2GB Radeon 6970 vs 1.28GB GTX 570

[jediarron]

So I am looking to buy a PC, I have designed two online, I am spending around £900 for the PC, so they're prpretty high spec. One of them has an ATI Radeon Graphics card, the other a Nvidia graphics card.

Here are the specs for:

Computer A -

• Intel i5 3570k Quad Core 3.40 GHz,
• 1155 Gigabyte Z68AP-D3,
• 8GB DDR3 Corsair 1600 single module x2,
• Integrated Sound Card,
• Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler,
• DVD+/- RW - 22X Samsung SATA,
• 1000Gb SATA Hard Drive SATA 3,
• No Secondary Hard Drive,
• ATI HD 6970 2048MB,
• No Monitor,
• CiT Mars Midi Tower Gaming Case with 2 x Blue LED Fans & LED Display,
• CORSAIR CMPSU-650TXUK,
• No Operating System,
• No Additional Software,
• Logitech Keyboard and Mouse Deskset,

- It uses a 2048 MB ATI HD 6970 graphics card, and a different fan.

Computer B

• Intel i5 3570k Quad Core 3.40 GHz,
• 1155 Gigabyte Z68AP-D3,
• 8GB DDR3 Corsair 1600 single module x2,
• Integrated Sound Card,
• Corsair Hydro H80 High-Performance Liquid CPU Cooler,
• DVD+/- RW - 22X Samsung SATA,
• 1000Gb SATA Hard Drive SATA 3,
• No Secondary Hard Drive,
• Nvidia GTX570 1280MB,
• No Monitor,
• CiT Mars Midi Tower Gaming Case with 2 x Blue LED Fans & LED Display,
• CORSAIR CMPSU-650TXUK,
• No Operating System,
• No Additional Software,
• Logitech Keyboard and Mouse Deskset,

- It uses a 1280 MB graphics card. It is cheaper than the ATI graphics card, however is only 1280 MB, compared to 2056 MB. As it is cheaper, however, I am able to buy a Corsair CPU liquid cooler.

Also,

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

says the Nvidia 570X is better than
the Radeon 6970, despite it being cheaper. (It is higher ranked and if you click the invidual graphics card
name, it also has a higher G3D mark - which basically shows how much the graphics card can take before
Frame rate/performance drops - so the higher the better

So which do you guys think is better and why?

Oh, and more appropriate for my case, let me provide a little more information.
I will be using it for games such as League of Legends, FPS games and MMORPGs.
Also, I will be playing on a 21.5" LED Monitor, with resolution: 1920x1080
http://www.ebuyer.com/344851-benq-gl2240m-21-5-led-dvi-monitor-speakers-9h-l5vla-tbe

By the end of this, I would be very greatful if one of you guys could help me decide which one to buy. I'm not too bothered about the corsair liquid cooling fan, though, I just want the better graphics card. I have read around and got mixed answers, so I tried to make mine specific to my case.

Thank you.

 

[jediarron]

So I am looking to buy a PC, I have designed two online, I am spending around £900 for the PC, so they're prpretty high spec. One of them has an ATI Radeon Graphics card, the other a Nvidia graphics card.

Here are the specs for:

Computer A -

• Intel i5 3570k Quad Core 3.40 GHz,
• 1155 Gigabyte Z68AP-D3,
• 8GB DDR3 Corsair 1600 single module x2,
• Integrated Sound Card,
• Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler,
• DVD+/- RW - 22X Samsung SATA,
• 1000Gb SATA Hard Drive SATA 3,
• No Secondary Hard Drive,
• ATI HD 6970 2048MB,
• No Monitor,
• CiT Mars Midi Tower Gaming Case with 2 x Blue LED Fans & LED Display,
• CORSAIR CMPSU-650TXUK,
• No Operating System,
• No Additional Software,
• Logitech Keyboard and Mouse Deskset,

- It uses a 2048 MB ATI HD 6970 graphics card, and a different fan.

Computer B

• Intel i5 3570k Quad Core 3.40 GHz,
• 1155 Gigabyte Z68AP-D3,
• 8GB DDR3 Corsair 1600 single module x2,
• Integrated Sound Card,
• Corsair Hydro H80 High-Performance Liquid CPU Cooler,
• DVD+/- RW - 22X Samsung SATA,
• 1000Gb SATA Hard Drive SATA 3,
• No Secondary Hard Drive,
• Nvidia GTX570 1280MB,
• No Monitor,
• CiT Mars Midi Tower Gaming Case with 2 x Blue LED Fans & LED Display,
• CORSAIR CMPSU-650TXUK,
• No Operating System,
• No Additional Software,
• Logitech Keyboard and Mouse Deskset,

- It uses a 1280 MB graphics card. It is cheaper than the ATI graphics card, however is only 1280 MB, compared to 2056 MB. As it is cheaper, however, I am able to buy a Corsair CPU liquid cooler.

