New card query

[akula2]

Hey Guys,

I'm thinking to buy a new card but am in multiple minds Only one card is enough. Multiple LCD support required. i won't do OC or anything else.

a) there is hardly any difference between 6950/6970 in terms of performance for a single card. in few tests 6950 beat the latter.
b) if i select 6950 but there isn't any Toxic ed card. should I wait? any idea when it would be launched?
c) should i really need a 2GB memory for that single card? would anyone say coz it's single so i need 2GB?

d) perhaps this is more confusing. nvidia launched 580 card. i know it's more expensive than 6950 but i dunno whether it draws more power than 6950?

e) between 6950 and 580 gtx, single card, what's a better buy?


regret for pulling it so long but can't help it coz am in many minds. please advice.

[Chickenfeed]

If by multiple monitors you mean more than 2, your only option for that in the single card realm are the HD 5/6K series.

As for the extra vram it can only help with multiple displays. Given you don't plan to overclock, get a 6970 over the 6950.

All there is to say really.

[darckhart]

if you need to drive more than 2 displays on one card, then ati is your only choice.

when you say you dont plan to oc, does that include not moving the slider to the right in CCC? i'm not sure how far that would get you, but then the 6950 is within spitting distance of a 6970.

more vram is better once you have large resolution and multiple displays.

gtx580 is rated as a 244W card i believe which is a bit less than 6970. idle power... i don't recall.

gtx580 and 6950 are at entirely different price points... better buy is only something you can decide...

[akula2]

thanks guys for the advice. am somewhat confused

first. which is faster/powerful? 6950 or 5870? (thanks to ati's wierd numbering!)
next, many reviewed that sapphire 5850 toxic is the best card available compared to other makers in its class. we could OC the card etc. how does this toxic 5850 fare against a 6950? point is saving $ plus power.

@gtx580 and 6950 are at entirely different price points - sorry, i meant 570/6950. what u say?

i'll go for 2GB card only coz i need 3 lcd support. lastly, it seems there is no toxic 6950 card. should i wait or buy 5850 toxic 2gb card which is available?

[Chickenfeed]

Given your needs, as we have both said, a hd 6k card would serve you best. I wouldn't consider a 5850 for multimonitor gaming at this point as the 6950 makes it an obsolete option, even non reference models such as the saphire toxic edition you have mentioned. If you were only running 1 display and could get a great deal on 5850, then sure but multimonitor gaming needs all the horse power you can throw at it and a 5850 can struggle as is, let alone going towards the future.

The 6970 vs 6950 battle is simple if you don't want to overclock. Get the 6970. If you want to save some money stick to a 6950.

As far as the 5870, the 6950 is consistently a quicker option and only rarely does it not pull ahead by a fair margin.

[akula2]

I wouldn't consider a 5850 for multimonitor gaming at this point as the 6950 makes it an obsolete option, even non reference models such as the saphire toxic edition you have mentioned.

this is what confuses me when some say like that - obsolete. coz 5850 2GB toxic arrived hardly some 10 months back and works like a charm with multi lcd, isn't it? my points in deciding a card is: multi lcd, less power and less noise, of course price/performance. could u plz give a reference where i could compare 6950/5850? only reference i know is:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
which already declares that 6950 is a clear winner and almost equal to 6970. so no point in going for 6970 i think.

are any other sites like that with some more decent charts?

If you were only running 1 display and could get a great deal on 5850, then sure but multimonitor gaming needs all the horse power you can throw at it and a 5850 can struggle as is, let alone going towards the future.

i just can't believe a new card such as 5850 would struggle in eye mode. still i get your point. maybe that's why it scored ~2500 against ~3000 of 6950. but, just a doubt, could is be so bad like obsolete in real sense

am inclined to go with 6950 card but i don't get how 5850 gets obsolete. i pray sapphire releases 6950 2GB toxic card by april so that i could buy new p67 updated mobo, processor and this card. no plans for cfx. never. maybe a some safe OC in limits to my psu and some gpu decoding. one thing escaped my mind: does anyone know how these new cards are doing in 3D area? i would like to buy lcd monitors say, 27" or 30" i did surf but found hardly anything about 3D ati performance.

[jeremyshaw]

Because newer games are ever more demanding on the GPU. The HD5850 was a monster, in it's own right, when it was released. However, it's climbing on 1.5 years since that day. It's showing it's age already, IMO. It still should fare okay at lower settings (multimonitor), however.

