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6970 or Sli GTX 460?

Zeebedy

Zeebedy

Zeebedy

Soldato
Joined
28 Jan 2011
Posts
8,535
Hey guys, I have previously put a post down regarding setup. Just want to clarify a few things before I take the plunge beginning of next week.

I will be using my computer for primarily Adobe CS4 and a little gaming. What I want to know is am I better off (for a triple screen setup) with a single XFX 6970 and EYEfinity it, or getting two Asus GTX 460s through Sli?

Thanks guys, RIJ
 
6970 for 3 screens because of the ram. According to stulids link the 460s are only slightly ahead but you only get 1gb ram.
 
Thanks for the replys guys. I think I will go with the 6970, but one thing, what brand do I go for, or is there little to pick between them?

HIS, OCUK or XFX?

RTJ
 
Ahh, good thinking. One thing though is it really easy enough to FLASH and also does it hamper or reduce the life of the GC?

RTJ
 
I don't have a 6950 myself but apparently its not too difficult.

Its well worth doing and its not damaging the card as the 6970 and 6950 are very similar. There is a massive thread on how to do it at the top of this Sub forum. Have a read of that and decide if you want to go down that route

edit: All this talk of 6950's is making me want a pair myself
 
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Cheers dude, will look into it, doesnt look too difficult (famous last words!) But I have a friend who will know how to do it assuming I mess it up! :)

RTJ
 
rip-the-jacker said:
Ahh, good thinking. One thing though is it really easy enough to FLASH and also does it hamper or reduce the life of the GC?

RTJ
Click to expand...

Yes it's really easy. Best thing to do is start reading through this thread. http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=137136

It's best to just unlock the shaders though. Read through that linked thread to get an understanding. You'll see that the problems the few are having is due to having the 6970 BIOS on instead of just unlocking the shaders. This happens as the 6970 has higher spec memory than the 6950 so some 6950s can't handle the new memory timings and this can damage the card.

My 6950 wasn't stable with the 6970 memory timings so I just unlocked my shaders and kept my 6950 memory timings. I used some software to bump my voltages back to 6970 1.175v and can bench at 975Mhz core and 1500Mhz memory. Playing Crisis I have to back down to 950Mhz core and 1450Mhz memory as it starts to get hot. (I can hit 1000Mhz on the core with another voltage bump)

So even though I had a problem to begin with, the simple unlock now has given me a 6970 with 6950 mem timings which will differ by about 0.5FPS difference on average. So yeah, I've got a 6970 :D. No glitches or problems since changing back to 6950 memory timings and my card is rock solid and performs well.

As for how it will affect the life of the card, well I've never had a card die on me. I think I still have a working 9800Pro and I used to overclock it. So you're safe. It will lessen the life expectancy but not in a way that should affect you before you upgrade again.
 
rip-the-jacker said:
Cheers dude, will look into it, doesnt look too difficult (famous last words!) But I have a friend who will know how to do it assuming I mess it up! :)

RTJ
Click to expand...
It is about the simplest mod you will ever do, if you get the batch files and do as the instructions say, then it takes about 4 clicks of a mouse, reset the pc and your away!:)
 
I would research before flashing as there are threads here and on other forums saying cards are developing problems after flashing to 6970, there are other mods that dont involve flashing to 6970 such as shader unlocks.

I use an unmodded 6950 and can run crysis at 1920 x 1080 with everything set to very high.
 
rgallie said:
I would research before flashing as there are threads here and on other forums saying cards are developing problems after flashing to 6970, there are other mods that dont involve flashing to 6970 such as shader unlocks.

I use an unmodded 6950 and can run crysis at 1920 x 1080 with everything set to very high.
Click to expand...

Explained in my post in #9. It's all down to the memory timings. Unlocked shaders and same clock as 6970 = a 6970.
 
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