HD6950 2GB versus GTX 560 Ti-448 1.2GB

[Kistel]

Hey,

I have a dilemma on my hands. A month or two ago, I purchased a Sapphire HD 6950 2GB (Dirt3 Edition) with a dual-fan HSF configuration. But the drivers and software have been irking me, especially the poor anti-aliasing issues on some older games (Lock On Flaming Cliffs 2), so I am deciding whether or not to exchange it for an EVGA GTX560 Ti 448-core FTW edition.

I plan on keeping the GPU for about 3 years so I want to make sure it has enough VRAM to handle modern and future titles at maximum settings on a 1080p display. Most benchmarks and reviews conclude that 1GB of VRAM is enough for modern games, and compared with the 2GB on the 6950, the GTX 560 448 only has 1.28 GB of GDDR5.

I decided to evaluate the performance of my HD6950 using GPU-Z and actually found that Battlefield3 at Ultra settings (4x MSAA) used up to 1.3GB of VRAM, and Crysis at the highest settings with 8x AA used almost 1.4GB of VRAM. The GPU only went up to 62 C during these tests.

Given my results, I am a little bit confused. Is the 2GB of VRAM actually useful right now or will it be required for games released a year or two from now?

Should I keep my HD6950 2GB (I successfully unlocked the extra shaders) or is the GTX 560 448 on par performance-wise?

Another concern I have is noise levels and temperatures. If anyone has the EVGA GTX560 FTW edition and can provide some input, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Crap Daddy]

If you plan to keep a card for three years then buy a top card when they are launched so purchasing a month ago a 6950 wasn't a very good idea. If you can take it back and live without it for a month or so, the new Nvidia performance card will be out, rumors suggest it's gonna be called GTX670Ti, performance above the 7950/GTX580, 2GB VRAM and price up to 400$. Otherwise between the two there's not much of a performance difference.

 

[rahulyo]

W8 till new Nvidia Card launch n thn take BEST in ur budget .

 

[mudkip]

Since ypu've unlocked your 6950 to a 6970 there\s no need to go for a GTX 560 448, you can always upgrade when the new nvidia series come out.

 

[redeye]

i know in my system ( check sys specs) that a 6950 sometimes looks better(i think)... it seems that the 560ti 448 is faster (i have two 560ti 384s... )

my 6950 unlocks (though 880/1375 1.175 is too hot), (the sapphire toxic bios is 880/1300 1.15 is a bit hot.)

the 560ti448 is approx faster than a 6950. (a 570 is faster than a 6970)

the one thing that is faster on a 560ti compared to a 6950 (by 50%) is the program/service Second Life.

so wait, the 570/560ti448 is too expensive right now. ideally wait until next year, unless you want the 7970, i think that amd will lower the price of the replacement 7970, to restore the order of things. (i do not belive that the next nvidia card will be 299, even if the performance has been described as peaky.. (semiaccurate . com)

tl;dr... wait.

 

[camoxiong]

Hpw much will the 670ti cost when it get out?

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Nobody really knows anything yet.

 

[Kistel]

Thanks for the replies.

My HD6950 was only $260 and the GTX 560 448 is around the same price range. The new generation cards are going to be upwards of $350, which is out of my price range.

Basically all I want to know is whether or not 1.28GB of VRAM is enough if I plan on keeping the card for at least 2 years, and whether or not an unlocked 6950 is faster/better than a 448-core GTX 560 at stock.

 

[flmatter]

i have a 6950 2gb unlocked to 6970 and oc'ed and it runs cool with stock cooler(37* C idle and it is quiet I also use speedfan to control my fans) I have it set thru catalyst performance overdrive settings to 900/1415 with a 15% bump in power and it rocks

I thought about going with an 560/570 sli project but with new cards coming out soon I figure I will wait until late next year to build a new machine.

 

[TissueBox]

Basically all I want to know is whether or not 1.28GB of VRAM is enough if I plan on keeping the card for at least 2 years, and whether or not an unlocked 6950 is faster/better than a 448-core GTX 560 at stock.

An unlocked 6950 (essentially a 6970) performs more or less the same as a GTX 560 Ti 448 Core. The main advantage that the GTX 560 Ti 448 Core has is CUDA, PhysX, whatever else Nvidia offers that I missed, and it is shorter than the 6950.

On the otherhand, the 6950 offers 2GB of memory - I find my GTX 470's 1.28GB memory extremely limiting when I want to turn up the quality, AA, and AF on 1920x1080. In fact, I recall Battlefield 3 using all of it, and then some, causing some very very frequent choking. I think I remember seeing this choking fixed in a patch or a driver update though, but I'm not too sure - perhaps someone else can confirm.

To sum it all up, if you already have an unlocked 6950 2GB, keep it. They perform the same, and the 6950 has 2GB of memory.

 

[timma]

get a GTX 570 over clock edition,likes gigabyte SOC(super over clock) serial.

 

[DarkOCean]

Just do the easy thing and keep it not worth the hassle to change it for something that perform similar and the 6950 has 2gb vram which is a plus if you plan on keeping the card for two years or more.

 

[SonDa5]

Hardly and upgrade.

I like the 448 better.