Radeon 6950 2GB or GeForce 560 Ti?

[aphelion02]

Maybe instead of a graphics card you should buy a console instead.

 

[Joseph F]

I have heard that the upcoming Catalyst 11.4 drivers have insane performance boosts. I'd go with an ATI card. Specifically I'd recommend a Radeon 6850.

 

[BlockheadBrown]

I understand what your saying about text, but you could always leave your main desktop rez at 720, but set the games at 1080

There's plenty of text to read in RPGs. If it's solely an action game, yeah I could crank it up to 1920x1080 with no problem. In games where there's plenty of reading, it's better to stay at 1280x720. It all depends on the game.

 

[BlockheadBrown]

well a 560ti was a waste at that res for sure especially with your cpu. in a game like Dragon Age you will not even get 50% of what a gtx560 is capable of at your res and with your cpu. you could have bought a gtx460 and gotten the exact same playable performance as even that would be held back quite a bit.

As mentioned in another reply, it all depends on the game. For other games, I'll play at 1920x1080.

 

[n0x1ous]

There's plenty of text to read in RPGs. If it's solely an action game, yeah I could crank it up to 1920x1080 with no problem. In games where there's plenty of reading, it's better to stay at 1280x720. It all depends on the game.

Yes true. I am mostly an FPSer so I forget about that stuff lol

 

[BlockheadBrown]

I have heard that the upcoming Catalyst 11.4 drivers have insane performance boosts. I'd go with an ATI card. Specifically I'd recommend a Radeon 6850.

Where did you see this?

 

[RussianSensation]

Where did you see this?

Even with current drivers, the 560 needs to be overclocked to match a 6950 2GB. Don't forget that you can unclock the 6950 into a 6970. Most importantly, with slower CPUs like the Q6600, you simply will not be able to tell the difference between a 6950 and a 6870. AMD cards do perform slightly better with slower CPUs compared to NV. Honestly, with lower resolution, you become even more CPU limited.

Take a look here: http://techreport.com/articles.x/20486/4

C2Q 9400 bottlenecks a stock GTX460 1GB. So you are pretty much wasting your $$. You would be far better off getting a GTX460 for $100-130 unless you plan on overclocking that CPU to 3.4ghz or so. All those nice benchmarks you see on the net are using Core i7 @ 3.2-4.0ghz. At 1280x720, that Q6600 is just going to reduce your frames in half on a GTX560.

 

[BlockheadBrown]

Even with current drivers, the 560 needs to be overclocked to match a 6950 2GB. Don't forget that you can unclock the 6950 into a 6970. Most importantly, with slower CPUs like the Q6600, you simply will not be able to tell the difference between a 6950 and a 6870. AMD cards do perform slightly better with slower CPUs compared to NV. Honestly, with lower resolution, you become even more CPU limited.

Take a look here: http://techreport.com/articles.x/20486/4

C2Q 9400 bottlenecks a stock GTX460 1GB. So you are pretty much wasting your $$. You would be far better off getting a GTX460 for $100-130 unless you plan on overclocking that CPU to 3.4ghz or so.

Russian, thanks for mentioning all of this. Truthfully, I've been thinking about going with an I5-2500K, but have resisted mainly because of Bulldozer and Ivy Bridge (along with cost). Thoughts? Part of me is tempted to just get a different motherboard and OC the Q6600.

 

[sgrinavi]

I' d be asking myself a few questions

Do you really think a q6600 is going to last you another 3 yrs?
Am I going to be gaming at that low res for 3 yrs?


If you keep a video card for three years I would spend the extra cash and get a 6950 even if I don't need it now. $100 over three years, like $00.10 a day.... ya know?

 

[RussianSensation]

Russian, thanks for mentioning all of this. Truthfully, I've been thinking about going with an I5-2500K, but have resisted mainly because of Bulldozer and Ivy Bridge (along with cost). Thoughts? Part of me is tempted to just get a different motherboard and OC the Q6600.

Have you tried overclocking with the current board? All you need is 378 FSB x 9 to get to 3.4ghz. I am pretty sure those 680 boards can easily do 400 FSB.

 

[BlockheadBrown]

Have you tried overclocking with the current board? All you need is 378 FSB x 9 to get to 3.4ghz. I am pretty sure those 680 boards can easily do 400 FSB.

Apparently some 680i boards had issues with OC'ing Q6600s. Mine is apparently one of them. Aftermarket Thermaltake cooler and I can't get it over 2.5 with any stability. BFG 680i

 

[n0x1ous]

Have you tried overclocking with the current board? All you need is 378 FSB x 9 to get to 3.4ghz. I am pretty sure those 680 boards can easily do 400 FSB.

Coming from experience with both of those components. the Q6600 stepping is key as well. If its a B3 as mine is it could be very limited.

Mine wont go a single mhz above 3.15 without bsod. doesn't matter how much voltage i give it. The GO as we all know, were able to stretch their legs much more.

So it could just be chip that really couldnt run much past stock....it happens sometimes.....just some food for thought

 

[BlockheadBrown]

Coming from experience with both of those components. the Q6600 stepping is key as well. If its a B3 as mine is it could be very limited.

Mine wont go a single mhz above 3.15 without bsod. doesn't matter how much voltage i give it. The GO as we all know, were able to stretch their legs much more.

So it could just be chip that really couldnt run much past stock....it happens sometimes.....just some food for thought

Um... It's a G0... What do I need to do to unleash this beast!? (In other words, mobo suggestions would be nice unless I should just sell it all for a Sandy Bridge solution.)

 

[n0x1ous]

Um... It's a G0... What do I need to do to unleash this beast!? (In other words, mobo suggestions would be nice unless I should just sell it all for a Sandy Bridge solution.)

That is pretty unusual as most GO's clocked really well....but honestly at this point, i dont think its worth sticking any more money in the 775 platform.

if you are going to spend money go for SB now or wait till Q4 for SB-E...the true successor to I7 9xx/x58 series.

 

[BlockheadBrown]

That is pretty unusual as most GO's clocked really well....but honestly at this point, i dont think its worth sticking any more money in the 775 platform.

if you are going to spend money go for SB now or wait till Q4 for SB-E...the true successor to I7 9xx/x58 series.

Thanks again, man.

 

[RussianSensation]

Agreed, just get the 2500k. Bulldozer may or may not be faster but it won't be out until June. At 4.5ghz, the 2500k is plenty fast for a GTX560 / 6950.

 

[BlockheadBrown]

Agreed, just get the 2500k. Bulldozer may or may not be faster but it won't be out until June. At 4.5ghz, the 2500k is plenty fast for a GTX560 / 6950.

Thanks again, Russian!

 

[stevesquick92]

As far as your q6600 and a non overclockable mobo... this may interest you... read on

http://www.ffxivcore.com/topic/12133-is-4gb-ram-enough/

 

[Mr. Lennon]

I upgraded my gtx 285 to an unlocked 6950 2GB. Performance was awesome...but the drivers pissed me off to no end. VSYNC and Triple buffering wasn't working in some games so I had to install other shit to force it. I like to Alt+Tab a lot during gaming sessions and sometimes they would freeze/lock up. I never had any of these problems with my nvidia card so I sold the 6950. I'm just going to wait until nvidia's next line of cards comes out in the fall.

 

[RussianSensation]

Thanks again, Russian!

If you haven't purchased your components yet, consider the upcoming Z68 chipset for your 2500k. I believe it will be released around May 8th. Even if you don't plan to overclock now, you may want to do so in the next 2-3 years. There is a lot of performance left in the 2500k when overclocked (and it doesn't give up much in games by only having 6mb of cache and lacking HT).

If you aren't in a rush, I suppose you can wait to see what Bulldozer brings to the table. Also, we will get a lot more details regarding HD7000 series around June. If you really intend to "future-proof" for 3 years, I'd probably wait another 3-4 months for a possible launch of the HD7000 series. While HD6950/GTX560 are minor speedbumps compared to the 5870 and GTX470 cards, 28nm HD7000 series should be substantially faster than the 6950. In your case since you plan on upgrading the CPU and GPU at once, it may be worth it to wait 3-4 months to see how BD and HD7000 series play out.

Although the performance difference SB has over Phenom II is so enormous, the only way I see BD competing is in multi-tasking/multi-threading scenarios.