike core's and memory's clock rate, you can't add additional VRAM.

 

[unlaughable]

ripebear have you considered other options?

 

[antonisrsx]

i cant believe that gtx 570 isnt enough for any game in that res!!!!

 

[unlaughable]

i cant believe that gtx 570 isnt enough for any game in that res!!!!

a gtx 570 is enough for any game at that res but 1.28gb isnt.

ripebear if you could upgrade your cpu , motherboard, etc now then when 79** come out youll have more money and youll buy one.
you have had your rig for atleast more than a year, wh not wait another month or two?

 

[Memnarchon]

at 1080p
battlefield 3 lags sometimes becuase becuase of vram
crysis 2 dx11 with high res pack
batman arkham city.
its not alot but its there

Hi. So do you think the game lacks cause of the less memory? Do you think that the 2,5GB gtx570 would perform better?
The answer is no. At such small resolution as 1080p, 1280MB of vram is enough. Unless you planing playing on 2560x1440 or triple monitor like 5760x1080 more vram is unnecessary.

 

[keato02]

@ unlaughable yeah the 79XX will be better than the 69XX and if you still choose the 69XX you sould wait for the 79XX series to come fully out so the 69XX series will drop in price.

and i would recommend the 2gb version anyday. i tested the 1gb version vs the 2gb and the 2gb clearly gave me better performance.

go for the 6950 2gb or the 7950 2gb when it comes.

 

[Ripebear]

79** is out of my budget, wont it be 400+ pounds?

Need to upgrade now to play star wars smoothly in raids.

 

[Memnarchon]

Ripebear, there is an article here at tom's hardware which shows the difference between 6950 1GB vs 6950 2GB at 1080p enthusiast settings. So almost double price (from 110pounds to 200) definetely doesnt worth it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-radeon-graphics,2977-10.html

 

[Ripebear]

I'm open to suggestions here. But remember it has to fit with my Mboard. I can spend around 200 pounds this month, maybe 220 TOPS.

Then next month some more. Like 100, maybe 150.