How can I justify £350 for a graphic card? Spec for £200 instead?

[gurusan]

Without sounding rude i think peoples perception of what is smooth and whats not must vary wildly. I simply could not settle for a single 6950 so went crossfire to get the performance i want.

A single 6950 on ultra settings is not a pleasent expirience it sits around 30fps and fluctuates and is in no way smooth to play, it will play in all high settings at pretty much a solid 60fps no msaa.

If you want a single card solution that will last and you want it now then the 7950 is you only logical option.

Lomez i think you are missing the OP's main requirements of low noise and power consumption

Then again there are very few games that don't do well over 60FPS average maxed out at 1200p.

In fact it's really just BF3.

 

[PCplod]

The reason BF3 is so demanding online is because with it maxed out the draw distance is huge and it has to render and process in real time everything going on in the field infront of you

 

[gurusan]

I don't think so, I play a lot of TDM which involves very small maps and my FPS are still around the same as a 64 player conquest large map.

 

[Kurisu Makise]

You say that but unless you have a 6950 or 6970 that is some sort 1 off god card (which there isnt) If you play BF3 maxed out online it will dip to the 30's/40's all the time on demanding maps........

I dont get it when people say that "I can play BF3 maxed out 60 fps on my 560ti" for example.
No you cant lol, you may be able to play SP or less demanding parts of the maps or looking at the sky or a wall on max settings and smooth, but as soon as you go on a half demanding map where its all open performance will crash like a sea horse.

I judge on how a game plays by the min fps and however low it goes in the demnading situations you are often in thats how good it performs, and the 6970/6950 dont cut it for BF3 on ultra even with all AA off atall, they struggle on high. The 7970 only just maxes BF3 out with AA, and even then on some maps it can often dip below.

well 40+fps is smooth to me no stuttering at all and it never drops below that on 64player map with smoke, rockets, grenades left right and center. now a game that runs on its highest settings without stuttering on a single card doesnt cut it? doesnt make sense to me, you dont need a constant 90 fps

 

[PCplod]

well 40+fps is smooth to me no stuttering at all and it never drops below that on 64player map with smoke, rockets, grenades left right and center. now a game that runs on its highest settings without stuttering on a single card doesnt cut it? doesnt make sense to me, you dont need a constant 90 fps

Only its doesnt.... a 6950 or 6970 overclocked drops in the 30's often if you max out BF3 with AA (or even without it) in multplayer unless you constantly play maps like Metro or just hide in a room not looking at the whole map half the time.

Im sorry but unless you are the only person who has this magic mystical 6950 your talking BS. A 7970 can only just max out BF3 and even overclocked demanding maps like Peninsula and Karkhand it drops into the high 40's in the worste case but mostly stays at 50+ in the open and 60+ solid when your not out in the open with lots going on, other less demanding maps it stays above 60 fps and eats.

I don't think so, I play a lot of TDM which involves very small maps and my FPS are still around the same as a 64 player conquest large map.

Yeh but depending on your draw distance settings if they are the same (mesh and terrain) you still render the rest of the map while playing TDM as you would playing it full size, TDM isnt really optimized like that. All you have to do is turn mesh and terrain down (which is draw distance) and the FPS goes up like crazy but it doesnt render things far away and you can see objects and trees and things pop up as you get closer.

 

[Dan2kx]

I max BF at 1920x1200 (ultra with 4xMSAA) With my overclocked, unlocked 6950 and it does 40+ frames most of the time (with vsync on) Don't really play it very often, it was free with mobo! On all other games so far rock solid 60 with vsync! MW3 runs over 100fps when vsync is off according to fraps, but my monitor is only 60hz!
I was goin to get a 7970 but decided to wait a while since I don't really need it just yet! But you might as well get the 7950 if you can afford it for the longevity!

 

[cmndr_andi]

Yea, I'm playing BF3 on a HD 6970 at 1920x1200res and it's doing great - even on the large maps. No doubt a HD 7950 would be even better - but I would say that one of these HD 6900 series cards is really good enough for any current game at 1920x1200 res or lower.

