HD 6950.

Peter8

Anyone here have any opinions on whether the 6950 is worth the performance boost over the 6870? or if I should go with a 560ti?

FlyingIrishMan

Peter8 wrote: »

Anyone here have any opinions on whether the 6950 is worth the performance boost over the 6870? or if I should go with a 560ti?

I have a 6950, its very good. This is the exact one I have:http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43704&agid=1004

The only graphics heavy game I've played so far is Skyrim, but it runs that with ever setting to the highest and still a very smooth FPS, and stays cool too.

I've never tried a 6870 or 560ti, those were my two other choices, but I decided to spend a little bit extra for a bit more performance, don't know if it was worth it or not but its still a very good card.

Serephucus

Skyrim isn't exactly a good choice for a GPU-heavy game. You'd want Crysis, Battlefield 3, etc.

Peter8

Yeah I have looked it up and the HIS 2gb 6950 got really good reviews, found one on amazon.com with total charges of less than 240 euro Was wondering if there is a big quality difference between HIS and Sapphire?

EDIT: HIS Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2GB for around 238 euro including all fees.

Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon 6950 HD 800MHz 2GB 245 euro

Just curious as to how these cards are different?

KINGPIN

Go with the 6950 and unlock it to a 6970, one gig will do and saves alot of mulas too. Get the 2gig version if your going to be playing at high res .

560 use's alot more power than a 6950 if your restricted by power.

edit: 560 is cheaper tho, so its tough to call, if you got the extra 30-40 id go with the 6950.

Just my 2 cents

game4it70

They are very good cards but tbh there is not that much of an improvement over the 6870.
Have a look at this using a 2gb version.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=293

Also most of the newer models dont unlock to 6970's.

If i where you i would wait for a couple of months as hopefully by then the lower end AMD 7 series cards should be out.You should see a better jump with those cards for you money.

Peter8

Yeah I think I will go with the HIS 6950 2GB, its a big card, will it be compatible with this build? I checked the dimensions and the case should handle it but I am not sure about the motherboard, recommended PSU is 500W.


ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3, Sockel 1155, ATX

Cooler Master HAF 912 schwarz, ohne Netzteil

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155

Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W

FlyingIrishMan

Serephucus wrote: »

Skyrim isn't exactly a good choice for a GPU-heavy game. You'd want Crysis, Battlefield 3, etc.

I'll be getting BF3 this week but until then Skyrim is the most GPU intense game i have.

kfish2oo2

I have the 2GB 6950 and I can play BF3 @ 55-80 FPS on Ultra settings @ 1280x1024. On High it plays at 70+ FPS and on low it plays at around 160 FPS. On Skyrim its on all highest settings and it never drops below 55 FPS (its capped @60).

I upgraded from a GTX 460 which is more in line with a 6850. I consider it a worth while upgrade (even more so if I can sell my GTX 460 :P)

ShadowHearth

I don't know if it's worth it to upgrade from 6870 to 6950.

6870 is a great bang for the money and there won't be much performance gained with 6950. If you would like to feel performance gain, you would need to go for grx570 or 6970.

I have 2 pcs one with 6870 and one with gtx570. Gtx 570 is faster, but it is not 200eu faster then 6870. 6950 will be even slower.

What I would do:

Get one more 6870 for 150eu and blow 6950/6970/gtx570 out of the water. ( check of 550w psu will be enough, I think it should be, check mobo too)

Option two:

Wait for the 7850/7870 which will be out next month.

Peter8

Which price range will the 7850/70 be in approximately?

ShadowHearth

I am just guessing:

It should be in 250-300eu bracket. Maybe maybe 350ish.

Considering that 7970 is 500eu

dan_ep82

As above either wait on the 7870 2GB or get the 6950 2GB.

Games are starting to use more than 1GB Vram now so might aswell future proof if your buying new.

You'd get these for a good price - http://www.adverts.ie/hardware/2x-powercolor-hd6950-2gb-dual-bios/1247131

Well worth 350-400

Serephucus

6950s go for about €240-260 new. I'd expect you'd be able to get one of the two on Adverts for about €200-€210.

Nothingbetter2d

Peter8 wrote: »

Anyone here have any opinions on whether the 6950 is worth the performance boost over the 6870? or if I should go with a 560ti?

do research but some 6950's can actually be flash upgraded to 6970's

ShadowHearth

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

do research but some 6950's can actually be flash upgraded to 6970's

early ones and still only few. it should be about time to put that thing to rest. any newish 6950 is locked.

6950 is great card, but not worth upgrade from 6870 op.

FlyingIrishMan

I may be wrong but I think the OP means which should he buy, 6870, or 6950 not upgrade from the 6870 to the 6950.

maki

ShadowHearth wrote: »

early ones and still only few. it should be about time to put that thing to rest. any newish 6950 is locked.

Sapphire's 6950 (the Dirt3 Edition to be specific) comes with the second bios preflashed. All you need to do is flick the switch to unlock the shaders. That being said, it's just the shaders, not the full 6970 bios, but it's quick and easy and provides a nice performance boost for free.

Peter8

maki wrote: »

Sapphire's 6950 (the Dirt3 Edition to be specific) comes with the second bios preflashed. All you need to do is flick the switch to unlock the shaders. That being said, it's just the shaders, not the full 6970 bios, but it's quick and easy and provides a nice performance boost for free.

Found this and it does not have the unlock feature apparently (from reading the customer reviews) its a tad bit more expensive than this HIS 6950 2GB Sapphire usually uses higher quality materials right?

Peter8

Right now I am content on getting the 6950 but can't decide whether to get the HIS or Sapphire version, it is my first build and I do not really know the differences if there is any, I just to be 100% sure.

KINGPIN

There are 3-4 sapphire editions of the 6950 on hardwareversend, two of them dirt edition. Will both of these unlock ? cant find the sku codes for them

kfish2oo2

I have the HIS IceQ X (from Hardwareversand). Got it for €220 (+€30 for shipping, but it was part of a larger order). I would really recommend this particular version - the cooling solution is excellent and is finally the quietest part of my PC - and my single 120mm fan on the CPU is louder. It does get louder when its under long heavy load, but is still surprisingly quiet.

Peter8

Sadly I have already made a large order from HWVS with the rest of my components so I am gonna go with the Sapphire 6950 2GB dirt edition from dabs for like 245 euro, free shipping.

KINGPIN

will both his and the dirt have the ability to be unlocked ?

Peter8

KINGPIN wrote: »

will both his and the dirt have the ability to be unlocked ?

I don't know.

So is the 6950 worth the price over the 6870? Shadowhearth, you were saying that the 6870 is well worth it over the 6950 but I am not sure if you were saying that in the context of me having a 6870 already and wanting to upgrade.

Serephucus

At this point, unless you absolutely have to, I wouldn't recommend anyone upgrade their AMD cards for a month or so. It's too close to the next generation of stuff.

Peter8

So I should wait for the prices to drop? or will the new Gen stuff be in my price range? (250euro)

EDIT:

Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti 830MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI 200 euro

or

Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon 6950 HD 800MHz 2GB for 245

Need advice for last minute decision!

dan_ep82

6950 is the better card.
560ti is only a small bit faster than the 6870 and the 6950 is faster than the 6870

If you can wait though do,Im sure the 7870 will be out soon

Peter8

Will the wait be worth the performance boost?

KINGPIN

I just bought the saphhire 6950 yesterday, for 245 its a good price. yours is a 20g too, so you have a very very very good chance you can unlock to a 6970 which atm are over 300 euro. So even if price drops you'l be fineo !

Tis worth holding out a week and get extra 50 euro for the 6950, 560ti will do but that extra few quid now will stand to yah wether you unlock it or not

Peter8

KINGPIN wrote: »

I just bought the saphhire 6950 yesterday, for 245 its a good price. yours is a 20g too, so you have a very very very good chance you can unlock to a 6970 which atm are over 300 euro. So even if price drops you'l be fineo !

Tis worth holding out a week and get extra 50 euro for the 6950, 560ti will do but that extra few quid now will stand to yah wether you unlock it or not

Yeah I have just ordered the 6950 2GB, I read that the toxic version had a switch on the card that you just 'flicked' and bam, 6970, well only in some aspects I suspect :P