6950 or 6970 or 570?

[palladium]

Hi all,

A friend of mine wants to upgrade his PC. His current setup is a i5 750 OC'ed to approx 3.3GHz, 8GB RAM, a GTX260 and a TN 20". Unfortunately, he doesn't have good budgeting skills, so he spent most of his available cash on a Dell U2711 and left little for a video card upgrade. This means that he can only afford up to a 6970 (NZ$550). A quick search gives 6950 for NZ$400 and a GTX570 for NZ$570.

My questions:

1. Is it worth spending the extra NZ$150 to go from a 6950 to a 6970?
2. Should I advice him to starve for a day save up that $20 for a GTX570?

As far as I know he doesn't have a brand preference, and I'm not sure what sort of games he plays so a generalised advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Is this the 2GB version of the 6950? I'm going to assume it is for what I say next.

The 6950 is by far the best value out of those cards. From a value perspective the answer to your first question is no, the 6970/570 are not worth the extra cost.

The U2711's resolution is 2560 x 1440. A 20" TN panel is at most 1080p. There's some unclarity onto what his setup is. I'm assuming he will be using the new Dell for gaming, and if so then I suggest you get a card with more than 1GB of VRAM.

What are the prices on 2GB version of the GTX 560?

 

[palladium]

Yep, 2GB version. Yeah he's using the U2711 to game and the 20" TN (think it's a 1680 by 1050) as secondary (just displaying desktop - so no Eyefinity-like setup). I couldn't find a GTX560 2GB, probably not available in this tiny island nation (yet). The 1GB version cost NZ$420. ( I got a feeling that the $400 6950 is out of date or a limited special offer - most other 6950 costs about $430-$450).

Thanks for your reply.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Even at $450 the 6950 would be the best value card to get at that resolution. Save that $100 from not getting the 6970 towards the next video card purchase. Because I do have a feeling when GPUs move to 28nm they are going to blow this generation out of the water.

 

[palladium]

Cool, thanks for your help. I will pass it on to him.

 

[insurgent]

Yep, get the cheapest of the three or maybe a 560 depending on the games you play and wait for 28nm goodness. Even if they suck (unlikely) you still have a capable card with you

 

[GaiaHunter]

I agree with the others, especially if your friend considers OCing the card (no need to unlock the shaders though).

 

[Silverforce11]

At that resolution just get a 6870 or cheap 460. Both will be overkill for such low res. If u have to go higher, 6950 is the best bang for buck considering how easy it is to turn it into a 6970 perf lvl wise.

 

[FalseChristian]

I'd grab the 6950. It seems to be the best value for y'all.

 

[RussianSensation]

At that resolution just get a 6870 or cheap 460. Both will be overkill for such low res.

His resolution is 2560 x 1440. 6950 2GB is the best card for the $$ for that resolution.