Crossfire 6850, or 6950 unlock to 6970? Or 570?

[N11Ckk123472]

Currently I have a MSI 6850 Cyclone Power edition, and I was thinking about crossfiring it.

After doing more research I have heard problems with Xfire, i.e stuttering, some games don't scale well, not all games support Xfire.

So on the other hand I've been considering just selling off my 6850 to a friend and buying a 6950, unlocking it to 6970, and overclocking it.

Also I've seen GTX 570's around the same price as 6950's, around a 20$ difference on some.

What do you think is the better choice, buy another 6850, or buy a 6950 (which will be unlocked to 6970 and overclocked, probably with an aftermarket cooler) OR a GTX 570, which will also be OC with an aftermarket cooler?

I'd prefer personal experience over a ton of benchmarks because from my experience those are unreliable.

 

[Dogsnake]

Can't say what is best but having quite a bit of 6950 unlock experience I can tell you thet you do not get a 6970 by modding a 6950. You do get something in between. That said also be aware that almost all 6950's available today have had the additional shadder section of the gpu physically disconnected on the chip. Changing the bios does nothing except brick the card. If you are lucky and get one that can unlock the shaders, there is a fair chance you will brick the card. The advice I give clients is to buy a card that fits your budget and may be a bit better than you think you need. Check Tom's latest listing for suggestions (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html). In the end you making an informed choice is better than anyone giving you advice.