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Graphics cards on Newegg-

B

bencho

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
2,093
Been thinking about this for quite some time now.

Whenever I go shopping for a new GFX card on newegg, I narrow it down via specs and there are usually a few versions left over. In this case, I'm looking at a 6950 2GB by either Asus or XFX. When I do a compare, the only thing different is the model/serial number.

What is the actual differences between them?? Usually one of them has a ton of reviews while the others will only have a handful.

Only reason I'm asking now is that the ones with tons of reviews are OOS. Would there be any detriment to buying the "same" card with less reviews?
 
Yea, I did see that thread.

I had thought that's why XFX's offerings are so much lower in price than Asus's.

Still, how would i know which of the two Asus/XFX 6950 2GB is "better"?
 
I would just avoid XFX and Powercolor for a 6950 right now. I would go with the MSI or the Sapphire, they are both the same cards. I just had a really good customer service experience with Sapphire recently.
 
What it boils down to is what you want.

I'll talk about three brands here....ASUS,XFX and MSI. Lets talk particularly about the 6950.

Do you want to unlock the shaders and convert the 6950 to a 6970?
> The only cards that can customarily do that are the "reference" models that have the fan in the rear, a bios switch, and the AMD logo on the PCI-e slot. They usually come with a heavy aluminum backplate as well.

XFX has abandoned the reference design, ASUS and MSI have the reference models and some of their own models with different fan configurations or different heatsinks. Rule of thumb in this instance, if it isn't a pure reference card, it probably won't unlock to a 6970 shader revision, but i haven't seen that in writing anywhere yet. I have two of the reference 6950 from MSI and they converted as easy as I could have imagined.

What kind of Warranty do you need?
> XFX does have the lifrtime and transferable warranty. ASUS and MSI have three years but there is less hassle to get the warranty applied.

Do you like OC software?
Although all three will accept MSI Afterburner and OC nicely, ASUS does have SmartDoctor which allows voltage adjustments and can also adjust the AMD CCC allowing you to do all your overclocks inside CCC.

How much is too much?
> XFX and ASUS models are generally more dollars, MSI plain models are usually less for the same thing.

You can say pretty much the same about sapphire.

For me....if I'm buying AMD, I buy MSI and ASUS if I can.
 
Thanks magoo!

I think my days of messing and tinkering with HW are done. My buddy comes and clocks all my stuff for me. I'm all for stability these days. I'd probably not care for unlocking from a 6950 to 6970~

A 3 year warranty is fine I guess, I usually upgrade around that time and toss older cards into older builds or sell them to help pay for newer cards. I also dont really OC alot so my cards are pretty stock.

Don't care much for software and bloatware.

I usually like XFX but after reading that article, kinda of a bummer. I do like Asus but their cards are usually pricier. Since I'm on a 3 year cycle with graphics, I prob wouldnt mind going for the Asus.
 
Asus isn't exactly famous for their customer service either. I've been pretty disappointed with their service myself in the past. Their software is also notoriously buggy. I would opt for Afterburner which is written by Unwinder, the guy that made rivatuner, or Sapphire Trixx which is written by Wizzard. I definitely wouldn't go out of my way to pay more for an Asus reference card.
 
I got an XFX 6950 1GB, beware, they supply no adapters at all. Need to find me an Adapter to go from my DP monitor to mini dp card.
 
yep asus and xfx, both freaking takes darn too long for CS, also asus don't even have 1800# for USA and XFX is just darn too slow. i had bad problem with gigabyte also, had their MOBO and Video card but together they won't work had to use hacked firmware for it to get it working.
 
Last week or so i got HIS cards and i love them they are Reference and do unlock.
 
I agree with magoo. When I buy AMD vid cards I mostly buy MSI since I've had really good RMA experiences with them. But the one time I RMA'd an XFX card it was smooth as well.
 
bencho said:
Thanks magoo!

I think my days of messing and tinkering with HW are done. My buddy comes and clocks all my stuff for me. I'm all for stability these days. I'd probably not care for unlocking from a 6950 to 6970~

A 3 year warranty is fine I guess, I usually upgrade around that time and toss older cards into older builds or sell them to help pay for newer cards. I also dont really OC alot so my cards are pretty stock.

Don't care much for software and bloatware.

I usually like XFX but after reading that article, kinda of a bummer. I do like Asus but their cards are usually pricier. Since I'm on a 3 year cycle with graphics, I prob wouldnt mind going for the Asus.
Click to expand...

No problem.
Look if you are serious about a reference model HD 6950, give the BIOS flash deal some serious thought.
I have never flashed a GPU BIOS before last week, but this deal was just too sweet.
You can take a stock reference 6950 and with 5 minutes of work, you have turned it into a stock 6970............
now my 6950 were about 245 after rebate and had free shipping (MSI HD 6950).
The cost of the 6970 is 315 after rebate......not bad.

Just read this little article here: http://www.overclock.net/amd-ati/923129-hd-6950-810-1250-mhz-shader.html

Once it's flashed, you can use MSI Afterburner to OC the card up to the 6970 speeds.....save nearly 100 dollars and got the same performance......:D
 
There is no need to flash a bios from any other card onto your 6950. Here is a quick guide on how to just edit your own bios. Link
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
There is no need to flash a bios from any other card onto your 6950. Here is a quick guide on how to just edit your own bios. Link
Click to expand...


Your method is nice, but it involves transfer of files and renaming them.....which could lead to errors.

The method I linked is a total package and is essentially fool-proof.

Plus the method i linked allows you to utilize ASUS Smart Doctor and edit the AMD CCC, so you need not use any other thrid party software ever. You can uninstall Smart Doctor when you are finished.

I read your post, but the other guy's is just easier and it's been shown to work by hundreds of people.:D
 
It's an older method. There have been updates to every utility in that folder. I just think that there are better ways. Honestly if you can somehow screw up that method then you shouldn't be flashing a vga bios.

I also wouldn't touch Asus Smart Doctor with a ten foot pole, especially a buggy outdated version. You can do the same thing with Sapphire Trixx which is a more reliable utility and can be used on any manufacturers card.
 
Im not too worried about flashing but I'll look into it once I get my hands on a 6950.
Sadly, I've confirmed that to run my 4 monitors I'll need those expensive active adapters.
Unless someone else has an idea to run:

245bw [dvi]
245bw [dvi]
2209wa [dvi]
46" samsung lcd tv [hdmi]
 
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