What should I upgrade my HD Radeon 6950 to?

[Shaun Doyle]

Hello there, here is my specs

CPU: i7-2600
MoBo: ASUS-P8P67
RAM: 8gb DDR3 (x4 2gb)
GPU: HD Radeon 6950 2gb - 800MHz
Power Supply - 1000W
Bonus: Logitech £13 combo keyboard and mouse + Microban mouse mat!

My budget is around £150, although anything around £110 is preferred
I am only interested in 1080p gaming, no 2k/4k or VR
My Radeon can currently run games pretty well, although it is now 5 years old and would love a replacement, at the best price to performance rate I can get The card doesn't have to be new, it can be 1-3 years old if need be, as long as it is a good upgrade!

If possible, please provide comparisons with benchmarks

Thanks so much for any help you provide - I was thinking of a GTX 950 TI but I feel there is better cards out there for the price - but I don't have the knowledge of the components out there to work it out 🙁

 

[souljacker13]

Depends on what you're playing - but a 950 (can't seem to find a Ti version for it) doesn't seem to be an upgrade from the 6950.

If you're willing to save a little bit more - a 4gb RX480 might do the trick, but the sapphire nitro 4gb model is going for £199.99 on Overclockers.

For the price range you're looking at, maybe a R9 380, which is going for £137.99 on ebuyer. HOWEVER the RX 470 is about to come out on August 4th in the UK so may be worth just waiting just a little bit longer as that should be able to handle most AAA titles out at the moment with decent settings at near 60 FPS, although not sure if your I7 2600k will cause any bottlenecks but don't imagine it would be a huge deal regardless.

 

[Shaun Doyle]

Depends on what you're playing - but a 950 (can't seem to find a Ti version for it) doesn't seem to be an upgrade from the 6950.

If you're willing to save a little bit more - a 4gb RX480 might do the trick, but the sapphire nitro 4gb model is going for £199.99 on Overclockers.

For the price range you're looking at, maybe a R9 380, which is going for £137.99 on ebuyer. HOWEVER the RX 470 is about to come out on August 4th in the UK so may be worth just waiting just a little bit longer as that should be able to handle most AAA titles out at the moment with decent settings at near 60 FPS, although not sure if your I7 2600k will cause any bottlenecks but don't imagine it would be a huge deal regardless.

Thanks a lot for your reply!

Just some questions;

1. Do you think the RX 480 will drop in price any time soon? It being £200 seems a bit pricey considering it was released for $200
2. How much better will the performance be on the 470 compared to the 380?
3. Will the prices for 380s take a big hit when the 470 releases? If so, could it be wise to get a discounted 380 for maybe around £100?

 

[souljacker13]

1) I don't think it will drop in price as the aftermarket cards have only just come out - will take a few months to come down in price. The prices seem to be fluctuating alot so you may get a good deal on it, but I don't think near the 150 mark as that's where the 470 will probably sit (or maybe slightly above).

2) AMD's own figures suggest it will be somewhere between a 380 and 390 although I would wait a few days for reviewers to give you actual benchmarks rather then just hyped figures from the company selling the card! They're stating its nearly 1.5-2x faster than a 270X which would be pretty fast as the 270X was around a 7870 - so a bit better than the 6950!

3) I think the prices will come down but not sure if they'll hit 100 because the 460 will be sitting in that segment market so they would cannibalise the new card's sale, so maybe in between the two for it.

Also worth noting that both AMD and NVIDIA have jacked the prices up on their latest offerings so they may fluctuate a fair bit week to week. If you really want to be closer to the 100 mark then the 950 is probably your best bet - it's better then a a 6950 but I don't think it's substantially better and think it would be better to spend a bit more and go for something a bit more powerful like a 380 or 470 (if it's at the advertised performance).

This all depends on what kind of games you play and at what settings? If you're doing e-sports stuff e.g. CSGO, MOBAs, TF2 etc then I think a 950 will do you fine, but if you're wanting to play something like the Witcher 3 at mid-high settings then it would probably be better saving a bit more and going for a 380 or more for that price range.

Having said that, check ebay for the 380s but can't guarantee the quality they'll be in - but worth a punt if you're looking for price/performance.

 

[Shaun Doyle]

1) I don't think it will drop in price as the aftermarket cards have only just come out - will take a few months to come down in price. The prices seem to be fluctuating alot so you may get a good deal on it, but I don't think near the 150 mark as that's where the 470 will probably sit (or maybe slightly above).

2) AMD's own figures suggest it will be somewhere between a 380 and 390 although I would wait a few days for reviewers to give you actual benchmarks rather then just hyped figures from the company selling the card! They're stating its nearly 1.5-2x faster than a 270X which would be pretty fast as the 270X was around a 7870 - so a bit better than the 6950!

3) I think the prices will come down but not sure if they'll hit 100 because the 460 will be sitting in that segment market so they would cannibalise the new card's sale, so maybe in between the two for it.

Also worth noting that both AMD and NVIDIA have jacked the prices up on their latest offerings so they may fluctuate a fair bit week to week. If you really want to be closer to the 100 mark then the 950 is probably your best bet - it's better then a a 6950 but I don't think it's substantially better and think it would be better to spend a bit more and go for something a bit more powerful like a 380 or 470 (if it's at the advertised performance).

This all depends on what kind of games you play and at what settings? If you're doing e-sports stuff e.g. CSGO, MOBAs, TF2 etc then I think a 950 will do you fine, but if you're wanting to play something like the Witcher 3 at mid-high settings then it would probably be better saving a bit more and going for a 380 or more for that price range.

Having said that, check ebay for the 380s but can't guarantee the quality they'll be in - but worth a punt if you're looking for price/performance.

Thanks a lot for the great reply - lots of interesting stuff

It should be worth noting that with my 6950; I can still play a fair amount of games at 60+ fps at reasonable settings. For example, I can almost cope with 100+ modded Skyrim at medium-high graphics, including HD texture packs... maxed out settings for E-sports still are overkill at hundreds of FPS. However, the more recent games my PC can struggle to handle, I took a heart attack when I tried Rainbow Six: Siege... low/minimum settings and getting 30-45fps at best... Although that might just be because the game is terribly optimized... .

So in your opinion, what would be the average prices of the 380 as well as the 470, UK Priced; at a cheap online seller? Like £130 for the 380 and £155 for the 470? If so, would you consider the 470 a no brainer purchase? Even if it sat, for the sake of argument, at the same level as the 380 in terms of performance? The lower power draw and better driver support in future seem appetizing...

One more thing, will both be fine in terms of cooling? My 6950 is sitting at 50*c whilst semi-idle as I type this message - will the 380/470 be hotter? If so, by how much? I'd rather not have to get an aftermarket cooler or customize my rig too much as this new GPU would be my first upgrade I've done myself(heck, even installing a component!)

Lastly, if taking punts for 380s on ebay, what would be some recommendations to protect myself from shady deals/damaged gpus that explode 1 month later?

Many thanks

 

[souljacker13]

I've not tried Rainbow Six Siege as I can't seem to trust Ubisoft to deliver a good experience on the PC! Having a look on pcpartpicker, cheapest 380 is going for £137.99 (sapphire nitro) which seems like a decent price, but they seem to go up to £200 (not sure why anyone would pay that much when you can get a RX480 for around that price which is a better card!).

If the 470 is around a £150 odd price and it gives you 380-390 performance then that seems like that's the way to go if you can afford it. AMD are fairly decent at driver updates for their range of cards overtime although they take a bit of time with getting them out. I think the 380 would be alright on that front, however the 470 might be a bit better optimised for something like VR hence why I would consider going for the 470 as it's a little bit more future proof and will have better efficiency then the 380.

Not sure how good the RX470 will cool, but I would avoid the reference blower coolers unless it's an ITX build you've got as from the reviews of the RX480 seems the reference coolers are a bit of a miss. The R9 380 cards apparently don't turn the fans on at idle so you can have idle temps up to 50 degrees - you'll have to use a custom fan profile with something like MSI afterburner to help cool the card down - http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/luke-hill/sapphire-r9-380-nitro-4gb-review/12/ (Card going for £137.99)

My advice is to hold fire and wait a few days for the 470 to come out and check the reviews + pricing unless you can get a 380 for like a hundred quid. Also try and get the higher RAM versions i.e. 4gb or above - helps if you're going to have higher res textures in games like Skyrim.

