• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

MSI 6870 vs 560

Rfraser4

Rfraser4

Rfraser4

Associate
Joined
1 Dec 2011
Posts
25
So, I posted for some component help in gen.hardware and these 2 cards were given back in the £150 range.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-143-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-132-MS

Now, I want to play Wow:Cata, Diablo III, Deux Ex, Skyrim.

All on this:
ocukb.jpg


Which is better? I'm not a genius on cards but from what I can see the 6870 is better??
 
560Ti<6870<560 :)

The 6870 is a bit better (closer to a 560Ti than the 560, especially on minimum framerates). The Nvidia cards will overclock better as there is more headroom in them.

I picked up a 6870 as a temporary card until the new 7 series mainstream cards are out, as the 4850 I was using temporarily was just a bit too slow to be comfortable, whereas the 6870 actually performs quite nicely, especially as I tend to not always bother with AA at 1080p.
My system gets JUST shy of 20k in 3DMark Vantage for reference (19700 IIRC), slightly higher than a stock 6870 as I basically have a Powercolor PCS+ variant which has 940/1100 clocks instead of 900/1050, but not that much faster :)

The 6870 should do you well as long as you dont expect maximum settings and AA. If you're happy to wait a few more months there should be a 7 series replacement coming along.
 
Last edited:
Well, the 6870 can be had for £135, I dont think the Ti (standard not 448 version) is worth the extra £50, (and the cheapest I've seen one delivered was just shy of £170, which even then I'm not sure is worth it) especially as you can get 2GB 6950s under £200 (or 1GB for £180), which are faster again, especially as you mention you're not looking to overclock that much.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=330 560TI vs 6870
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=293 560TI vs 2GB 6950

The 560Ti is faster than the 6870, but usually not massively.
As an example of performance, using 1920x1080, DX11 and High ingame default settings, in Shogun 2, the benchmark averages me at 140+FPS, so I'm not really struggling.

I haven't got round to trying many other games yet, but like I say I've been pleasantly surprised! If you ARE looking to spend that extra cash, arguably the benchmarks tell me the 6950 is a better option, or alternatively waiting for 7***.
 
Last edited:
That sounds good to me for less than £150, which is what I want to be spending really. I'm sure it'll give me good results in the games mentioned.

I use my Xbox for BF3 and CoD etc.

*EDIT*

I think I'll keep all cards mentioned in consideration and since I'm not buying right now, a nice weekly offer may pop up which might make me pay a little more for a lot more bang!

Thanks for the user overview though.

:)
 
Last edited:
No problems, if you want any benchmarks let me know and if I've got the game I'll see if I can do some for you.

Originally I was going to be upgrading in a few months to a 78** or similar, not so sure I'll bother rushing anymore, as it seems as long as I don't expect 100% maxxed out settings and AA, the 6870 can do a good job :)

I paid £135, 145 total as I ordered at 10pm and still had it then next morning ;). The 6870 might seem a little out of proportion to the rest of my system, but it'll do for now :D
On the plus side, it has made me buying a better or 120Hz screen instead of a new GPU more likely!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom