6950 - first part of upgrade plan?

[El-Capitain]

I am thinking of getting a Ati 6950 (and flashing it) as the first part of a long term upgrade to take benefit of DX11 and figure that should see me through 2011 and this years releases. Sometime in 2012 probably then upgrade mobo and CPU to Sandy Bridge etc

Would you recommend this card as part of such an upgrade? Or should I spend on the 580 (which I'd rather not as i am trying to keep the costs down).

Your advice appreciated!

 

[J.D]

If the 580 is an option, even if it's a distant one, go for the GTX 570.

If you would like to tinker with the BIOS flash and save some money on a card that snaps on the heels of a GTX 570, get the HD6950.

 

[el Kuarlos]

6950 at stock dominates 1900x1200 res. It really is all the power you actually need metro2033 at full might make it slow some at times with depth of field on but thats about it. 6950 with shaders unlocked and at catalyst maxes is a bit more than you need. Actually put effort into overclocking it and there is your future proofing.

570 is a good card, and bag it if you are not tight for cash but you should think if your money could be better spent elsewhere.

 

[El-Capitain]

Thanks for the comments so far. I should have added my monitor is 24"
WS (will add it to my signature) and I am unlikely to go bigger for a while!

 

[413x]

ive just gone for a 6950 after my 5870 [bit of side grade but think xfire in the future]

its sitting on my desk in front of me waiting to be installed, ive gone for it due to its 2gb ram and my monitors 2540x1440 res [arriving soon]

 

[El-Capitain]

Got myself a Sapphire 6950 from OCUk and succesfully flashed it to 6970 and all's good. Noticed the difference clearly in BC2 (mind you that was pre-flashed too!!)

 

[tommybhoy]

ive just gone for a 6950 after my 5870 [bit of side grade but think xfire in the future]

its sitting on my desk in front of me waiting to be installed, ive gone for it due to its 2gb ram and my monitors 2540x1440 res [arriving soon]

I did the same, but the 6950 performs so much better all round ( so forget about it being a sidegrade). There have been a few comments here that it's slower than the 5870 with an OC (hardware heaven I think), no chance! Mines unlocked and where the 5870 could give huge dips in fps the 6950 does not budge eg F3 NV, BC2, Crysis and Metro 2033. If you unlock it the performance of this card is simply astounding for the price.

 

[el Kuarlos]

bit of side grade

Not so. Its no side grade. 6950 is a brilliant upgrade from my clocked 5850. Changed my res from 1600x1040 to 1900x1200 and depsite a third more pixels at 840/1325 it dominates the 5850 at 875/1250.

Card has the potential to run rather warm unless you are careful but it really is a great card.

Make sure yours can unlock too. Free power. No one as of yet has reported a core of a version that can unlock that wont do this (its always memory issues that prevent flashing to 6970- in that case use the bios mod to flash to a 6950 with unlocked shaders).

 

[tommybhoy]

Card has the potential to run rather warm unless you are careful but it really is a great card.

Have you seen this? It may be of interest.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=18277918&postcount=36

Make sure your can unlock too. Free power. No one as of yet has reported a core of a version that can unlock that wont do this (its always memory issues that prevent flashing to 6970- in that case use the bios mod to flash to a 6950 with unlocked shaders).

Success rate for unlocking to 6970. It only reports until 12th January though with only 1 fail