Also,

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

says the Nvidia 570X is better than
the Radeon 6970, despite it being cheaper. (It is higher ranked and if you click the invidual graphics card
name, it also has a higher G3D mark - which basically shows how much the graphics card can take before
Frame rate/performance drops - so the higher the better

So which do you guys think is better and why?

Oh, and more appropriate for my case, let me provide a little more information.
I will be using it for games such as League of Legends, FPS games and MMORPGs.
Also, I will be playing on a 21.5" LED Monitor, with resolution: 1920x1080
http://www.ebuyer.com/344851-benq-gl2240m-21-5-led-dvi-monitor-speakers-9h-l5vla-tbe

By the end of this, I would be very greatful if one of you guys could help me decide which one to buy. I'm not too bothered about the corsair liquid cooling fan, though, I just want the better graphics card. I have read around and got mixed answers, so I tried to make mine specific to my case (i.e the very similar computer specs + games I play).

I will be ordering the PC within a week or two, at the most.

Thank you.

 

[jediarron]

Bump, hehe. Want to get this answered ^_^

 

[bryonhowley]

I would go for the 6970 personally I have 2 6950 flash to 6970's in my AMD rig and they perform better than the 570's I have in my Intel rig. I seem to have a problem with stutter in some games with my Intel rig. I get it in Skyrim and Battlefield 3 as well as The Witcher 2 and have no problems with these games on my AMD rig. As far as a Water Cooling I would really look into getting a kit like the XSPC 750. For one thing they are expandable so you could add your GPU into the loop if you wanted. They do require a little more work to put to gether but are not that hard. I run the XSPC 750 RS240 on my FX-8120 and get idle temps around 25-29c and full load at about 35c. Plus running 4 120mm fans in a push pull is still quieter than when the stock fan would ramp up! Good luck with your purchase I think you would be happer with witch ever one you get.

 

[jediarron]

I would go for the 6970 personally I have 2 6950 flash to 6970's in my AMD rig and they perform better than the 570's I have in my Intel rig. I seem to have a problem with stutter in some games with my Intel rig. I get it in Skyrim and Battlefield 3 as well as The Witcher 2 and have no problems with these games on my AMD rig. As far as a Water Cooling I would really look into getting a kit like the XSPC 750. For one thing they are expandable so you could add your GPU into the loop if you wanted. They do require a little more work to put to gether but are not that hard. I run the XSPC 750 RS240 on my FX-8120 and get idle temps around 25-29c and full load at about 35c. Plus running 4 120mm fans in a push pull is still quieter than when the stock fan would ramp up! Good luck with your purchase I think you would be happer with witch ever one you get.

Hmmm... why do some of the Benchmark tables show that the 570 has a higher FPS rate than the 6970? O:

 

[jediarron]

Bump

 

[mitunchidamparam]

Go for the 6970 because it has less power consumption and is more future proof since it has a 2 GB of ram and i heard that some custom mods in skyrim already use close to 2gb of ram.

 

[motorneuron]

The 6970 and 570 are very comparable cards. Don't just look at a synthetic benchmark, though--check out something like this: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=306 .

The 570 will be a little hungrier for power and will probably run a little hotter which leaves less room for OCing. If you crank the 6970 you will get good results. Honestly, though, I think going for whatever is cheapest is probably fine, unless you are planning on using a high resolution (above 1920x1080), in which case you probably want the 6970 because it has 2GB instead of 1.25 GB of RAM.

 

[ilysaml]

Both cards have the same performance range, they are trading off. For 1080P gaming the 1280 MB VRAM is very sufficient, some games will have higher FPS with the GTX 570 (TWIMTBP Games) and some will have higher FPS with HD 6970 such as AvP, Dirt 2/3, Deus Ex,.....

Anyway the performance difference is not noticeable, any of them would be great.

Don't bump posts otherwise the thread will get closed.