It may not max the games out at full settings (+AA/AF) and constant 60FPS, but it plays the games smoothly and they look good. If it didn't, I would be looking for a new card. As it stands I plan on keeping this 6970 for the next year or so.

 

[Surveyor]

An alternative:

***HD7800 Series Reviews***

Depending on the pricing...

 

[PCplod]

My overclocked 6970 lighting with 4xAA and all ultra dipped in the 30's regularly while playing on demanding maps like caspian, Golf of Oman, Peninsula, ect and so does your 6950.

Without AA and everything ultra it was allot better and most of the time in the 50's but on demanding maps and looking over it dropped to the low 40's regularly and so does anyone else 6950/70 if not slightly worse because they cant get as high clocks as the lighting and aren't as fast.
Anyone who says their 6950/70 plays BF3 ultra and 4xAA and never drop bellow 40 fps and runs smooth is either lying, doesnt play half the maps, or hides in the corner looking a tthe fish in the sea the whole game.

 

[Gregster]

I also would drop from an I7 to an I5 (which is a great chip for gaming) unless you will be using your computer for other things?

This gives you a further £70 to play with on your £200 budget, but I understand your feelings on spending 'over' £200 on a GPU (I am like that in a way).

The best card to get for under £200 is either the GTX 480 (noise/heat issues reported) or the 6950 (possible unlock to a 6970).

BF3 is the most demanding game I have played and currently out but as time goes on more games will be like this, so you have to ask yourself 'will I be happy turning settings down?'

 

[DarkHorizon472]

My overclocked 6970 lighting with 4xAA and all ultra dipped in the 30's regularly while playing on demanding maps like caspian, Golf of Oman, Peninsula, ect and so does your 6950.

Without AA and everything ultra it was allot better and most of the time in the 50's but on demanding maps and looking over it dropped to the low 40's regularly and so does anyone else 6950/70 if not slightly worse because they cant get as high clocks as the lighting and aren't as fast.
Anyone who says their 6950/70 plays BF3 ultra and 4xAA and never drop bellow 40 fps and runs smooth is either lying, doesnt play half the maps, or hides in the corner looking a tthe fish in the sea the whole game.

Good advice watch out for the I run it fine on ultra with a 6950 posts. Unless you want very low FPS this is not true.

I have my 6950 overclocked to 6970 speeds. Using a combination of medium / high settings, all the fancy FPS impacting image processing low / off, at 1920 * 1080 it has a minimum of 50FPS on all 64 player maps. It will go to higher FPS if I lower the settings.

 

[PCplod]

Yeh, I just always see people say they can run BF3 maxed out with a 560ti or 6950 and smooth.
When in reality they are just kidding themselves and the cards aren't up to the job in mp and either are the 570 or 6970 the cards above them when its completey maxed with 4xAA.

You have to think about the potential buyers of the card you are talking about before chatting breeze and outright lying or being dishonest about them just to justify yourself and your card so they dont buy it thinking they are going to be playing BF3 on ultra with AA, because if they want a smooth game they most certainly are not and will have to lower the settings also with no AA.

 

[Dan2kx]

Yeh, I just always see people say they can run BF3 maxed out with a 560ti or 6950 and smooth.
When in reality they are just kidding themselves and the cards aren't up to the job in mp and either are the 570 or 6970 the cards above them when its completey maxed with 4xAA.

You have to think about the potential buyers of the card you are talking about before chatting breeze and outright lying or being dishonest about them just to justify yourself and your card so they dont buy it thinking they are going to be playing BF3 on ultra with AA, because if they want a smooth game they most certainly are not and will have to lower the settings also with no AA.

if you are refering to my post amongst the other 6950 owners in this thread, I for one am happy with the card, like i said, i really want a 7970 and have l made several posts as such, but at the moment BF is the only game that doesnt get the full 60 for my screen, BF does get 40frames with all settings on ultra, and 4xMSAA, i certainly am not lying or being dishonest, and if i hadnt bought the 6950 to replace my 4980 a couple of months back then i would be buying a 7970/7950, like i suggested to the OP.

