Another theoretical video card purchace.

[happy medium]

Damnit Happy! Now I'm torn again!

Fact. the gtx570 is NOW faster then a 6970 @ 1080p with the latest drivers.
In any case they are at least even.:thumbsup:

Fact the 6950 needs to be unlocked AND OVERCLOCKED to reach 6970 speeds.

Fact once you UNLOCK and OVERCLOCK a 6950 is runs much hotter and gets much more noisy.

The 6950 cost a little less, with the above mentioned deals.

Fact a gtx570 will achieve as good as or better performance garaunteed, with out unlocking, or overclocking.

Fact a gtx570 will overclock also and should reach gtx580 speeds with alot less Ifs or mabe's!

Fact a gtx570 has plenty of ram for your resolution.

Mabe not a fact by the time you want a 3 monitor setup there will be a million other better choices.

When the gtx was 350$ with no free games and older drivers the decision was much easier, but now I would say the gtx570 has the edge.

I'll leave you alone now to listen to others and thier OPINIONS.

 

[dpodblood]

Currently I am not looking at a multi-monitor set up. Simply too expensive. Also I don't think the VRAM should be an issue at 1080p. The PSU I'm looking at is the XFX 650w, which should be fine for either card.

 

[mnewsham]

Happy we all know you are a green party member. Your "facts" are nothing but opinion until you provide proof, you can provide links, i personally would love to see some.

 

[dpodblood]

Wow happy I love your passion for the subject. :thumbsup: It's true all the benchmarks I looked at were based on early reviews with the older drivers. I also didn't take into account that I may be able to overclock the 570 to (or near) 580 speeds.

 

[badb0y]

So let me break it down:

6950 is
•cheaper
•can unlock to a 6970
•3% fail rate to unlock
•3% slower than GTX 570 once unlocked

GTX 570 is:
• 3% faster
• more expensive
• free games

3% overall literally translates to having 1-2 fps more in a game lol.

 

[RussianSensation]

-The 6950 is cheap and may unlock to 6970 surpassing the 570's performance, but on the other hand there's a chance it may not.

Be careful with this statement though. While a 6950 can unlock into a 6970, you can also overclock the 570. Once you overclock the 570, it will come dangerously close to the GTX580 in performance. At 1080P, a 6970 may or may not match that. You will likely need a 950-1000mhz overclock on the 6970 to match an overclocked 570 at 1080P.

But again the performance differences are so minor at this point, you would need to start comparing on a game-by-game basis (i.e., LP2, Hawx 2, Borderlands, Civ 5 run better on NV, Crysis 1, F1 2010, Dragon Age II right now run better on AMD, etc.). At the end of the day, you are buying your card to play games, right? So why not create a list of games YOU actually play and break it down.

Another way I looked at it is this. I know I can get an HD5870 for $210 CDN at NCIX. Then I looked at any credible review - For example Hexus.net - then I compare how well an HD5870 does against a GTX570. It's nowhere near 50% faster than the 5870. This tells me right away the GTX570 is not a good buy from a "value" perspective. I know an HD6950-->HD6970 is barely slower than the 570 and but is priced much closer to the 5870. This tells me the 6950 is the better value card than the 570 but not necessarily better than the 5870.

I would still take the 6950, pocket the $60 and apply it towards my next videocard upgrade or better yet buy yourself a new videogame that you really want. $60 doesn't sound like a lot, but when you resell your videocard, it may be the difference between having $100 vs. $160 to step up to the next card. I'll take the latter when 28nm chips arrive and bring a much larger performance gain.

 

[happy medium]

Be careful with this statement though. While a 6950 can unlock into a 6970, you can also overclock the 570. Once you overclock the 570, it will come dangerously close to the GT580 in performance. At 1080P, a 6970 will not match that. You will likely need a 950-1000mhz overclock on the 6970 to match an overclocked 570 at 1080P

LISTEN TO THIS GUY^^^^ He knows his sh!t !

 

[mnewsham]

LISTEN TO THIS GUY^^^^ He knows his sh!t !

Did you read what he said? He is saying to get the 6950... the opposite of what you said... oh well i guess OP really should get the 6950 now that happy recommended it.

 

[happy medium]

Wow happy I love your passion for the subject. :thumbsup: It's true all the benchmarks I looked at were based on early reviews with the older drivers. I also didn't take into account that I may be able to overclock the 570 to (or near) 580 speeds.

Hurray, I think you can see the light. :thumbsup:

I'm not saying the 6950 is a bad buy,I'm just saying the gtx570 is the better buy. :thumbsup:

As far as my credibilty is concerned? I recommend the best card for a peticular need. right click on my name, check my posts and count the hundreds of times I have recommended a AMD card.

I favor Nvidia but I dont just recommend them because they are Nvidia.:thumbsup:

 

[mnewsham]

Hurray, I think you can see the light. :thumbsup:

I'm not saying the 6950 is a bad buy,I'm just saying the gtx570 is the better buy. :thumbsup:

As far as my credibilty is concerned? I recommend the best card for a peticular need. right click on my name, check my posts and count the hundreds of times I have recommended a AMD card.

I favor Nvidia but I dont just recommend them because they are Nvidia.:thumbsup:

*cough* GTX 460 days *cough*

 

[happy medium]

*cough* GTX 460 days *cough*

Thats why I bought one, *cough*, and it reaches 1000 core!:thumbsup:
Great card, and its exactly why I recommended it so much.

 

[dpodblood]

Be careful with this statement though. While a 6950 can unlock into a 6970, you can also overclock the 570. Once you overclock the 570, it will come dangerously close to the GTX580 in performance. At 1080P, a 6970 may or may not match that. You will likely need a 950-1000mhz overclock on the 6970 to match an overclocked 570 at 1080P.

