6970 or 580.

[Nodiggidy123]

In real word terms how much slower is the 6970?

I only game a 1650 x 1080 but want to get the best card I can afford. However the 6970 has a bit more vram. And wondered if that might be beneficial later down the line.

I've ordered the 580 but am pondering changing to the 6970. What are your thoughts?

 

[Marine-RX179]

I don't see the point of needing to upgrade from GTX280 for 1680 res. If you are upping your res, then it's a difference story; or if you want a card that's fast and consume less power and produce less heat, wait for the 28nm process graphic card coming at the end of the year.

 

[Nodiggidy123]

I may get a new monitor at some point and It struggles to max out some games now and while I can I'm gonna upgrade. I'm gonna get a new card just wondering if the 2 gig of RAM would be needed. The shear power of the 580 or the extra vram

 

[Predicament]

Personally, I'd check out the GTX 480 series cards; particularly the SOC Gigabyte model.

Performance is nearly on par with the 580 and it comes at a significantly lower pricepoint.

 

[tommybhoy]

particularly the SOC Gigabyte model.

Your choice is a bit overkill for your current rez, but as you have mentioned the monitor upgrade then if it's going to be the 480 don't get the soc, it's fraught with problems:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18252461&page=52

The se would be better, if it's Amd you are after then save yourself a fortune and get the 6950 and unlock it to a 6970(either full fat 6970 or just a shader unlock):

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

Although for the price you are paying for the 580 cheapest at ~£350, just ~£40 more gets you 6950 xfire, and it is mental bang for buck!

Benchmark comparison for 6950 xfire v 580, take into account you can unlock both of the 6950>70's and the 580 also oc's but imo the gains from 2 cards unlocking out ways the single 580's oc.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/299?vs=305

 

[Nodiggidy123]

i had a duff 480 soc so im gonna stay clear im afraid.

the card is gonna have to last me at least 2 years and more power is never is never a bad thing even if its overkill atm.

with this in mind im not sure if it would be worth me getting a 6970 for its 2gb video ram or the faster 580.

id hadnt considered crossfire. is it easy to set up? the figures look immense!

ive requested to change my order to 2 of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

flashable to 6970. these any good?

 

[arc@css]

Nothing wrong with your choice there, excellent bang for buck.

 

[Nodiggidy123]

Nothing wrong with your choice there, excellent bang for buck.

what about crossfire? ive never used a multi gpu solution before? easy to set up?

is the bios flash easy to do? although tbh ill prop keep them at stock to start.

 

[tommybhoy]

id hadnt considered crossfire. is it easy to set up? the figures look immense!

ive requested to change my order to 2 of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

flashable to 6970. these any good?

Better value than the his(even if they were the same price point), they have input covers and come with a mini Hdmi to Hdmi cable as well where as the his doesn't.

As you may have guessed, I have 1 his and 1 msi in xfireand the performance is immense.

Easy to set up as they come with xfire connectors(you only need 1 fitted for fire), and you just tick it in the ccc panel to enable.

Also remember to get the latest Caps(profiles) from And as well.

Get yourself 'Radeon pro', it's a must for fire as you can force xfire to work on new/rubbish scaling games.

 

[tommybhoy]

Very simple instructions and all files to unlock the shaders only, there is also asus smart doctor included in order to unlock ccc oc'ing limits as well.

With this pack(I originally got from shayper ) you can flash both cards at the same time.

The instructions are very clear and it really is simple to do, just take your time and follow them to the letter and in two minutes you will have unlocked both cards.

Shaypers-6950 Shader Unlock

 

[jonny512379]

Better value than the his(even if they were the same price point), they have input covers and come with a mini Hdmi to Hdmi cable as well where as the his doesn't.

As you may have guessed, I have 1 his and 1 msi in xfireand the performance is immense.

Easy to set up as they come with xfire connectors(you only need 1 fitted for fire), and you just tick it in the ccc panel to enable.

Also remember to get the latest Caps(profiles) from And as well.

Get yourself 'Radeon pro', it's a must for fire as you can force xfire to work on new/rubbish scaling games.

Can i ask what the Caps(profiles) do, i keep seeing them mentioned but no explanations?
Is the just like me setting a profile up in CCC with my preferred settings or is it something better?

 

[lurkio]

I just went from a GTX280 OC2 ( 650Mhz version) to a
GTX580 Frozer 2 from MSI (800Mhz)

My advice keep what you have and wait a bit longer
It was a 2 generation jump but it doesn't feel "super" fast compared to what I had.

Benchies are about 40% faster than before

I always go for the fastest single CPU, I dont want to be at the mercy of driver writers
making games work properly with a dual GPU set-up

CPU is 3.78Gig i7 920

 

[tommybhoy]

Can i ask what the Caps(profiles) do, i keep seeing them mentioned but no explanations?
Is the just like me setting a profile up in CCC with my preferred settings or is it something better?

'This release of ATI Catalyst™ delivers support for the latest ATI CrossFireX™ profiles in a separate executable file ensuring users have access to the absolute latest set of profiles installed on their PC.

You must reboot your system after the CAP has been installed for it to take effect.

New profiles added to this release:
- Portal 2 – Improves CrossFire performance
- Red Faction: Armageddon – Improves CrossFire performance
- The Next Big thing – resolves negative CrossFire scaling
- Regnum Online – resolves negative CrossFire scaling
- Company of Heroes – resolves flashing issues seen when running in CrossFire mode'

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_win7-64.aspx

There was 5 cap updates last month alone, Amd have really stepped up their multi gpu support this series.

I always go for the fastest single CPU, I dont want to be at the mercy of driver writers
making games work properly with a dual GPU set-up

See above. If all else fails, that's what 'Radeon Pro' is for.

 

[Nodiggidy123]

ive gone for crossfire 6950s in the end.

really looking forward to my first multi gpu experience!

 

[Marine-RX179]

ive gone for crossfire 6950s in the end.

really looking forward to my first multi gpu experience!

You really need to get yourself a better monitor if you are doing that lol

 

[Nodiggidy123]

surely for now until i do upgrade my monitor. ill see an insane fps? to much power is never a bad thing in my eyes.

 

[tommybhoy]

surely for now until i do upgrade my monitor. ill see an insane fps? to much power is never a bad thing in my eyes.

You really need to get yourself a better monitor if you are doing that lol

This.

Although you will indeed see some 'insane fps', it would just look much better at a higher rez.

 

[Nodiggidy123]

what sort of rez monitor would you recommend? any particular monitor in mind?

 

[arc@css]

24" or above, with resolutions of 1980x1080 or higher.

 

[Defunkt]

surely for now until i do upgrade my monitor. ill see an insane fps? to much power is never a bad thing in my eyes.

Unless you are going to sit looking at benchmark scores then you aint gonna see much of that extra power. All those extra frames wont mean anything in real world terms on your display.
And good luck with crossfire.