Replacement for a failed Radeon HD 6970 ?.

[RimBlock]

Hi,

My HIS HD6970 seems to have failed (fan on max from the moment I power on the PC and no video). It is second user and warranty is no longer valid so I am on the lookout for a replacement.

Performance: On par with the HD6970, bit better / worse also ok.
Brand: AMD or Nvidia... its all good.
Price: Cheap .

I have a new 760W PSU and it is going in a machine based on the MSI H77 Gaming motherboard and a i5-2400. I do not overclock and it will be powering a 27" Ultrasharp monitor.

I have not followed the GPU models since the HD6XXX series so have no idea as to what matches what and even what is going on with the R9 XXX AMD cards now.

Any suggestions.

Thanks
RB

 

[fowler002]

What is the make/model of the psu?
How cheap is cheap?
Depending on budget anything from a 270x, 280x or a 290 thats a range of £150-£400

 

[RimBlock]

What is the make/model of the psu?
How cheap is cheap?
Depending on budget anything from a 270x, 280x or a 290 thats a range of £150-£400

Yeah, I know the price is not so specific .

The PSU is a ThermalTake Smart SE 730W.

The aim is to match the performance of the HD 6970 as cheaply as possible.

If there is a big improvement for a little bit of cash over that level then it would be great to know and I can then assess whether to stretch to that higher level.

Thanks for the response.
RB

 

[fowler002]

Well I've gone from xfire sapphire 6950 toxics unlocked to 6970(I didn't really oc them) to a 290x which according to bench marks should be an improvement, I game on a dell 2411(2560x1440). Not really pushed the 290x yet to test as get high temps on the cpu(4770k) so not comfortable in long gaming session, using the Intel stock cooler till I sort out a wc loop. I have a ocuk h2flo(unbranded corsair h60 but that was also gave similar temps to the stock cooler).
A 270x and 280x should give improvement over a 6970

 

[Marine-RX179]

I would say a 280x would be more ideal than 270x if budget is not an issue for you, but I'd say you should buy it only when they are on offer at £240 or less rather than their typical price of £260+.

It has quite a bit more grunt than the 270x, and the 3GB of vram and higher memory bus/memory bandwidth would make the card age better than the 270x in the long run.

 

[Havana_UK]

The 6970 is roughly equivalent to the 7870, see here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/509?vs=548

This means that the closest you'll get to it with today's GPUs is the R9 270X, which will give you a decent performance bump:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1034?vs=1043

The HIS R9 270X on TWO is probably the one to go for right now:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ BOOST 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
Total : £159.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



If you can stretch to a R9 280X you'll get a big performance jump, but you'll need to add ~£100 to the budget:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1043?vs=1041

 

[RimBlock]

Well I've gone from xfire sapphire 6950 toxics unlocked to 6970(I didn't really oc them) to a 290x which according to bench marks should be an improvement, I game on a dell 2411(2560x1440). Not really pushed the 290x yet to test as get high temps on the cpu(4770k) so not comfortable in long gaming session, using the Intel stock cooler till I sort out a wc loop. I have a ocuk h2flo(unbranded corsair h60 but that was also gave similar temps to the stock cooler).
A 270x and 280x should give improvement over a 6970

Thanks for the feedback on your items. Very helpful.

I would say a 280x would be more ideal than 270x if budget is not an issue for you, but I'd say you should buy it only when they are on offer at £240 or less rather than their typical price of £260+.

It has quite a bit more grunt than the 270x, and the 3GB of vram and higher memory bus/memory bandwidth would make the card age better than the 270x in the long run.

haha, moneys always an issue especially as my main PCs motherboard has just been replaced as has the motherboard for our HTPC due to failures. Not a good month for PCs in our house.

Thanks for the advice.

I may be able to stretch to the Gigabyte R9 280X if I can convince the wife it is essential... . I am sure the kids will be on my side .

Thanks
RB

 

[Marine-RX179]

I may be able to stretch to the Gigabyte R9 280X if I can convince the wife it is essential... . I am sure the kids will be on my side

No...definitely not buy a 280x at nearly £300. Just try to have your wallet (or credit card) at the ready, and order one the moment you see OcUK has a 280x on offer for £220~£240.

 

[RimBlock]

No...definitely not buy a 280x at nearly £300. Just try to have your wallet (or credit card) at the ready, and order one the moment you see OcUK has a 280x on offer for £220~£240.

Thanks.

Luckily I can get a Gigabyte R9 280 (Winforce OC) for around GBP225 where I am.

Roll on payday.

RB