Which 6950??

[mfarlow]

I was planning on grabbing the Gigabyte 1GB 6950 from Newegg this week,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385

when I stumbled on this Sapphire 2GB card over at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DVI-I-SL-DVI-D-PCI-Express-100312-2SR/dp/B004TA6RY0/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1328748175&sr=1-9

They are both roughly the same price and come with free shipping.

I like the 3 fans on the Gigabyte, and the face that it's factory OC'd, but should I care about the extra ram on the sapphire?
My highest resolution on my monitor is 2048x1536 although I've yet to get a game that high.

 

[ilysaml]

I have that exact Sapphire card and it's running so great no problem with it at all, Also the Gigabyte is more cooler and efficient and it got great reviews, Actually there's a phenomenon observed in HD 6950 1 GB VS 2 GB that the 1 GB model is faster by 0.5% cause when the extra ram doesn't help it reduces performance slightly.

I would pick up the gigabyte, and also i would consider 2 of it for Crossfire because of such a high resolution.

 

[mfarlow]

Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[Earnie]

I have that exact Sapphire card and it's running so great no problem with it at all, Also the Gigabyte is more cooler and efficient and it got great reviews, Actually there's a phenomenon observed in HD 6950 1 GB VS 2 GB that the 1 GB model is faster by 0.5% cause when the extra ram doesn't help it reduces performance slightly.

I would pick up the gigabyte, and also i would consider 2 of it for Crossfire because of such a high resolution.

A LINK PERHAPS?I have never heard or read about this.TY

anything over 1920x1080 is worth the extra vram,or especially in eyfinity,

Hard|OCP"
Performance Summary



Performance has turned out not as we expected in many cases here, but that isn’t a bad thing. In fact, considering the 1GB Radeon HD 6950 performs the same as the 2GB Radeon HD 6950 at lower resolutions, and is less expensive; that makes it a great alternative. Let’s break it down.


Radeon HD 6950 1GB vs. 2GB


Certainly, the first thing we wanted to know is if the reduction memory capacity with the Radeon HD 6950 GPU would cause a reduction in performance. We found that at lower resolutions like 1920x1200 the answer is no, performance was not impacted much if at all. Since both video cards use the same GPU the end-result was the same. Playing at 4X AA at 1920x1200 yielded no performance differences in any of the games.


It was only at the highest setting of 2560x1600 with 8X MSAA did we start to see differences. The 2GB Radeon HD 6950 clearly allowed 8X MSAA in some games to be playable, and in others allowed us to use Transparency Antialiasing at 2560x1600. The 1GB Radeon HD 6950 struggled with these higher settings. Still, in some cases performance was the same as long as the AA setting was lower at 2560x1600.

 

[amuffin]

Twinfrozr iii.

 

[refillable]

get the sapphire.

 

[sunnk]

get sapphire because of its cheaper price and great performance its like performance vs price saphire cards will always do above the price.

 

[sunnk]

buy an 2gb one for your resolution.

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

1)its an good card it keep the card cool and quite.

2)it can unlock shraders.

3)overclocks pretty well.

1gb performs good in the resolution of 1080p 2gb performs good in the higher resolutions.

review:- http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd6950/5.htm

 

[jk47]

If you plan on using a single-card setup, you'll get the most power from the Sapphire 6950 2GB Toxic Edition

 

[ilysaml]

@Earnie
Look at the HD 6950s in 2500x resolution

Look at the performance summary

From behardware.com

Note that when the additional memory doesn’t make a difference, it reduces performance slightly, a phenomenon already observed with the 1 GB and 2 GB versions of the Radeon HD 6950.

link
http://www.behardware.com/articles/844-1/geforce-gtx-580-3gb-vs-1-5gb-test-sli-and-surround.html

 

[mfarlow]

Ok, given that the extra 2GB really won't do much for me, and that price is the same, does anyone think that having the extra fans on the Gigabyte model is a benefit?

Oh, and I've also found a Diamond reference 2GB 6950 for the same price, complete with dual bios. Now my choice has just become that much harder.

 

[ilysaml]

Reference designed cards run hotter and louder than non ref-designed ones. The Gigabyte model is a monster card for extreme overclocking, and as above there's almost no diff between the 2 models. So i still recommend the Gigabyte.

 

[mfarlow]

Ok 1 last question. Running at lower resolutions (ie, 1920x1080), will having the extra ram help with maxing out the AA ?

 

[mfarlow]

Oh, and I thought that the reference boards were pretty much guaranteed to be unlockable.

 

[sunnk]

yes for aa 1gb will be ok but for your resolution 2gb will work more better.

 

[refillable]

Not really^

But the 2GB will be more future proof and at your resolution I think it's a better choice. But it's up to you anyway.

 

[ilysaml]

As you've seen from the benchmarks, there's no real difference in various resolutions, it's the SAME.

 

[sunnk]

if you are getting 2gb in 1gb price so it will be good to get an 2gb one

 

[mfarlow]

So at this point my choices are between these 3 cards:
Gigabyte 1GB 6950 (no dual bios)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125385
Sapphire 2GB 6950 (no dual bios)
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL- [...] 175&sr=1-9
Diamond 2GB 6950 reference card (dual bios)

I've decided the 2GB really doesn't matter for me in terms of performance, since I pretty much game at 1920x1080 anyway.

The only possible benefit I'll realistically get from it might be the ability to unlock the shaders. People with the sapphire card are reporting negative results with unlocking. The Gigabyte card has mixed results, while the diamond card seems to unlock without issues.

Will unlocking make a significantly noticable imapct?

Each of these cards has it's pros and cons
Gigabyte - Great cooling, overclocking,low noise and heat, only 1GB, questionable unlocking
Sapphire - 2GB, low noise and heat, no unlocking
Diamond, - 2GB, unlockable, bad for noise and heat

I'm leaning towards the Gigabyte at this point.

 

[Earnie]

As you've seen from the benchmarks, there's no real difference in various resolutions, it's the SAME.

I understand your point,but it appears it depends on who's doing the testing!I would still recommend more Vram,it can never hurt to have it!


All the unlock does is unlock the shaders,then you will still have to overclock the cards,but not all cards will take the higher overclocks.some will go higher,while some will be somwhere in the middle,I have 2-6950's with the dual bios switch and they both unlocked with the flick of a switch,I didnt see the need to overclock them(i did try it however)as the performance was already more than enough..

 

[mfarlow]

I guess my question is will there be any noticable difference by unlocking the shaders?

 

[Earnie]

I guess my question is will there be any noticable difference by unlocking the shaders?

truthfully...have I actually noticed any difference..No.but i also havent done any benchies to really test it,but i'm sure it does help.I just didnt feel the need to o/c as well.I upgrade my components way to often to really get a good reference.lol.

heres a good article that actually gives the diff with just shaders and with an o/c

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1608/4/

 

[mfarlow]

Well I wound up pulling the trigger on the 2GB sapphire model. I was torn up until I clicked the checkout button. I really liked both this card and the gigabyte.

Thanks for everyones help.

 

[mfarlow]

Best answer selected by mfarlow.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey