6850 to 6970

[Razargh]

Is it worth upgrading to a 6970 (New or 2nd Hand) from a 6850?

More than likely will be upgrading whole pc once kepler is released.

 

[beejjacobs]

Quite a boost

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/291?vs=292

Not sure when the new 7xxx cards will be out to replace the 6970?

 

[Spenty]

If you can it would be more efficient to go straight to the 7950. Around 1.5 times as good as the 6970 and saves you upgrading earlier in the future.

 

[Razargh]

More than like will go Kepler when its released just looking for a small upgrade until then might try pick up a 2nd hand 6970.

 

[Kurisu Makise]

Yes..

 

[cmndr_andi]

As shown in beejjacobs' link, there is a decent performance increase - and 2GB of VRAM will help in games that use this resource rather heavily (like BF3).

However, AMD are expected to release their cheaper 7000 series Southern Islands graphics cards soon (March AFAIK), so we are anticipating for around the price of the HD 6970 with better performance and lower power usage (possibly the HD 7870).

Also, Nvidia are bringing their new Kepler graphics cards to market in april and these are expected to offer some good options in this price range. Also, they will offer competition to AMDs cards which will dominate the market up till then - so expect prices to go down.

Therefore, if you feel you can wait a month or two with your existing card then then you will be able to get a faster, cooler card for the same money. However, if you really want a new card now then a HD 6970 2GB is a good option.

 

[se_vietboi]

If you can get a 6970 for cheap than its quite a big increase.

 

[tommybhoy]

AMD are expected to release their cheaper 7000 series Southern Islands graphics cards soon (March AFAIK), so we are anticipating for around the price of the HD 6970 with better performance and lower power usage (possibly the HD 7870).

Waiting for the 7870 to best a 6970?

The 7900 series are AMD's top end!
The 6900 series is now the upper mid-range!
The 7800 series shall be the mid-range and priced as such.
The 7700 series shall be the lower mid-range.
The 6700/6600 series are mainstream!

In answer to the op, what's the point in throwing money away if your buying Keplar(even though we don't know any solid info)?

 

[Razargh]

Was thinking Kepler may not be for a while and the funds for a full machine might not be until October. Just looking for something to increase performance in eyefinity slightly, cant go 6850 xfire due to mobo.