Gtx 560ti or 6850 or 6870?

[amuffin]

I currently have enough money to get any one of these cards. Which one would be the best? I generally like nvidia better, but the radeon series seems like a good bang for the buck.

 

[ncc74656]

the 560 is faster than teh 6870 and 6850, has better support in 3d rendering programs such as CS5 and 3dmax, the 3d tech is better and generaly the dual GPU is also better. however ati seems to have finally figured out there cross fire after 15 years of getting stomped. the 5870's beat the 6870's in most bench marks even with there upgraded tessellation hardware.

 

[amuffin]

So get the 560ti?

 

[dalauder]

There's no comparison. The GTX 560Ti is a step above the 6870. Generally price would be the deciding factor. But I've seen GTX 560Ti's for $183 lately. Those can't be beat if they undercut 6950 1GB's by more than $15 or so.

Quick reference: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html

 

[amuffin]

Hm so should i get the 560ti or the radeon 6950?

 

[ncc74656]

the 2GB 6950 is a hairs breath over the 560ti in normal conditions. The 6950 helps when you need more ram than the 560 has, large resolutions, very high end games with maxed filtering settings and high rez textures.

 

[dalauder]

Hm so should i get the 560ti or the radeon 6950?

How much do you want to spend? Typically, (assuming we include rebates) the prices are as follows: $150 6850, $165 6879, $200 GTX 560Ti, $210 6950 1GB, $250 6950 2GB. If you're into unlocking, you can pay a premium and go for one of the reference 6950 2GB's that people say unlock.

I'd just buy a GTX 560Ti whenever a sale comes up on one. Btw, they say that you shouldn't go below a 6950 for Crossfiring Radeons due to microstuttering...but that depends on how much microstuttering bothers you.

 

[spp85]

I currently have enough money to get any one of these cards. Which one would be the best? I generally like nvidia better, but the radeon series seems like a good bang for the buck.

For "good bang for the buck" then Radeon HD 6950 1GB is the card i recommends which has a small performance edge over GTX 560ti and same time consumes lesser power. Both Gtx560ti and Radeon HD 6950 are good powerful cards. You should select the one which is cheaper.....

 

[eyefinity]

560 Ti is 5% faster than the 6870 and 8% slower than the 6950 by techpowerup's 16 game benchmarks.

The 6950's lead stretches to 14% at higher resolution.

 

[dalauder]

Correction: 6950 2GB cards pretty much don't unlock anymore. So don't get too excited tryign to do that. Like the benchmark above shows, the 6950 1GB is probably the best bang for your buck.

Newegg has one for $210 AR.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

Correction: 6950 2GB cards pretty much don't unlock anymore. So don't get too excited tryign to do that. Like the benchmark above shows, the 6950 1GB is probably the best bang for your buck.

Newegg has one for $210 AR.

+1 with your budget and situation, the 6950 is the card to get. no need for the 2gb unless you are playing on multiple monitors or resolutions exceeding 1920x1080

 

[amuffin]

So is the extra 10 dollars worth it for the 8% performance differnece? Between the 560ti and the 6950 that is. So they got rid of unlocking to 6970 right?

 

[starlabs]

So get the 560ti?

i prefer thinking by use cfx compared to if u have to buy 560, u can buy saphire 5850 at price $150 only. and the performance is close if not same with gtx 580 at default speed! 5850: http://3dmark.com/3dm11/1490182
GTX 580: http://3dmark.com/3dm11/1558017 GTX 570: http://3dmark.com/3dm11/1833422 but you must consider this too ! even if gtx 580 is faster (but the gtx580 is overclocked on extreme condition and i belive that the owner can't be that crazy to use that clock on regular use on his computer) but its price 4x than saphire hd 5850 so if you buy 5850 for cfx u really got performance faster than 570 and close to 580! keep in mind that the 5850 is the first card that amd make it realy serious and at good quality both performance and thermal.

 

[starlabs]

NB: I you want to buy single card today keep in mind that icy bridge soon released (intel tick tock) and the new technology of graphic that much faster soon will follow. just wait and be patient for 4 month. for now just buy cheapest abut powerfull hd 5850! :>

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

So is the extra 10 dollars worth it for the 8% performance differnece? Between the 560ti and the 6950 that is.

Umm... TEN dollars. Just pay it.

NB: I you want to buy single card today keep in mind that icy bridge soon released

Lol, IVY Bridge. Icy Bridge... heh... that's kind of a cool name.

OP, the 560 Ti is great, but the 6950 is a bit more powerful for a bit more, so it depends on what you want to spend. I personally have the 560 Ti and don't regret it at all, it's great for 1080p and maxes out almost everything, and I plan to SLI eventually. 6950 vs. 560 Ti is an on-going argument and it looks like 6950 always beats the 560 Ti by a bit (like the 8% on the benchmark above) on resolutions up to 1080p, after which the 6950 is further ahead. However, it looks like the OC'd 560 Ti's easily compare with the 6950. Here's a standard 560 Ti benchmark, where it's always behind the 6950: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/331?vs=330 and here's the MSI 560 Ti 880 MHz Twin Frozr II OC, which is ahead of 6970 2GB (!) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_560_Twin_Frozr_II/14.html - look at the other pages too, this one is only FC2; the 880 MHz 560 Ti often wins in other pages, as well.

But then again, who knows what happens when you OC the 6950? In the end, I'd say that it depends which version of which card you get, how OC'd it is and how much it costs.

 

[dalauder]

@Starlabs--he's talking about a $200 card and you're talking about the GTX 580. Nobody but you has even mentioned the 5850. The point being, go ahead and make some suggestions, but slow down a bit and read what's ahead of you to make sure that you're helpful. For example, ICY BRIDGE does not exist and IVY BRIDGE is made by Intel, not NVidia or AMD so it probably won't directly affect graphics cards. Besides, Ivy Bridge won't be out until 2012 off of current time charts.