As for Ebay, difficult but I would check if the GPU brand they're selling has a transferable warranty, not sure which ones do but I've bought a XFX 7850 3 years ago and managed to get a RMA replacement with a 2nd hand card at that time. Ask if they have receipt - won't always be the case but good thing to have in case you want to RMA and there is proof of purchase. If the card has a box and materials all in condition. Also seeing if they have any pics of the card running is useful. Trying to see if the cards have been overclocked or used in mining to help prevent getting a banged up card.

Even with these precautions its difficult to say until you have the card. My last card was a 7950 off Ebay around 3 years ago (decided the 7850 wasn't enough at the time) which ran fine with no problems whatsoever.

 

[Shaun Doyle]

I've not tried Rainbow Six Siege as I can't seem to trust Ubisoft to deliver a good experience on the PC! Having a look on pcpartpicker, cheapest 380 is going for £137.99 (sapphire nitro) which seems like a decent price, but they seem to go up to £200 (not sure why anyone would pay that much when you can get a RX480 for around that price which is a better card!).

If the 470 is around a £150 odd price and it gives you 380-390 performance then that seems like that's the way to go if you can afford it. AMD are fairly decent at driver updates for their range of cards overtime although they take a bit of time with getting them out. I think the 380 would be alright on that front, however the 470 might be a bit better optimised for something like VR hence why I would consider going for the 470 as it's a little bit more future proof and will have better efficiency then the 380.

Not sure how good the RX470 will cool, but I would avoid the reference blower coolers unless it's an ITX build you've got as from the reviews of the RX480 seems the reference coolers are a bit of a miss. The R9 380 cards apparently don't turn the fans on at idle so you can have idle temps up to 50 degrees - you'll have to use a custom fan profile with something like MSI afterburner to help cool the card down - http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/luke-hill/sapphire-r9-380-nitro-4gb-review/12/ (Card going for £137.99)

My advice is to hold fire and wait a few days for the 470 to come out and check the reviews + pricing unless you can get a 380 for like a hundred quid. Also try and get the higher RAM versions i.e. 4gb or above - helps if you're going to have higher res textures in games like Skyrim.

As for Ebay, difficult but I would check if the GPU brand they're selling has a transferable warranty, not sure which ones do but I've bought a XFX 7850 3 years ago and managed to get a RMA replacement with a 2nd hand card at that time. Ask if they have receipt - won't always be the case but good thing to have in case you want to RMA and there is proof of purchase. If the card has a box and materials all in condition. Also seeing if they have any pics of the card running is useful. Trying to see if the cards have been overclocked or used in mining to help prevent getting a banged up card.

Even with these precautions its difficult to say until you have the card. My last card was a 7950 off Ebay around 3 years ago (decided the 7850 wasn't enough at the time) which ran fine with no problems whatsoever.

Again, many thanks

I'm pretty much sold on the 470 now... although what you mentioned about its heat output is worrying - If I could get away with a stock reference card I would - I know the aftermarket cards can take a short while to come along and also come at a premium... My case doesn't have the greatest airflow...although I don't know what size my rig is. It is pretty big so it may be full sized for ATX although I am not sure - is there a way to find out easily? My approx dimensions of the case is 45cm x 17 cm x 55cm (give or take 5cm) (Also my motherboard is ATX i believe)

Last little question - is swapping the two graphic cards fairly easy? Like will I need to drill new ports in my case or anything for any extra sockets? (like extra HDMI outlets) - Thanks

 

[souljacker13]

Best way would be finding the model of the case out unless it's a random case manufacturer like CIT. As for your motherboard an easy way would be downloading a program like Speccy which gives you a simple look at the hardware you have and other readings. It should be able to tell you what your motherboard is and by extension if it's ATX or micro ATX.

As for changing graphics cards, the actual process is pretty simple, however I don't recommend buying a card unless you double check the card fits into the case by double checking the dimensions for the card and comparing to your case. I don't imagine the RX4xx series will give you much of an issue fitting it in as you have a 6950 which is a decent size. The biggest issue will be if you go a large 2 fan/3 fan model. If you can't find out what model your case is you could maybe post a pic here?

Here's a good video for installing the card: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyDxrTHDjXQ

The actual HDMI ports are on the card not in the case, so don't worry about drilling new ports! All you need is a phillips screw driver to screw the card in. No problem

 

[Shaun Doyle]

Best way would be finding the model of the case out unless it's a random case manufacturer like CIT. As for your motherboard an easy way would be downloading a program like Speccy which gives you a simple look at the hardware you have and other readings. It should be able to tell you what your motherboard is and by extension if it's ATX or micro ATX.

As for changing graphics cards, the actual process is pretty simple, however I don't recommend buying a card unless you double check the card fits into the case by double checking the dimensions for the card and comparing to your case. I don't imagine the RX4xx series will give you much of an issue fitting it in as you have a 6950 which is a decent size. The biggest issue will be if you go a large 2 fan/3 fan model. If you can't find out what model your case is you could maybe post a pic here?

Here's a good video for installing the card: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyDxrTHDjXQ

The actual HDMI ports are on the card not in the case, so don't worry about drilling new ports! All you need is a phillips screw driver to screw the card in. No problem

Couldn't find the model of the case sadly, but going to link you a screenshot from speccy as well as some pictures of the case (with a CD for measure!)
I don't really know a lot about GPUs but what do you mean by 'large 2 fan/3 fan model'? Guessing these would be after-market, more expensive models? If so - when may they come and are they actually worth the price over the stock card at the £150 range? 😛

http://imgur.com/a/cfz0U

Thanks

 

[souljacker13]

Looks like an ATX motherboard and that case looks fairly decent size. I'm not sure which case that is having a cursory glance - will have to have a look around. But measure from the expansion slots to the hard drive cage to see what your maximum length is.

Yeah i meant the aftermarket models - some of them maybe similarly priced to the reference so keep an eye out! Once the 470 comes out check the reviews for temps. Not sure when the aftermarket ones are coming out but i imagine within a month of the reference card - Regardless of buying the RX470 it will hopefully drop the price on other cards in the market so it is worth waiting a bit to see whats on offer although I would imagine the 470 will be fairly good value for money (unless it becomes like 170-180 odd then thats not worth it as thats encroaching 480 territory).

 

[Shaun Doyle]

Looks like an ATX motherboard and that case looks fairly decent size. I'm not sure which case that is having a cursory glance - will have to have a look around. But measure from the expansion slots to the hard drive cage to see what your maximum length is.

Yeah i meant the aftermarket models - some of them maybe similarly priced to the reference so keep an eye out! Once the 470 comes out check the reviews for temps. Not sure when the aftermarket ones are coming out but i imagine within a month of the reference card - Regardless of buying the RX470 it will hopefully drop the price on other cards in the market so it is worth waiting a bit to see whats on offer although I would imagine the 470 will be fairly good value for money (unless it becomes like 170-180 odd then thats not worth it as thats encroaching 480 territory).

I couldn't really open my case up just yet...mostly because I was a bit lazy and didn't wanna take out the fans... >.<
But here is the tape measure - Where the 'Arbico' sticker ends, the front panel begins' - Also this is measuring from the I/O side of the case all the way to the front 😛
http://imgur.com/v8gpaq8 - I would have took more pictures but my phone died >.<

I believe the 6950 is like 11.5 inches according to the internet so it should be fine - I guess, like you suggested, it is just a waiting game 😛 - Considering I play mostly CSGO, Terraria, Mount and Blade and other medium-low intensity games, I should survive another couple of months.... hopefully prices don't get jacked up for Christmas

 

[souljacker13]

The hard drive cage is about the only thing you'll need to be concerned causing an issue but I think if the 6950 fits then shouldn't be much of an issue.

If it's just indies and esport type games tbh with you a 470 might be overkill and a 950 may do the job although I feel if you're going to upgrade it should give you a bit more of a bump (if you play AAAs). Looking at the GPU hierarchy on Toms: (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gpu-hierarchy,review-33383.html) the 950 is about 2 tiers higher (The 950 is around the same level as GTX 660 Ti, GTX 760). The 470 will probably be around 4 tiers higher then the 6950.

The 470 would give you a bit more headroom in the AAA titles if you need that but if you feel you don't then the 950 is a solid choice. It's all down to games you play/want to play and at what settings. Hopefully the 470 comes at a barnstorming price/performance that's hard to say no to!

 

[Shaun Doyle]

The hard drive cage is about the only thing you'll need to be concerned causing an issue but I think if the 6950 fits then shouldn't be much of an issue.

If it's just indies and esport type games tbh with you a 470 might be overkill and a 950 may do the job although I feel if you're going to upgrade it should give you a bit more of a bump (if you play AAAs). Looking at the GPU hierarchy on Toms: (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gpu-hierarchy,review-33383.html) the 950 is about 2 tiers higher (The 950 is around the same level as GTX 660 Ti, GTX 760). The 470 will probably be around 4 tiers higher then the 6950.

The 470 would give you a bit more headroom in the AAA titles if you need that but if you feel you don't then the 950 is a solid choice. It's all down to games you play/want to play and at what settings. Hopefully the 470 comes at a barnstorming price/performance that's hard to say no to!

Sorry for the slow reply -

Now that the 470 has been released, what are your thoughts? I see the performance seems pretty damn good, although the price is a lot higher than expected.... Do so feel that prices might come down once the aftermarket 480s come in; or maybe a 470 reference will come out? - Right now it seems you could get a 480 for near enough the same price..... Heck, is it even worth waiting to see what the 460 may offer at what price, if the 470 surprise results and pricing are anything to go by?

 

[souljacker13]

The performance is great but seems a bit pointless to price them so close to the RX480s - it seems like it's essentially a similar difference between a 6950 to a 6970 or 7950 boost to 7970 with RAM being a part of playing at higher resolutions. Honestly speaking, I can't seem them settling down for a couple of months at least! The cheapest 470 is £164.99 off of overclockers (http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sapphire-radeon-rx-470-4096mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-with-backplate-overclockers-2490899), with most of the cards between 180-200 with the 480s now 200-250 odd depending on RAM.

Might be a point to see how the 460 fares compared to the 950 but it looks the 950 or a second hand 380 would be the way to go for yourself - it's out in 2 days and you've waited this long! One thing to note - had a look on ebay and the 380x models are going for 130-140 odd 2nd hand.

I have a suspicion that the 460 is going to be around 140-150 as that would give them enough of a gap compared to the RX 470. but let's see - crazy market at the moment!

 

[Shaun Doyle]

The performance is great but seems a bit pointless to price them so close to the RX480s - it seems like it's essentially a similar difference between a 6950 to a 6970 or 7950 boost to 7970 with RAM being a part of playing at higher resolutions. Honestly speaking, I can't seem them settling down for a couple of months at least! The cheapest 470 is £164.99 off of overclockers (http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sapphire-radeon-rx-470-4096mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-with-backplate-overclockers-2490899), with most of the cards between 180-200 with the 480s now 200-250 odd depending on RAM.

Might be a point to see how the 460 fares compared to the 950 but it looks the 950 or a second hand 380 would be the way to go for yourself - it's out in 2 days and you've waited this long! One thing to note - had a look on ebay and the 380x models are going for 130-140 odd 2nd hand.

I have a suspicion that the 460 is going to be around 140-150 as that would give them enough of a gap compared to the RX 470. but let's see - crazy market at the moment!

Yup - super crazy! - only issue with Ebay is the risk of the cards being previously bitcoin mining. Other cards I see often require the buyer to have had good feedback ratings rather than be a fresh account with no purchase history!

The pricing is really throwing me off - It seems like the prices have been jacked up and may stay that way.... I may even consider holding off buying another card till Christmas/after Christmas as they surely should drop a fair amount by then *fingers crossed* When Nvidia announce their lineup, I hope it pushes down AMD's prices... do you think it will?

Anyways, thanks so much for all the help! It has been fun!

For now I may just go buy an air can and give the insides some gale force winds ^_^ My idle temp on my CPU is 40c.....idle on my gpu is 50c.... 😛

P.S: on the off chance you know, do you know what might cause faulty starts on a PC? For years now my PC only boots 20% of the time I press the power button (when the red L.E.D shows, I know it will boot...other times the fans and what not will turn on but I will not get a red LED on my case and the monitor doesn't switch on 😛 It has been like that for years so I imagine it isn't too serious - but something that bugs 😛

 

[souljacker13]

That's definitely the biggest risk with Ebay and unfortunately no way to mitigate it. If you can wait that long I'd hope the prices drop!

That's probably the easiest way to help with temps. For your CPU maybe try some new thermal paste if you want or invest in more case fans if you can.

Not sure tbh with you - possibly a power supply issue not giving enough juice?

Yeah man, it's been fun trying to figure out what this crazy market is going to be like! It's a shame that the 470 prices were skewed. Let me know how it goes regardless!

Cheers.

 

[souljacker13]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgCTyrQ05og

14:45 mins there's some solid advice in video card purchases! Basically - 950 or 380/380x