Radeon HD 6950 1gb vs 2gb

[Minoren]

Whats the difrence between Radeon HD 6950 1GB ot Radeon HD 6950 2 GB?
Is the 2GB woth the little extra money?

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

If you run games at a large resolution like 2560x1200, it might make a difference. At a more average 1920x1080, it doesn't really do anything.

 

[shane799]

It makes a huge diffrence especially going forward in the next couple of years when games are going to be optimized to use the extra memory coming out in higher end video cards. For low resolution gaming right now you may not notice a huge diffrence, but next year when you are getting the extra FPS you will be very glad to have the extra memory.

 

[-Fran-]

Well, AFAIK the 6950 2GB can be turned into a full 6970, so what better purchase than that? XD

If that ain't so, then the 2GB will come ahead on big resolutions only (make it 1900x1200 and multi displays).

Cheers!

 

[jyjjy]

If you plan to crossfire and/or use resolutions over 1920x1200 then the 2gb card is worth the extra money.

 

[shrkbay]

Yeah, as said above, 2GB really makes sence on big res/multiple displays and that it can be unlocked into 6970

 

[cronos177]

I see that there is almost negligible FPS between 1gb and 2gb(according to Charts from reviews) even on high resolution. Though, I would still get the 2gb because of Eyefinity, as well as what the future may bring.

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, as said above, 2GB really makes sence on big res/multiple displays and that it can be unlocked into 6970

The shaders on the 1gb cards can be unlocked as well.

 

[shrkbay]

@jyjjy, mousemonkey told me opposite

 

[bystander]

@jyjjy, mousemonkey told me opposite

I'm more inclined to believe jyjjy on this one.

People have been telling us that you can't unlock anything but the reference models, but I am able to unlock the MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II. The card would not work with a reference bios either.

However, the shader unlock just requires you to alter the existing bios where it determines how many shaders are unlocked. I see no reason it wouldn't work, and I've also heard there are people that have been successful doing it with the 1gb versions.

 

[shrkbay]

@Bystander, it may be possible and i'm not arguing about that, just telling what i heard. Btw, i knew that you can unlock non-refernces

 

[bystander]

Here is a thread with some confirmation on unlocking the shaders on 1gb cards: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-143412.html

They make reference to an article on techpowerup that had success too.

 

[jyjjy]

You cannot flash the 1gb models to an HD6970 but you can unlock the shaders. The same basically applies to the non-reference 2gb models as well and even for the reference model it's the safer way to go about things. Unlock the shaders with a BIOS flash then overclock on your own with something like Afterburner.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey