570 or 6950?

dansew123 · 1 Oct 2011 at 12:53

Upgrading my card in the next few days and was set on a 570.

Is the 6950 a suitable alternative or is the 570 worth the little extra?

tommybhoy · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:05

570 is generally faster, but it's up to you to decide if the extra performance warrants the extra outlay for a570:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/306?vs=293

Surveyor · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:12

Plus you have to consider the whole 1.25GB v 2GB of VRAM debate.

This may be of more relevance depending on what resolution you game at.

With the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 TOXIC 2048MB you have a reasonable chance of unlocking the extra shaders.

dansew123 · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:34

I won't be playing any high resolutions in the near future. Is the VRAM that important a feature.

KNiVES · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:36

Surveyor said:
Plus you have to consider the whole 1.25GB v 2GB of VRAM debate.

This may be of more relevance depending on what resolution you game at.

With the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 TOXIC 2048MB you have a reasonable chance of unlocking the extra shaders.

It's not just reasonable - it's guaranteed. The TOXIC version actually has the 6970 bios on the second switch! It's faster than a GTX 580 as well, yet only costs 240. HardOCP review here. Pound for pound it's the best graphics card on the market by a considerable margin.

dansew123 · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:42

So you'd recommend buying the 6950 linked above? It's the one on offer? Bonus if so

Surveyor · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:43

KNiVES said:
It's not just reasonable - it's guaranteed. The TOXIC version actually has the 6970 bios on the second switch! It's faster than a GTX 580 as well, yet only costs 240. HardOCP review here. Pound for pound it's the best graphics card on the market by a considerable margin.

It's not guaranteed.

You should try reading the review you linked.

SAPPHIRE does not talk much about this feature because they do not guarantee the extra shaders or performance from the card

Plus this:

eyetrip said:
Even the toxic is not gauranteed - mine can't unlock the extra shaders

KNiVES · 1 Oct 2011 at 13:43

Egged on my face.

gwobbles · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:10

if its for bf3, then both cards are good choices but for higher res and higher levels of AA i think the 6950 would be a good choice, though you get less frames compared to the 570

ChrisD. · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:11

So how likely is it that a new 6950 unlock?

KNiVES · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:17

MilanoChris said:
So how likely is it that a new 6950 unlock?

According to the table at the bottom of this article, it's much more likely than not. Some brands fare better than others. You're looking at over 95% success rate. However, make sure your 6950 is 2GB and has the switch, there's a very few 6950 2GBs that don't have the bios switch.

ChrisD. · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:19

KNiVES said:
According to the table at the bottom of this article, it's much more likely than not. Some brands fare better than others. You're looking at over 95% success rate. However, make sure your 6950 is 2GB and has the switch, there's a very few 6950 2GBs that don't have the bios switch.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-274-SP&tool=3

This one?

Surveyor · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:20

KNiVES said:
According to the table at the bottom of this article, it's much more likely than not. Some brands fare better than others. You're looking at over 95% success rate. However, make sure your 6950 is 2GB and has the switch, there's a very few 6950 2GBs that don't have the bios switch.

That table has no relevance today.

Virtually all the cards will have been the reference design which could almost be guaranteed to unlock.

The cards available now are non-reference designs and that's a whole different ball game.

KNiVES · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:23

You seem to be more informed than I, what are the chances with newer cards today?

Surveyor · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:23

MilanoChris said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-274-SP&tool=3

This one?

That's the one I linked to at post #3.

Of all the 2GB HD 6950's available now it's the one with the best chance of unlocking.

ChrisD. · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:28

Yeah seen, might buy one. Anyone got one recently and managed it?

Surveyor · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:30

KNiVES said:
You seem to be more informed than I, what are the chances with newer cards today?

I have no way of knowing what the chances are with any particular card.

However, from all the reviews the Sapphire TOXIC seems to be the one with the best chance and if works it works at the flick of a switch without any BIOS flashing.

Not guaranteed though as you can see from post#7.

ChrisD. · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:30

And even unlocked, how would it compare to my crossfire setup?

I know the AnanTech figures are to be taken with a pinch of salt however it seems my setup would be a lot faster.

Freddie1980 · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:31

To be fair when they first tested unlocked 6950's at stock clocks the extra shaders made bugger all difference it was only when the clocks where matched to 6970's speed the performance showed so I wouldn't worry too much about unlockable cores but rather just how overclockable they are.

As for value for money once you start going over £200 the price performance ration drops away and you have to spend a lot more for smaller gains or to put it another away I wouldn't want to be spending any more then £240 on a GTX570 when I could buy a 6950 2GB for £200.

Surveyor · 1 Oct 2011 at 14:34

MilanoChris said:
Yeah seen, might buy one. Anyone got one recently and managed it?

fowler002 bought 2 and reported that one had unlocked. Last I heard they hadn't tested the second card yet.

I know someone else who bought 3 and they all unlocked.