HD 6970 CF or 660 Ti?

C

CeZemal

Weaksauce
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Jan 19, 2011
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So I have a friend that wants to buy from me my 2 HD 6970's that I just replaced to replace his 2 HD 6850's. I was thinking I'd just cut the price in half from what I bought them for, since on Ebay I see them going for around $200 still. This would bring it to ~325, but in thinking about it, I got to wondering. He's running only one display, which leads me to think he doesn't actually need two video cards, and that one better more modern card might be best for him.

Problem is, it's pretty difficult to find bench marks comparing HD6970 CF to cards that are about a year old, so in terms of which would actually be better to suit his needs, I really can't say for sure. I know a couple 6970's would serve him very well, especially with one display, but with this comes the occasional headache of using more than one video card, and I don't think as a friend I could just sell them to him without him knowing the full and complete story as I see it.

So my question is, to the [H]ard ones, would the 2 6970's be better than a $300-350 card from this generation of cards for one 1920x1080 display?
 
I owned a 6990 (basically the same as a 6970CF) and in terms of raw performance, it will absolutely destroy a 660Ti. A 6990 is slightly faster than a 7970Ghz edition (~10%), so I imagine the performance delta is somewhere in the area of 30-40% relative to a 660Ti.

With all of that being said, I hated owning the 6990. Like most crossfire solutions, it was loud, hot, and suffered from some severe micro stuttering. I honestly didn't know what micro stuttering was until I compared playing Farcry 3 on a 6990 vs a 7970. While the latter reported slower Fraps numbers, it felt so much smoother.

I ultimately sold my card and picked up a 7970, and I couldn't be happier.

If you can sell your cards for $300-350, I would first look at a used 7970, or a new 7950. I have not personally used Nvidia cards from this generation, but I am sure a 660Ti is a comparable to a 7950 (albeit with perhaps less overclocking headroom).

Just as an addendum to my previous post (given that I read your original post in more detail), I would concur that a 660Ti (or equivalent) is perhaps better suited for your friend. With that being said, if you sold him both cards for $300, that is an incredibly sweet deal for something that should provide him enough horsepower for all games at 1080p
 
I would go 660 ti. but I went 7870 over 660ti myself. Depents on what games you play.
 
Maybe wait a few months and see if AMD gets their "frame-time" drivers released. If they work as well as people are expecting then your current setup will be worht keeping.
 
For a single 1080p display, a 660ti is plenty. You could probably even get away with a plain 660 GTX.
 
257Tony said:
Maybe wait a few months and see if AMD gets their "frame-time" drivers released. If they work as well as people are expecting then your current setup will be worht keeping.
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Few monts could be extended to the end of this year or firsts of next.. ... Or that was AMD said. They are still not ready to launch without compromise performance on other areas, however they'll keep..launching beta drivers that may could help a bit..

kirbyrj said:
For a single 1080p display, a 660ti is plenty. You could probably even get away with a plain 660 GTX.
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660ti its enough for mostly games at 1080p maxed. But not for all.. Sadly thats why i came to a 660ti SLI setup.. Im always looking to max all games.. But just like and only on few heavy games like crysis 3, hitman absolution, max payne 3.. For the rest its more than enough.. Like dead space 1,2,3, skyrim, resident evil 6, etc.. The 660ti (specially oc'd) its more than enough keeping at 1080p maxed out..
 
I had 2 X 6970 and I ditched them for a GTX 670. I'd definitely say that the 6970's are faster than a 660 Ti. The 6970's are about on par with a 670 it's just now I don't have to deal with driver or xfire issues.
 
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