Calling all 560 ti/6950 owners, need help completing my build

[Hullboy]

Hi there, im new to this forum, decided to join as it seems like one of the more active forums and hopefully ill get some responses.

Basically im building myself a new rig and the parts i have so far are:

Phenom X4 965 3.4GHz
Asus M5A99XEVO Motherboard
8 Gig of Corsair Vengeance Ram
Corsair TX 650w PSU

All the other bits n bobs....

Were i come stuck at deciding what to get is my Graphics card. I have a budget of £200 and i will be running my monitor at 1920x1080.

Iv been reading countless forums, benchmarks etc on cards and i have narrowed it down to either the 560 GTX TI or ATI 6950 2GB. My aim is to be able to play Battlefield 3 with at least high settings with a good frame rate.

I understand the 560 GTX TI is meant to be a good overclocker, pretty quiet and runs cool, were as the ATI has the advatage of the 2GB VRAM but also runs hotter and louder than the 560 GTX TI. Im also aware the 6950s can be unlocked to a 6970 but apparently the newer built ones cant?

I am ideally after the MSI Twin Frozr II 560 GTX TI, or the Twin Frozr II 6950.

Not naming any sources but i have found the following cards:

560 GTX TI Twin Frozr II 1GB - £170

560 GTX TI Twin Frozr II 2GB- £190

6950 2GB Twin Frozr II with Battlefield 3 - £215

6950 2GB Sapphire Twin Fan - £190


Which out of these cards do you think i would achieve best results in BF3?

Thanks in advance.

 

[elrasho]

6950 2GB Twin Frozr II with Battlefield 3 - £215

Not only do you get the game with it, this card can possible by overclocked to 6970 speeds if needs be. But with that spec of CPU and RAM you'll be playing at 1080P with everything on Ultra/High easily at 60fps.

 

[BluSky]

BF3 benefits well from the extra video RAM so rule out the 1GB 560. As for the rest, they are all roughly equal, and can all be overclocked so go for the one that seems the best value. The one bundled with battlefield 3 is probably your best bet

 

[TheCSSDoctor]

I don't play BF3 (or have any interest in it) but have got the 2GB MSI 560Ti Twin Frozr II which I got for less than £200 as well and I am yet to hear the fans over the sound of my case fan

It seems to run pretty cool in my case as well (Antec Sonata III) and seems to average around 45-50deg after a good gaming session so if you want cool and quiet this would be a good choice

Apparently the cooling solution has been changed and they are supposedly noisier now so either I got one of the 'older' ones or they must have been silent previously

 

[kissenger]

BF3 benefits well from the extra video RAM so rule out the 1GB 560. As for the rest, they are all roughly equal, and can all be overclocked so go for the one that seems the best value. The one bundled with battlefield 3 is probably your best bet

This is only true at 1600p.

For 1080p the 560Ti 1Gb will outperform the 6950:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/11/10/battlefield-3-technical-analysis/4

However, the 6950 with BF3 is a good deal at £215. Depends if you think the 6950 is worth the extra £30-40. It will almost definitely not unlock to 6970 though, so factor that into your equation.

 

[Marine-RX179]

BF3 benefits well from the extra video RAM so rule out the 1GB 560.

Extra £40-£50 for the sake of extra VRAM we are talking about here...

 

[mufc802]

I own the MSI Twin Frozr II 560 GTX TI 2GB and it runs any game I throw at it at 1080p with ease. Battlefield 3 ran very well before and after an over clock. It should reach a core clock of 980MHz on 1.050v. Temps are around the 70 mark.

 

[tommybhoy]

This is only true at 1600p.

For 1080p the 560Ti 1Gb will outperform the 6950:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/11/10/battlefield-3-technical-analysis/4

However, the 6950 with BF3 is a good deal at £215. Depends if you think the 6950 is worth the extra £30-40. It will almost definitely not unlock to 6970 though, so factor that into your equation.

The bit-tech analysis is from single player BF3, NOT multiplayer, that's a different story, here's the other side of the coin:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/22/battlefield_3_multiplayer_performance_iq_review/3

Big difference in minimums considering the 6950 has better minimums at a higher res!

Have a good read here if it's regarding BF3:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18344284

ANY 2GB between the 2 would do but:

Extra £40-£50 for the sake of extra VRAM we are talking about here...

^ This, I wouldn't pay it either, but if you miss out on the cheap 560@£150, only then for £25 extra would I get the 2Gb!

After all that's said and done, for the sake of a couple of weeks, I'd still wait for the new cards!

 

[SamPazz]

I run bf3 on high with a Gigabyte 560Ti OC pretty smooth rarely drops enough fps to notice. I dont run anything to watch the FPS so i couldnt tell you what its averaging

Thats at 1440x900

 

[Hullboy]

The 6950 deal with BF3 has now gone, so they are selling the card alone for £200 now, £10 more than the 560 GTX TI 2GB.

Another option im considering is maybe buying second hand. People are selling reference design 6950s unlocked to 6970 and they seem to be going around the £200 mark. Would the unlocked 6950>6970 be a big improvement over the 6950/560?

 

[s7cn]

Wait a week and see what the new 560s perform like ^_^

 

[tommybhoy]

Would the unlocked 6950>6970 be a big improvement over the 6950/560?

No, it's definitely not worth spending the same cash for a second hand gpu that has a crap cooler on it.

Apart from the toxic, the Sapphire Dirt 3 version has about the best chance of unlocking.