Radeon 6970 Vs GTX 570

[bystander]

So you can see the difference first hand, I have linked 3 images from Dragon Age Origins. I have a link to one with no AA, one with MSAA and another with SSAA.

NO AA - http://img8.imageshack.us/i/noaa.jpg
Notice the Aliasing around the body and sword.

MSAA - http://img704.imageshack.us/i/msaaj.jpg
Notice how around the outside of this character, this is no longer any aliasing, around the legs is most obviously better than the first image. However, notice the sword that covers over the body area. It's horribly aliased dispite having MSAA on.

SSAA - http://img341.imageshack.us/i/ssaaq.jpg
Notice how the whole image is smooth, including the sword that overlaps the body.

When there is motion, which is hard to show without a really high quality FRAPs video, the aliasing is far more pronouced, as the jaggies start shimmering up and down the edges. This effect also effects the small plates all over the armor, but is hard to pick up in a single image.

edit: sorry, had technical issues

 

[17seconds]

I dont agree, it is true. They succeeded in improving crossfire and two 6970s gives u more power boost over one 6970 then two 570s over one 570.

They did improve it, that is true, but whether they scale better than a pair of GTX 570's is not true. I have, unfortunately, spent some time crunching numbers on this, and let's just say, they are about the same. If you had something to show me otherwise, I would welcome it.

What is also very unfortunately true for the 6970's in Crossfire is that they get very hot and noisy. The GTX 570 only registers minimal changes in heat and noise in SLI.

As Hardware Heaven says (with noise samples included):
"As well as seeing temperatures up to 100c when we placed three cards side by side on our Gigabyte motherboard the noise levels being produced in dual and triple card mode were, to be honest, unbearable. They were similar to the GTX 480 at its worst in terms of volume but where the original Fermi card had quite a stable volume once maximum temperature had been reached the 6900 series is all over the place. Listen to the 6970 CrossFire video below and you will hear what we mean."
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1084/pg21/xfx-radeon-6970-and-radeon-6950-graphics-card-review-power-temp-noise.html

 

[bystander]

I don't have first hand experience with them in crossfire. However, I have had this issue of noise with 470's and other cards. Crossfire/sli, when put directly next to another card, is loud. This is why I had my 470's spaced 3 slots appart. They were still noisy, but they could breath.

I'm curious if the 570's are any different, as that exert didn't mention them in SLI. It was only recorded in a single card setup.

 

[17seconds]

I don't have first hand experience with them in crossfire. However, I have had this issue of noise with 470's and other cards. Crossfire/sli, when put directly next to another card, is loud. This is why I had my 470's spaced 3 slots appart. They were still noisy, but they could breath.

I'm curious if the 570's are any different, as that exert didn't mention them in SLI. It was only recorded in a single card setup.

The 470/480's as you know were hot and noisy. In addition to the improved cooler, the 570/580's have a redesigned casing that is narrower at the air intake end to allow better airflow.

According to this review, the noise on the 570 goes from 40 Db to 42 Db (+2 Db) in SLI. The temperature goes from 77c to 81c (+4c).
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/14

For the 6950, the same site has the noise level going from 41 Db to 49 Db (+8 Db) in Crossfire and 77c to 89c (+12c) when doubled up. They did not test the 6970 in Crossfire.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6950-crossfirex-review/15

 

[Tamz_msc]

^Nice find matto

 

[mrjericho1991]

gtx 460sli is better ,at same price point.

 

[TheYield]

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-6950-6970-review/15

Just go through the various DX9/10/11 tests via the drop down menu.

I don't see how anyone could say that a GTX570 is an easy winner over the HD6970.

And when you consider that you can (currently) get a HD6950 and Bios flash it, with VERY good odds of success, and get +/- 90% of the way to a HD6970's performance. That gets you a mean $$ to FPS ratio. Dare I say the best single core $$ to FPS ratio currently available (in high end segment, of course).

Some people are even getting some MEAN overclocks on top of that (my reference being the Guru3D unlock thread in the ATI card section).

And some random opinion pieces:

I'll take Supersampling over Physx any day.
I use iZ3D, 3Dvision has no play for me.
Cuda is nice but DirectCompute isn't to be completely disregarded.

 

[Ankh16]

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

GTX 570 looks slightly nicer.......... although red is a good color
GeForce and Radeon are both pretty cool names so were tied in that respect
hmm tough call 😛

 

[minitron815]

The only advantage the 6970 has over the 570 is EYEfinity. SSAA is supported by nvidia (if you weren't an ignorant cow and have google).

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1085/pg1/gtx-570-vs-radeon-6970-and-6950-vs-radeon-5870-all-overclocked-review-introduction.html

Overclocked the 570 is better than or tied with the 6970 is every test in the review above. Where it is better it can be significantly better like HAWX. This doesn't even take into account what PhysX can add to the gaming experience. From my personal experience, nvidia drivers are better and updated more often (notable exception in one of the 25x builds).

2GB ram is important for games at 2560x1600 but not 1920x1080(1200). At XHD with features like AA/AF on the 6970 will look like a slideshow; CF/SLI is a must for that resolution. (http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=28056&page=2).

Versus the 69xx the 570 draws about the same amount of power (I'm not going to go into why 12-20 watts is mostly insignificant; if you don't know you're just a lemming/cow and should stick to prefabs).

Just because the 570 is better doesn't mean the 6950/70 is bad, just slightly inferior. Unfortunately AMD fanboys are trying to convince people to buy an inferior product that costs slightly more "cause OMGZ it haz eyefinity and it's red!"

AMD needs to get their *** together for their processors and focus less on video cards unless they want to continually band-aid their company through weak years on graphics sales and budget processors. Since the merger Intel has made much better processors and even their video cards have been lacking (usually a specific market segment is excluded, not that the cards are bad). This is coming from someone who has NEVER used and Intel chip in a homebuilt.

 

[bystander]

SSAA is supported by nvidia (if you weren't an ignorant cow and have google).

Wrong. Nvidia supports SSAA Transparencies only.

However, there is a 3rd party program that will give you access to it. Nvidia doesn't. Unfortunately, as someone who has 470's and 6970 that can compare the two, the Nvidia's 3rd party version isn't quite as good. Either it's lower quality, or has lower performance.

Nvidia also does not have any sort of Morphological AA by 3rd party or Nvidia.

 

[minitron815]

I was obviously talking about 3rd party programs (hence the google instead of a link to a page on the nvidia website.) Nvidia doesn't support SSAA AT ALL officially.

So I guess we should just take your word that "it's not as good cuz it's nvidia and they don't have red PCB." Plus there might be a reason people are staying away from SSAA. Hell AMD is promoting MLAA over SSAA because SSAA is just not practical unless it's like Bioshock 2.

MLAA is AMD's copy of CSAA but you're obviously ignorant of nvidia cards and like to blow smoke out of your ass by making up advantages of AMD cards.

But you keep on looking stupid bystander....

 

[bystander]

I have a 2nd machine with two 470's in it. I'm well aware of both advantages. I do like both cards for different reasons.

I prefer the ATI card, but unlike some fanboys, I can see the advantages of both.

As far as the SSAA, I have mentioned in most instances you can't use it for all games. Just like PhysX isn't used in most games. However, when it is useful, it's very nice. I didn't know Bioshock 2 was a good game to try it in. I haven't played that one, I played the 1st however. I like it in Dragon Age origins currently. The aliasing issues in that game are bad, but it looks so great once fixed.

 

[minitron815]

So nvidia won't implement SSAA in the future (it works on Bioshock 2 fine)?

The only advantage the 69xx have is eyefinity. Great feature but for most people the 570 is just flat out better.

I just bought a 4830 for my old PC for LANs but I'm just not impressed by their high end and midranged lineup except for maybe the 5770, at least compared to nvidia. I don't care about CUDA or whatever either....

 

[flong]

The lower end ATI cards are not nearly as good as their higher end. I have the 5450 now and it is unstable and the drivers have problems. The HD picture is also mediocre (I have a TV card). However I had the 5850 and it was an exceptional card. It was quiet, reliable, stable and HD video was nearly as good as HDTV rendering which says a lot. Comparing a Samsung HDTV picture to my monitor's picture and my hp 2475 monitor held its own, though the Samsung picture was superior it was not that much better. The 5850 is night and day different from the 5450. The 4830 may have some of the problems the 5450 has.

 

[xalexon]

the 570 and 6970 are basically equal performance-wise

but as soon as you toss in a second gpu for sli/xfire u see that the 6970 pulls far ahead, even passing 580 sli.

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/01/11/amd_69706950_cfx_nvidia_580570_sli_review/7

so if u plan on throwing in a second gpuin the future as an upgrade i would definitely choose the 6970 as it hands down destroys the 570 in a dual gpu set up

..
cuda is nice 😀

 

[xalexon]

also note that u dont want to bios flash a 6950 as many people have reported to permanent card damage as a result.

this is probably becuz the 6950 has an 8/6 pin power connector whereas the 6970 has 8/8 pin. the extra 2 pins are there for a reason.

The extra power probably fried some sensitive components inside their cards LOL

i would go for a full blown 6970 if I were you

 

[bystander]

also note that u dont want to bios flash a 6950 as many people have reported to permanent card damage as a result.

this is probably becuz the 6950 has an 8/6 pin power connector whereas the 6970 has 8/8 pin. the extra 2 pins are there for a reason.

The extra power probably fried some sensitive components inside their cards LOL

i would go for a full blown 6970 if I were you

Considering how many did it, the numbers were pretty small, but it's definitely a risk. There is another way to get the 6970 performance with little to no risk. Unlock the shaders rather than flashing the bios. Then you can overclock the core to 6970 speeds, while leaving the memory alone.

 

[Mousemonkey]

the 570 and 6970 are basically equal performance-wise

but as soon as you toss in a second gpu for sli/xfire u see that the 6970 pulls far ahead, even passing 580 sli.

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/01/11/amd_69706950_cfx_nvidia_580570_sli_review/7

so if u plan on throwing in a second gpuin the future as an upgrade i would definitely choose the 6970 as it hands down destroys the 570 in a dual gpu set up

..
cuda is nice 😀

That depends on which site you look at and which games are tested.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3777/msi_geforce_gtx_580_1536_mb_video_cards_in_sli/index5.html

 

[Rollo]

buy a more expensive hd 6970 can let you play with 6 monitors which i'm sure you're not going to do that... and finally save your 20 bucks by trying with gtx 570 which will consume lots power that is going to translate to your electricity bill that you won't even noticing it....

No one should spend the money on a six + monitor set unless it's those new ultra expensive, ultra thin bezel monitors. It is really crappy gaming on six panel EyeFinity because the bezels split the main action in haf, the reason 3 panel works so well is the main action is still intact on the main monitor and the others are peripheral vision. Your mind "glosses over/ignores" the bezels on 3 panel sets, but on six it can't and it feels like looking at the game through a grate.

Yes I've used both.

The ONLY way I could see paying more for a 6970 is if the buyer had made the decision they were going to spend their money on one video card plus two more monitors. For 99% of the world gaming on one monitor, the 570 is the obvious choice. More features, better performance, cheaper.


NVIDIA Focus Group Member
NVIDIA Focus Group Members receive free software and/or hardware from NVIDIA from time to time to
facilitate the evaluation of NVIDIA products. However, the opinions expressed are solely those of the Members.

 

[SneakySnake]

I've never posted in Tom's forums before, but I've been posting in news and articles for a few years. This is my first trip to the forums.

I have to say that I have never seen a more immature forum when it comes to fanboys.

The facts of the matter are:

570 > 6970 ---- 6970 xfire > 570 SLI

eyefinity, cuda, physx, noise, etc. are all moot points cuz for 99% of games and gamers they make no difference. If your staying with a single card then get a 570, unless your going to be gaming at 2560x1600, then the 2 GB of VRAM on the 6970 will pull it ahead.

I read this thread off of google looking for some good objective points between the two cards, because I'm choosing between both of them currently. All I saw in this thread was the nvidia fanboys blatantly disregarding the positives of the 6970, such as the morphological AA, which gives SSAA visuals at a way less performance hit. However, the 570 is on average $10-$20 cheaper from what I've seen, and outside of morphological AA, gives a few more frames per second.

Get off your high horses people and acknowledge that the competition has a decent card as well. They are both very well performing cards and outside of the on paper numbers, the visual difference between the two in gaming won't be noticeable.

 

[g00fysmiley]

21 days late to the party 😉 but still valid

but i'd argue that cuda is used by more people than you give credit for, even some computer novices like to photoshop

 

[jyjjy]

The facts of the matter are:

570 > 6970 ---- 6970 xfire > 570 SLI

eyefinity, cuda, physx, noise, etc. are all moot points cuz for 99% of games and gamers they make no difference. If your staying with a single card then get a 570, unless your going to be gaming at 2560x1600, then the 2 GB of VRAM on the 6970 will pull it ahead.

Techpowerup disagrees with your facts.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6970/29.html
IMO it would be more accurate to say the two cards in general have about equal performance at the most common resolutions like 1920x1080/1200(or that it depends on the individual game) while the GTX 570 wins below that and the HD6970 above.
Other than that good post. Personally I think that the HD6950 is unlockable makes the HD6970 vs GTX 570 question a bit moot at this point if you are at all interested in value for the money.

 

[jdwii]

Almost all of you are pathetic, saying 349$ gtx570 1280MB card is better then a 359$ 2GB 6970...common sense well tell you that newer games will use bigger textures and easily use more then 1280MB of vram and the Gtx570 will lose lots of FPS compared to the Radeon 6970....

most people buying a 300+$ video card will want it to be good 2 years from now... if the 6970 had 1GB of vram or the GtX 570 had 2GB of ram i agree that the GTX570 is a better buy


history will tell you that Vram doubles almost every 2 years
these 1GB Vram cards will not be good enough by then
if you thank different then you need to go read forums from 2 years ago
is a Radeon 4850 1GB a worse deal then a GTX 250 512MB card short answer no



also if you need or cant live without a feature then get the card you need or cant leave without


NVIDIA was not the smartest by not making these 2GB cards sense it would of only cost them 20$ more
and this making them better then AMD on this issue

 

[iceclock]

bottom line is alot of stuff is said instead of pointing out there both great choices, depends in what resolution u play, and i dont agree, 2 5970s would do great, most people dont even need more than a 5870 or 6870 for gaming, i think people have eyes bigger than there pockets imho

 

[jdwii]

bottom line is alot of stuff is said instead of pointing out there both great choices, depends in what resolution u play, and i dont agree, 2 5970s would do great, most people dont even need more than a 5870 or 6870 for gaming, i think people have eyes bigger than there pockets imho

I AGREE

I"m just trying to say if somone wants to spend 300+ on a video card then you should try to make it more future proof

i found articles from only 2 years ago saying games will never use more then 512MB of Vram and they said never...(dont thank they were from tomshardware though)