should I upgrade already? gtx 460 vs 6950

[fourty03]

The title should read **6950** not 6850 oops.. lol

Hey guys

I just left the cooling forum here and it was suggested instead of watercooling my GTX 460 SLI setup, I should just upgrade the GPU instead..

I currently use (x3) 23" samsung 2333t displays and I have it in 2d surround mode as of now..

The GTX 460 sli , the temps are almost 190f when I try to push the stock voltage up.
I had to use the SLI hack for my motherboard, and other than a few lock ups here and there, it seems fine..

I am eying up the 6950.. would this be a better pick in crossfire vs. my current sli config? In terms of performance, temps, overclcoking.. etc

I play BF2, FSX, - basically shooting and flight sims..

 

[shangshang]

well a single 6950 is fater than a single 460. So it stands to reason that a 6950 xfire setup is faster than a 460 sli setup. But should you upgrade? I say that only upgrade if your current 460 sli is choking you in games. Otherwise, save your money.

 

[fourty03]

I get low FPS in Battlefield 2 in 5760x1080 .. But I suppose that would be normal since the cards are only 1gb each and I have 3 displays..

Also, I just realized the other day my mobo PCIe slot is running x8 instead if x16 due to using both slots.

In games in which I want to play in a resolution higher than 3840*720, I get a lot of stuttering and what not. I am trying to figure out if my CPU is the bottleneck, or my surround 2d setup is, or maybe the mobo defaulting to 8x pcie.

What I am afraid of is when titles like Battlefield 3 come out, I will be limited by GPU power.. I want to upgrade when bulldozer comes out, and just want to be future proof ..

I am using the SLI patch for the AMD chipset here, and it seems to scale pretty good. The temps in the 460's soar to about 140f. I get about 1 or 2 crashes on average per day with either the nvidia driver or when it changes resolution..

Am I asking for too much for the GTX 460 with the tri - display?

 

[Lostpc]

I was going through the same decision 460 vs 6850 upgrade. Since my budget was under $200, both card would satisfy that requirement. After reading endless stuff I decided to pick the 6850 because performance is better than the 460. Also the 6850 has more features and more suited for future games. I placed my order last night.

 

[fourty03]

well a single 6950 is fater than a single 460. So it stands to reason that a 6950 xfire setup is faster than a 460 sli setup. But should you upgrade? I say that only upgrade if your current 460 sli is choking you in games. Otherwise, save your money.

thanks for the response shangshang..

Im not really sure if it's the 460 sli choking me in the games or if it is the CPU, MOBO bottlenecking me..

I like how nvidia come's with the 3d support.. I have the nvidia 3d anaglyph glasses which are pretty cool.. does AMD have similar things in the works?

Also, the surround 2d display- eyefinity; is it the same on the AMD platform?

Lostpc,

I was figuring that the 6850 / 6950 would be more future proof...

I just bought the DCS a10 Beta game, and I cannot play it unless i have it less than 3840x720 like most of the games i try.

 

[Unheard]

Watch out for the 460's and their compatibility issues. Go 6950 (and flash up to 6970).

 

[happy medium]

I am eying up the 6950.. would this be a better pick in crossfire vs. my current sli config? In terms of performance, temps, overclcoking.. etc

Yes, for your 3 monitors this is a good choice.

 

[digitaldurandal]

thanks for the response shangshang..

Im not really sure if it's the 460 sli choking me in the games or if it is the CPU, MOBO bottlenecking me..

I like how nvidia come's with the 3d support.. I have the nvidia 3d anaglyph glasses which are pretty cool.. does AMD have similar things in the works?

Also, the surround 2d display- eyefinity; is it the same on the AMD platform?

Lostpc,

I was figuring that the 6850 / 6950 would be more future proof...

I just bought the DCS a10 Beta game, and I cannot play it unless i have it less than 3840x720 like most of the games i try.

What is the DCS a10 Beta game?

ATi does not have 3d at the moment, there is a 3rd party program that makes it function for them on some titles though but I do not know the name.

Eyefinity was out for AMD first, they do a fairly good job with it.

No graphics card is future proof. Buy what you need to play what you want how you want now, and in the future sell it and buy up - or just deal with turning some settings down.

1gb will run 5750x1080 but you will likely need to take a hit on AA and maybe AF. If you are getting low frame rates try turning AA off and AF down to 4x or 8x and see if it helps. Especially if you are having hitching and stuttering in your game.

The 8x of your motherboard is not going to bottleneck you. With the 460 even 4x will likely only cost you a few FPS at the most. If you are using an SLI bridge a lot of the communication will run through that anyways.

Still have not tried the 3d thing as my monitors do not support 120hz. I keep meaning to check if my tv is 3d ready or not.

 

[fourty03]

Thanks for the advice everyone..

I went ahead and snatched up two Sapphire 6950 2Gb ..

Damn, I did not know the eyefinitey had to be hooked up to the primary GPU (1st GPU) in order for it to work all 3 displays..

On the GTX 460, you use two ports on the primary card and one port on the secondary..
DAMN! lol - that means I gotta wait a day or two for a display port adapter.. am i not understanding something ?

My displays have DVI and VGA.. no HDMI or Display port.. this surely rained on my parade tonight D:

 

[Castiel]

Edit - Nevermind

 

[badb0y]

Thanks for the advice everyone..

I went ahead and snatched up two Sapphire 6950 2Gb ..

Damn, I did not know the eyefinitey had to be hooked up to the primary GPU (1st GPU) in order for it to work all 3 displays..

On the GTX 460, you use two ports on the primary card and one port on the secondary..
DAMN! lol - that means I gotta wait a day or two for a display port adapter.. am i not understanding something ?

My displays have DVI and VGA.. no HDMI or Display port.. this surely rained on my parade tonight D:

Yeap, you need to run through the primary card.

 

[fourty03]

What is the DCS a10 Beta game?

Its a flight sim made by a company called Eagle Dynamics..

They made the Helicopter sim DCS: Black Shark...
DCS is short for Digital Combat Simulator i guess.
They also made Lock on Combat 2 Flaming cliffs i think or atleast they
offer support for it..

 

[fourty03]

Yeap, you need to run through the primary card.

Damn.. I should have read up on it before I left to buy these.. lol

Everyone knows how impatient we get when we get knew stuff here !
I will search to see what I need in order to get the 3 dvi displays going under eyefinitey.. I seriously was not anticipating this! lol

 

[fourty03]

Actually, in my short travel here, I believe I found what I need at Microcenter...

is this the one I need?

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0345800


DisplayPort to DVI Single-Link Active Video Adapter

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Yes that's exactly what you need.

 

[fourty03]

Thank you!

Damn , Im seriously gonna run it in the dude's face when I see him tomorrow.. He told me he had the same cards in Xfire setup and he was very sure I didnt need anything extra for triple monitor support .. lol

I mean, I know better than to go by their sale's associates, cause usually when they run up to me in the store, sometimes I tell them what Im comparing or what I'm looking at, and they slowly walk away ..

One guy actually said "well, it looks like u know what you're doing here, I have no idea what a RAID is .. " or "SSD's do not have controllers built in them" I lol'd

Usually, when they run up to me, I start asking real technical questions.. They left me alone the other day in the store for a couple hours..

 

[timma]

buy gigabyte 6950 OC~:sneaky:

 

[fourty03]

buy gigabyte 6950 OC~:sneaky:

Sorry, I bought two sapphires 6950 .. lol they had the gigabyte model but the specs were the same as the rest -

They had the XFX , Sapphire (which I bought 2 of), Diamond, and gigabyte..

 

[Vdubchaos]

Thank you!

Damn , Im seriously gonna run it in the dude's face when I see him tomorrow.. He told me he had the same cards in Xfire setup and he was very sure I didnt need anything extra for triple monitor support .. lol

He assumed your monitor already had display port...

 

[Arkadrel]

I get low FPS in Battlefield 2 in 5760x1080 .. But I suppose that would be normal since the cards are only 1gb each and I have 3 displays..

yes you should upg.... no way 460 can handle those resolutions in the newer games.... If you want to play Battlefield 3 at same resolution when its out... you ll need newer cards.

The 2gb on the 6950s, will make a differnce.
Then unlock both and overclock them, and your basically at stock 580 SLI performance.

All for a much cheaper price tag.

 

[santz]

give us your results as soon as u use the those cards

 

[nenforcer]

Your CPU / Mobo, while certainly not the fastest, is more than adequate for what your trying to do.

The 6950 Crossfire / Eyefinity setup was the right way to go with your 3 monitors despite the extra cable hurdle.

You can enjoy the benefits of the new GPU's right away and then decide later if you really need to upgrade to Bulldozer in June. Its too soon to the release of the Socket 2011 Intel and AMD Bulldozer to be upgrading CPU / Mobo's.