Which of the following cards give the most bang for the buck?

wuggi

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Hi there,

I'm slowly gathering information in order to make a build for my new computer. I'm planning on making a sandybridge system so I've obviously got a few months before I can actually purchase the parts due to the chipset recall.
In the mean time though I'm looking at graphics cards. I've provided a list with the cards that I'm looking at currently. The thing is I live in Denmark and we don't have fancy newegg or something like that here, so I'll just provide the prices for the cards in dollars.
I'd like some opinions on how much value I'd get with the cards, including sli/crossfire options as I'd like keeping that door open as a means of future upgrading.


Radeon 6870 310$

Radeon 5870 365$

Radeon 6950 370$

GTX 470 330$

GTX 560 ti 350$
 
These charts can be deceptive because the cheaper cards that you would never want are often a better "bang for the buck".

You need to list a monitor resolution. At lower resolutions, the GTX560Ti is the best of those you listed, and has very effective cooling that allows for a quiet and cool dual card setup.

perfdollar.gif
 

benski

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Tough choice, they are all about $100 bucks more than over here. I vote for the 6950 at those prices. Might as well get the best card since they are all overpriced.

 

wuggi

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my monitor resolution is 1920x1200

Yeah I know that value drops as prices increase I was just looking for some general info on those specific cards. As for the first reply, I live in denmark that's why the prices are so high ( no we don't have dollars over here but those prices I listed are what those cards costs here)
The gtx 570 you linked costs 485$ over here.

 

minitron815

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Canadian dollars? Still seems overpriced considering an American dollar is equal to a Canadian dollar.

Anyways for the states the best price/performance cards are:
GTX 460 - $120-160 after MIR; 768 are obviously cheaper than the 1gb.
HD 6950 - $260
GTX 560 - $250

Anything besides these cards will probably not be as good in terms of value. Maybe if you get a 470 on clearance since they are EOL.
 
Going by the chart matto just linked and the prices you provided;
Radeon 6870 = $310/89 = 3.52

Radeon 5870 = $365/98 = 3.72

Radeon 6950 = $370/101 = 3.66

GTX 470 = $330/88 = 3.75

GTX 560 ti = $350/93 = 3.76

So the HD6870 wins in terms of pure performance for the dollar. However the HD6950 comes in second and you should be able to unlock the card into an HD6970 which changes the math to $370/112 = 3.30 which puts it well ahead of any other card listed. These numbers are all at reference however and the GTX 560 is almost always sold with a factory OC. I think you would need one for the price you listed clocked around 950mhz to challenge the unlocked HD6950 in terms of pure performance for the dollar.
 

Bigmac80

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Well it really all depends on what game you are playing. If you aren't playing metro 2033 or Crysis or anything high in demand then a gtx 560 or amd 6870 will do. But if you want really good fps the gtx 570 or 6950 in crossfire or sli will be your best choice. But for me since i don't play metro 2033 im fine with my gtx 295 since it handles all the games i play. But if your not in a hurry and wouldn't mind waiting for aleast 6months or so i'd wait for the new Nvidia or AMD card to release. Im sure they'll will be twice as fast as a gtx 570 or 6950. Thats what im doing is waiting for something other then the 6900 or gtx 500 series...
 

wuggi

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Thanks for the replies so far.

Is it simple to flash the 6950 (2gb) to a 6970 ? or is it something which can't be done all the time like unlocking the 4th core on the phenom II x3's