6970 or GTX 570?

[Marine-RX179]

OP stated that he likes playing both crysis games and is looking forward to Crysis 2 when it comes out. If Crysis 2 is optimized for PC and not a slap in the face console port, then the 2gb frame buffer of the 6950 will probably give better results than the 570.

You can't just assume Crysis 2's graphic engine will be the same as Crysis 1 though...hell, even Crysis Warhead's game/graphic engine is different.

Crysis 2 is a sequel to the series, and with a different game/graphic engine, so you can't just carry Crysis 1 performance over as representation of for Crysis 2 performance, unless it uses the same engine.

The way I see...considering 6950 does better than GTX570 only in Crysis (and F1 2010), and slower in almost everything else at 1920 res points to that the 69xx card is highly optimised for Crysis 1, and cannot be interpreted as being faster as overall.

And then let's not forget GTX570 can overclock by 25% on average, but the 69xxs' overclock is pretty much maxed at 10-12% even with voltage control...

 

[RavenXXX2]

The flythrough benchmark that they use in that test is not representative of crysis gameplay at all, I guarantee you that in game the 570/80 will be faster than the 6950/70.

 

[555BUK]

Don't forget that Crysis 2 will be "sponsored by NVidia". When the original Crysis was released it heavily favoured NVidia hardware and it may well be the same for Crysis 2.

Requirements for VRAM largely depend on how well the game is coded. For instance, F1 2010 can suck up all of my 580's framebuffer (1920x1200 16/32xCSAA), but it's graphics are very poor compared to most other recent titles. Even Metro 2033 uses significantly less VRAM than F1. The original Crysis' were not known for being particularily well coded. This may have been done deliberately at the time to take advantage of the massive 768MB and shader advantages of the 8800GTX over the ATI cards. Now that the games sponsor has less VRAM than the opposition, it will probably be better coded within this area.

Just speculation of course, but we'll only know for sure when the game is released. My bet is that Crysis 2 will perform better on GTX500's than on 6900's.

Anyway, what is the point of benchmarking the original Crysis at settings where ALL CARDS (except for GTX580 SLI) cannot maintain a minimun of 30fps. I would argue that the 26-33fps displayed by the 6950 is not playable as well.

edit: and what is it with the Christmas smilies still being active? .

 

[Final8y]

Don't forget that Crysis 2 will be "sponsored by NVidia". When the original Crysis was released it heavily favoured NVidia hardware and it may well be the same for Crysis 2.

Requirements for VRAM largely depend on how well the game is coded. For instance, F1 2010 can suck up all of my 580's framebuffer (1920x1200 16/32xCSAA), but it's graphics are very poor compared to most other recent titles. Even Metro 2033 uses significantly less VRAM than F1. The original Crysis' were not known for being particularily well coded. This may have been done deliberately at the time to take advantage of the massive 768MB and shader advantages of the 8800GTX over the ATI cards. Now that the games sponsor has less VRAM than the opposition, it will probably be better coded within this area.

Just speculation of course, but we'll only know for sure when the game is released. My bet is that Crysis 2 will perform better on GTX500's than on 6900's.

Anyway, what is the point of benchmarking the original Crysis at settings where ALL CARDS (except for GTX580 SLI) cannot maintain a minimun of 30fps. I would argue that the 26-33fps displayed by the 6950 is not playable as well.

edit: and what is it with the Christmas smilies still being active? .

Well that's the point we don't know what games in the future will use Vram wise you get as much Vram as you can.

 

[tommybhoy]

You can't just assume Crysis 2's graphic engine will be the same as Crysis 1

I'm not assuming, just stating that 2gb mem has it's benefits.

The way I see...considering 6950 does better than GTX570 only in Crysis (and F1 2010), and slower in almost everything else at 1920 res

Metro 2033
Aliens Versus Predator
Dawn of War 2
Push the resolution up and the 6950 can stretch it's legs further.

And then let's not forget GTX570 can overclock by 25% on average, but the 69xxs' overclock is pretty much maxed at 10-12% even with voltage control...

Let's not forget the 6950 unlocks to a 6970. £50 cheaper!!!

I guarantee you that in game the 570/80 will be faster than the 6950/70.

Might have a point with the 580 but not the 570. You tried a play through comparison with the four cards?

Well that's the point we don't know what games in the future will use Vram wise you get as much Vram as you can.

Agreed.

 

[555BUK]

We seem to be missing the point here.

Generally, at 1920x1080 / 1920x1200 both cards offer very similar performance within the vast majority of games. A few games prefer NVidia architecture and a few prefer AMD's superior frame buffer. If very high levels of AA are used, some games will exceed the 570's 1.25GB framebuffer. The solution will usually be to reduce AA to 8x or 4x.

At resolutions above 1920 (2560x1600 etc) the 570 framebuffer will cause slowdowns within additional games. It may be necessary to turn AA off or reduce it 2 or 4x. The 6900's 2GB framebuffer proves itself at these very high resoltions.

So, bearing in mind all of the above I believe ths GTX570 offers the best performance (especially when overclocked) for resolutions up to 1920x1200. 6900 is the better option above 1920x1200 so long as VRAM is the limiting factor. 1920x1200 is the middle ground where both cards are pretty much equal. This is no doubt why pricing is so similar between the two (570 vs 6970).

 

[Badas]

Well ive got the card and seen the framebuffer is quite low lower than my old GTX 285

Anyways, its just been fitted and updated the drivers and about to go test it out on some games, crysis will be this evening though.

One small annoyance is the mini HDMI out is too close to the side of my case (Antec 900) and so i can not fit the mini to full hdmi adapter that comes with the box, a bit ****ty i think on MSI's behalf :/

Anyways, im off to go play and let you know how it goes.

 

[Badas]

Ok quite impressed

Dirt 2 before on a GTX 285 maxed out with 2xAA and stock CPU speeds in DX 10 mode = 40fps or so at its best

Dirt 2 now on a GTX 570 at stock speeds, DX11, maxed as can be = 50fps average

Yay

 

[Ezyryder]

At you resolution it was really a no brainer to be honest, at least on todays games. Next generation games, BF3 and Crysis 2 might prove to be a different kettle of fish as the framebuffer is really limited on the 570.

 

[Badas]

Wouldn't say it was a no brainer Ezyryder, as stated i have not been into computers for a few months properly and so wanted to get some up to date knowledge on the stuff and from people who already own them.

Anyways, happy with the purchase so far

Also played Crysis 2 on the PC already (not my PC) and with it being more optimised than Crysis i would say the Card has a a bit of life in it for now, i know full well something twice as good will allways be coming out as ever with computers

 

[Marine-RX179]

Also played Crysis 2 on the PC already (not my PC) and with it being more optimised than Crysis i would say the Card has a a bit of life in it for now, i know full well something twice as good will allways be coming out as ever with computers

I think you meant "Crysis Warhead", as Crysis 2 is not out until March this year

Also, at 1920 res the lesser framebuffer ain't really gonna cause the GTX570 to suffer too much, as long as you are using sensible level of AA such as no higher than x4 or x8. Some people like to blow the whole "lesser framebuffer" out of proportion, while keeping quiet about things such as the GTX570 can overclock by double the amount of 6970 (average 20-25% vs average 10-12%)

 

[Badas]

Nope i mean Crysis 2

Played it at a convention in Bradford a couple of months back, its an excellent game so far that i played

 

[tommybhoy]

This is no doubt why pricing is so similar between the two (570 vs 6970).

GTX570 can overclock by double the amount of 6970 (average 20-25% vs average 10-12%)

We seem to be missing the point here.

I think so too, I am talking about the 6950, not the 6970.

'If there is a real champion in this evaluation, it is the AMD Radeon HD 6950. AMD has set the MSRP at $299 for the 2GB Radeon HD 6950. 1GB models may even be cheaper. The least expensive GeForce GTX 570 is currently $349. That is a difference of $50. In all of our tests, the new Radeon HD 6950 either matched or beat the GeForce GTX 570.

In F1 2010 there was a 5% difference in performance favoring the Radeon HD 6950. In Civ 5 the performance between the two video cards was dead even. In Metro 2033 is just slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 570. Once again in BC2 the two video cards are neck and neck. In Mafia II once again the video cards are very close..'Link

Nope i mean Crysis 2

Played it at a convention in Bradford a couple of months back, its an excellent game so far that i played

Superb. Spill the beans then, does it look like it was made for PC or just a console port?

 

[Badas]

Most definately looks like a PC game, plenty of action and i can't recall any slow down FPS wise, most deinfately had AA on and all the rest of the shinies allthough a little disapointed as the environment didn't seem as destroyable as what i had seen in youtube demo's :/

 

[tommybhoy]

Most definately looks like a PC game, plenty of action and i can't recall any slow down FPS wise

Great stuff

Enjoy playing with your new toy, and get modding your Crysis while your waiting for Crysis 2 have a look at these.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=417651

 

[Badas]

thanks and ive already modified crysis in the past

Sears for Joker face texture crysis on youtube and or crymod you should find it.

a little problem at the moment, in msi afterburner it is not allowing me to alter teh core voltage settings

i haveunlocked teh voltage controll and restarted the program but still nothing, any help?

 

[tommybhoy]

i haveunlocked teh voltage controll and restarted the program but still nothing, any help?
[/B]

Have you added:
EnableUnofficialOverclocking = 1
to afterburner config file?

 

[Marine-RX179]

ignore.

 

[RavenXXX2]

i haveunlocked teh voltage controll and restarted the program but still nothing, any help?
[/B]

Probably using an older version, use the latest beta.

Have you added:
EnableUnofficialOverclocking = 1
to afterburner config file?

Why would he have to do that? it's not an AMD card. Anyway that only allows higher clocks for AMD cards that have been limited in the bios as to how far you can clock, nothing to do with voltage.

 

[Badas]

link says its not compatable with my version of windows, windows 7 64bit :/ strange