Should I Send The XFX HD 6950 Back?

[Alaska Wolf]

Is there any REAL advantage to getting a GTX-570 instead of a XFX Radeon HD 6950 that is already en-route to me? Given my hardware, especially my display? It's due to be delivered on the 22cnd. I had a Sapphire 4870 that decided to run the fan at 100% and cause Windows not to boot a while ago. I'm running on a borrowed 5770 for the nonce.

My monitor is a 52" Sammy HDTV.

I'm running Win 7 64 on a P6t6 WS Revolution with 6GB RAM and a Core i7 920 that is not O/C at this time. Although as it is zero bloody degrees here now I've considered putting the box on my deck and seeing how much of an O/C I can get...

Today... Mostly sunny. Patchy morning fog in west anchorage. Highs around 10 above except zero to 5 below east anchorage. North wind to 10 mph.

Tonight... Mostly clear. Lows 5 below to 5 above except 15 below to 20 below east anchorage. Northeast wind to 10 mph.

Put another way, given the maximum resolution(1080p) and refresh rate the Samsung is capable of would ANY game play with higher settings and faster frame rates with one card over the other?

I am just about to get into gaming. At 60 years of I have some catching up to do.

I paid $280 for the XFX 6950 including shipping. You know a GTX-570 will run $50-$80 more now.

But would it play games APPRECIABLY BETTER @ 1080P?

Also is anyone familiar with the advantages/disadvantages running "Automotion Plus" and "Game Mode" on this set?

Thanks!

Wolf

 

[digitaldurandal]

Is there any REAL advantage to getting a GTX-570 instead of a XFX Radeon HD 6950 that is already en-route to me? Given my hardware, especially my display? It's due to be delivered on the 22cnd. I had a Sapphire 4870 that decided to run the fan at 100% and cause Windows not to boot a while ago. I'm running on a borrowed 5770 for the nonce.

My monitor is a 52" Sammy HDTV.

I'm running Win 7 64 on a P6t6 WS Revolution with 6GB RAM and a Core i7 920 that is not O/C at this time. Although as it is zero bloody degrees here now I've considered putting the box on my deck and seeing how much of an O/C I can get...

Today... Mostly sunny. Patchy morning fog in west anchorage. Highs around 10 above except zero to 5 below east anchorage. North wind to 10 mph.

Tonight... Mostly clear. Lows 5 below to 5 above except 15 below to 20 below east anchorage. Northeast wind to 10 mph.

Put another way, given the maximum resolution(1080p) and refresh rate the Samsung is capable of would ANY game play with higher settings and faster frame rates with one card over the other?

I am just about to get into gaming. At 60 years of I have some catching up to do.

I paid $280 for the XFX 6950 including shipping. You know a GTX-570 will run $50-$80 more now.

But would it play games APPRECIABLY BETTER @ 1080P?

Also is anyone familiar with the advantages/disadvantages running "Automotion Plus" and "Game Mode" on this set?

Thanks!

Wolf

No real appreciable difference at 1080p besides physx.

 

[Triggaaar]

I am just about to get into gaming. At 60 years of I have some catching up to do.

I paid $280 for the XFX 6950 including shipping. You know a GTX-570 will run $50-$80 more now.

But would it play games APPRECIABLY BETTER @ 1080P?

Hi Wolf, welcome.

The 570 is a bit more expensive and a bit better than the 6950, both are good cards. At 1080p both will do well. But...
since you've got some catching up to do, there are tons of great games for you to play that any modern card will take in their stride. I'd recommend checking game reviews (user reviews on amazon or on a forum etc) and playing some of the greats. It's only some of the latest games and yet to be released games where you won't be able to use as high settings with a 6950 as a 570, and so what if you're not at maximum settings for a few games.

If you don't care about the money and fancy the better card, change the order, but it really doesn't matter. Just get a card into your nice rig and enjoy. So many great games (and a lot of rubbish ones) and so little time.

 

[digitaldurandal]

It's only some of the latest games and yet to be released games where you won't be able to use as high settings with a 6950 as a 570, and so what if you're not at maximum settings for a few games.

This is a false statement. At 1080p the only games you will not be able to crank up everything at that resolution are games that are poorly optimized. There are only two I can think of that are recent. ARMA II and Metro 2033 - and it wouldn't matter that much what you had with those two games. No fault of the card.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

This is a false statement. At 1080p the only games you will not be able to crank up everything at that resolution are games that are poorly optimized. There are only two I can think of that are recent. ARMA II and Metro 2033 - and it wouldn't matter that much what you had with those two games. No fault of the card.

Thanks for the replies Trigaar and digitaldurandal , I really appreciate it.

My understanding is the 6950 might have an advantage if I wanted to run two of these for gaming using Eyefinity http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824001371 IN ADDITION to my using the HDTV as my main monitor. Or can I not do that?

 

[Alaska Wolf]

This is a false statement. At 1080p the only games you will not be able to crank up everything at that resolution are games that are poorly optimized. There are only two I can think of that are recent. ARMA II and Metro 2033 - and it wouldn't matter that much what you had with those two games. No fault of the card.

Thanks for the replies Trigaar and digitaldurandal , I really appreciate it.

My understanding is the 6950 might have an advantage if in the future I wanted to run two Samsung 24" 2443BWT-1 LCD @ 1920X2400 for gaming using Eyefinity IN ADDITION to my using the HDTV as my main monitor. Or can I not do that?

The 570 would set me back at least another $50. Free shipping to ALaska is not common...

 

[digitaldurandal]

I dont understand the appeal of running 2 monitors stacked.

 

[digitaldurandal]

1920x2400 would be one on top of another. you could run two monitors next to your hdtv, but i am unsure why you would want to for gaming assuming they are very different sizes.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

Actually I think I'd be a LOT better with THREE 24" monitors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1DCI0-Vcds&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UeHJEeuLc8&hd=1

 

[Alaska Wolf]

And I guess I had the resolution wrong. With THREE it would be 5760X1200.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

I WANT ONE OF THESE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex_TKO5gWaU&hd=1

 

[Smartazz]

The HD6950 is gonna be fine at 1080p in everything but Metro 2033, which looks amazing on all high settings anyway. The 2GB frame buffer will certainly be nice if you choose to surround yourself in screens, though it's normally recommended to get three of the same display. Btw, I wouldn't recommend leaving your computer in freezing temperatures haha, condensation would probably cause some problems.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

The HD6950 is gonna be fine at 1080p in everything but Metro 2033, which looks amazing on all high settings anyway. The 2GB frame buffer will certainly be nice if you choose to surround yourself in screens, though it's normally recommended to get three of the same display. Btw, I wouldn't recommend leaving your computer in freezing temperatures haha, condensation would probably cause some problems.

I use an exercise system called Bodylastics. Excellent BTW. They provide a foam door stop. Mine was found edible by a Moose some months ago.

Palin doesn't give you any idea what life is REALLY like here.

 

[Attic]

I WANT ONE OF THESE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex_TKO5gWaU&hd=1

Wow. Awsome.

I think i'd put it as a 3240x1920 (~15x9) instead of 5760x1080 (48x9). If game support is there, this is something I would definately save for.

 

[tviceman]

There will be some games that you cannot tell a difference between the performance of the two cards, and there will be some games where you can tell a big difference. Here are some great graphs showing the difference in speed (relative to a gtx570) at your resolution (the graphs on the left are 1080p):

http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/video/radeon-hd6970-hd6950/charts/23_69vs470_big.png
http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/video/radeon-hd6970-hd6950/charts/24_69vs470aa_big.png

Your card is the represented by the orange bar, and if you notice it's not faster very often, but it's often greater than 20% slower. It's up to you to decide if these possible performance benefits are worth the $80 or not.

 

[Lonyo]

There will be some games that you cannot tell a difference between the performance of the two cards, and there will be some games where you can tell a big difference. Here are some great graphs showing the difference in speed (relative to a gtx570) at your resolution (the graphs on the left are 1080p):

http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/video/radeon-hd6970-hd6950/charts/23_69vs470_big.png
http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/video/radeon-hd6970-hd6950/charts/24_69vs470aa_big.png

Your card is the represented by the orange bar, and if you notice it's not faster very often, but it's often greater than 20% slower. It's up to you to decide if these possible performance benefits are worth the $80 or not.

But you can ignore the Starcraft 2 numbers because they are messed up due to AA settings.

 

[Smartazz]

Keep us updated on how you like it if you end up keeping it! I'm looking into one, but I wanna see how my GTX 260 copes with my new monitor first.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

I don't know WHAT to do. The problem is I have never gamed before and have no idea what games I'm going to get into. Probably FPS's but that's a guess. ANd the 570 would run me at least another $50, more if I cant get free shipping, which is the norm for us Alaskan's.

On a side note,

I want to know if I can use this card to run three monitors on my desk for gaming AND keep my HDTV as my primary display?

 

[digitaldurandal]

I don't know WHAT to do. The problem is I have never gamed before and have no idea what games I'm going to get into. Probably FPS's but that's a guess. ANd the 570 would run me at least another $50, more if I cant get free shipping, which is the norm for us Alaskan's.

On a side note,

I want to know if I can use this card to run three monitors on my desk for gaming AND keep my HDTV as my primary display?

not with a single card you could not. you can only drive 3 total displays with a single card - unless you got the eyefinity version which is not out yet and will run you extra i assume.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Dont get buyers remorse! there isnt enough of a difference in the cards to be worth sending one back. Just keep the 6950, its still a very capable card. Heck, you could play the best games of the last 10 years, no probs. Just because you have a new PC doesnt mean you need to get the latest and greatest games. I mean obviously you want something that looks good on your new PC, but still, some older games are really, really good fun.

You could start another thread looking for suggestions and then choose your top 10, and play those.

 

[KevinH]

Are you stuck with a restocking fee? If so, just play with it and see if you like it before you even THINK about sending it back.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

not with a single card you could not. you can only drive 3 total displays with a single card - unless you got the eyefinity version which is not out yet and will run you extra i assume.

Eyefinity is a standard feature of the card.

 

[Alaska Wolf]

Are you stuck with a restocking fee? If so, just play with it and see if you like it before you even THINK about sending it back.

On the Tiger Direct website it specifically states NO RETURNS.

But I called and was told I COULD return it, and if I didn't accept delivery from UPS I wouldn't have to pay shipping.

 

[Smartazz]

Eyefinity is a standard feature of the card.

I think he was saying that Eyefinity usually only supports three displays, not four. You could run your TV and 2 other monitors though. I'm pretty sure Eyefinity is three, though I could be wrong. Hopefully someone will clarify this soon. Regardless, a 570 would only support two displays out of the box.

 

[thilanliyan]

not with a single card you could not. you can only drive 3 total displays with a single card - unless you got the eyefinity version which is not out yet and will run you extra i assume.

I think he was saying that Eyefinity usually only supports three displays, not four. You could run your TV and 2 other monitors though. I'm pretty sure Eyefinity is three, though I could be wrong. Hopefully someone will clarify this soon. Regardless, a 570 would only support two displays out of the box.

With Barts and Cayman cards I believe you can run 6 displays. For Cypress you needed the Eyefinity6 version.