NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1,280MB Or ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB

[goduffgo]

So hard to choose, ran the benchmark on this site and a few others and keep getting different answers! I just need to know,

Which is the better performer?
Which is the most satisfying?
Which will cope better with newer games coming out later this year/early next?

cheers!:\

 

[Blue Shift]

Which is the better performer?

That depends on the situation. What games will you be playing, and at what resolution?

Which will cope better with newer games coming out later this year/early next?

If you happen to figure that out, please let me know. There are many people who would pay good money for that kind of knowledge.

Which is the most satisfying?

What is this I dont even...

Sorry to be so harsh, I'm still at work and you looked like a good outlet for my [debugging] frustration.

 

[goduffgo]

ha no worries I was looking at it for this rig...

CPU: - Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Cooler: - Xigmatek HDT-S963
Motherboard: - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3
Memory: - 8GB DDR3 1333mhz (2x 4GB)
Hard Drives: - 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: - 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1,280MB or ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB
Sound card - Onboard 7.1 Audio
Case: - Zalman Z9 Plus
PSU: - 700W Xigmatek

I would love it to run games like Tetris and Theme Hospital, but I think its a too low a spec. so maybe ermm The Crysis games, Guild Wars 2 maybe. I justbasicly want a new rig where i can pick up any game of today and know i can run it...smoothly

 

[Wizlem]

I think its the 570 for 1920x1080 res and the 6970 for 2560x1600 res. They are pretty much equal overall but one can have quite a lead depending on game and res. Take a look at these graphs

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=306

 

[Crap Daddy]

The GTX570 is cheaper and overall better at 1920x1080 although it all depends on the game really.

 

[3DVagabond]

Performance wise, between those two cards, is going to be decided by what games you play (it's critical when choosing between these cards some games really prefer one arch over the other) and features you want. The two cards have nothing to really separate them in general gaming power.

Some will tell you to get the 6970 if you are running 2560*1600 or higher and the 570 for below that. Makes little sense to me, since if a card can run a game acceptably @ 2560*1600 or higher it can run it at lower res too. I understand there will sometimes be a few FPS more at 1920*1080 with the 570, but those FPS will be superfluous, anyway.

The 6970 has more RAM (for me this is the single biggest difference), can run single card eyefinity, and is more power efficient, if that matters to you, and the 570 has CUDA and PhysX, if that matters to you. Other than that, if you have no brand preference and they aren't separated by the games you play, flip a coin.

 

[goduffgo]

well the monitor will be a 22" LED. Would that help?
Cheers for the posts

 

[Squirtmonster]

In this case the cheaper gtx570 is the best choice @ 1080p or 1600x1050.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E&PageSize=100

 

[TheLegendOfThe]

ha no worries I was looking at it for this rig...

CPU: - Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Cooler: - Xigmatek HDT-S963
Motherboard: - Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3
Memory: - 8GB DDR3 1333mhz (2x 4GB)
Hard Drives: - 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: - 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1,280MB or ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB
Sound card - Onboard 7.1 Audio
Case: - Zalman Z9 Plus
PSU: - 700W Xigmatek

I would love it to run games like Tetris and Theme Hospital, but I think its a too low a spec. so maybe ermm The Crysis games, Guild Wars 2 maybe. I justbasicly want a new rig where i can pick up any game of today and know i can run it...smoothly

I don't mean to be rude, but it sounds like you're using a nuclear weapon to deal with a heated debate. It sounds like you don't need that much firepower for the games you're going to play, but I might be wrong. A low to mid end graphics card, or even onboard graphics may be more appropriate, maybe a weaker processor/less RAM too. Plus a appropriate PSU. But I may be wrong, maybe your monitor makes more necessary a good card, or maybe you play the more intensive games a lot, or maybe a decent computer is not that expensive for you.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Look for the one with the highest minimum FPS in the game you like. That's the way.

 

[Carfax83]

Regardless of who the better performer is, the GTX 570 will overclock much better than the 6970 (especially with aftermarket cooling) which gives it the edge, assuming you're willing to do so.

Overclocked GTX 570 > overclocked 6970.

 

[Saico]

Overclocked GTX 570 > overclocked 6970.

Burned overclocked GTX 570 << stable reference 6970. Bad card design is bad.

 

[Carfax83]

Burned overclocked GTX 570 << stable reference 6970. Bad card design is bad.

Pure nonsense. People overclock their GTX 570s all the time without any problems whatsoever. There are also plenty of factory overclocked 570s on the market that easily outpace the 6970, and come with lifetime warranties.

The people that burn out the VRMs on their 570s are the ones that are using too much voltage without adequate cooling.

 

[Saico]

Pure nonsense. People overclock their GTX 570s all the time without any problems whatsoever. There are also plenty of factory overclocked 570s on the market that easily outpace the 6970, and come with lifetime warranties.

The people that burn out the VRMs on their 570s are the ones that are using too much voltage without adequate cooling.

They burn it even without overclocking. And if you are talking about lifetime warranties and factory overclocked designs, you should also mention huge price premium on them. You can overvolt/overclock 6970 up to 1Ghz or be scared to do so with 570.