OP...amk-aka-phantom said it well. Either card will do well. The GTX 560Ti is probably more heavy OC capable, based off of what I've heard.

In my experience, Fermi OC's like a beast (25% core, 8% mem) on the GTX 460's and 470's I've tried. My friend's GTX 460 768MB beats a stock GTX 470 after 30 minutes of OC'ing w/ Afterburner (w/ Kombustor & Witcher 2 for stability testing).

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

dalauder, it's good to know someone has the same opinion... too many people dismiss the 560 Ti due to the 6950 being more powerful (at stock) despite the 560 Ti's lower price. After all, you don't even need to get the pre-OC'd version... get the cheapest available (just make sure it's good - I think the cheapest right now is like $190?) and OC by yourself, if the cooler allows.

Actually, finding the benchmarks I linked above restored my happiness with the purchase (not that it ever let me down) - it's a clear win over the 6950, provided the price difference (especially in my area, lol).

OP, I'd say take the 560 Ti for 1080p and OC it a bit, if it's not pre-OC'd; and even a stock 560 Ti is not that far behind the 6950. And regarding the original question, 560 Ti is better that either 6850 or 6870.

 

[eyefinity]

It could also be said that the 6870 is closer to the 560 Ti than the Ti is to the 6950. I'm sure the 6870 is the best "bang for buck" by a long shot.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

It could also be said that the 6870 is closer to the 560 Ti than the Ti is to the 6950. I'm sure the 6870 is the best "bang for buck" by a long shot.

Lol, no way. 6870 is $170-190 (and some even go for as high as $220, believe it or not) and the 560 Ti blows it away in all benchmarks, OC'd or not. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=330

 

[eyefinity]

From what I can tell

6870 - $149.99 + free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
560 Ti - $197.55 after shipping + free Batman game http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133377
6950 - $220.98 after shipping + free Dirt 3 game http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385
6950 - $209.99 + free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523

So clearly the 6870 is the best "bang for buck" as it's far cheaper than the 5% performance difference between it and the 560 Ti. You'd only buy the 560 Ti or the 6950 if you really wanted either Batman or Dirt 3.

At almost $50 cheaper the 6870 is 25% less expensive and 5% slower so it is clearly the best value of any of the cards.

 

[Mousemonkey]

the 560 is faster than teh 6870 and 6850, has better support in 3d rendering programs such as CS5 and 3dmax, the 3d tech is better and generaly the dual GPU is also better. however ati seems to have finally figured out there cross fire after 15 years of getting stomped. the 5870's beat the 6870's in most bench marks even with there upgraded tessellation hardware.

Crossfire and SLi have not been available for 15 years. More like 6 1/2 to 7 IIRC.

 

[ncc74656]

Crossfire and SLi have not been available for 15 years. More like 6 1/2 to 7 IIRC.

ati still use crossfire and nvidia still use SLI, to debate this is getting into semantics. they have both gone through many versions and changes. up through 2008 nvidia cards running in parallel were consistently beating out dual ati cards of comparable single GPU speeds. hell ati even caused some programs to loose performance when enabling crossfire. it has only been recently that ati has had performance increases across the board and holding even or beating out the nvidia equivalent cards performance.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

From what I can tell

6870 - $149.99 + free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948
560 Ti - $197.55 after shipping + free Batman game http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133377
6950 - $220.98 after shipping + free Dirt 3 game http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385
6950 - $209.99 + free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523

So clearly the 6870 is the best "bang for buck" as it's far cheaper than the 5% performance difference between it and the 560 Ti. You'd only buy the 560 Ti or the 6950 if you really wanted either Batman or Dirt 3.

At almost $50 cheaper the 6870 is 25% less expensive and 5% slower so it is clearly the best value of any of the cards.

Greaaat... so you took the cheapest cards; $48 is 50% to you instead of 33% and you again disregarded OC potential of 560 Ti. No, I'd buy a 560 Ti or a 6950 over the 6870 any day... screw Batman and Dirt 3, I don't like either

 

[Mousemonkey]

ati still use crossfire and nvidia still use SLI, to debate this is getting into semantics. they have both gone through many versions and changes. up through 2008 nvidia cards running in parallel were consistently beating out dual ati cards of comparable single GPU speeds. hell ati even caused some programs to loose performance when enabling crossfire. it has only been recently that ati has had performance increases across the board and holding even or beating out the nvidia equivalent cards performance.

What do you mean semantics? You're blatantly wrong about SLi and Crossfire having been around for fifteen years and that's a fact.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

ati still use crossfire and nvidia still use SLI, to debate this is getting into semantics. they have both gone through many versions and changes. up through 2008 nvidia cards running in parallel were consistently beating out dual ati cards of comparable single GPU speeds. hell ati even caused some programs to loose performance when enabling crossfire. it has only been recently that ati has had performance increases across the board and holding even or beating out the nvidia equivalent cards performance.

Oh, so doubling the actual date CF/SLI have been out is "semantics" to you... okay, fine. But who the hell cares what was before? That was then, this is now. Now is the fact that AMD cards often beat nVidia for the same price and less power consumption. Lol, you remind me of this guy on Tom's who keeps saying that Macs are great because they used to have better hardware than Wintel (can't remember such a time, though) - you both are stuck in the past.

And for Emperor's sake, it's lose, not loose. I'm sick of seeing that mistake all over the place. To lose is a verb; loose is an adjective and means "not fixed, shaky". I'm so glad English isn't my mother tongue and my English teacher hammered the most common mistakes (lose-loose, affect-effect) into my head... sorry for the rant, but spellcheckers and common sense are available world-wide nowadays.