is this graphics card any good

[Donkeyfumbler]

Not sure why the 560ti wasn't good enough tbh. I have the same 2500k cpu and a 560ti (o/c to 950) and yet to find a game that won't run at 50fps + at 1680 x 1050, at least where the GPU is being maxed. Arma II struggles, but that is stressing the CPU rather than the GPU.

It would seem overkill to upgrade to anything higher right now, unless you are running at much higher resolutions (which the OP says he isn't).

 

[fowler002]

6-8% increase on shader unlock? Ask around, and people will tell you it's only 3% increase on average, which the 6950 Toxic at 1010MHz in the review I quoted with the extra 60MHz overclock would compensate the 3% difference comparing to the unlocked Toxic at 950MHz in the review you quoted.

I not here to argue with you which is a faster card...I'm just pointing out that going from GTX560Ti to a 6950 Toxic wouldn't be much of a upgrade...it is still pretty much "side-stepping", which you fail to understand.

the 6-8% is what it says in the review that YOU linked to.

as I said if you keep insisting that the 6950 toxic is a side step then the 6970 will also be a side step going by that logic, the toxic unlocked is a 6970 in all but name(which you are adamant to overlook). by your logic the op should get a 580 as that's an upgrade while anything less(even 6970 and 570) is a side step.

I already said it's upto the op in the end, I was just suggesting a cheaper alternative which is JUST AS FAST.

 

[Marine-RX179]

the 6-8% is what it says in the review that YOU linked to.

Where did it say 6-8% increase? The only part I saw they mentioned the 10% "performance" increase on unlocking shader was on the 10% increase on the 3DMark11 scores, which I ignored since it does not represent real-world gaming performance.

as I said if you keep insisting that the 6950 toxic is a side step then the 6970 will also be a side step going by that logic, the toxic unlocked is a 6970 in all but name(which you are adamant to overlook). by your logic the op should get a 580 as that's an upgrade while anything less(even 6970 and 570) is a side step.

Yep that's pretty much it. Going from a GTX560Ti to a 6970 is pretty much like going from a 5850 to a 5870. Would there be performance increase? Yes...but is the tinny tiny bit of extra performance justify the "upgrade"? The answer is no, as the OP consider the GTX560Ti at 950MHz "too slow", and even an overclocked 6970 won't be fast enough by a big enough margin to meet his expectation.

 

[matthew31]

following the advice in here i went for tihe asus 580 i love preformance and high framrates as mention above in a previous post it wasnt just that i felt the card was a bit slow it was also the fact the card ran hot very hot at 94c under load and the noise of it whilst the fan was trying to keep card cool was annoying to say the least i know that if i had put in another 560ti it would have done the trick and was considering it but as temp and noise was annoying i decided to just get a diff card all together hence asus 580 cheers for all the help much appreciated

 

[fowler002]

Where did it say 6-8% increase? The only part I saw they mentioned the 10% "performance" increase on unlocking shader was on the 10% increase on the 3DMark11 scores, which I ignored since it does not represent real-world gaming performance.


Yep that's pretty much it. Going from a GTX560Ti to a 6970 is pretty much like going from a 5850 to a 5870. Would there be performance increase? Yes...but is the tinny tiny bit of extra performance justify the "upgrade"? The answer is no, as the OP consider the GTX560Ti at 950MHz "too slow", and even an overclocked 6970 won't be fast enough by a big enough margin to meet his expectation.

Conclusion:

snip...................

Another incredible thing about this card is that it was unlockable — meaning that I was able to flash it to an HD6970 BIOS, unlocking the total 1536 shader cores over the stock 1408. With the extra 10% of shader cores at my disposal, I reran the overclocked benchmarks and discovered a steady jump in performance by anywhere between 6%-8% running at the same 1010/1500MHz. Granted, not all cards can do this from the factory, as they are physically cut. I can't say whether all these cards are unlockable, but it doesn't hurt to try. However, even if you buy the card and it's not unlockable, what else is there not to like? With such an excellent cooler and the ability to control voltage with Sapphire TriXX, making up for it by overclocking is far from a difficult task. The performance and overclockability definitely makes up for it.

.......................snip
I haven't fully read the review just a quick skimp over will read it fully later, as I said the other few reviews I've read haven't managed anywhere near the oc the occ guy got.

 

[tommybhoy]

this, but the GTX560Ti can overclock higher, which can reach upto speeds of a stock gtx570.

The 6950 Toxic unlocks and overclocks better, which can reach speeds past a stock 580!

'It performed 11% faster than the next closest card, the Radeon HD 6970, and 15% faster than the fare more expensive GeForce GTX 580. Both the HD 6970 and GeForce GTX 580 dropped in frame rates during intense firefights, but the SAPPHIRE TOXIC HD6950 with 1536 BIOS was consistent through them delivering more than admirable performance.'

'The GeForce GTX 580 had a 1.5 FPS advantage over our SAPPHIRE TOXIC HD6950. Despite the small extra performance, we noticed that frame rates were much spikier and less consistent through the entire level. Because of this, the SAPPHIRE TOXIC HD6950 with 1536 BIOS gave us the more desirable gameplay experience with smoother overall gameplay.'

'It performed 11% faster than our reference HD 6970, with an average of 4.9 FPS more. The GeForce GTX 580 on the other hand had 1.6 average FPS less'

http://hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/11

 

[Jony27]

unlocking it is luck, some cards unlock some dont.

and i was saying that, if the OP kept the GTX560Ti it would've overclocked upto speeds of a stock gtx570 which wouldnt have cost him anything, but now your suggesting a card that "might" unlock and reach speeds of a 6970 which is marginally better than stock gtx570 which the GTX560ti could've reached.
to me its not worth spending £230, but thats just me.

its a pity the OP sold the GTX560Ti before coming here, a second GTX560Ti would've been the cheapest and best way.

 

[tommybhoy]

Yes, unlocking is luck, but the same argument was given about ref 1 6950's it's luck but most did.

You did say that the 560 oc's better, which, was what I was pointing out was not the case.

If you wan't to agree with marine that they are round about the same level then fine, no problem but the 560 doesn't overclock to higher performance than some 6950's, especially unlocked 6950's.