GTX 480 or HD6950

[rolypolyman]

If i had this choice when i goy my 470 id take the 6950, less heat and noise, lower power draw and you get a free upgrade to a 6970. Iv got 3 monitors but cant use them lol. To be fair after clocking it 50% faster it keepa up with a 6970 but its cost me in the long run with waterblock and more rads to dral with the insane heat

should have bought the Gelid Icy Vision for £36 and still not maxxed out got 876\1752\1674 max temp 63c looping Heaven benchmark.
Oh and I'd go for the 480.

 

[tigerblood]

480 all the way baby

^^^ what they said, i love mine

 

[tommybhoy]

i have been using one of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

its really nice and even in a 902 with all fans on low maxing out at 50C so the hd6950 twin frozer http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-113-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

I wouldn't get the frozr II as it doesn't have twin bios switch, the frozr III has just been released with the twin bios switch.

As stated above if your thinking at all about triple screens, or twin cards then the 6950>70 is the way to go. Regardless of stock/custom coolers the heat of the 480 still needs to be dispersed either inside/outside the case and with summer coming your pc temps are about to rise.

 

[buttkinz]

should have bought the Gelid Icy Vision for £36 and still not maxxed out got 876\1752\1674 max temp 63c looping Heaven benchmark.
Oh and I'd go for the 480.

Hehe, i need a silent comp tho as it runs a music studio, i did have the zalman vf cooler on it but was still noisy so junked it. I cant seem to hack noise lol, loudest component noe is the hard drive, sends me mad haha

 

[~REALiTY]

480 - More Powerful, but hotter / noisier

6950 - Less Powerful, cooler / quieter

Both around the same price mark, so it depends what you want out of the card

 

[JeffyB]

If your deffinately going tripple monitor get the 6950, unlock it and happy days

 

[~REALiTY]

If your deffinately going tripple monitor get the 6950, unlock it and happy days

+1 6950 will be so much better for multiple monitors

 

[Operation]

+1 6950 will be so much better for multiple monitors

+2

 

[Taziir]

If you go for the 480 make sure your mobo is not one of the 'incompatible' ones from this list: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=187401

 

[~REALiTY]

Hehe, i need a silent comp tho as it runs a music studio, i did have the zalman vf cooler on it but was still noisy so junked it. I cant seem to hack noise lol, loudest component noe is the hard drive, sends me mad haha

Wouldnt go with the 480 if you want a silent system tbh, although mine is silent with my manual fan control it can get loud if it is on high temps

 

[Marvin]

Would go with the 480 if you want a silent system tbh

That is a joke right?

 

[OCPete]

480 - More Powerful, but hotter / noisier
6950 - Less Powerful, cooler / quieter

Both around the same price mark, so it depends what you want out of the card

480 is not hotter or noisier if you go for the Gigabyte SE version, which runs cool and quiet. The ONLY downsides are power usage, and weaker multi-screen support. But then you do also get 3d vision as well if that is of interest.

 

[~REALiTY]

480 is not hotter or noisier if you go for the Gigabyte SE version, which runs cool and quiet. The ONLY downsides are power usage, and weaker multi-screen support. But then you do also get 3d vision as well if that is of interest.

True, but im commenting from my ASUS one

That is a joke right?

Mistype! it meant to say wouldnt, but yeh ill pass it off as a joke...

 

[Marvin]

480 is not hotter or noisier if you go for the Gigabyte SE version, which runs cool and quiet. The ONLY downsides are power usage, and weaker multi-screen support. But then you do also get 3d vision as well if that is of interest.

*It* doesn't run cool, the cooler simply passes more heat into your case, and more effectively than the stock cooler. Thus system temps will be worse.

 

[OCPete]

*It* doesn't run cool, the cooler simply passes more heat into your case, and more effectively than the stock cooler. Thus system temps will be worse.

IMO Gigabyte GTX480 SE does run cool. By "it" i am referring to the GPU core. The cooler is effective (unlike the std cooler) at keeping the high power useage and thus heat generation of the GF100 under control. Thus "it" does not reach the temperatures in use a referance card gets to. I am referring to these lower temperatures as "cool". I accept its all relative, but i think most would agree these cards run much cooler than referance, and at more "normal" levels.

Yes there is an issue if you have poor case air flow as the card does not vent externally. But that is a seperate issue.

I am not saying the 480 SE uses less power than referance or is more efficent.

 

[sand_dune]

480 draws exactly twice as much power as 6950 under load. And 3 times as much in Idle.