Should i upgrade, if, to what?

[Snowman89]

My system is like this:

2500K at 4,5-5ghz, havent finished it yet.
Asrock Pro3 (no cf/sli support)
2x2gb Corsair ram
500gb Seagate 7200.11 main harddrive
2tb WD storage
Fractal design modular 650w
Msi Hawk 5770 running stock.


I changed from a 4870x2 to a 5770 but the change in performance was bigger than i thought.. So now im wondering what to do. I usually game at 1920x1080 so no xtreme resolutions. Since my motherboard does not support SLI/CF im just aiming for one card.

So should i upgrade my graphics card now? Or maybe wait some, or just overclock it? Im thinking of either getting a graphic card or a 80-120gb SSD and 8gb of vengeance ram. I know how todays graphic cards perform but i just need some help to make up my mind on what to do.

All help is appreciated!

[herderien]

excuse me but "I changed from a 4870x2 to a 5770 but the change in performance was bigger than i thought.." kind of surprised me...haven't you read any bench before switching ?

4870x2 has similar performance to 5870, and even today, if i want significant upgrade (+20 / 30%) i have to go for 6970(or unlocked 6950), 570 OC or 580.

or wait for 6990 (that should at least have an influence on pricing of other cards

[Snowman89]

excuse me but "I changed from a 4870x2 to a 5770 but the change in performance was bigger than i thought.." kind of surprised me...haven't you read any bench before switching ?

4870x2 has similar performance to 5870, and even today, if i want significant upgrade (+20 / 30%) i have to go for 6970(or unlocked 6950), 570 OC or 580.

or wait for 6990 (that should at least have an influence on pricing of other cards

lol.. Ofc i have, this was my 2nd 4870x2 and 2nd 5770. But the 4870x2 is to loud and produces to much heat and i dont game that much. So i figured that i would be ok with a 5770 but i guess it was not enough.

So what would be the best upgrade, a 6950, gtx 570? Is all 6950 unlockable still? How big is the chance of a unlock?

[Neova]

If you can list what games you play the most now, and what type of games you plan to play later, then we can advise. I am running 2x 6950 unlocked now so it is almost equivalent to the upcoming 6990. I can tell you it is incredibly fast for games that support it at 1920x1080, 16xAF, 8xAA, other settings forced to HQ with all game settings maxed out. That is what I have forced in CCC all the time. ~ 60-120 FPS in Mafia II for instance or 40-80 FPS in Metro 2033 (with ingame 4xAAA, DX11 everything on).

Is that fast enough for you?

But you know coming from the red team, their drivers are so so for new products... lots of opengl issues, some DX9 issues and CFX issues right now for 6900 series owner. But once AMD works it out, it is a really good bang for the buck if you can put up with waiting for drivers to mature.

Or wait for the 590 GTX (rumored to be 570 SLI on a single card). Do comparison between 6950 CFX vs 570 SLi to get an idea...

[Snowman89]

If you can list what games you play the most now, and what type of games you plan to play later, then we can advise. I am running 2x 6950 unlocked now so it is almost equivalent to the upcoming 6990. I can tell you it is incredibly fast for games that support it at 1920x1080, 16xAF, 8xAA, other settings forced to HQ with all game settings maxed out. That is what I have forced in CCC all the time. ~ 60-120 FPS in Mafia II for instance or 40-80 FPS in Metro 2033 (with ingame 4xAAA, DX11 everything on).

Is that fast enough for you?

But you know coming from the red team, their drivers are so so for new products... lots of opengl issues, some DX9 issues and CFX issues right now for 6900 series owner. But once AMD works it out, it is a really good bang for the buck if you can put up with waiting for drivers to mature.

Or wait for the 590 GTX (rumored to be 570 SLI on a single card). Do comparison between 6950 CFX vs 570 SLi to get an idea...

Im going to play wow, BC2, sc2 and maybe BC3 when it comes ut. I will be playing on 1920x1080.

That sounds very fast

[zalbard]

Grab 6950 and unlock it. Hurry up before they release new boards that might not be unlockable...

[Snowman89]

Grab 6950 and unlock it. Hurry up before they release new boards that might not be unlockable...

So right now almost all 6950 unlock?

[Neova]

Almost all 6950 on store shelves right now unlock. Once the 1 GB versions come out, we cannot be certain as they might lock it.

Checkout this review at 2560x1600 @ 8xAA all settings maxed out so you can compare.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...review-24.html

Just know that the upcoming 6990 (dual gpu card) should be equal to ~ 2x 6950 in crossfire which is FASTER than a 5970. Also, the upcoming nvidia 595 or 590 should be 2x 570s which will be faster than a 580.

But remember that ATI drivers require TIME to get right... but when they get it right, look at the min frames vs average frames, even for CFX on the 5970. Those are totally awesome performance! It used to be that only Nvidia would offer that kind of performance which is saying AMD / ATI is working hard to catchup to the green team.

Do I regret my 2x 6950? I did during the first 2 weeks since the drivers were terrible but after testing the new 11.1a leaked beta driver yesterday, they fixed a LOT of issues and it is fast now. The official update is on the 26th so watch this forum for feedback if AMD/ATI can deliver good hardware and drivers all around.

I do wish HW Canucks would hurry up with their SLI vs CFX article so you can get a better idea.

[Chickenfeed]

Given the games you've mentioned id personally chose a 570. It will do better in the games you've mentioned. There is the potential for it to have insufficient vram down the road so a 6950 is more forward looking in that regard. I'm still more impressed with the forceware drivers than the catalysts.

[Snowman89]

Given the games you've mentioned id personally chose a 570. It will do better in the games you've mentioned. There is the potential for it to have insufficient vram down the road so a 6950 is more forward looking in that regard. I'm still more impressed with the forceware drivers than the catalysts.

Okey, its a hard call.

One more thing im using my computer is to stream movies to the tv with HDMI. Right now im having some problems with the newest catalyst drivers with stutering and 24hz etc. Is nvidia HDMI the same or is it better?

[Chickenfeed]

I've personally had no such issues with either my prior AMD cards or my current 580. With the mention of HDMI do note the 69xx cards are better in that they have broader passthrough support. If you play any content with TrueHD or DTS Master Audio tracks then a 6950 would be the better option, that is if you dont have a high end htpc sound card with said options. Basically Nvidia's current high end are inferior for htpc usage in most regards. If that is big deal for you then all around the 6950 would be the better of the two. From a pure game performance perspective, I'd grab a 570.

[Snowman89]

I've personally had no such issues with either my prior AMD cards or my current 580. With the mention of HDMI do note the 69xx cards are better in that they have broader passthrough support. If you play any content with TrueHD or DTS Master Audio tracks then a 6950 would be the better option, that is if you dont have a high end htpc sound card with said options. Basically Nvidia's current high end are inferior for htpc usage in most regards. If that is big deal for you then all around the 6950 would be the better of the two. From a pure game performance perspective, I'd grab a 570.

After some thinking i orderd a 6950. They had a great deal with them and they were only about 240euro for one. To compare you get a Gtx 570 starting at 320euro and a 6970 starting at 330euro.

[Neova]

Make sure to unlock the 6950 when you get it! At 8xAA you are almost equal to a 580 GTX which is plenty fast.

[Snowman89]

Yesterday i received my 6950 and it flashed to 6970 without any problems at all

But now i have gotten a deal on a Evga GTX 480 Superclocked, he wants to do a fair trade. Card against card.
Should i trade or not?

[Neova]

6950 unlocked - 2GB ram, newer architecture, less heat, only going to get faster ... in unsupported games, minimum frames are usually lower than equivalent nvidia cards. New drivers coming out in less than 24 hours so it should be even faster.

480 GTX - only 1.5 GB ram but is enough for 1920x1080 at 16xAF and 8xSSAA (I game on these settings too). Strong minimum frames, gets HOT especially if you OC it, good driver support (usually but the new 266.xx series seems broken with more than 4xAA and no fix yet)... much faster than a single 6950/6970 in most games but that was compared to the first AMD set of drivers which were slow, buggy and useful just to get the cards running. Obscure mod support is still better on Nvidia through cuda for instance.

It is a tough call since I was trying to buy a 480 GTX myself before getting the 6950s but with the new 11.1a leaked drivers, I am 95% satisfied.

Just wait a few more days for someone to bench AMD's newest official drivers vs Nvidias so you can make an informed decision. I think you already know if someone wants to give up a 480 GTX for an unlocked 6950 that cost 30% less than his card.

[Snowman89]

6950 unlocked - 2GB ram, newer architecture, less heat, only going to get faster ... in unsupported games, minimum frames are usually lower than equivalent nvidia cards. New drivers coming out in less than 24 hours so it should be even faster.

480 GTX - only 1.5 GB ram but is enough for 1920x1080 at 16xAF and 8xSSAA (I game on these settings too). Strong minimum frames, gets HOT especially if you OC it, good driver support (usually but the new 266.xx series seems broken with more than 4xAA and no fix yet)... much faster than a single 6950/6970 in most games but that was compared to the first AMD set of drivers which were slow, buggy and useful just to get the cards running. Obscure mod support is still better on Nvidia through cuda for instance.

It is a tough call since I was trying to buy a 480 GTX myself before with the new 11.1a leaked drivers, I am 95% satisfied.

Just wait a few more days for someone to bench AMD's newest official drivers vs Nvidias so you can make an informed decision. I think you already know if someone wants to give up a 480 GTX for an unlocked 6950 that cost 30% less than his card.

Yeah but this 6950/6970 gets up to 90C in BF BC2, so its not really a cool card :P Im thinking of watercooling it anyway, 480/6970.

Well he actually wants to trade against a 6970, but i see no diffrence between my card and a 6970 so

So either i just trade and get a 480 WB or i get a 6970 WB now...

[Neova]

Wait, checkout this review from HW Canucks with the 6950/6970 with the latest drivers vs Nvidia's 400/500 series:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-review-6.html

90c? Are you running +20% power in Overdrive? If you drop it back down, it should not get that hot. If you OC, ofcourse it will get HOT! The 480 will get HOTTER! Everyone knows this.

[Snowman89]

6950 unlocked - 2GB ram, newer architecture, less heat, only going to get faster ... in unsupported games, minimum frames are usually lower than equivalent nvidia cards. New drivers coming out in less than 24 hours so it should be even faster.

480 GTX - only 1.5 GB ram but is enough for 1920x1080 at 16xAF and 8xSSAA (I game on these settings too). Strong minimum frames, gets HOT especially if you OC it, good driver support (usually but the new 266.xx series seems broken with more than 4xAA and no fix yet)... much faster than a single 6950/6970 in most games but that was compared to the first AMD set of drivers which were slow, buggy and useful just to get the cards running. Obscure mod support is still better on Nvidia through cuda for instance.

It is a tough call since I was trying to buy a 480 GTX myself before getting the 6950s but with the new 11.1a leaked drivers, I am 95% satisfied.

Just wait a few more days for someone to bench AMD's newest official drivers vs Nvidias so you can make an informed decision. I think you already know if someone wants to give up a 480 GTX for an unlocked 6950 that cost 30% less than his card.

Wait, checkout this review from HW Canucks with the 6950/6970 with the latest drivers vs Nvidia's 400/500 series:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-review-6.html

90c? Are you running +20% power in Overdrive? If you drop it back down, it should not get that hot. If you OC, ofcourse it will get HOT! The 480 will get HOTTER! Everyone knows this.

I have just flashed it with the 6970 bios and nothing more. Running it at stock 6970 speeds and with a open chassi it reaches 90degres during bc2 and the fan spins up even more.

[Neova]

Try to set manual fan control in CCC for now. Set it a little higher up to 50 or it will be too loud. Also, try to have a fan blowing cooler air from outside into your case and over the video cards. It does get pretty hot in BF:BC2 for me also but it is stable and my computer would not hang even with 2 hour gaming sessions.

Googling max safe temp for the 6970 says its about 110c but I would try to keep below 90 as much as possible until you WC it.

Also, you should compare the 6970 vs 570 in the HWC review for performance and 6970 vs 470 in terms of heat / power since the 480 performs close the 570, but generates more heat than the 470.

It is very close in performance so you should decide how you want to proceed or wait for the 6990 x2 or 595 SLI card.

Edit - looks like the 266.58 and 266.6 drivers fixed the greater than 4xAA issue for Nvidia cards!

[Snowman89]

Try to set manual fan control in CCC for now. Set it a little higher up to 50 or it will be too loud. Also, try to have a fan blowing cooler air from outside into your case and over the video cards. It does get pretty hot in BF:BC2 for me also but it is stable and my computer would not hang even with 2 hour gaming sessions.

Googling max safe temp for the 6970 says its about 110c but I would try to keep below 90 as much as possible until you WC it.

Also, you should compare the 6970 vs 570 in the HWC review for performance and 6970 vs 470 in terms of heat / power since the 480 performs close the 570, but generates more heat than the 470.

It is very close in performance so you should decide how you want to proceed or wait for the 6990 x2 or 595 SLI card.

Edit - looks like the 266.58 and 266.6 drivers fixed the greater than 4xAA issue for Nvidia cards!

I think i will stay with this card since i have warranty and stuff on it. Then get a WB and then oc it some later.

Im currently running with a open chassi so i cant really improve it more