[akula2]

Because newer games are ever more demanding on the GPU. The HD5850 was a monster, in it's own right, when it was released. However, it's climbing on 1.5 years since that day. It's showing it's age already, IMO. It still should fare okay at lower settings (multimonitor), however.

true. newer games are more demanding. no doubt in that.
the reference 5850 has been for more than year but sapphire tweaked up toxic 5850 released much later with some benefits to the user like better over clocking, cooling etc. it costs only a little more like $20 or so.

is there any games portal or site which recommends cards based on new games performance in terms of fps etc? i could only get the numbers from review sites coz i would like to understand more on medium to high resolution settings/performance in fps on multiple lcds.

one more thing is i dunno how 6950 fares on linux distros such as FC14

[jeremyshaw]

[H] did an Eyefinity review with the HD5770, HD5850, HD5870 when the HD5870 was still king, iirc.

[Chickenfeed]

one more thing is i dunno how 6950 fares on linux distros such as FC14

AMD Linux drivers still leave a lot to desire. Not the best by any stretch.

As far as declaring the 5850 as being obsolete of course I mean in lieu of newer cards such as the 6950/70s. Given in some cases a 5850 can be tamed on a single 1920x1080/1200 display, 3 monitors is more than pushing it in some cases. My point is if you want better single gpu performance with higher image quality, the 6 series cards are going to go that much farther with Eyefinity setups. No disrespect to the 5850 or anything, I had a 5870 for about a year and quite liked it, I just feel Eyefinity setups are multi card territory. Still if you want the best current single card Eyefinity experiance, a 6970 would be the card to go with.

[akula2]

[H] did an Eyefinity review with the HD5770, HD5850, HD5870 when the HD5870 was still king, iirc.

sorry, what/who is [H] : i could remember hardware canuck site, is that so?

[akula2]

AMD Linux drivers still leave a lot to desire. Not the best by any stretch.

am loosing my sleep over that any hardware component i choose should be truly cross-platform - linux/mac/windows support must coz me not biased or tagged to a particular OS.

As far as declaring the 5850 as being obsolete of course I mean in lieu of newer cards such as the 6950/70s. Given in some cases a 5850 can be tamed on a single 1920x1080/1200 display, 3 monitors is more than pushing it in some cases. My point is if you want better single gpu performance with higher image quality, the 6 series cards are going to go that much farther with Eyefinity setups. No disrespect to the 5850 or anything, I had a 5870 for about a year and quite liked it, I just feel Eyefinity setups are multi card territory. Still if you want the best current single card Eyefinity experiance, a 6970 would be the card to go with.

no disrespect at all. am gaining by such fruitful discussion. please feel free.

alright. i wish to build 2 pcs. one with p55/5850 2gb toxic and other with p67/6950 toxic (hope it comes out soon). later config would have multi-lcd, with 3d. both config has single card as common. means no cfx etc.

so am kinda confused choosing 5850/5870 for p55 (coz massive rebate from newgg on 5870). next, which one to go between 6950/6970 for p67. both config are not built for games but no compromise on gfx cards in terms of price/performance. i was told by many to go with 5770 flex card for p55 in terms of saving money and power but it's also meant for eye mode which i don't intend to use with p55. am confused. i think 5850 toxic fixed for p55. now, i have to decide about what should i put for p67.

one big point. peak watt difference between 6950 and 5850: 50W plus!!

you suggest 6970, for eye mode and single card. one question if i may. in the same given requirement, why 6950 not suggested?

am thinking from dollar saving, power saving plus heat reduction. pls throw some more light

[Okda]

i've asked your question before in this thread ==> http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=265844

check the replies, i got the 6950 in the end

[PaganII]

Sapphire 5870 E6 2Gb $259usd after mir!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102888

[akula2]

i've asked your question before in this thread ==> http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=265844

check the replies, i got the 6950 in the end

i've replied on your thread, thanks

[InCredible]

i was just put in this situation as well considering the 5850/70 6870 and 6950...at the end of the day i opted for the 6950 so i can attempt to unlock it to a 70..but even if it doesnt go right its still a great card..i found some 5850s for about 150-160 but i knew running three 24" lcds at 19x12 would be more then taxing on that card especially the versions i found all being 1gb.
then i found a 5870 2gb for 230 shipped and almost jumped on it til i found a 6950 for 235 on ebay..bought it and expecting it this week..glad i held out instead of just jumping in.

[darckhart]

with 3 LCD at 27", your min res would be 5760x1080.
with 3 LCD at 30", your min res would be 7680x1600.

if you intend on running any 3d games, with any nice eyecandy settings, you need the 2 GB vram cards

now you are choosing between 5850/70 and 6950/70. can you get good performance out of a 5 series? yes. if price is comparable to 6 series, why bother? get 6 series. now, 6950 or 6970? if you don't want to oc, get 6970. if you can oc, get 6950, oc to 6970 performance levels, done.

at least, that's how i see it. good luck!

[akula2]

thanks friends. one question pls:

my personal interest for the above cards is sapphire toxic ed but yet to launch for 6950/6970. am prepared to wait till april. by that time new sandy boards will be out. now, what other brand do you suggest out of asus, xfx, gigabyte, his etc.