is the radeon 6950 really a good card??

tresoldipaolo · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:20

I there, i recently bought as many did ,from what i cuold see from the sale ,a msi 6950 radeonn 2gb.
I will like also in this tread to help me out in case i do not follow proper procedure.
I was expecting from this card ,as my old was a gts250 asus geforce, some kind of wonder considering that the price is medium high. but i have to say i did not find a huge difference, actually at time the card seams with battlefield bad company 2 be slower on response , i run a benchmark, with just cause 2 giving 25/40 fps , something thai was reaching with my gts, i have to say i did not flash the bios for a 6970 , but i was thinking to find a difference neverless. It is just me?? or does anyone can actually help me out and see if i can tweak more , apart from flashing, the card?
My system:
Window 7 64 bit
8gb corsair xms 1.333mhz
phenom IIx4 955
dgm monitor connection dvi
ocz700sxs power supply
msi 770c45 mobo
asus xonar dg 5.1
500 gb hd 7200 rpm
does maybe my system bottleneck the card.
I know the immediate answer will be flash the bios , but i was sincerely expecting a bit more from the basic before upgrade.

[timko] · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:23

You've listed quite a lot of detail but you've not stated what resolution you're playing at. Also, is your Phenom overclocked?

LiamJ · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:27

The 6950 should give you close to double the performance.

I see no immediate problems with your hardware. What's performance like in other games/benchmarks?

Marine-RX179 · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:30

Well ...either you are:

1. gaming at low resolution
2. your Phenom II 955 at stock speed is letting you down
3. BOTH the above.

tresoldipaolo · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:32

sorry 1680x1050

tresoldipaolo · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:33

and no the phenom it is not overclocked.

Sgt Tackleberry · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:49

I would say overclock your cpu and see if that helps.

pob9 · 17 Mar 2011 at 20:59

use gpu z to check what gpu usage u are getting

Emlyn_Dewar · 17 Mar 2011 at 21:04

Something is wrong, I run my 955 at stock speed and get way more than that in Just Cause 2 @ 1920x1200 with aa/af turned on...

Nvidia drivers uninstalled correctly?
What AMD drivers are you running?

I'd try and find the problem before overclocking the CPU.

Marvin · 17 Mar 2011 at 21:06

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Something is wrong, I run my 955 at stock speed and get way more than that in Just Cause 2 @ 1920x1200 with aa/af turned on...

Nvidia drivers uninstalled correctly? <- This
What AMD drivers are you running? <- And this

I'd try and find the problem before overclocking the CPU.

tresoldipaolo · 17 Mar 2011 at 21:18

i might try to fix the driver better, problably the nvidia are not fully deleted i had a problem on removing them.
the driver i got the from the disk as start and then from the amd website as a single download, driver and open cl.
for the processor is a 955 2 x4 3.2 ghz , i tought it could give a bit of power.

Emlyn_Dewar · 17 Mar 2011 at 21:23

Remember, don't use driver cleaner on Windows 7.

Might need the NV card back in to reinstall the drivers.
Remove the AMD drivers and reinstall from website.

The 6950 is a great card, once you've got it sorted you'll be happy with the upgrade.

Andrei23 · 17 Mar 2011 at 21:26

tresoldipaolo said:
i might try to fix the driver better, problably the nvidia are not fully deleted i had a problem on removing them.
the driver i got the from the disk as start and then from the amd website as a single download, driver and open cl.
for the processor is a 955 2 x4 3.2 ghz , i tought it could give a bit of power.

If I were you I would do a clean os install to get rid of anything nvidia in your system and then install ati drivers. I had the same problem as you, went from a gtx 460 768 to a 6950 and I only felt the difference after I did a fresh install of windows

joemo13 · 17 Mar 2011 at 21:50

Andrei23 said:
If I were you I would do a clean os install to get rid of anything nvidia in your system and then install ati drivers. I had the same problem as you, went from a gtx 460 768 to a 6950 and I only felt the difference after I did a fresh install of windows

Did the 6950 give you a fairly decent performance increase then?

ahenners · 17 Mar 2011 at 22:47

joemo13 said:
Did the 6950 give you a fairly decent performance increase then?

It gave me a decent performance increase from a 4870 and I game at a higher res.

The 6950 is a good card, even better if flashed and clocked. With a decent processor it will easily cope with the latest and greatest of demanding games

tommybhoy · 17 Mar 2011 at 23:12

[email protected] 6950(unlocked shaders)@ 810MHz+1250MHz
For you to compare:
The Dark Tower @1680x1050

muggs · 17 Mar 2011 at 23:46

exactly same as above except only 4gb of ram

what mobo you running tommy?

94E896DF6A559A0CFB3FA2AFC9FCD42A41057C1C

tommybhoy · 18 Mar 2011 at 00:14

muggs said:
what mobo you running tommy?

P5Q-E, the old dogs coming up on three years old now

tresoldipaolo · 18 Mar 2011 at 01:27

ops. a clean install will take me ages , but i tought that would have been good too , i will put some time in it and try to do a clean install , my frame r\te is 40 in just cause,my processor is phenom 2 x4 955 3.2 ghz i tought it would not bee so bad do with this card, but i might try then to overclock too, and see if i get that vivid color thati found with thegeforce. i dont know if bfbc2 run physix , inthat case will explain a bit the change , but for the rest i will hunt down the nvidia driver and see, thank you guys for all the answer , i have to say i was tempted to send it back and get a gtx, but i will give it a try , if it is only a driver problem, and then maybe overclock or before the end of the year go for the 8 core amd , then i will see the difference.
obviuosly the monitor will make difference too but then i need to be rich and get all a new system.

Andrei23 · 18 Mar 2011 at 02:07

tresoldipaolo said:
ops. a clean install will take me ages , but i tought that would have been good too , i will put some time in it and try to do a clean install , my frame r\te is 40 in just cause,my processor is phenom 2 x4 955 3.2 ghz i tought it would not bee so bad do with this card, but i might try then to overclock too, and see if i get that vivid color thati found with thegeforce. i dont know if bfbc2 run physix , inthat case will explain a bit the change , but for the rest i will hunt down the nvidia driver and see, thank you guys for all the answer , i have to say i was tempted to send it back and get a gtx, but i will give it a try , if it is only a driver problem, and then maybe overclock or before the end of the year go for the 8 core amd , then i will see the difference.
obviuosly the monitor will make difference too but then i need to be rich and get all a new system.

I was tempted to send my 6950 back as well coming from a gtx 460 768 as I did not see major improvements. After I did a clean install of the OS though performance went up 50-60% in the games I am playing