GTX 560 ti vs Radeon HD 6950 2GB vs GTX 480 1536MB

[rapolitas]

I'm probably going with the GTX560 ti since it's cheaper which means i can get a better motherboard. But which ti??? http://www.amazon.de/gp/search/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Agtx+560+ti&keywords=gtx+560+ti&ie=UTF8&qid=1297617725

Basically all of those listed are cheaper than the default one that is being offered in the site i'm buying. But there's so many of them, and I have no idea how they differ and which are better. Their price is almost the same, too. So help me choose one, guys!

Oh and how do I know that it's gonna be compatible with my system?

 

[17seconds]

MSI Twin Frozr or Gainward Golden Sample.

 

[rapolitas]

Guys help! I'm getting the rig with Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 motherboard and AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE cpu. And on the site i'm buying, I could take the GTX560 ti. But I want the Twin Frozr from amazon.de since it costs less than the default one on the site and is faster. But I'm not sure about the compatibility. And one more question, will I be able to run SLI with a second GPU on that mobo? PLease answer ASAP!

 

[17seconds]

GTX 560 Twin Frozr will do well in that board, but you will not be able to do Nvidia SLI. Really, Intel and Nvidia is the way to go.

 

[rapolitas]

GTX 560 Twin Frozr will do well in that board, but you will not be able to do Nvidia SLI. Really, Intel and Nvidia is the way to go.

OK, thanks for the answer mate. So then, change of plans, I will go for the HD6950 instead. But then again, which one? http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hd6950&x=0&y=0

And will it be compatible with my system?

 

[leelin]

Go for the XFX, it's the cheapest and yes it will be compatible. If physx is important, get a 2nd hand 9800Gt & run hybrid physx, works for me!
your mobo has 2 pciex slots, so it'll work.

Good luck.

 

[Zen911]

I'm currently in the same boat, i'm soo confused between the 6950 and the gtx560. I believe the 6950 is noticably faster on default clocks. u can overclock the gtx560 and flash the 6950 into 6970, however i'm not sure if my 500w OCZ PSU can handle the flashed 6950.
I put Physx into consideration but more importantly the superior tessilation capabilities of the gtx560. If we expect more DX11 games in the near future with greater use of tessilation, then the gtx560 will be more "future proof" ....
I'm leaning towards a 1000mghz gtx560 if i could find any, i don't live in the US and the availability of options isn't that great ...

 

[leelin]

Tessalation is not such a big issue with the AMD 6xxx series and the latest drivers. I see it as the 6950 has more horsepower than the 560ti, they retail at 28$ difference in my country. For the extra 1gb of vram and the extra performance accross the board, I'd still go for the 6950.
The 560ti was aimed against the 6870, not the 6950.
Future proof would also tend toward the 2Gb card over the 1Gb, not just in tessalation.
AMD remains best bang for buck in my opinion.

I'm running 2 x 6870's in xfire with a 9800GT for hybrid physx & loving it. (Tessalation performance is better on the 68xx than the 69xx, go figure)

 

[Zen911]

I don't see the extra ram on the 6950 as any "future proof" element, the 1gb version is on bar with the 2gb version in 99.99% of cases. However I agree the 69xx series has more horsepower and appears to suffer less in higher resolutions that the entire 5xx line.
I understand the 69xx is better in tessilation than the 5xxx. However, they're far from the tessilation performance of Fermies according to HAWX 2

 

[bystander]

I don't see the extra ram on the 6950 as any "future proof" element, the 1gb version is on bar with the 2gb version in 99.99% of cases. However I agree the 69xx series has more horsepower and appears to suffer less in higher resolutions that the entire 5xx line.
I understand the 69xx is better in tessilation than the 5xxx. However, they're far from the tessilation performance of Fermies according to HAWX 2

Are you saying you don't believe that they will start needing more RAM for higher visual quality in future games? For the last 10 years, they've continued to need more video RAM as time has progressed, I don't believe we have hit the limits yet. The question for me is why they will, not if they will start needing more RAM. I already know of a couple examples where 2GB's of ram helps me out at 1920x1200 in a very noticeable way.

