Keep 6970 or replace with a GTX 570?

Shetlander · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:22

Im in a bit of a dilema of my own making. I jumped on the band wagon last night and purchased a 6970 before reading the reviews. I, like most was hoping for something special and now feel a little dissapointed.
My 6970 has been packed ready for dispatch and Overclockers say I can return it when it arrives. My dilema is this.
I can only use 1 graphics card in my PC due to plumbing etc so will never use crossfire or SLI which seems to be one plus in keeping the 6970. Im confused by the reviews as to which card is the quieter, some say 6970, some say 570. Also the same story with temps and power. The 570 has water blocks readilly available. Im not sure how long the EK ones will be?
The GTX 570 seems to get the overall vote from all the various results but does anyone think that AMD will be able to pull back any ground with improved drivers similar to the 58** series?
Should I stick with my 6970 or will I be better with the GTX 570.
I only replace my card every year or 2 and game at 1920 x 1080.

RavenXXX2 · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:39

Keep it, it matches a 570 for the most part, wins some and loses some but not by much, has more ram and you can always overclock it for even more performance. Regarding drivers AMD made some significant performace increases via drivers for the 5*** cards, so signs are we can expect the same with the 69** cards.

MoRT489 · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:44

as u've already placed the order it would be silly to send it back paying a £10 in postage when the cards perform so similarly for the most part.

Phoenixdancer · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:46

EK will have a waterblock out soon, Eddy is fast at sorting new blocks out.

Nocky24 · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:50

Yeh just keep it mate, there's not much difference. I decided between the two this morning and went for the 570, but it was basically all down to my nvidia vs. radeon preferences and of course price.

hughythomas · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:55

I am in the same position myself...

Jumped on the bandwagon late last night caught up in the flurry of all the hype surrounding the release of the 6970. I am expecting the card through the post tomorrow. I too run a watercooled TJ07 and want a decent upgrade from my currently overclocked 5870 1GB.

The only reason I am considering keeping the 6970 is due to the ram increase for GTA IV (which I play a lot).

I am also extremely tempted to send back the 6970 and grab a GTX 580 instead. I am wary of multi-gpu setups and thus, would probably not even consider the possibility of grabbing another 6970 for crossfire due to micro-stutter (which I can only presume is still an issue with the 69xx series).

My current setup:

TJ07 watercooled
Intel Core i5 750 @ 4.00Ghz (1.325v)
MSI GD65 P55
4GB G.Skill DDR3 1600Mhz
ASUS Radeon EAH5870 v1 (1000,1200 - core,mem)
Crucial C300 64 SSD
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
M-Audio Firewire Solo soundcard
Corsair HX850W PSU
Dell Ultrasharp 24" 2407WFP

Any thoughts guys?

Mr Krugga · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:56

Keep it.

@hughythomas

Either keep the 6970, get GTX580 (waste of money IMO) or get a GTX480 (this should exceed GTX570 capabilities by a fair margin).

seena · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:57

cant believe this man in our place
6970 costs as much as gtx 580
and 6950 as much as gtx570

Damn is there a hidden potential in 6970 and 6950?

Mr Krugga · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:59

seena said:
cant believe this man in our place
6970 costs as much as gtx 580
and 6950 as much as gtx570

kitch9 · 15 Dec 2010 at 12:59

Shetlander said:
Im in a bit of a dilema of my own making. I jumped on the band wagon last night and purchased a 6970 before reading the reviews. I, like most was hoping for something special and now feel a little dissapointed.
My 6970 has been packed ready for dispatch and Overclockers say I can return it when it arrives. My dilema is this.
I can only use 1 graphics card in my PC due to plumbing etc so will never use crossfire or SLI which seems to be one plus in keeping the 6970. Im confused by the reviews as to which card is the quieter, some say 6970, some say 570. Also the same story with temps and power. The 570 has water blocks readilly available. Im not sure how long the EK ones will be?
The GTX 570 seems to get the overall vote from all the various results but does anyone think that AMD will be able to pull back any ground with improved drivers similar to the 58** series?
Should I stick with my 6970 or will I be better with the GTX 570.
I only replace my card every year or 2 and game at 1920 x 1080.

I've just picked mine up from OcUK this morning (Gibbo gave me 3 free games as I was the first punter to mention the forum deal! Nice 1 Gibbo!)

I'll let you know how I get on once I've installed n tested....

hughythomas · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:03

thanks kitch

RavenXXX2 · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:04

kitch9 said:
I've just picked mine up from OcUK this morning (Gibbo gave me 3 free games as I was the first punter to mention the forum deal! Nice 1 Gibbo!)

I'll let you know how I get on once I've installed n tested....

Three games and a discount, great service.

Jay85 · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:04

seena said:
cant believe this man in our place
6970 costs as much as gtx 580
and 6950 as much as gtx570

Damn is there a hidden potential in 6970 and 6950?

Something is really wrong there.

bazmo · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:04

what games did you get kitch9? Am thinking of making my way down to pick one up but can't decide whether its worth it?

Am also torn between the MSI 570 and a 6950/6970, so the game might make all the difference!

obiwanquinobi` · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:08

OK Someone answer me quickly and sensibly, please.

Current card 4870 1GB

6970 or GTX 570?

opethdisciple · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:20

obiwanquinobi` said:
OK Someone answer me quickly and sensibly, please.

Current card 4870 1GB

6970 or GTX 570?

Think the cards are equal. The only difference, is the 6970 has 2gb ram whilst the GTX 570 will be better at tesselation.

(I'v left out, physx, eyefinity, 3d vision from the equation)

Actually the 6970 is amazingly quiet and cool as well, from benchmarks Raven has posted.

Look at some benchmarks, choose your card based on the games you like to play, and which of the two has the upper hand.

Shetlander · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:22

kitch9 said:
I've just picked mine up from OcUK this morning (Gibbo gave me 3 free games as I was the first punter to mention the forum deal! Nice 1 Gibbo!)

I'll let you know how I get on once I've installed n tested....

As a forum member I enquired about getting a free game (as Its highly unlikely im gona appear in person to pick up the card) instead of any kind of free delivery or discount and got turned down. Even though I paid over the odds for RMSD at £25 and have spent over £650 in less than a week.
It was worth a try, If you dont ask you dont get.

Gibbo · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:24

kitch9 said:
I've just picked mine up from OcUK this morning (Gibbo gave me 3 free games as I was the first punter to mention the forum deal! Nice 1 Gibbo!)

I'll let you know how I get on once I've installed n tested....

Hi there

No problem, hope you enjoy the card.

obiwanquinobi` · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:29

opethdisciple said:
Think the cards are equal. The only difference, is the 6970 has 2gb ram whilst the GTX 570 will be better at tesselation.

(I'v left out, physx, eyefinity, 3d vision from the equation)

Actually the 6970 is amazingly quiet and cool as well, from benchmarks Raven has posted.

Look at some benchmarks, choose your card based on the games you like to play, and which of the two has the upper hand.

I think I'm going for quietness and power consumption. So the ATI card is probably winner there. I think I'd like to try the 3D Vision at some point though..

Still undecided.

Marine-RX179 · 15 Dec 2010 at 13:31

opethdisciple said:
Think the cards are equal. The only difference, is the 6970 has 2gb ram whilst the GTX 570 will be better at tesselation..

For 1920 res with 4xAA, the GTX570 would have better minimum frame rate than the 6970 though.

Black OPs 1920x1200 4xAA 16xAF= 2fps higher:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/7
Just Cause 2 1920x1200 4xAA 16xAF= 2fps higher:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/8
BFBC2 1920x1200 4xAA 16xAF=7fps higher:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/12/15/ati-radeon-hd-6970-review/9

But I agree...if it's gonna cost the OP extra money for sending the 6970 back, then it's probably not worth the hassle at all...unless he's crazy about BFBC2

OP how much did your 6970 cost by the way? If it costed like £300 and over, then may be it is worth sending it back and get the £270 Gigabyte GTX570 that OcUK has on this week's offer. But if it is the HIS 6970 that only costed you like £280, then don't bother (unless you play BFBC2 a lot hehe).