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If you plan to play Flight sim a lot, it's worth noting that the ATI cards perform extremely poorly with any sort of cloud structure at all.
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hd 6950 2gb or evga gtx 570
- Thread starter deathbyginger
- Start date
yup - agreed AA - I am a FSX fan - but haven't played it for a little while - it never quite felt right with my 4890 - both IQ wise - and overall consistancy of performance (amazing performance one second - bad the next)
so that left me a choice out of 570 or 480 - I went for 570 as wanted a quiet card - YMMV
fired up FSX and noticeable difference over my 4890 - in fact was running at 16xAA without the 570 breaking a sweat - Afterburner reckoned only 500mb VRM being used too
interestingly I then fired up X-Plane - wasn't expecting a difference for X-Plane - but was even more so than with FSX - smooth as butter now - I was running at "extreme" settings
Afterburner reckoned that X-Plane was using 1100M VRAM !
so that left me a choice out of 570 or 480 - I went for 570 as wanted a quiet card - YMMV
fired up FSX and noticeable difference over my 4890 - in fact was running at 16xAA without the 570 breaking a sweat - Afterburner reckoned only 500mb VRM being used too
interestingly I then fired up X-Plane - wasn't expecting a difference for X-Plane - but was even more so than with FSX - smooth as butter now - I was running at "extreme" settings
Afterburner reckoned that X-Plane was using 1100M VRAM !
Thumbs up for the 570. I received the Gainward Phantom last week, and have been very happy with it. Handles BFBC2 and Warhead without any issues at 1680 res on high settings, and is as quiet and cool as a Fonzie mouse in slippers.
First time in quiet a few years that I've been truly happy with a new GFX card.
First time in quiet a few years that I've been truly happy with a new GFX card.
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Nayan89 means this:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=306
You really have to compare a 6970 with a 570
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But then you overclock the 6970 
Really, I do get slightly annoyed when people say that one overclocked card beats a stock card. It's just a nonsensical comment, like if I said I could jump higher than you if I had the legs of a kangaroo and you didn't.
Really, I do get slightly annoyed when people say that one overclocked card beats a stock card. It's just a nonsensical comment, like if I said I could jump higher than you if I had the legs of a kangaroo and you didn't.
Soldato
But then you overclock the 6970
Really, I do get slightly annoyed when people say that one overclocked card beats a stock card. It's just a nonsensical comment, like if I said I could jump higher than you if I had the legs of a kangaroo and you didn't.
Soldato
And Metro 2033 and F1 2010... and what about Crysis 2?
I wouldn't spend £250 for a card with such a small framebuffer.
Soldato
But then you overclock the 6970
Really, I do get slightly annoyed when people say that one overclocked card beats a stock card. It's just a nonsensical comment, like if I said I could jump higher than you if I had the legs of a kangaroo and you didn't.
I'd take a look at this then:
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/inno3d_gtx570_1_25gb_review,23.html
Even with both overclocked, the GTX570 is better.
Soldato
I would have a look at this too...
Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other
Between the Radeon HD 6970 and the ASUS ENGTX570, there is a lot compromise. These cards trade victories at an even pace, making it extremely difficult to declare one video card a winner over the other. Indeed, it can be said that there is just no clear winner here. Certainly each product has its strengths and its weaknesses, but there is simply nothing to really set either side apart from the other. We have observed that the Radeon HD 6970 can sometimes deliver smoother gameplay at lower frame-rates than the GTX 570, possibly due to its 30% faster memory speed. When the memory bus is not over-saturated, the higher bus speed results in less latency during transfers, and less latency can result in smoother feeling gameplay. The ENGTX570 delivers higher framerates in general, but it was not always able to capitalize on that perceived advantage and deliver a superior gaming experience.
Where winners and losers are truly separated is at the price tag. After all, it doesn’t matter how much faster one video card is than another if the price tag is unrealistic or if the disparity between cost and performance advantage is too high. The AMD Radeon HD 6970 will cost slightly less than the ASUS ENGTX570 when rebates are taken into consideration. The AMD Radeon HD 6870 can be had a low as $339.99 versus the ASUS ENGTX570 at $349. If power and efficiency is more important to you, the Radeon HD 6970 is clearly better, and the Radeon HD 6970 does have 2GB of RAM on board. If you need PhysX support, or need fast performance in games with heavy tessellation like Civilization V than the GeForce GTX 570 may be the better option. The prices are so close right now that gamers have a lot of options.
It is very important to read the bit about gaming experience. It is true that even if the framerate is showing x framerates there are a lot of games that are starting to take use of more than the framebuffer in a 570 GTX and that shows in terms of gameplay experience.
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/02/14/asus_engtx570_video_card_review/1
When you compare the fact that it is comparing a 6970 and that a 6950 can be had for much less than a 570 then it is clear than the 6950 is the winner.
Bear in mind that the 570 overclocking is limited to 1.1V on the core due to cheaper 4 phase design and lower quality VRMs used. If you go above that you are risking killing the card.
The only other card I would consider is the 480 at £200 is even a better bargain than the 6950 if you don't mind the noise. The framebuffer is enough and that means it doesn't suffer with AA.
Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other
Between the Radeon HD 6970 and the ASUS ENGTX570, there is a lot compromise. These cards trade victories at an even pace, making it extremely difficult to declare one video card a winner over the other. Indeed, it can be said that there is just no clear winner here. Certainly each product has its strengths and its weaknesses, but there is simply nothing to really set either side apart from the other. We have observed that the Radeon HD 6970 can sometimes deliver smoother gameplay at lower frame-rates than the GTX 570, possibly due to its 30% faster memory speed. When the memory bus is not over-saturated, the higher bus speed results in less latency during transfers, and less latency can result in smoother feeling gameplay. The ENGTX570 delivers higher framerates in general, but it was not always able to capitalize on that perceived advantage and deliver a superior gaming experience.
