560 ti AMP or 6950 2 gb??

[lucifer_9mm]

Hello brothers,

I'm going to make a purchase after 2 days to buy a new graphics card. I'm planning on getting either a Zotac 560 ti AMP or a Sapphire 6950 2 gb and I'm highly confused..its driving me crazy . The first thing I want to make clear is that I am not sure about unlocking the 6950 to a 6970 because not every card is unlockable, I'm not relying on it, so Please do not advice to buy the 6950 and then flashing it . What I want to clearify is which one is the better performer..a stock 6950 2gb or the Zotac 560 ti AMP.

I have done some research and I cannot arrive at any conclusion, some forums say the zotac 560 ti AMP is a better performer than the stock 6950 while some say otherwise. For instance, following are the benchmarks favoring the 560 ti AMP:

While some benchmarks favor the 6950:

As you can see there is no consensus over which one is the better performer. Please help me out fellas, I'm afraid I might make a wrong desicion...please throw in your opinions. Thanks in advance.

 

[rolli59]

The fast clock speed is going to be in favor of the Zotac but at higher resolution with more eye candy enabled the extra memory on the std HD6950 2GB will kick in and make it faster which you can see here with Metro 2033 http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_560_Ti_Amp_Edition/16.html HD6950 wins at 1920 x1200 with 4xAA but the Zotac at 2560x1600 with no AA!

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Ok, most games nowdays and the upcoming are loaded with quality visual effects and the so called eye candy like dx11 textures, tessellation etc. and I dont like to compromise that for higher resolution, I am quite satisfied even if the game is running at 1024x768, with all the settings maxed out and fluid frame rates. The Techpowerup review seems to portray the 560 ti amp version as the undisputed winner and the 6950 stands nowhere close in most benchmarks while a lot of other reviews like the Techreport sides with the xfx 6950.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Anyway thanks a lot for your input rolli59. But I'm still confused.

 

[4745454b]

For the second review I believe they are testing a 6950 that has been OC'd. The first review has a stock 6950. If you OC both I believe the 6950 gets the nod.

Really though the cards are close enough that I doubt you'll notice the difference. Get whichever card is cheaper, has the better bundle, longer warranty, etc. That will matter more then 58FPS vs 69FPS.

 

[Soma42]

On nvidia favored games the 560 will dominate even the 6970 and on AMD favored games the results will within a few FPS of each other, as long as you are gaming at 1920x1200 or less. Once you exceed the frame buffer of the 560ti the extra vram on the 6950 makes a difference.

So in short it just depends on price and what your prefer, but I favor the 560ti personally due to lower noise and heat generation (most models at least). There are some good deals on 6950 OC 1GB models sometimes and I would suggest at least glancing at those, since they perform nearly identically to the 2GB models at average resolutions.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

The Zotac 560 ti AMP and 6950 are priced nearly the same with the former being just a lil bit more expensive, hardly 7-8 dollars. An ordinary 560 ti may have lesser noise and heat generation but according to the Techreport review Zotac's AMP version which is factory oc'd generates more heat and noise and has a very high power consumption. Please notice that I am specifically discussing about Zotac 560 ti AMP edition but not the regular 560 ti.

 

[rolli59]

I personally would buy the std HD6950 and then overclock it. I believe that Zotac might have used up most of the overclocking headroom.

 

[Soma42]

Please notice that I am specifically discussing about Zotac 560 ti AMP edition but not the regular 560 ti.

I was going off of other 560ti overclocked models which have the same noise level as a stock 560ti and sometimes even lower temperatures. So if you're dead set on it being the Zotac Amp I would go for a stock 6950 instead and overclock it, but if you want a 560ti look at the Gigabyte 560ti SOC 950 or 1000MHz, MSI 560ti Twin FRozr OC or HAWK, or even the ASUS DCII OC model. They all perform roughly the same or can be overclocked and offer better cooling solutions than the Zotac or a stock 6950.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

I think I'm gonna go for the 6950 2gb, the only two brands available here are MSI and Sapphire. I could place an order for other brands too but it will take a few days for the delivery and I'm in a hurry so I think I will choose between the two. Which one is better, MSI or Sapphire? Thanks to all for helping me out.

 

[rolli59]

I regard their quality the same. MSI usually better bundle but Sapphire the biggest AMD (ATI) partner.

 

[lucifer_9mm]

Best answer selected by lucifer_9mm.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey