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6950 - good time to upgrade and are they quiet?

PitchWhite

PitchWhite

PitchWhite

Associate
Joined
9 Mar 2004
Posts
360
My 4870x2 is beginning to show weird problems - some artifacting unless I underclock it a bit and even if I manually set the fan speed I can still hear it fluctuating. It also runs really loud under load!

Are the 6950's a good deal at the mo?

Do they run as quiet/more quiet than the nvidia alternative when under load?

Many thanks for your input guys! =)
 
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6950 or 6850? ;)

I can heartily recommend the 6950, mine are quite quiet, and I noticed the difference from my 5850 with just the one card :)
 
They are much more quiet than the 4870x2 but the 560s are supposed to be the quietest performance card at the moment.

According to Anandtech the 4870x2 emits 44db at idle and a whopping 61db at load

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/174

The 6950@70 emits 42db at idle and 54db at load

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292


The 560 is a quieter card, in fact it is the quietest performance card around but they are no match in terms of performance or ram buffer.
 
I don't think they are worth the premium and you won't be able to unlock it. IMO the MSI Ref version is the best value.
 
Sorry about hijacking this thread, but I'm considering this card as well, my problem though is the size of the card.
Currently my 4870x2 just barely fits into my case (Zalman GT1000 stupid yes I know) and I was wondering if anyone else has upgraded from a 4870x2 to the 6950.
Most of the websites I've checked give different measurements for this card so they're no help at all.

Any help is much appreciated.
 
Bit the bullet and bought 2 of the MSI's on preorder as they seemed so well priced and are unlockable: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

I also found the Thermalright Shaman heatsink and fan as an aftermarket cooler seems to kick the butt of the Zalman and Accelero. Thermalright also have said they are bringing out vrm heatsink for the 6950 in the next couple of weeks. So if it is too loud I'll buy them and ...sweet! =)
 
Definatly worth upgrading especially with the unlocking ability. I can only just hear mine over the rest of my watercooled system when its been playing bad company 2 for a couple of hours.

Good news with the thermalright vrm cooler so I wont need to buy a full block for my 6950 :)
 
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Just wanted to add that I fitted a Thermalight Shaman on a 6970 and its sweet :) I can now hear the case fans and hard disks over anything else.

I have contacted Thermalright support and they don't have plans to bring a dedicated vrm heatsink for the 6950/70. I first heard this as a rumor in another tech forum and I got the same answer from the thermalright support. :(

I can recommend the shaman even without the dedicated vrm.
 
BOO I got all excited then :(

Back to my original idea of using heatsinks on the vrms with a fan and my maze 4 block then or bite the bullet and buy a full block for £65 or so.
 
PitchWhite said:
Bit the bullet and bought 2 of the MSI's on preorder as they seemed so well priced and are unlockable: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

I also found the Thermalright Shaman heatsink and fan as an aftermarket cooler seems to kick the butt of the Zalman and Accelero. Thermalright also have said they are bringing out vrm heatsink for the 6950 in the next couple of weeks. So if it is too loud I'll buy them and ...sweet! =)
Click to expand...

good choice
just make sure you do a clean install of OS when you put in the new cards, for maximum effect
 
Frosties said:
Just wanted to add that I fitted a Thermalight Shaman on a 6970 and its sweet :) I can now hear the case fans and hard disks over anything else.

I have contacted Thermalright support and they don't have plans to bring a dedicated vrm heatsink for the 6950/70. I first heard this as a rumor in another tech forum and I got the same answer from the thermalright support. :(

I can recommend the shaman even without the dedicated vrm.
Click to expand...

what temps you're getting with shaman cooler, and what about ocing? And is it hard to fit it?
sry for OT post.
 
Really, really tempted to sell my XFX 5970 to get two of these. Though it doesn't struggle in any games it feels old tech. Two of these unlocked to a 6970 kill my 5970 in bench scores also, don't know what to do now... :(
 
Won't probably bother with a fresh OS install until Easter as planning to FINALLY get rid of my E6600 and go either i7 SB (+ a fixed motherboard) or Bulldozer depending which is better =)
 
PitchWhite said:
Bit the bullet and bought 2 of the MSI's on preorder as they seemed so well priced and are unlockable: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-119-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

I also found the Thermalright Shaman heatsink and fan as an aftermarket cooler seems to kick the butt of the Zalman and Accelero. Thermalright also have said they are bringing out vrm heatsink for the 6950 in the next couple of weeks. So if it is too loud I'll buy them and ...sweet! =)
Click to expand...

Shaman takes up 4 slots (possibly the one above too, so could be 5):
3ad7fd4b978af2058c13cf301f6c7a2b.jpg

Zalman and AC takes 3, the fan on the shaman is louder than the AC one too. I have one of the 140 shaman fans in my system and had to drop the speed down to the lowest it would go as it's far too loud for me but I am a stickler for noise.
 
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