GTX560 Ti or 6870?!

[Gamme40]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if you, the community, could offer me some advice on purchasing a new graphic card, ive read so much but haven't seemed to come across the right answer so i've decided to ask the professionals straight on!

Right so my current beast's specifications consist of the following:

Intel Core i7-950 @ 3.1GHz
Coolermaster V8 CPU Air Cooler
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
3GB RAM
Nvidia GTS250 512MB
620W Antec ion2 PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit with Service pack 1

Heres my first set of questions:
I would like to purchase a new graphic card, I was looking at either the Nvidia GTX 560 Ti or the ATI HD6870 (around that price margins), i was reading up that the ATI is better and cheaper but i am worried because they say that ATI does not have PhysX capabilities, does PhysX make a big difference in my gaming experience? Also if i had to buy an ATI would my GTS250 become ineffective? I was reading online about a hack that allows people to use a "hybrid" setup for this kind of ordeal which in turn provides PhysX using the GTS250 and the rendering using the ATI. If i had to use the hack what would the "consequences" be? And would the GTX 560 Ti or the ATI HD6870 be able to run Crysis 2 at MAX details?

More importantly, if i had to buy the GTX560 Ti OR the ATI HD6870 would i still be able to use my GTS250 on the same 620W PSU?

Thanks in advance for your advice and information, it really helps!

 

[Guest]

The 560 ti is comparable to the 6950 in price and performance not the 6870, the 560 and the 6870 are comparable.

There is a hack that can use your nvidia card for physics with an ati card. http://www.ngohq.com/graphic-cards/17706-hybrid-physx-mod-v1-03-v1-05ff.html

There are some really good sales on fermi cards now with kepler cards right around the corner. If you can wait for MRI I would get this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565

 

[jemm]

Yes, PhysX makes some difference in gaming experience. If you go with the GTX560 Ti as a primiry card -- maily for rendering, then you can use your GTS250 just for PhysX.

"Hybrid" cards setup is possible, but your motherborad would have to support this feature -- I am not 100% sure, but yours doesn´t seem to support it.

GTX560 Ti is an excellent card -- it will perfomenace great on Crysis 2.

As for your system, you MUST get some more ram! Get a 2x 4GB Kit for better performance -- you won´t regret that.

For your reference have a look at GeForce GTX 560 Ti vs Radeon HD 6870 http://www.hwcompare.com/8890/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6870/

 

[monsta]

The 560ti is a better card than the 6870, jemm is right , more ram would also be needed if you wish to max out games with ease. Using your 250 is a good idea only if you play games with physx.

 

[geekapproved]

They are not really comparable because the 6XXX series are discontinued and the price has stayed the same for a while.
The 560ti was meant to compete with the 6950 1GB, but now that the 6950 1GB's are discontinued, the price has gone up and they are no longer in the same price range.

You should be comparing GTX560ti to HD7850. However, since the HD7850 is newly released, it's priced a little high right now at $250, but it's also a bit faster and has double the memory.

 

[monsta]

Like geek said, a 7850 aint a bad card to look at as an option here

 

[ismaeljrp]

I'm using a MSI GTX 560ti HAWK EDITION right now, have it OC'd and it performs better than a 6950 stock. Don't have any complaints. But right now, I'd go with a 7850...not all games actually use the physx feature , actually only a few do. The 7850 will get you better performance on future games as well, since it revolves around DX 11 so much, if it's OC'd then you can get GTX 570 performance.

edit: not to mention the AMD card has a nice 2gb of memory, right now it doesn't mean much for single monitors, but it will soon, and gives you a better option if you ever want to go eyefinity, you can just crossfire and get amazing performance with 3 monitors...just sayin.