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Have a 6970 - skip a generation?

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Deanodarlo

Senior member
I have a Sapphire Dual Fan 6970 that I'm really happy with. Very quiet card and plays all games at 1080p maxed out.

Newer cards offer faster tessellation and big energy savings (not that it makes much difference cost wise), but there doesn't appear to be many games to upgrade for.

I'm thinking when the new consoles arrive next year, games will quickly appear that require tessellation performance. So, is it wise to skip this generation and wait for the GPU's that can handle the next gen console ports?
 
Thanks, I need some sense bashing into me hence this thread. I have that upgrade itch but I know I need my cash for other things...

This 6970 is bound to last another year for up-to-date games and high settings at 1080p.
 
Was in the same dilemma.

But going to a 7970 reference gives me about 70-80% additional performance comparing oced.

1. 6970 barely ocs.

2. Oc of 6970 doesn't help performance much,

3. With newer drivers, the 7970 is 40-60% faster out of the box especially with high AA or at a high Rez with little/no AA.

4. Once 7970 is oced, and with newer drivers, 7970 is on an avg 60-100% after than 6970 and mostly at least 70% or so faster at least.

5. It is like if a game was unplayable at 1080p with a 6970 for example but will run fine at 1440p with a 7970 oc.

6. You will enjoy the same difference as going from a stock 5830 to stock or oc 6970.
 
It's pretty late into this cycle to buy now IMO. Hold out for further developments and announcements. At the very least you can snag a 7970 or something for a discounted price when someone upgrades.
 
I would just Xfire if you need more performance. Thats what I did with my 470's. They still fully max all my games, except skyrim, I have VRAM limitations. But the GPU can still handle it all.
 
A little late to jump into this generation, especially considering that you could have mined some Bitcoins to help pay off the card 🙂
 
An oced 7970 is very close to 6990 or 6950 oc cf fps wise and much smoother as a real world experience. I would anyway have a 7970 oc over 6970 cf even if the single card costs much more.
 
Unless you don't have a card I don't see why you could not wait. Rumor is that by spring there may be the new radeons coming out but who knows. I can't wait that long.
 
I went from an MSI TF 6970 to a Gigabyte WF3 7950 recently because I need the extra performance for 2560x1600 gaming (RAGE and SR3 really showed it). I also appreciate the cooler temperatures to my case insides too.

Unless you are running into performance issues at your resolution and with your particular games, I don't see a need to upgrade just yet. The 6970 is a very capable chip, even at 1080/1200 resolutions. By the time you do need to upgrade, prices will have gone further down and/or newer-gen cards are available.
 
Zorander said:
I went from an MSI TF 6970 to a Gigabyte WF3 7950 recently because I need the extra performance for 2560x1600 gaming (RAGE and SR3 really showed it). I also appreciate the cooler temperatures to my case insides too.
Click to expand...

Started gaming at 2560x1440 when I got my new panels, and my 6950 is running into performance issues. Was looking at the 3GB 7950-Boost cards, but my original plan was to hold for the 8000 series. But then I saw the thread about them being pushed back to the Spring or Summer 2013.
 
Bateluer said:
Started gaming at 2560x1440 when I got my new panels, and my 6950 is running into performance issues. Was looking at the 3GB 7950-Boost cards, but my original plan was to hold for the 8000 series. But then I saw the thread about them being pushed back to the Spring or Summer 2013.
Click to expand...

Hey, if you DO end up getting a 7950, avoid the boost cards and just buy one of the capable overclockers (MSI TFIII, Sapphire Dual/Vapor-X, Gigabyte WF3) and OC em yourself.
 
Bateluer said:
Started gaming at 2560x1440 when I got my new panels, and my 6950 is running into performance issues. Was looking at the 3GB 7950-Boost cards, but my original plan was to hold for the 8000 series. But then I saw the thread about them being pushed back to the Spring or Summer 2013.
Click to expand...
I think it depends on what deals you can snag too. I got the 7950 for AUD$299 (cheapest I can ever find even now) and sold the 6970 for AUD$250 (less Ebay, PP and postage fees). Not a bad upgrade deal.
 
man i have a 6850 and am still happy with my framerates

medium settings look nearly as good as high in most games, you have to walk up to a wall AND grab your magnifying glass to see a difference really
 
zaydq said:
Hey, if you DO end up getting a 7950, avoid the boost cards and just buy one of the capable overclockers (MSI TFIII, Sapphire Dual/Vapor-X, Gigabyte WF3) and OC em yourself.
Click to expand...

Apparently the sapphire card has dual BIOS and the 2nd one turns off the boost.
 
I have a 6970 and I'm holding out for the 8000 series cards. My 6970 plays Skyrim great, same with my other games. I haven't given Boarder Lands 2 a go yet.
 
If you are held back by your card I wouldn't wait and just upgrade now. You can sell your 6970 for 150-200 bucks... But if you are currently happy with the performance and is meeting your needs, I would just wait as it's not holding you back anyway.

But if you were to upgrade now, the cards are quite cheap these days.

Visiontek 7970 GHZ Edition: < $400.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129265

Diamond Reference 7970: Promo @ a STEAL!!! $360 with a game + $20.00 Mail in Rebate! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103201
 
Deanodarlo said:
Thanks, I need some sense bashing into me hence this thread. I have that upgrade itch but I know I need my cash for other things...This 6970 is bound to last another year for up-to-date games and high settings at 1080p.
Click to expand...

What games do you play - ask yourself do you feel like you need more performance in those games? If not, keep on rocking the 6970. I mean you can always sell the 6970 and find a deal on a discounted 670/7950/7970, etc. but otherwise if it's fast enough for the games you play, no need to upgrade.

I looked quickly at the PC release gaming schedule and only 3 games caught my eye as GPU demanding between now and Spring 2013: MOH: Warfighter, Metro Last Light and Crysis 3.

Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider could be demanding but I think 6970 can handle them. MOH:Warfighter, you'll probably need to disable 4xMSAA but otherwise, it's also fine.

All these other games should be a walk in the park for a 6970 @ 1080P
- Assassin's Creed 3
- Dishonored
- WOW Mist of Pandaria
- F1 2012
- Resident Evil 6
- NFS: Most Wanted
- Hitman Absolution
- Black Ops 2

So, really unless you feel your card is too slow, just keep waiting and save your $ for 22nm Maxwell and Volcanic Islands in 2014. Should be a huge upgrade.
 
WhoBeDaPlaya, with HD8970 likely pushed to February 2013 or later, there is ample time left to mine before it drops (or maybe pre-order 2 more Jalapenos?) 🙂

If only we knew when the ASIC zergling rush begins.....
 
Ugh, no need to remind me of that aspect of it 😛
Depends on how much I can fetch for my Sapphire reference 6950 2GBs.
IINM though, I think I would be only able to recoup ~$150/card after shipping/fees/etc, so it would have to double performance for it to be worthwhile.
 
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