560Ti 1GB, 2GB or Radeon 6950

TechnoMage

Weaksauce
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Dec 23, 2002
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I'm building out a new Sandy Bridget Computer with a 2600K, 16GB of memory and a SSD for my main drive. It will be hooked up to two 1920x1200 monitors.

My original plan was to get a GTX 560 Ti like the MSI Twin Frozr for $250 but I was worried about it only having 1GB of memory. Then I starting thinking about the Palit version that comes with 2GB for $280.

Now I'm wondering if I should just go with something like the Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 for $277 that comes with 2GB.

Thoughts?
 
Might consider paying a few bucks more for the XFX 6950. Lifetime warranty has its merits.
 
I'm building out a new Sandy Bridget Computer with a 2600K, 16GB of memory and a SSD for my main drive. It will be hooked up to two 1920x1200 monitors.

My original plan was to get a GTX 560 Ti like the MSI Twin Frozr for $250 but I was worried about it only having 1GB of memory. Then I starting thinking about the Palit version that comes with 2GB for $280.

Now I'm wondering if I should just go with something like the Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 for $277 that comes with 2GB.

Thoughts?

6950.

You can unclock it to a 6970, and save yourself alot of money.

The 560 TI isnt nearly as fast as a 6970.
 
I'm assuming you'll only be gaming on one monitor at 1920x1200 so you won't really need more than 1GB over video memory. If you want eyefinity/NV surround then definitely get a 2GB card.

I think the GTX560Ti is a pretty solid card for a single monitor.

As for the 6950 I would get the cheapest reference card design if you want to unlock it into a 6970.
 
For single monitor @ 1920x1200 it's a toss up between GTX 560Ti and 6950. It will depend heavily on the game and what IQ settings you plan to use.

I guess I'll recommend the XFX 6950, be sure to buy a reference model to unlock to a 6970 and lifetime warranty FTW.
 
I appreciate the comments. Let's assume, that gaming will be confined to one monitor while the other screen will have up a webpage or email client. Let's also assume that while I'm not uncomfortable with minor overclocking, stability in the end is much more important. I also do some development on this machine.

MSI Twin Frozr for $250
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 for $277

Is the 6950 locked with the extra price?
 
I am in a similar situation. I want to spend $200-$250 on a single card. I'm buying a new SB setup soon. 1 monitor, 1080p res. Seems like a lot of options right now. I tend to be leaning towards the 6950 right now, but what are your opinions?
 
For the OP, I would pick the 6950 2GB. The 560 seems a bit displaced with the cheap 460 1GB still on the market and the insane unlocked 6950 2GB. Also, 2GB 6950s have been dirt-cheap after rebate lately ($230 - $240.)

For TheToE!: The difference in performance between the 1GB and 2GB 6950 is basically zero until you unlock and overclock (additional voltage) the 2GB card. The 1GB version is $205 + shipping right now so hard decision.
 
I've had both the 560 and the 2GB 6950. The 560 was a tad faster than the 6950 in every game I play. Now that the 6950 is unlocked and overclocked it's a little bit better than the 560 was at this resolution in most of my games.

After having it for a while I'm a little disappointed simply because it doesn't have the power to max out some of my games at the "low" resolution of 1680x1050 (Rift, Metro 2033, etc.)

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1588960
 
Extra cost not worth the price merits?

I'm content with the extra cost on the XFX for the warranty knowing there's a fair chance I'll end up making use of it.

For those with no such worries, certainly the cheaper card is the way to go.
 
All 6950 2GBs are still reference for the time being.

The 1GBs however are non-reference.

Not true and never was; The reference cards have a RED fan on the end of the card as opposed to dual fans or a fan in the middle, and they will be stamped "AMD" near the PCIE slot connector. XFX, Diamond, HIS, Sapphire, Gigabyte, VisionTek, and Asus all have reference model 2GB 6950s available to name a few.
 
Thanks all for the advice. In the end I decided to go with the 6950. Here's the full order I placed with NewEgg last night.

Case: Cooler Master HAF X
Motherboard: MSI P67A-GD65
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
Fan/Heatsink: Corsair CWCH60
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) (I got two of these for 16GB total)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6950
Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-850TX
OS Hard Drive: Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe 240GB
Data Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint HD204UI 2TB (I got two of these)
Optical Drive: Lite-On 24 X iHAS424-98 DVD writer
 
Nice work; that machine is going to be killer (and it is very similar to mine :cool:).

My setup:
AMD HAF 932 Case
MSI P67A-GD45
i2500K CPU
16GB RipJaws
2x XFX 6950 2GB
2x Intel X25-M 80GB (raid 0)
3x WD RE3 250GB (raid 0)
Corsair 850HX
Dell 22" Panels (Eyefinity 5040x1050 setup)

Anyway, well put together and good luck with it.
 
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