Where winners and losers are truly separated is at the price tag. After all, it doesn’t matter how much faster one video card is than another if the price tag is unrealistic or if the disparity between cost and performance advantage is too high. The AMD Radeon HD 6970 will cost slightly less than the ASUS ENGTX570 when rebates are taken into consideration. The AMD Radeon HD 6870 can be had a low as $339.99 versus the ASUS ENGTX570 at $349. If power and efficiency is more important to you, the Radeon HD 6970 is clearly better, and the Radeon HD 6970 does have 2GB of RAM on board. If you need PhysX support, or need fast performance in games with heavy tessellation like Civilization V than the GeForce GTX 570 may be the better option. The prices are so close right now that gamers have a lot of options.
It is very important to read the bit about gaming experience. It is true that even if the framerate is showing x framerates there are a lot of games that are starting to take use of more than the framebuffer in a 570 GTX and that shows in terms of gameplay experience.
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/02/14/asus_engtx570_video_card_review/1
When you compare the fact that it is comparing a 6970 and that a 6950 can be had for much less than a 570 then it is clear than the 6950 is the winner.
Bear in mind that the 570 overclocking is limited to 1.1V on the core due to cheaper 4 phase design and lower quality VRMs used. If you go above that you are risking killing the card.
The only other card I would consider is the 480 at £200 is even a better bargain than the 6950 if you don't mind the noise. The framebuffer is enough and that means it doesn't suffer with AA.
Soldato
That's one take on it but I found the GTX570 to be the more efficient of the two cards and runs cooler!
Using the framebuffer argument is as valid as using the raw speed of the graphics card to dictate which is better. At stock speed, there isn't much between the two cards and in that scenario, the HD6970 benefits from having a higher framebuffer for gaming at high res and with AA.
However when both are overclocked, the GTX570 is clearly ahead and while it may not have the same framebuffer, it has higher raw speed. You're almost saying "what's the point of the raw speed if the GTX570 doesn't have a big enough framebuffer", but my point is "what's the point of having a high framebuffer if the HD6970 doesn't have the raw speed to keep up with a GTX570 (overclocked)".
The four phase power design and 1.1V is adequate for the GTX570. It doesn't need anything more to get a tremendous overclock.
At £250, it is risk free performance.
Using the framebuffer argument is as valid as using the raw speed of the graphics card to dictate which is better. At stock speed, there isn't much between the two cards and in that scenario, the HD6970 benefits from having a higher framebuffer for gaming at high res and with AA.
However when both are overclocked, the GTX570 is clearly ahead and while it may not have the same framebuffer, it has higher raw speed. You're almost saying "what's the point of the raw speed if the GTX570 doesn't have a big enough framebuffer", but my point is "what's the point of having a high framebuffer if the HD6970 doesn't have the raw speed to keep up with a GTX570 (overclocked)".
The four phase power design and 1.1V is adequate for the GTX570. It doesn't need anything more to get a tremendous overclock.
At £250
, it is risk free performance.
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Soldato
With a smaller framebuffer you will run out of memory, which will mean that the card has to unload some of the other textures and then load them back again. This will cause the image not to be as smooth - I have suffered it and that is why I avoid powerful cards with small framebuffers these days.
It is all well and good to show 50fps on the screen if it feels like 30 fps. Good for benchmarks but not good for the end user. As the Hard OCP review says, the 6970 offers a superior gaming experience.
To be honest, at best the 570 is a few fps faster than the 6970 and viceversa but the point here is that you can get all that performance for around £215 which is cheaper than the cheapest 570.
When crossfiring the difference is even clearer, the 6950 at 6970 speeds is the much better card too.
If you want good, safe overclockability buy a 480 which apart from the noise delivers a much better gaming experience than a 570 and its cheaper than both a 6950 and a 570 to boot.
It is all well and good to show 50fps on the screen if it feels like 30 fps. Good for benchmarks but not good for the end user. As the Hard OCP review says, the 6970 offers a superior gaming experience.
To be honest, at best the 570 is a few fps faster than the 6970 and viceversa but the point here is that you can get all that performance for around £215 which is cheaper than the cheapest 570.
When crossfiring the difference is even clearer, the 6950 at 6970 speeds is the much better card too.
If you want good, safe overclockability buy a 480 which apart from the noise delivers a much better gaming experience than a 570 and its cheaper than both a 6950 and a 570 to boot.
Soldato
Does that mean my experience doesn't count?
Having used a GTX480 with a Zalman cooler, I much preferred the user experience of the GTX570. It was way quieter during gaming and I didn't have to worry about temperatures at any point. It made playing BC2 a much better experience. In fact, the guy I borrowed the GTX480 off has also grown tired of his card and getting it replaced by a GTX570 after trying the one I currently have. It really isn't a worthless card but you'd have to try it to see it I guess.
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My Asus 570 is unlocked all the way up to the fermi max of 1.213V?
At 1.1V I can clock it to 890 core, 1050 memory. At 1.213V I can go to 940 core, 1180 memory although the fan works too hard at that.
Soldato
Wait for it to die
There are reports of cards dying at 1.1V or above due to burnt VRMs. Have a look around the net.
Soldato
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It has to be the 6950 as its much cheaper and when you unlock to 6970 its as fast as the gtx570. It also comes with 2gb memory which should give peace of mind for future use.
Soldato
Cherry picked pre-overclocked card, that's not a reference one though.
Soldato
Yes it is. It uses the same reference PCB with the same components. They just happen to clock it higher. As I said in the review, I had to increase the voltage a notch to get it stable and most reference card will have a similar headroom.
Soldato
As it's cherry picked.