 

[jediarron]

I've read about 4 other of these threads from the past xD

People are saying that the 6970 is more future proof, and is there for the future when higher demanding memory games come out. And I also heard that the 6970 is better for multi monitors, or resolutions over 1920x1080 - however, I don't intend to run my games over that, but I do want to be future prepared. I heard that the 570 was better at 1920x1080 and lower, and it is slightly quieter and also the 570 is better for current times?

Arggggggh what do I do x.x

 

[jediarron]

Both cards have the same performance range, they are trading off. For 1080P gaming the 1280 MB VRAM is very sufficient, some games will have higher FPS with the GTX 570 (TWIMTBP Games) and some will have higher FPS with HD 6970 such as AvP, Dirt 2/3, Deus Ex,.....

Anyway the performance difference is not noticeable, any of them would be great.

Don't bump posts otherwise the thread will get closed.

Hmmm, I see I won't bump anymore o:

Which games classify as TWIMTBP games?

Also, if you can barely notice the difference, isn't is better to go for the 6970, because you get same/slightly better/slightly worse FPS results, however, you also get the long lasting future prepared 2GB memory?

 

[inerax]

i also have dual 6950's flashed to 6970's. They are great... I spent an extra $20 for the XFX lifetime guarantee. I have never had a single problem and they run everything great.

i run dual monitors with 0 problems.

The GPU is near silent unless i crank up the fan to 60%+. after that it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

Start with 1 6970 then add a 2nd latter on.

GL

 

[ilysaml]

The games equipped with the "nVidia The Way It's Meant To Be Played" logos. HD 6970 would be just better if you have 2560 x 1600 monitor, that would be the real benefit for HD 6970. But regarding to "future proof" all the benches and tests shown 1-3% difference between 1 GB and 2 GB of VRAM. Best example for that is HD 6950 1GB/2GB models, the 1 GB is faster than the 2 GB by 1%, Also GTX 580 1.5GB and 3GB shows mostly 5-7 FPS difference in games.

As suggested above, get the cheapest and the better for cooling and I personally recommend HD 6970.

 

[jediarron]

The games equipped with the "nVidia The Way It's Meant To Be Played" logos. HD 6970 would be just better if you have 2560 x 1600 monitor, that would be the real benefit for HD 6970. But regarding to "future proof" all the benches and tests shown 1-3% difference between 1 GB and 2 GB of VRAM. Best example for that is HD 6950 1GB/2GB models, the 1 GB is faster than the 2 GB by 1%, Also GTX 580 1.5GB and 3GB shows mostly 5-7 FPS difference in games.

As suggested above, get the cheapest and the better for cooling and I personally recommend HD 6970.

Sorted, will do.

Thanks for your consistent help, I will be getting the 6970 in that case, 1 question, however.

For the specs in Computer A ... will they.. run effectively and smoothly and 'co operate together' - I'm mainly reffering to the 6970, the i5 3570k and the Z68 mother board.

Because I went into a PC store a few days ago, with specs for another PC, and he said 'that motherboard will burn out and won't even run your processor and graphics card to it's fullest potential'

So I just want to double check that these specs are okay

 

[ilysaml]

Yes of course, All the Z68, P67, and some other chipsets support the new Ivy Bridge CPUs. "He" must not run a PC store.

 

[jediarron]

Yes of course, All the Z68, P67, and some other chipsets support the new Ivy Bridge CPUs. "He" must not run a PC store.

THanks. But then please tell me, what's the point of buying more expensive mother boards like Z77, what do they offer that Z68's don't?

 

[Raptor2099]

I have gtx 570's in SLI and I find they run every current game very well at 1080P resolution. I don't have a monitor that will go higher than that so I haven't tested any resolution higher than 1080P. One thing you might want to consider is the availability of PhysX on the GTX570. Games like Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City look a hell of a lot better with PhysX turned on. So that may sway you a little. Also if you get the cheaper gtx570 and add the water cooler to the CPU then you'll be able to overclock a lot higher hence giving you better performance overall. So that's my 2.5 cents.

 

[madooo12]

THanks. But then please tell me, what's the point of buying more expensive mother boards like Z77, what do they offer that Z68's don't?

PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0, some SATA and other stuff like that, use bing, yahoo or google

 

[ilysaml]

THanks. But then please tell me, what's the point of buying more expensive mother boards like Z77, what do they offer that Z68's don't?

It's not expensive as I see. but that's the marketing scheme for Intel, each new thing requires a new other thing ;p
PCIE 3.0 is supported via some Z68 boards, even there's no major difference between it and PCIE 2.0