Should I go with a 560ti or a 6950?

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TopGun

TopGun

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Apr 28, 2009
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Hey guys,

I've been trying to decide on which of these cards to go with for a long while. Could you please help me decide? Unlocking the 6950 shaders to a 6970 was greatly tipping the scale in favor of the 6950, but I'm not sure you can even do that any more.

Also, I just came across a deal for "PNY Technologies nVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1024MB PCIe Display Card" for $177.19 after MIR. The cheapest I've seen a 6950 has been in the $225ish range iirc.

What do you guys think?
 
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That's just how one website decides how the comparisons should be made, I prefer to compare the cards like for like from the top down and in the same generation.
 
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I hope this doesn't dash your dreams, but I don't think that card is a 560ti. I think it's a regular 560. 🙁

MSI N560GTX Twin Frozr II/OC Video Card
 
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So is the PNY Technologies nVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1024MB PCIe Display Card for $188.69 (they just changed the price...it's also only 822MHz) after MIR a big enough price discount to pull the trigger, or should I wait and see if there will be a deal on the Twin Frozr or Asus cards mentioned in this thread...or a better price on a 6950?

Or...how about this question...

At what price points would you pull the trigger on these different cards?

Like for example the PNY 560ti card at $188.69=Asus 560ti at $200=Twin Frozr 560ti at $210=6950 2GB (idk brands...XFX or Twin Frozr maybe?) at $220?
 
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Even with all this debate, I find it pretty safe to say that if you want some of the better/best performance out of this range of GPU's, I wouldn't pick one of the 560 Ti's running at the stock 822 MHz.

Most of the cards that support higher OC'ing seem to have better cooling options and at least a slight factory OC.
 
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I included the link to that PNY card if you wanted to check it out Matto. I think promo is good through the end of this month.

I really would prefer to go with a factory OC so I don't have to worry about messing anything up...unless of course the wisdom of the mob suggests that a $175 (or w/e) stock is too good a value to pass up.
 
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Have you checked out the comparisons on Tom's mid-range GPU's they ran a few weeks ago? There are multiple 560 Ti's to look at. Along with 6850's, 6870's, & the reference 6950's.
 
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Everything looks good. I would get it, save some money and overclock yourself.

That website, B&H, doesn't seem to have a lot of options, but out of the cards listed under $250, there is no question to go with your original choice. There is another PNY 560Ti with an overclock, but it's only 850 mhz vs. the cheaper one at 822 mhz; not much difference.
 
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The MSI 560 Ti Hawk is currently 239.99 after rebate and has free shipping. At 950Mhz, that seems to be a pretty nice speed to price ratio. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578

Or there's this Gigabyte clocked at 1000Mhz, but it doesn't seem to be as recommended as the Hawk is. If you don't plan to OC the card yourself, dig up some reviews as this may be the one to buy.

On an end note, i can't to find a 6950 under $300 that has a clock speed over 900, but if you're a fan of the architecture, it might not be a bad idea to hit Google.
 
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The reason you can't find AMD cards with extreme factory overclocks is that AMD doesn't allow their partners to sell factory oc'd cards beyond 10% of the base clocks.

I would say that with the $210 6950, free shipping and free Deus Ex, no 560 Ti above $200 is worth consideration. How much is Deus Ex worth alone?

Paying $240 for an overclocked card which is basically as fast as the stock $210 6950 with free game is frankly beyond all comprehension.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523 according to that the game is worth $50 alone. Seriously if I were looking for a new card I wouldn't even be hesistating at that.
 
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That's the exact type of card I'd prefer not to buy, 560 Ti or 6950 notwithstanding. There all kinds of reviews on there pertaining to high temps even at stock clocks. Given the room I game in, I had to consider the heat component in my decision. Surely I can't be the only person. The same goes for some of the lower end 560 Ti's. There has to be something to say about buying quality hardware beyond the GPU itself.
 
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Going to be getting a 27" monitor (btw, any suggestions for a good one?) for $300ish...assuming that would be 1900x1080...if I can find one in that range for 1900x1200, I'd get that. I'm starting to look into 27" monitors atm and I heard the 27" ones at 1080 might be a bit grainy. If that is indeed true, I may go even smaller...like a 24-25"...not sure what the res. would be on that.

I believe I'd only need 1 card for that, not SLI or Xfire. I'm gonna plan for a 2500x1600 30" for the next build I think. I can save some $ on a mobo that way too.

I think the $210 6950 you mentioned is a 1GB...which I guess at these resolutions would work fine. There seems to be a lot of bad reviews too....mostly cust. support and temps.
 
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I agree that you need to be careful but anyone buying a 6950 should have at least a reasonable case and airflow. These are big cards needing big cases generally.

Obviously you get what you pay for. I'm using an XFX 6850 right now and the cooler is crap and noisy but because my case has plenty of airflow I can turn the fan down on it. I've never been a huge fan of coolers that don't exhaust the heat out of the case either which is why I'm not convinced about many of these cover-less dual-fan cards.
 
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Yeah if you are only gonna be 1080p then either card is fine. I'm not sure about screens, the average for a 1080p would be 24" though. It's unlikely that a 27" one is that bad unless you have awesome eyesight, but that's just a guess.
 
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I'm a DPI hound, so I like the higher pixel density that the smaller panels provide, particularly when dealing with things like post work for photography. YMMV, but I like the 21.5"-23" range.
 
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I'm sure I'll die of a heart attack way before I should have due to the caffeine intake and lack of sleep. Do as I say kids, not as I do.

or should I wait and see if there will be a deal on the Twin Frozr or Asus cards mentioned in this thread...or a better price on a 6950?
Click to expand...

Honestly I think you should just pull the trigger and buy SOMETHING. The cards are close enough that I really doubt you'll notice too much difference between them. You're causing yourself to much heartache thinking this thing over. You might not even keep the card for that long. 2-4 years from now you'll probably be looking for something stronger/newer. Just buy something.

I'm gonna plan for a 2500x1600 30" for the next build I think
Click to expand...

Bad idea. There is a reason Eyefinity/Surround has come out. Buy a good 1080 panel now, buy two more and run three screens later. 2500x1600 = 4M pixels. 1920x1080x3 = 6.2+M pixels. You'll have more screen space with the three screen option and it will probably be cheaper to.

I'm a DPI hound, so I like the higher pixel density that the smaller panels provide
Click to expand...

I'm with Audiojim. Why get 1080 pixels stretched out over 27" when you can buy them nicely fitting in 24". Its the same amount of pixel, why add 3 inches of blank space?
 
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I currently own a Twin Frozr 560ti and I love the card. It does come with some flaws or points I do not like. I do not like the fact that it exhausts into my case, but the card keeps real cool under idle and load. I switch back and fort between ATI/NVIDIA and feel that they are on par with each other except the fact that NVIDIA drivers are a lot better.

The reason why I am here is that I am looking to get rid of my 560ti for an AMD card. The 500 series have had a lot of issues with tearing and random reboots, especially if you keep you pc on for 24 hours+.

Going to get the XFX 6950 and once the RMA'd 560ti comes in, it's going up for sale.

To make a worthless post seem less worthless, STAY AWAY FROM THE 500 SERIES FROM NVIDIA!

Go look at the customer reviews, look up 500 series tearing, etc...

It sucks, the 560ti is a great card at stock or oc'd... A shame it's buggy.
 
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I leave my SLi'd GTX560Ti rig on 24/7 and it doesn't suffer any tearing issues or random reboots. :heink:
 
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