 

[PCplod]

if you are refering to my post amongst the other 6950 owners in this thread, I for one am happy with the card, like i said, i really want a 7970 and have l made several posts as such, but at the moment BF is the only game that doesnt get the full 60 for my screen, BF does get 40frames with all settings on ultra, and 4xMSAA, i certainly am not lying or being dishonest, and if i hadnt bought the 6950 to replace my 4980 a couple of months back then i would be buying a 7970/7950, like i suggested to the OP.

You should feel lucky then because you have the best 6950 in the world if thats 40 frames minimum playing online and actually playing on maps out in the open.

 

[Dan2kx]

You should feel lucky then because you have the best 6950 in the world if thats 40 frames minimum playing online and actually playing on maps out in the open.

i never said minimum, it dips both ways but on average it is around the 40 mark with vsync on.

without looking at the fps i cannot notice any difference during gameplay, you may be super sensitive who knows, like i said, im not saying the 79xx series is not worth having, and would suggest it over the old series anyday, i just disagree with what you saying about games like BF3 are unplayable with it.

 

[PCplod]

I was referring to this guy rather than you, 40fps average is about right on open maps with AA and not constantly in the action and if you are ok with that then its all good, personally I played with most things on Low with my 6970 to keep 120 fps lol, 30-40fps for PC gaming on FPS shooters I dont know how anyone can handle or justify having a good PC playing at but each to their own.
But this is just nonsense..

dont know what people are talking about here, im running a sapphire dual fan edition 6950, plays every game maxed out no problem (including crysis 2 and bf3) no bad frame drops on bf3 at all, super smooth and on top of that it never goes above 52c and its queiter than my xfx power supply even at fulll load. people just want 100+fps on all games these days.

 

[Kurisu Makise]

I was referring to this guy rather than you, 40fps average is about right on open maps with AA and not constantly in the action and if you are ok with that then its all good, personally I played with most things on Low with my 6970 to keep 120 fps lol, 30-40fps for PC gaming on FPS shooters I dont know how anyone can handle or justify having a good PC playing at but each to their own.
But this is just nonsense..

its nonsense that im actually enjonying the game on a 6950? i spend my time actually playing it and not watching an fps counter, actually mate i think your the only one with the problem here, other people have said they can run this game on that and its fine. youve proved my point that some people just want a silly 100+fps all the time.

 

[Gregster]

its nonsense that im actually enjonying the game on a 6950? i spend my time actually playing it and not watching an fps counter, actually mate i think your the only one with the problem here, other people have said they can run this game on that and its fine. youve proved my point that some people just want a silly 100+fps all the time.

I wish more people were like you. Real world experience (actually playing) is what I base my thoughts on, unless someone actually requests frames per second.

I turned on AA with my card and for a few mins ran smooth, then it went to a slideshow (because of the lack of vram). Now all ultra with my card returns smooth as butter with AA off, but this is not to say that my frames per second would not annoy somebody else, who watches the FPS, instead of the enemy

 

[Kurisu Makise]

I wish more people were like you. Real world experience (actually playing) is what I base my thoughts on, unless someone actually requests frames per second.

I turned on AA with my card and for a few mins ran smooth, then it went to a slideshow (because of the lack of vram). Now all ultra with my card returns smooth as butter with AA off, but this is not to say that my frames per second would not annoy somebody else, who watches the FPS, instead of the enemy

are you running on a 1gb 6950?
iv never noticed mine to turn into a slideshow with AA turned on lol

i just dont see why its unplayable maxed, and even if it was that bad you could turn off the AA and HBAO, turn down the shadows a bit and gain a fair few fps. very small difference in visuals, runs even better and im sure a lot of people do that.

 

[Gregster]

are you running on a 1gb 6950?
iv never noticed mine to turn into a slideshow with AA turned on lol

560TI 1GB damn that vram