 

[Carfax83]

They burn it even without overclocking. And if you are talking about lifetime warranties and factory overclocked designs, you should also mention huge price premium on them. You can overvolt/overclock 6970 up to 1Ghz or be scared to do so with 570.

My point in bringing up the factory overclocked parts was to show you how silly it is to claim that overclocking a 570 automatically burns it up.

Also, implying that you can overclock a stock 6970 to 1ghz with ease is very misleading. The majority of 6970s will not hit 1ghz with stability on stock heatsink.

Besides, hitting 1ghz isn't even that impressive, since it's only a 14% overclock. A 20% overclock on air is fairly routine on a 570; even with stock cooling.

It's also absurd to say someone would be "scared" to do so with a 570, as the 570 is a completely different architecture, so clockspeed comparisons are pointless. You can only hit 1ghz on a 570 with exotic cooling methods.

Even so, the 570 scales much better via overclocking than the 6970 so you're going to end up with better performance when both are overclocked.

 

[3DVagabond]

Saico does have a point. The 570 is not nVidia's most durable card when O'C'd. They are a bit more fragile than the 6970 or your 580, for example.

While probably not as bad as he's saying, if I wanted to push a card, the 570 wouldn't be my 1st choice. At least not the reference design. Asus and MSI make models I'd feel more confident about. They're not of the bargain basement variety, though.

 

[edplayer]

And if you are talking about lifetime warranties and factory overclocked designs, you should also mention huge price premium on them.

It would probably be better to say something like prices can vary. For example, on Newegg right now the cheapest 570 is $280 after rebate. You can buy an EVGA clocked at 797MHz w lifetime warranty for $310 after rebate. The highest factory clocked card I'm seeing right now is from Gigabyte and it is at 845MHz for $370. $20 over msrp but I guess that don't mean much these days, street prices is what matters.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Never buy a card with the intention of overclocking it to achieve better value vs. another card. There are too many variables, you might get a poor overclocker, or the overclocking might kill the card. Sure, you have a warranty, but who wants to return to the store or have to ship the card away? Stock versus stock should be the basis of any recommendation, if you overclock then consider it a bonus.

 

[Skurge]

Look at as many benchmarks as you can. Look at the games you will play at the settings you will play then pick the best card for the job at a price you are happy with.

That said, no one and I mean noone can predict how each of those cards is going to perform in future games. Even if they use the same engine. So just pick the card that performs best for you right now.

Don't worry about drivers or card quality (If you aren't overclocking) as you arent likey to have any issues.

 

[Silverforce11]

Or you could not be such a hardware nub and buy a 2gb 6950 for much less $$ that has a 99&#37; chance of unlocking and OC beyond 6970 speeds.

No contest. AMD shot themselves in the foot by making the 6950 so good.

 

[RussianSensation]

When comparing stock cards, at 1920x1080, at 4AA, GTX570 is 4&#37; faster, at 8AA, 6970 is 1% faster.

I would look at specific games you intend to play.

Otherwise, the GTX570 sounds like a better value to me right now. You can get one for $280. Alternatively, you can get a factory pre-overclocked one with lifetime warranty for $300. The cheapest 6970 on Newegg is $310 with a reference cooler. You get a quieter cooler, and faster card due to a 797mhz overclock + lifetime warranty with the EVGA SuperClocked 570. That's a no brainer since the factory overclock puts that card near GTX580 in performance and is covered by warranty. The times when I'd pick the 6970 over the 570 at similar prices is if you intend to use Eyefinity or game at 2560x1600.

Finally, 6970 has little overclocking headroom. Even when overclocked, the performance scaling is poor.

 

[Carfax83]

Saico does have a point. The 570 is not nVidia's most durable card when O'C'd. They are a bit more fragile than the 6970 or your 580, for example.

While probably not as bad as he's saying, if I wanted to push a card, the 570 wouldn't be my 1st choice. At least not the reference design. Asus and MSI make models I'd feel more confident about. They're not of the bargain basement variety, though.

The reason why people have VRM issues with the 570 is because they overclock too aggressively without adequate cooling.

A 570 is typically capable of a 20% overclock and beyond, which is very tempting for overclockers, so they pump lots of voltage into the card to hit very high clockspeeds without increasing the fan speed to 100%, or using water cooling.

The end result is of course, burned up VRMs.

 

[amenx]

If you're leaning towards a 570 and intend to OC and OV, make sure its a non-reference one with beefier VRMs. Asus DCII and MSI Twinfrozr III are known to have 6+2 phase VRMs like the 580 vs the 4+2 of the reference 570.

 

[sticks435]

I'm running my reference design factory overclocked MSI at 845 with .988 volts 24/7 folding. Rock solid. So that's a 16% or so overclock. I can get 850, but get EUE's sometimes.

 

[goduffgo]

Im not looking to overclock it, but i do have the money at the moment to spend on a nice rig (&#163;1000-1100) im hoping to spend on the Rig. With a 22' LED moniter