Wondering if I should upgrade my Radeon 6950

dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
2,591
0
71
Hey guys, I'm wondering if I should upgrade my 6950 to something newer. I'm mostly a console gamer (console-exclusive games I should say), but have more recently started buying PC games because of how terribly old the Xbox 360 and PS3 are. I built a system with specs below but am wondering where I should buy a new card or hold off until the Geforce GTX 7 series next year. I ask because Borderlands 2 can get rather choppy at times when I have set PhysX to high.

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU:
Intel Core i7 2600K overclocked to 4.2Ghz

II. Current Graphics Card:
XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB unlocked to 6970 speeds running at stock 6970 speeds.

III. Display Resolution:
1920x1080 (60" HDTV)

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:
600W OCZ 1.4 years old

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):
Corsair 650D, can take extra-long full height cards

Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.
Less than $500, though I know pretty much any card that's an actual upgrade from mine will cost near that amount.

II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?
Probably switch to nVidia this time around so I can play games in 3D on my HDTV.

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
No.

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
Wondering whether a GTX 680 is worth it right now

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
Intend on playing games at max settings, currently playing Borderlands 2, looking forward to Crysis 3 and such

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
I've never overclocked by hand (a bit scared actually).

Additional Notes
Mostly, my big question is whether a GTX 680 is an amazing upgrade from my current card or I should just hold off until the next version which a top end card will really be a beast (I hope). Thanks!
 

Endymion FRS

Member
Mar 29, 2012
69
0
66
Just wait, and turn Physx down to low. My card is the same (Saphhire, not XFX), and it gives great performance in nearly everything at max settings. A 680 isn't worth it with the GTX700 series this close.
 

RaistlinZ

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2001
7,470
9
91
680 isn't worth the money with the 670 only being 5% slower and $100.00 cheaper.
 

imported_jasonnovak

Junior Member
Oct 3, 2005
24
0
66
I have very similar specs, Borderlands 2 is the main game I'm playing, too. Anything over low physx on an ATI card isn't going to work well since it's all done in cpu. I think borderlands is a little buggy - I've read even people running gtx690's can slowdowns in places

I purchased a $30 gt440 for phyx to go with my hd6950. Look up hybrid physx - using a dedicated nvidia physx card with ati graphics. Get hybridize.exe, move two physx dlls. Cheap stopgap measure
 

raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,475
136
Forget getting a GTX 680. With the Never settle game bundle and 12.11 beta driver AMD has the fastest card and the best value. Get the HD 7950 if you want price perf. If you can spend more get the HD 7970 Ghz.

At 1.15 - 1.2 Ghz both these cards will provide twice the performance of the HD 6950.
 

Majcric

Golden Member
May 3, 2011
1,409
65
91
I'd wait. The 6950 is still a decent card. Heck, I'd still have my GTX 560ti if it weren't for the TDR errors I was getting.
 

Tegeril

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2003
2,906
5
81
I am also running a 2600K and a 2GB 6950 unlocked (I only unlocked the shaders, I didn't 'overclock' it up to 6970 specs as well).

I'd wait, this card still performs well.