 

[Zen911]

No, I'm saying that by the time a 1gb ram will bottleneck a chipset from operating to its full potential, the card will be in its final days anyways. I don't see the 2gb HD5870 has any advantage now over the 1gb version after a year and a half of its release. And that's on the same card, compare to another architecture (GTX 560 ti) and the point becomes even more irrelevant.

And please share with us any links of examples where the 2gbs ram help you out at 1920X1200 over the 1gbs radeon.

 

[shrkbay]

actually it's not 99,99% same performance between them, cause 1GB version OCs better and also 2GB "bottlenecks chipset" *sometimes*

http://www.behardware.com/articles/818-10/report-geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6950-1-gb.html
read, below is written that "strangely" 1GB version gets 10% gain over 2GB
and here
http://www.behardware.com/articles/818-20/report-geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6950-1-gb.html
1GB has lower minimum FPS... means the 2GB still counts and it'll count even more on 2-3 screens

As we saw before however, the Radeon HD 6950 1 GB is slightly up on the 2 GB model, except where its additional memory comes into play.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/818-21/report-geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6950-1-gb.html

 

[jjb8675309]

lol tesselation power is better on the 6800 series vs the 5 series by a frame or two, really its the same card and the overall tesselation power still sucks imo.

OP: imo you cannot go wrong with a gtx 560/570

I got my gtx 570 for 304 AR (the PNY model) and it now has a nice overclock on it and runs nearly as fast as a 580 for 200 less... if you could find a similar deal that imo would be your best bet.

If you are not going higher res or multi monitor the 2 gb is going to make 0 difference to you 1 gig is all you need.

also batman aa's use of physX is awesome I love how the webs in crawl spaces collapse and pretty much every common thing you do in the game is more detailed, I love the explosive gel... what about Mirrors Edge, ive played it w/o physX but never with, im eager to try

 

[cats_Paw]

For me its very simple to decide: Nvidia can have physx, 3d and AA can be "tweaked".
I got a crossfire capable mobo and i went from 2 4850s in crossfire to GTX560 Ti, simply sice all physx is done now by gpu, i get my full 4 cores working smooth.
It wont be able to pull of any game max settings for the next 2 years, but in 2 years i probably have to chance my 775 socket anyway.

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah lga 775 will need to be upgraded eventually but no doubt you have gotten some use out of it at least if that is what platform you are still running

 

[cats_Paw]

for a killer CPU id definitly go for the radeon. 2gb RAM ensures a good lifespan, and the Morphological AA is awsome sometimes.
Definitly NOT the gtx 480. First of all, yes "it is loud". Second its hot as a teenager in a room full of cheerleaders, and third, there is almost no way to get a good SLI system from it (will burn your house down if u try to, costs go to the roof in both energy requirements and price itself).

Dont forget that if the prices drop in the future u might get another 560 or 6950 and get a great performance (but here going with the radeon would be better since you still get the 2gb of ram).

 

[THEfog101]

Tessalation is not such a big issue with the AMD 6xxx series and the latest drivers. I see it as the 6950 has more horsepower than the 560ti, they retail at 28$ difference in my country. For the extra 1gb of vram and the extra performance accross the board, I'd still go for the 6950.
The 560ti was aimed against the 6870, not the 6950.
Future proof would also tend toward the 2Gb card over the 1Gb, not just in tessalation.
AMD remains best bang for buck in my opinion.

I'm running 2 x 6870's in xfire with a 9800GT for hybrid physx & loving it. (Tessalation performance is better on the 68xx than the 69xx, go figure)

Yeah thats true but the 560Ti absolutely rapes the 6800 series and actually comfortably sits between the 6950 and the 6970 after a little overclocking, its amazing what nvidia have done with this things TPD.

However i have noticed that both Nvidia and AMD are heading over the the >1GB of VRAM side of the ball park which actually makes very little difference in 99.99% or games, and even in games that is does its minuscule and only really noticeable at ultra-high resolutions.

However if your gonna go AMD Anybody who is reading, go the 6950 and then Flash the Hacked BIOS and watch that sucker morph into a 6970 before your very eyes!

6950 to 6970 Bios Hack:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey