EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked or Radeon XFX HD 6970 2 GB

[Rakeshisu]

Hey there everyone.

I have a i7 3,4 GHz 2600k, Asus ROG Maximus IV Gene-z/Gen-3, 8Gb DDR3 1600 MHz memory and currently a XFX GeForce 8800 GT(The only part I have yet to upgrade), I am looking to buy either the Radeon XFX HD 6970 2 GB or a EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked. Which is better? Keep in mind:

1. I don't have the budget for SLi or Crossfire
2. I don't overclock.
3. The cards will be run the way they come out of the box.

I am aiming to play Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings with a FPS of 40-60.

I have read many forums, but all of them state using Crossfire or overclocking, so please help.

Many Thanks

 

[Vettedude]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/518?vs=509

Keep in mind that 570 was stock speeds. As you can see, the 256-bit memory bus really gimps the 6970 vs the 570.

 

[refillable]

since you don't overclock, you better go with 570 which is already factory overclocked.

 

[sunnk]

yes if u dont want to overclock evga superclocked gtx 570 will be better because its already little bit overclocked by the company and in bf3 gtx 570 performs well but in most of the games gtx 570 and hd 6970 both performs almost same they both are great cards but if dont wont to overclock then the evga gtx 570 superclocked is the better way to go.

 

[Rakeshisu]

I neglected to mention I will be running on 1920X1080 resolution. So the GTX 570 will outperform the HD6970, even though the 6970 has 768mb more VRAM?

 

[Vettedude]

The 570 has a bigger memory bus which allows it to do better at higher resolutions such as your monitor. Go with that.

 

[ilysaml]

How much do you want to pay for either cards? what's your max budget?
The HD 6970 performs better than GTX 570, and you can also get a factor OCed HD 6970 but all depends on your budget.

Also the GTX 570 is great, you'll be fine with any of each , but i recommend the HD 6970.

 

[ilysaml]

The 570 has a bigger memory bus which allows it to do better at higher resolutions such as your monitor. Go with that.

HD 6970 is 2 GB, GTX 570 is 1280 MB.

 

[Vettedude]

Wrong. HD 6970 is 2 GB, GTX 570 is 1280 MB.

570 has a 320-bit bus, 6970 has a 256-bit bus.

 

[Rakeshisu]

Well I will be shipping to South Africa from Amazon, mainly because it is around £100 cheaper, what is the price bracket for a OCed 6970?

 

[ilysaml]

570 has a 320-bit bus, 6970 has a 256-bit bus.

Yes my apology, i thought you were talking about the VRAM.
Yes the GTX 570 memory interface is bigger than the HD 6970, but it doesn't go like this...the determinant factors of a GPU strength could be in the NO. of shaders, transistors, core & memory clock, memory interface and so on....

 

[Rakeshisu]

Also, which one will last the longest? I mean I don't want to have to buy another card in a years time?

 

[Vettedude]

Yes my apology, i thought you were talking about the VRAM.
Yes the GTX 570 memory interface is bigger than the HD 6970, but it doesn't go like this...the determinant factors of a GPU strength could be in the NO. of shaders, transistors, core & memory clock, memory interface and so on....

Yes but Nvidia by default will have fewer shaders since they use beefy ones, AMD uses loads of stripped down shaders. The memory bandwidth plays a huge role in the performance though, especially with AA at high resolution. I remember reading a review of a 6850 (also a 256-bit bus) and when overclocking it they got WAY bigger returns by OCing the memory instead of the core. They said the 256-bit bus starves the high end GPU's for AMD of bandwidth, thus AMD using the 384-bit bus for the 7900 cards. That's also why Nvidia uses the weird 192-bit bus on the 550ti. In bandwidth hungry uses, the 550ti will eat away the 6770 and its 128-bit bus.

 

[ilysaml]

No Again it doesn't go like this, the "Physical GPU's architecture's" itself in the various Series differs from the previous one, the GTX 480 is a 384-Bit and 1.5 GB and the GTX 570 is 320-Bit & 1280 MB of memory and the GTX 570 is 1-3% faster in most situations.

AMD focus on the power of transistors, core clock & the NO. of stream processors while nVidia focus on the higher memory bus widths... the HD 6970 beats the GTX 570 in many games or you can say the performance is identical in most cases even though the memory interface of the GTX 570 is higher.

 

[Vettedude]

A factory OC 570 from EVGA (Best brand for Nvidia) would beat a stock 6970 and if its cheaper in his country, then go with that. I'm an AMD fanboy, but I still shop on price and would buy an Nvidia if I wasn't pissed at them for their awful mid-range offerings in terms of price and power consumption. If he can find an OC 6970 that is the same price as the 570, get it. Its better, and its an AMD

 

[ilysaml]

get the cheapest option available out of the two.
may that be the determining factor.

+1 here. Also there's no a future proof card but either of cards will stay a good while performing greatly, no one can expects the upcoming games and many of the current games are very demanding but you can always CF/SLI any of them in the future which will give you a big performance boost.

 

[ilysaml]

unfortunately most HD 6970s are more expensive than the GTX 570s. The Twin Frozer III is $369 on newegg and $419 on amazon. The Evga GTX 570 SOC is $330 after MIR on newegg.

 

[Rakeshisu]

Well I am going to get either the EVGA GTX 570 OC for $344.99 or the HD 6970(Not OC) for $330.00, both from Amazon.

The extra $14.99 worth it?

 

[Rakeshisu]

YES...!
GTX 570 OC @ $344 = FTW.

So that is what I should go for? Definitely? I have never owned an AMD card before so I am a bit hesitant to go for it.

 

[Gordon Freeman]

Both cards are good but 6950 OC is better than both cause of Price/Performance ratio but the thing to remember is AMD/Radeon = more Efficient path to high performance and Nvidia uses less efficiency but more brutal ways of getting the high performance.

 

[Rakeshisu]

I ordered the GTX 570. Thanks for the help everyone

 

[zloginet]

Hey there everyone.

I have a i7 3,4 GHz 2600k, Asus ROG Maximus IV Gene-z/Gen-3, 8Gb DDR3 1600 MHz memory and currently a XFX GeForce 8800 GT(The only part I have yet to upgrade), I am looking to buy either the Radeon XFX HD 6970 2 GB or a EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked. Which is better? Keep in mind:

1. I don't have the budget for SLi or Crossfire
2. I don't overclock.
3. The cards will be run the way they come out of the box.

I am aiming to play Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings with a FPS of 40-60.

I have read many forums, but all of them state using Crossfire or overclocking, so please help.

Many Thanks

I average over 47fps on ultra on my rig... I never go below 40 and usually sitting around 52ish...

 

[LtnCharles]

Also, which one will last the longest? I mean I don't want to have to buy another card in a years time?

Ah but you see this is what made me go for the 6970 instead of the 570, cause the 2GB of VRAM is more future proof than the 1280MB, but too late now, and the 570 does Beat the 6970 @ Ultra in BF3, so good for you!

 

[phamhlam]

Don't forget that AMD has eyefinity so you can use up to 4 monitor on your card compare to 2 on Nvidia. That might matter. The GTX 570 does perform better in BF3 since it was optimize for Geforce cards. Also, instead of the XFX 6970, compare the 570 to MSI Twin Frozr 3 6970

 

[LtnCharles]

The reference cooler on the XFX 6970 sucks tho tbh, trust me, I own the card!