6870- 6950 upgrade

easyrider · 21 Dec 2010 at 22:41

I bought my 6870 and sold it due to not playing enough games.

My mate bought the 6870 on release same as me and now he's saying he wants to upgrade to a 6950.

I have told him its not worth it.But he won't listen. The cost to him will be £40 after selling his card to his mate in work so he reckons.

Help him make the right decision.

Cheers

easy

ethan · 21 Dec 2010 at 22:46

Only really worthwhile if he would be planning to hang on to the upgrade for when it is games might be needing the extra ram or playing at higher resolutions. Somebody also mentioned the 6950 would be advantageous for supersampling.

JediFragger · 21 Dec 2010 at 22:58

Aye best to leave him to it, it's his money after all!

easyrider · 21 Dec 2010 at 23:03

I was just putting it out there so he can spend more money on beer this christmas

Randomface74 · 21 Dec 2010 at 23:14

Not worth it - but you already told him... let him learn from his mistake.

easyrider · 21 Dec 2010 at 23:44

I guess its only 40 quid....But still its the principle

sand_dune · 22 Dec 2010 at 03:03

6950 is faster and overclocks like mad, while 6870 doesn't

GangsterSte · 22 Dec 2010 at 04:59

Keep the 6870 for 2 years, sell it, get another. I had the same option. Yes the 6950 overclocks better, as the 6870 well, you may get a 8% overclock. But I just thought geez where do I stop? I have an i5 why not get an i7 they are new. Unless your friend has an unlimted budget then he should probably keep with what he has, the 6870 is a good card and will play every game out there for the next 2 years. I'd say he would be wise to keep the card, but some people have more money than sense, sadly I am not one of those people

Marine-RX179 · 22 Dec 2010 at 05:12

sand_dune said:
6950 is faster and overclocks like mad, while 6870 doesn't

Really? Love to see your source on that, as most people struggle to push the 6950 beyond 860MHz, which is just a mere 80MHz/10% overclock.

easyrider · 22 Dec 2010 at 09:30

Marine-RX179 said:
Really? Love to see your source on that, as most people struggle to push the 6950 beyond 860MHz, which is just a mere 80MHz/10% overclock.

Isn't that the limitations of CCC and not having voltage control available?

http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-6970-and-hd-6950-review/10474-12.html

Scougar · 22 Dec 2010 at 10:00

I wouldn't be applying your principles to him easyrider. If he wants to do it let him.

£40 sounds ok for an upgrade to me.

straxusii · 22 Dec 2010 at 10:02

Would be about 12% faster according to techpowerup, the upgrade would be a total waste of time and money. He won't even notice the performance improvement in gaming.

easyrider · 22 Dec 2010 at 10:08

I guess the saving grace would be the resale value of the 6950 over the 6870 if he decides to sell.

The 6950 would keep its value longer

Scougar · 22 Dec 2010 at 10:35

Difference between cheapest 6870 (1120 SPS @900Mhz) and cheapest 6950 (1408 SP's @ 800Mhz) is £32 on OcUK. £40 for an upgrade seems pretty good to me. I'd do it even if the perceived performance difference is only 12%.

Marine-RX179 · 22 Dec 2010 at 11:04

easyrider said:
Isn't that the limitations of CCC and not having voltage control available?

http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-6970-and-hd-6950-review/10474-12.html

Overclocked by 115MHz is 'good' overclock, but that's hardy "overclocks like mad" as sand_dune claims. If it can hit 1,000MHz...then he can claim that.

easyrider · 22 Dec 2010 at 11:05

Its still a clock though. And when voltage tweak is out and working we could see even higher clocks...

Marine-RX179 · 22 Dec 2010 at 11:30

easyrider said:
Its still a clock though. And when voltage tweak is out and working we could see even higher clocks...

Certainly would hope so. But still questioning the quality of the cores that are being used 6950 could be being those that doesn't make the grade for 6970, thus overclock might still be limited even with voltage tweak...

easyrider · 22 Dec 2010 at 11:57

Marine-RX179 said:
Certainly would hope so. But still questioning the quality of the cores that are being used 6950 could be being those that doesn't make the grade for 6970, thus overclock might still be limited even with voltage tweak...

Still if they all do 900mhz thats not to shabby I guess..

Helios1234 · 22 Dec 2010 at 13:40

easyrider said:
Still if they all do 900mhz thats not to shabby I guess..

They don't, that's the problem.

flopper · 22 Dec 2010 at 13:50

Marine-RX179 said:
Really? Love to see your source on that, as most people struggle to push the 6950 beyond 860MHz, which is just a mere 80MHz/10% overclock.

900mhz and counting.

2 cards.