GTX 560 vs HD 6870

[iduhfuse]

Hi guys, I have a Gigabyte H55M-UD2H mobo and I'm looking to purchase a new g-card from my HD 5770. I have a core i3 @3.8ghz and I'm wondering if an AMD card or Nvidia card would perform better on my system. My resolution is always at 1600x900. (By the way, my mobo supports crossfire but not sli.)

 

[jyjjy]

CPUs do not favor either brand of video card. If you want the option of adding a second card in the future I guess stick with AMD. An HD6870 would be excellent for 1600x900. If you don't care about Crossfire than on the Nvidia side I would get a GTX 460 with good cooling and give it a nice high overclock.

 

[iduhfuse]

Well, I did hear that AMD cpu's and AMD gfx card work better with each other but Intel goes both ways with no advantage. Why a GTX 460? When I could get a GTX 560 just below the HD 6870 and perhaps clock that higher to around a HD 6950?

 

[iduhfuse]

Hey guys, I'm looking to buy a new gfx card. Though, I just can't decide between the HD 6870 and the GTX 560. I'm only going to be playing Skyrim and BF3. Can you guys tell me which would perform better in these games?

System specs:

Intel Core i3 @3.8ghz
Gigabyte H55M-UD2H mobo
Mushkin Enhanced DDR3 2x2GB @1380mhz
Thermaltake 500watt psu with 43A combined
1600x900 resolution

 

[rolli59]

They will be very similar so I would select on price.

 

[iduhfuse]

The GTX 560 is $10 more than the HD 6870 at my local store. The thing is, I want to know which can overclock better than the other. I assume Nvidia, but I want to know which card will gain better fps in the games I play overclocked.

Also, do pre-overclocked cards have the potential to be overclocked higher than a stock card?

 

[rolli59]

http://www.google.com/search?gcx=w&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Benchmarks+BF3

 

[we1shcake]

you dont need higher than a 6870 at that res, a 460 would be fine as well. but by all means if you want to and can afford it get a 560ti, but not a 560 which is basically just a higher clocked 460

 

[4745454b]

The 560 will probably OC higher/better. I've heard of people OCing them near GTX560TI performance levels.

43A * 12V = 516, which is higher then your 500W PSU is supposed to be able of doing. Double check your PSU.

 

[iduhfuse]

The GTX 560 is $10 more than the HD 6870 at my local store. The thing is, I want to know which can overclock better than the other. I assume Nvidia, but I want to know which card will gain better fps in the games I play overclocked.


Also, do pre-overclocked cards have the potential to be overclocked higher than a stock card?

 

[iduhfuse]

Uhhh, nope. My psu amperes are correct, it says 25A 12V1 and 18A on 12V2 which = 43 combined

 

[iduhfuse]

Also, do pre-overclocked cards have the potential to be overclocked higher than a stock card?

 

[rolli59]

http://www.google.com/search?gcx=w [...] hmarks+BF3
Normally the pre overclocked cards are better binned and some times with better cooling therefore can reach higher overclock. It is hard to speculate performance in games not released but you can look at the benchmarks for the BF3 beta above.

 

[rolli59]

Uhhh, nope. My psu amperes are correct, it says 25A 12V1 and 18A on 12V2 which = 43 combined

It is not as simple as adding it up! There is a wattage rating for those rails as well since they can not both be maxed at the same time!
The TR2 has 420 watts available for the +12 volt rails which is 420/12= 35amps!

 

[Mousemonkey]

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey
■ AMD or Nvidia w/ Intel?

 

[shrkbay]

Go with the 6870. It's even more than enough for 16x9 though. Why you shouldn't get a 560:
- it's more expensive and weaker than the 6870.

 

[iduhfuse]

shrkbay: im going to overclock one no matter what, so I'm trying to figure out which will perform better as I heard nvidia overclocks much higher.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Some misinformation here on the 560. It is not the same as a 460. It uses the same chip as the Ti. Higher clock speeds then the 460 and more power efficient then the 460. Some overclocked versions of the 560 out perform a reference Ti. The 560 vs 6870 perform the same. Just depends on what flavor you want. AMD or Nvidia? Also do you like Physx? Not many games use it but the up coming Batman game will be using it. And it does add to the experience of the game. OP the main difference between a 560 and Ti. The Ti has a few more cuda cores. Other then that. They are the same with performing close to one another. Look up the benches.

 

[iduhfuse]

Well, I'm looking at playing Skyrim mostly. Does skyrim support PhysX?

 

[shrkbay]

@fattiesgonewild, 6870 and 560 do not perform the same, 560 gets same average FPS, but lower minimum FPS, that makes huge difference.

@iduhfuse, it's false that nVidia cards overclock higher, mostly overclocking is more or less the same *i'd even say that latest GPUs from AMD overclock better*, but it really depends on card (for example: HD68xxs overclock well, but 5870 does not).

 

[jyjjy]

Very few games support GPU accelerated PhysX and Skyrim is not one of them.
I would just get this and give it a nice OC;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121391

 

[jyjjy]

@iduhfuse, it's false that nVidia cards overclock higher, mostly overclocking is more or less the same *i'd even say that latest GPUs from AMD overclock better*, but it really depends on card (for example: HD68xxs overclock well, but 5870 does not).

The actual number of mhz you can OC definitely does vary by specific card but from the numbers I have seen performance scales better with the overclock on the current Nvidia cards compared to current AMD cards.

 

[shrkbay]

^Different reviews - different overclocks...

 

[jyjjy]

Yes, I do understand different reviews will manage to get the cards up to different speeds. I'm talking about how much the performance of the card actually improves from a given overclock. It seems the current Nvidia architecture makes better actual use of increased clocks from the benchmarks I've seen.

 

[iduhfuse]

I set my mind - AMD!!!!! lol, I've owned a HD 5770 Vapor-x and no problems. The only reason I'm thinking of Nvidia is because of their PhysX, if there's no PhysX in the games I'm playing then the HD 6870 is my best bet. Only $179 at my local store, $20 cheaper than the gtx 560 they have. -thanks for all the responses btw!