But again the performance differences are so minor at this point, you would need to start comparing on a game-by-game basis (i.e., LP2, Hawx 2, Civ 5 run better on NV, Crysis 1, F1 2010, Dragon Age II right now run better on AMD, etc.) I would still take the $60 and apply it towards my next videocard upgrade or buy yourself a new videogame that you really want.

$60 doesn't sound like a lot, but when you resell your videocard, it may be the difference between having $100 vs. $160 to step up to the next card. I'll take the latter when 28nm chips arrive.

Wow so much info bouncing around in my head! So it sounds like while the 6950 provides better "bang for your buck" overall the 570 will provide better performance. Since the $60 saved won't even factor into my next video card purchase, I am once again leaning towards the 570. Decisions, decisions...

 

[mnewsham]

Wow so much info bouncing around in my head! So it sounds like while the 6950 provides better "bang for your buck" overall the 570 will provide better performance. Since the $60 saved won't even factor into my next video card purchase, I am once again leaning towards the 570. Decisions, decisions...

But because you are upgrading everything else as well (or i assume) the 60 could go to a bigger SSD or case or a modular PSU, or 8GB of RAM vs 4GB.

 

[dpodblood]

But because you are upgrading everything else as well (or i assume) the 60 could go to a bigger SSD or case or a modular PSU, or 8GB of RAM vs 4GB.

Well I am planning on 8 gig of RAM, and a modular PSU anyway. SSD may be a few months down the line, but again it wont factor into my purchase. I have a good job, so it's not a matter of what I can afford, simply how long I need to save.

 

[mnewsham]

Well I am planning on 8 gig of RAM, and a modular PSU anyway. SSD may be a few months down the line, but again it wont factor into my purchase. I have a good job, so it's not a matter of what I can afford, simply how long I need to save.

SSD is the single thing you can get that will give you the most gain over what it is replacing (HDD) you will see 100%+ gains no other upgrade can really offer that kind of performance increase. In my books SSD is the first thing to upgrade.

 

[dpodblood]

SSD is the single thing you can get that will give you the most gain over what it is replacing (HDD) you will see 100%+ gains no other upgrade can really offer that kind of performance increase. In my books SSD is the first thing to upgrade.

Yes I know you love your SSD lol. But, what's important to me right now is IQ, and framerates.

 

[bryanW1995]

Interesting question.

I'm also curious if flashing the bios on a 6950 voids the warranty? (seperate issue from returning within the return window)

I've RMA'ed stuff to Newegg, both defective hardware and stuff that I did not want once I used it. Newegg has never charged me a restocking fee, I suspect they do that if your profile suggests you are abusing their return policy.

Your best source for an answer is Newegg. Just ask them what their returns policy is for hardware that you buy and use but decide you don't like and want to return for whatever reason.

I don't see how it would void the warranty when there is a dual bios switch included with the card, unless you flashed it to such an extreme level that it fried the card. I assume that they'll be able to see that you flashed it to a 6970 even if you revert it back, but to be safe I'd recommend a custom 6950 bios that unlocks the extra SP's and bumps the clocks up.

 

[bryanW1995]

Wow so much info bouncing around in my head! So it sounds like while the 6950 provides better "bang for your buck" overall the 570 will provide better performance. Since the $60 saved won't even factor into my next video card purchase, I am once again leaning towards the 570. Decisions, decisions...

at 1920x1080 a gtx 570 is ~ 5% faster than a 6970. it will certainly overclock better than a 6950 flashed to a 6970, so figure 10-15% faster overall after overclocking. It costs 33% more than a 6950. Both cards will smoke games at 1920x1080, however. In fact, you would be unlikely to be able to tell the fps difference with the naked eye in almost all games. Finally, nvidia's control panel is generally regarded as better than CCC, and my personal experience has backed that assertion up.

confused yet?

2 final thoughts. never start a land war in asia, and never make a bet with a sicilian when death is on the line! hahahahahahaha thump.

 

[happy medium]

It costs 33% more than a 6950

It does?

Op what are the lowest prices for both cards for you?

 

[mnewsham]

$310 vs $255
Both are after rebate.

 

[happy medium]

Evga gtx570 with 2 free games for 309$ ar. sell the games for 30$= 280$ total
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-613-_-Product

or MSI gtx570 for 296$ AR

http://www.directcanada.com/products...anufacture=MSI

or 251$ for a Gigabyte 6950.
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD1923

296$ vs 251$, thats not 33% more.
or 280$ after selling games vs 251$, thats not 33% either.

 

[mnewsham]

Happy you cant assume OP can get 30 bucks for the games. we can hope but you dont know for sure.

 

[happy medium]

Happy you cant assume OP can get 30 bucks for the games. we can hope but you dont know for sure.

I have to admit, its a tough one.:thumbsup: Comparing price/performance.:thumbsup:

I think he wanted the faster card though?

 

[mnewsham]

I have to admit, its a tough one.:thumbsup: Comparing price/performance.:thumbsup:

I think he wanted the faster card though?

But at 1920x1080 you wont see much difference really, if it were 2560x1440 or 1600, it would be a different matter, a gtx 570 and OC to gtx 580 would be better then a 6950. at 1920x1080 though you wont be able to (with the naked eye) see a real difference it comes down to brand preference and/or cost.

 

[dpodblood]

I think I will go with the higher performing car regardless. Keep in mind that I will be using this card to play new games coming out over the next 1.5-2 years, not just what's out currently. As far as the free games; it doesn't really factor in. Since I have already played them both I would just give the steam codes to my friends rather than sell them.