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Which card?

tony888

tony888

tony888

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Joined
31 Jul 2008
Posts
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London
So i recently started gaming on my pc and decide to upgrade my graphic card for my birthday :D but not sure what card will offer the best bang for buck. My budget is around £100 - £150 maybe a little bit more. Currently gaming on 1680 x 1050 resolution with my asus 5770.

I've been looking at these two cards at the moment

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-147-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-028-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

Is the 6950 worth the extra £ and is there any other cards I should be looking at?

PC specs:
Antec 300
q6600 @ 3.3GHz
p5q pro
4GB ram
Asus 5770
Corsair HX650
 
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At your resolution either one of those cards will max games out at smooth FPS easily.

Although as posted above for the extra £3 get the 6950 as it does perform better and will last longer than the 5870, plus you get 3 pretty decent/good games.

EDIT:

Comparison of a 5770 and the 6950 1GB for games at your resolution:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Prod...7.211.214.217.220.221.228.229.231.232.234.235


And if you really want to save yourself some money, have a look at this card:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1711

Comparison of 6950 1GB and 5850:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Prod...7.211.214.217.220.221.228.229.231.232.234.235


If your motherboard supports crossfire, you could always buy another 5770 for pretty cheap now and get a much better jump in performance for much less than a new card (6950/5870), iirc slightly better than a single 5870 performance.
 
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thanks for replies, I was leaning toward the 6950 :D Would this fit into the antec 300 with ease and whats all this unlocking shaders/6970 meelarky? Sorry for being a total noob stepping into new territory here lol

Edit - Would by psu be ok and is my CPU a bottleneck for this card?
 
tony888 said:
thanks for replies, I was leaning toward the 6950 :D Would this fit into the antec 300 with ease and whats all this unlocking shaders/6970 meelarky? Sorry for being a total noob stepping into new territory here lol

Edit - Would by psu be ok and is my CPU a bottleneck for this card?
Click to expand...

I think it should be fine, someone will need to confirm the size though :), pretty sure someone actually posted a pic of it in a 300 somewhere on this forum a few days ago, but can't remember where exactly :p


Pretty much buy a 6950, use the guide on this site and unlock to a 6970, therefore you have got yourself essentially a 6970 (in terms of performance in games) for a lot less money than actually buying a proper 6970.

Yes that PSU is more than fine and your CPU is perfectly fine for it as well, still a very good CPU for gaming.

EDIT:

Although I don't think the 1GB 6950 cards can be unlocked to a 6970, only the 2GB ones REV 1 iirc.
 
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Unlocking shaders can only be done with 2 Gb ref 1 6950's.
Running 2 unlocked 6950 2Gb ref 1's in xfire on a q6600 @ 3.6, 750W Seasonic psu.
Beats a 580 with ease for less money!
 
hmmm... just found the XFX 5870 for £137.99 which is very tempting, would the 6950 still be the better option?
 
For that price, it is a very good buy considering the performance, very much neck in neck with the 6950 1GB card.

Comparison of 6950 1GB to 5870 in games at your resolution:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Prod...7.211.214.217.220.221.228.229.231.232.234.235

Either one of those cards for that resolution is great, you won't be disappointed with either of them.

If it where me in your situation, I would grab the 5870 at that price.
 
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Thanks for all the replies :D decided to go for the XFX 5870 hoprefully it will last me until the next generation of graphic card.
 
It's a great card, especially for £138 I used to have one myself.
Fantastic value considering the 480 costs an extra £62 which isn't worth it imo.
 
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