MSI HD 6950 or Nvidia 560 ti ??

ManiacVirus · 30 Apr 2011 at 13:53

Hi, I'm having a dilemma and need some help in deciding the better card to go for.
My choice of cards are the MSI HD 6950 Twin Frozr II/OC
and the Nvidia MSI 560 ti twin frozr II/OC

What are the advantages between the two?
I'm not a fan boy of either and would prefer factual comments rather than just personal preference.

The rest of my basket contains these.

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £161.99

Gigabyte P67A-UD3-B3 Intel P67 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £79.99

Corsair Gaming Series GS 600W 80 Plus Power Supply £67.99

Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £57.98

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98

Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £38.99

Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.59

TP-Link 150Mbps Wireless Lite N PCI Express Adapter (TL-WN781N) £11.75

Thanks in advance!

Surveyor · 30 Apr 2011 at 14:15

Here's a comparison of a standard 6950 to a standard 560:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/293?vs=330

A review of the 560 Twin Frozr II :

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-n560gtx-ti-twin-frozer-ii-review/

A review of the 6950 Twin Frozr II :

http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-r6950-twin-frozr-ii-oc-review/

Similar performance but the 560 is slightly cheaper than the 2GB 6950.

A 1GB 6950 offers similar performance to a 560 but is cheaper.

Neither the 1GB 6950 nor the Twin Frozr II 2GB can be unlocked.

Kanpai · 30 Apr 2011 at 14:16

Standard versions are both about the same performance, but as Surveyor stated, the 1GB or Twin Frozr II 2GB can't be unlocked to 6970.

Have you considered a GTX480?

Surveyor · 30 Apr 2011 at 14:23

nayan89 said:
Standard versions are both about the same performance, but as Surveyor stated, the 1GB or Twin Frozr II 2GB can be unlocked to 6970.

Have you considered a GTX480?

That's can't be unlocked.

Kanpai · 30 Apr 2011 at 14:24

Surveyor said:
That's can't be unlocked.

Apologies, typo

ManiacVirus · 30 Apr 2011 at 15:38

WoW thanks for the repllies guys, you know Ive only been on here a few days and new to PC gaming but you guys are so helpfull. and Ive learned so much in such a short time.

nayan - I did consider the 480 but was put off beacause of its age and power hunger! LoL
I liked the idea of nvidia's 560 ti as it can be overclock well especialy the msi with afterburner.
Then I saw some posts about the 6950 being unlocked to 6970? found the msi twin frozr version and thought it would be a good mix.
So assuming the nvidia 560 ti twin frozrII can be overclocked and the 6950 cant would the nvidia be a better option?
Also I have the option to buy a MSI HD 6950 Twin Frozr II/OC ATI - AMD Radeon Graphics Card - 2GB for £203 inc so in the same price line as the nvidia too!

Surveyor · 30 Apr 2011 at 15:45

ManiacVirus said:
So assuming the nvidia 560 ti twin frozrII can be overclocked and the 6950 can't would the nvidia be a better option?

That's a bit of a strange assumption as both can be overclocked.

I think you're mixing up overclocking and unlocking. They're two different things.

But if you were comparing a theoretically overclocked 560 with a theoretically none overclocked 6950 then the overclocked 560 would give a bit better overall performance.

ManiacVirus said:
Also I have the option to buy a MSI HD 6950 Twin Frozr II/OC ATI - AMD Radeon Graphics Card - 2GB for £203 inc so in the same price line as the nvidia too!

This card can be overclocked but not unlocked.

Kanpai · 30 Apr 2011 at 15:59

Fair enough about the GTX480, a lot of people are in the same boat as you with that opinion.

May I ask what resolution you will be gaming at?

.Max. · 30 Apr 2011 at 16:43

560 Twin frozr is similar performance to a 570 and fastaer than a 6950, Also cooler

ManiacVirus · 30 Apr 2011 at 16:57

surveyor - sorry, your right. I read it wrong, good to know it could be overclocked.
I guess I should have asked which would be better out of the two, both in an overclocked state?

nayan - 1920 x 1080 this monitor to be exact
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-033-BQ&groupid=17&catid=510&subcat=

ManiacVirus · 30 Apr 2011 at 17:01

.Max. said:
560 Twin frozr is similar performance to a 570 and fastaer than a 6950, Also cooler

Is it's fair to say the 560 ti twin frozr II will be able to run most/all games in high settings? :confused:

.Max. · 30 Apr 2011 at 17:05

ManiacVirus said:
Is it's fair to say the 560 ti twin frozr II will be able to run most/all games in high settings?

As far as I know, yes

Look at Youtube for some demo's It hit's around 35 fps MIN in Crysis Maxed out if I remember correctly

Predicament · 30 Apr 2011 at 18:30

Surveyor said:
Similar performance but the 560 is slightly cheaper than the 2GB 6950.

The 6950 @ 6970 has roughly 10-20% better performance depending on resolution.

ManiacVirus · 30 Apr 2011 at 22:46

OK I'm nearly there now LoL. Just had an eleventh hour moment!

Got to make the choice between-

Asus ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC 2048MB or MSI 560ti 1GB twin frozr II o/c

Note my tower as the ATI is a huge card so Ive read (coolermaster cm690 II lite)

wentalong · 30 Apr 2011 at 23:15

too much fanboyism going on here :O ive had a twin frozr 2 560Ti and a 6950 MSI(unlockable to 6970) and the 6950 is the better card,

the 6950 is slightly stronger at stock speeds and not overclocked, and when unlocked (or comparing a 6970 to a 560 Ti) the 560 gets beaten in more tests than the 6950 (obviously...) , look here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=330

the biggest difference is tesselation, its been improoved so much from the 5000 series cards and is a lot better than the 560, however dont forget the 480....

the 480 i havent owned before but from a lot of research it seems to be a very strong card... and if not more powerfull than a 6950 at a 6970, The 480 seems to be better value with the free games

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-222-AS

however you loose 512mb vram with the card compared to the 2gb 6950...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS

thats the same 6950 i have and can be unlocked, but if you dont plan to use multiple screens the 1GB 6950 is AMAZING value especialy with the games.... and if you can get a big OC out of it you will be in the 480 ball park...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-028-HS

tommybhoy · 30 Apr 2011 at 23:22

nayan89 said:
Twin Frozr II 2GB can't be unlocked to 6970.

The new 6950 frozr III's can be unlocked:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_6950_Twin_Frozr_III/27.html

Gibbo said:
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card @ £224.99 inc VAT

ManiacVirus · 1 May 2011 at 00:12

wentalong said:
too much fanboyism going on here :O ive had a twin frozr 2 560Ti and a 6950 MSI(unlockable to 6970) and the 6950 is the better card,

the 6950 is slightly stronger at stock speeds and not overclocked, and when unlocked (or comparing a 6970 to a 560 Ti) the 560 gets beaten in more tests than the 6950 (obviously...) , look here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=330

the biggest difference is tesselation, its been improoved so much from the 5000 series cards and is a lot better than the 560, however dont forget the 480....

the 480 i havent owned before but from a lot of research it seems to be a very strong card... and if not more powerfull than a 6950 at a 6970, The 480 seems to be better value with the free games

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-222-AS

however you loose 512mb vram with the card compared to the 2gb 6950...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS

thats the same 6950 i have and can be unlocked, but if you dont plan to use multiple screens the 1GB 6950 is AMAZING value especialy with the games.... and if you can get a big OC out of it you will be in the 480 ball park...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-028-HS

Cheers for the info. Just wanted to know what is the benifit of the 2gb msi card over the 1gb one?
btw I dont plan on using multi screens I just want bang for my buck and the 6950 unlocked/overclocked seems the way to go!

Kanpai · 1 May 2011 at 02:05

ManiacVirus said:
Cheers for the info. Just wanted to know what is the benifit of the 2gb msi card over the 1gb one?
btw I dont plan on using multi screens I just want bang for my buck and the 6950 unlocked/overclocked seems the way to go!

Yeah I think your best bet would be 6950 2GB, one that can be unlocked to 6970.

Let us know what you do buy and some pics when you install are always appreciated here

varkanoid · 1 May 2011 at 09:31

Just to possibly add to your further confusion I saved some money and went for a 560ti and overclocked it. I was going to go for a 480 or 570 originally.

It was nice to see my Uniengine benchmark beat some of the 480's scores in the Heaven thread.

Asus 560 ti £189 and at 975 / 1950 / 4500 stable !

The O/C preorder of £174 is a bargain !

I've had it doing 1ghz at 1.03v but I got scared and backed down to 975mhz.

I too was pushed towards a 6950 (to 6970 unlock) but I went off ATI when I had my 4870 and 4870x2 due to appalling drivers and the length of time they took to fix driver issues preventing one of my fav games to work.

Game at 1920 x 1080 so 2gb VRAM not that much a necessity.

Buckster · 1 May 2011 at 09:55

varkanoid said:
Just to possibly add to your further confusion I saved some money and went for a 560ti and overclocked it. I was going to go for a 480 or 570 originally.

It was nice to see my Uniengine benchmark beat some of the 480's scores in the Heaven thread.

Asus 560 ti £189 and at 975 / 1950 / 4500 stable !

The O/C preorder of £174 is a bargain !

I've had it doing 1ghz at 1.03v but I got scared and backed down to 975mhz.

I too was pushed towards a 6950 (to 6970 unlock) but I went off ATI when I had my 4870 and 4870x2 due to appalling drivers and the length of time they took to fix driver issues preventing one of my fav games to work.

Game at 1920 x 1080 so 2gb VRAM not that much a necessity.

re beating the 480 scoresin Heaven thread its as low res and low levels of FSAA

re run at 1900x1200 with 8xAA then compare

! - which is my normal gaming settings

even my 570 struggled with 8xAA at 1900x1200

unless I couldn't afford the electricity or my case or PSU was too small - no way I'd choose a 560 over a 480 for a similar price