What Gfx card would you choose?

Gandeh · 27 Sep 2011 at 09:55

Hey folks,

I've had a half built machine sitting in my office for a couple of months now waiting on the Bulldozer processors coming out but I'm not sure whether it's worth waiting so I wanted to ask your opinions. The build is missing a processor and Gfx card(s).

So far the build is this:

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX AMD

Memory: Corsair XMS3 16GB DDR3

Processor: None

Graphis Card: None

Case: HAF X

Cooling: Coolermaster V10

HDs: 1 SSD 2 Hybrids and a 1tb sata 3

This machine is built for gaming and I'm looking for fast loads and great performance. I've made an identical post in the GPU section to enquire about the best processor for the build but I'm interested to know what you guys would put in this graphics card wise. What's going to get the most out of this build?

slade · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:00

This on sale..... its a good overclocker too.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-254-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

rajravat · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:04

my vote goes for the gtx 570:

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-142-GW

comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/306?vs=292

rajravat · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:07

there is a thread here about 6970 vs 570

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18322223

Gandeh · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:14

I think last time I asked some people recommended a 580? I'm not that knowledgable about my graphics cards but do you guys think the smart choice is definitely the 6970 or 570?

rajravat · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:21

the gtx 580 is the best card but its £100 more than the gtx 570, for only a little bit extra performance, so in my opinion its not worth the extra money. what is your budget?

max51 · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:22

One of these.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-274-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
The 6950 are realy good GPU's and not that far of the 6970 performance wise.

Surveyor · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:25

max51 said:
One of these.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-274-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
The 6950 are realy good GPU's and not that far of the 6970 performance wise.

And the extra shaders may unlock at the flick of a switch.

Gandeh · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:33

The 6950 is £249 and the 6970 £275 - Is it really worth getting the 6950 just to save that £30 and then having to overclock it? I'm obviously not looking to waste money but I don't mind a £30 bump.

I have pinged around a lot, I know that it's not a simple question of one card being better than the other as the 6970 and 570 seem to win and lose depending on which games you compare them on. However I'm looking for something that is going to perform very well and very reliably especially on the new Battlefield 3. I want to avoid lag if possible. This is a high end gaming build so with that in mind would you steer towards over clocking a 6950? or simply buy a 6970 with the view of Crossfiring in the future? Or would you go for a 570 knowing that if you did SLI it wouldn't be as good as the 6970 cross fired?

My reluctance in gonig for a 6950 is that this is a new build that I want to last for a while. So in some ways I'd rather buy one more expensive card that I can then SLI or CF for extra performance in the future.

max51 · 27 Sep 2011 at 10:46

Crossfire 6950's will run every thing you throw at them and with the bios switch on the Toxic, you may end up with a very fast set up.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18249292

That will give you some idea how good those cards are also i have mine running Eyefinity at 5760x1080 res and some of the games i use are crysis with DX 11 pack running ultra settings, Hawk and Need for speed with no problems on any of them.

arc@css · 27 Sep 2011 at 11:05

Set yourself a budget and stick to it. Otherwise the best performing single gpu is the 580...but it's quite a bit more costly than the dearest 570 / 6950 / 70.

Gandeh · 27 Sep 2011 at 13:21

Thanks for all the help

.

I think my options are clear go for a more expensive 580 with the hope to SLI in the future or get a 6950 now that I can overclock and can cross fire a lot sooner. I'm still not sure what I'll get but the choice has been made a lot easier!

Max can I ask, what do you mean by the bios switch on the toxic?

storm45 · 27 Sep 2011 at 13:32

I think GTX 580. It will do well with most games (i have maxed out most games) or you could get Xfire 6950s but then it has no scope of upgrading later... But also, if money is tight, a single 570 is great as well and then also SLI options for the future.

Gandeh · 27 Sep 2011 at 13:33

I'm tempted to go for a 580 with the view of SLI in the future.

max51 · 27 Sep 2011 at 16:59

Gandeh said:
Thanks for all the help .

I think my options are clear go for a more expensive 580 with the hope to SLI in the future or get a 6950 now that I can overclock and can cross fire a lot sooner. I'm still not sure what I'll get but the choice has been made a lot easier!

Max can I ask, what do you mean by the bios switch on the toxic?

Hi, the Bios switch on the Toxic is set to the standard 6950 1408 unified shaders but aparently if you flick that switch over it is supposed to give you the full fat 1536 shaders of the 6970. Like i have the first ref cards which you could use the 6970 bios to unlock the shaders, which i have done.The toxic has that facility all ready on them.
So that is what makes them such a bargin card. 6970 for price of 6950 plus not far of GTX 580 for a lot less money.

Marine-RX179 · 27 Sep 2011 at 17:14

max51 said:
he Bios switch on the Toxic is set to the standard 6950 1408 unified shaders but aparently if you flick that switch over it is supposed to give you the full fat 1536 shaders of the 6970. Like i have the first ref cards which you could use the 6970 bios to unlock the shaders, which i have done.The toxic has that facility all ready on them.
So that is what makes them such a bargin card. 6970 for price of 6950 plus not far of GTX 580 for a lot less money. i know a lot of Nvidia fan boys will probably disagree.

6970 is pretty much around same speed as a GTX480/GTX570, and all of them need to be overclocked to near max to be able to be touching the GTX580. But then you are comparing highly overclocked cards to a card that's running at stock speed, and ignoring that fact that the GTX580 itself can be overclocked from 770MHz all the way up to 900MHz and beyond as well.

The Sapphire 6950 2GB Toxis WAS a good bargin when it was at £220, but now its price has got all the way up to £250, I think trying to get other 6950 2GB at £180 would make more sense, since the difference between with and without unlock is only around as little as 3%, when both are on the same clock speeds (i.e. 6950 vs 6970 at 950MHz), while the Toxic is costing almost 50% extra.

Jay794 · 27 Sep 2011 at 17:15

My vote would also be the 6950 2GB, any varient of that card is worth getting, my preference was the Twin Frozr III Power Edition

Jakus · 28 Sep 2011 at 00:55

A HD6970 or GTX570 would be my recommendation, don't forget the ATI card is stupidly long (unless later ones have changed) so make sure You have the room !

But if You can get a good deal and want the very best it would be a GTX580

or a cheap to card until the new stuff arrives it would have to be a S/H HD5870

Good luck

Gandeh · 29 Sep 2011 at 10:42

Thanks for all the great advice, I appreciate you all posting

I've got a HAF X case so room shouldn't be an issue!

I'm leaning towards the GTX580. For the reason that, if I go for the 6950 now then I'd really be looking to get to and cross fire + over clock it straight away. Where as if I go for the GTX580, I can run it at stock speed and maybe slightly overclock with the ability to buy a second and hopefully cheaper one in the future to SLI.