Should I replace my 6870?

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imgneevrythng

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
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I bought my current XFX 6870 in late 2011. It's been serving me pretty well, although I haven't really pushed it very far. The most intense game I've played on it has probably been Metro 2033 which it handled pretty well.

That said, I just recently upgraded everything else. I spent around $650 on a new build, but didn't touch the video card. I figured I'd leave it until I needed one. I fear the time might be now.

I want to pick up Bioshock Infinite on Tuesday, and also catch up on Far Cry 3 and maybe even pick up the new Tomb Raider game. Doing a quick browse of current video cards on the market I can see a lot of them come with free game coupons for either Bioshock, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, or any combination of the 3. So picking up a new card could actually save me money.

So my questions are: Can my 6870 handle the three above mentioned games without any problems? Would it be worth it to drop $300 on a new card?

My current build is:

•Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz LGA 1155 Processor (not OC'd yet. Will OC within the next few months)
•ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 ATX Intel Motherboard
•Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800CL9
•CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V
•Running 2 monitors with the main monitor at 1920x1080 res
•Running Windows 7 64bit
 
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Resolution?

I'd guess that if it handles Metro 2033 to your liking, you probably would be ok, but a good bang for the buck right now is that Tahiti LE 7870 if you can find one. Comes with Bioshock and Tomb Raider...saves you the cash if you're already looking to buy them.
 
Far Cry 3 runs great on my GTX-560 and I think the HD-6870 is better? I'd say just try it and see what happens. If you don't like it, then upgrade. :)
 
ahhh I knew I forgot something.

I have 2 monitors. My main monitor is a 23in running on 1920x1080 res
 
worst case scenario is that you need to buy a new card, and its a great time to do so! ATI 7870xt (Tahiti LE) and 7950 cards are incredibly cheap at the moment, and are quite fast, and come with 2 free games. Hard to beat!
 
geforce man said:
worst case scenario is that you need to buy a new card, and its a great time to do so! ATI 7870xt (Tahiti LE) and 7950 cards are incredibly cheap at the moment, and are quite fast, and come with 2 free games. Hard to beat!
Click to expand...

To put it in perspective, I actually "downgraded" to a Tahiti LE from a GTX670 and pocketed the $150. I don't regret it at all. Great card. Mine OC's to 1200mhz on the core up from 925.
 
geforce man said:
worst case scenario is that you need to buy a new card, and its a great time to do so! ATI 7870xt (Tahiti LE) and 7950 cards are incredibly cheap at the moment, and are quite fast, and come with 2 free games. Hard to beat!
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I just read a benchmark on the Tahiti 7870. Seems like a pretty solid card.

I see Newegg has it for about $250. Would it be worth it to bump up to $300 for this 7950?
 
for only a 50$ difference I would do it. Reason I went with the Tahiti LE card was that at the time it was 209$, and the cheapest 7950 was 290. If it was 50$ I probably would have jumped to the 7950 :).

I run my 7870MYST @ 1150/1525 for gaming, stays nice and cool
 
imgneevrythng said:
I just read a benchmark on the Tahiti 7870. Seems like a pretty solid card.

I see Newegg has it for about $250. Would it be worth it to bump up to $300 for this 7950?
Click to expand...

You can get it closer to $210-220 if you wait for a deal. I got the Sapphire version because it has dual fans.
 
imgneevrythng said:
I just read a benchmark on the Tahiti 7870. Seems like a pretty solid card.

I see Newegg has it for about $250. Would it be worth it to bump up to $300 for this 7950?
Click to expand...

get a HD 7950 boost. best price perf card in the market. at the same clocks HD 7950 is 5% slower than HD 7970. also 15 - 20% faster than HD 7870 Tahiti LE at same clocks. most cards do 1150 - 1200 mhz on average with few doing 1250+ mhz.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7870_jokerCard_Tahiti_LE/31.html

go with sapphire card. unlocked voltage. good cooler. 29 cm lomg. so make sure it fits in your case

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

310 with shipping (290 after mail in rebate).
 
I'd probably go with MSI or Asus nowadays if it was me. Sapphire may work but there trixx did not work on my 7970 but afterburner did luckily. Weird.
 
I don't know...if you can get a 7870XT for $220, you're still only picking up 15-20% for an extra 25-30% cost.
 
Don't be dumb with your money. See how the games play. If they work great your wallet stays fat. If not you can always look at the benches when the game comes out.
 
kirbyrj said:
I don't know...if you can get a 7870XT for $220, you're still only picking up 15-20% for an extra 25-30% cost.
Click to expand...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131487
This is actually a good deal $205 after rebate. But I'd still take a 7950. Games are becoming more n more memory dependant and the rumors of amd holding off on new cards until next year should make the 7900s more appealing.
Edit: techpowerup review only shows a 3% diff between Tahiti le and 7950. Mind you they're using a stock 7950 vs a 975 core 7870. So basically a 175 MHz over clocked 7950 with gimped vram. 975 is easy as pie on 7950 and would destroy the 7870 le IMO.
 
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lloose said:
Don't be dumb with your money. See how the games play. If they work great your wallet stays fat. If not you can always look at the benches when the game comes out.
Click to expand...

you've got a point, but no matter how well my card plays the games, I will never be able to max out the settings or atleast reach the settings of a higher end card. Graphics aren't everything, but they sure count for a lot.

Thanks for the help guys! I have some contemplating to do!
 
HOODedDutchman said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131487
This is actually a good deal $205 after rebate. But I'd still take a 7950. Games are becoming more n more memory dependant and the rumors of amd holding off on new cards until next year should make the 7900s more appealing.
Edit: techpowerup review only shows a 3% diff between Tahiti le and 7950. Mind you they're using a stock 7950 vs a 975 core 7870. So basically a 175 MHz over clocked 7950 with gimped vram. 975 is easy as pie on 7950 and would destroy the 7870 le IMO.
Click to expand...

975 is stock speed on a 7870XT (boost speed). Mine clocks to 1200mhz without any other adjustment. Like I said, I don't think the 7870XT is really a bad deal. I know you can do the same with a 7950. Like I said, I was faced with the same choice, and I went with the cheaper card. The extra $100 wasn't worth it (to me) for 1080p gaming.
 
kirbyrj said:
975 is stock speed on a 7870XT (boost speed). Mine clocks to 1200mhz without any other adjustment. Like I said, I don't think the 7870XT is really a bad deal. I know you can do the same with a 7950. Like I said, I was faced with the same choice, and I went with the cheaper card. The extra $100 wasn't worth it (to me) for 1080p gaming.
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True. But stock speed for 7950 is 800mhz and they also do 1200mhz. So really clock for clock a 1375mhz 7870le should match a 1200mhz 7950 lol. You are probably right tho. Not many games will see the difference at 1080p currently. PS I'm just trolling a bit the number I throughout mean nothing :p
 
$205 is a really good price for the Tahiti. Running @ 1080p it will get you about 50fps ave and 33fps min on Tomb Raider at Ultimate. If that's fine for you then get that.

If you want closer to 60fps average keep an out for something like this.
 
HOODedDutchman said:
I would never touch that reference power color when you could get this its $299 on the egg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414
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is there a reason why you would never touch it? I understand non-reference cards can overclock better, but looking at the deal on that Power Cooler now, it's at $269.99, $249.99 after rebate.

Comments on it have been pretty positive, and people have been able to overclock it pretty well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131478

not to mention looking at this review of 6 different 7950 cards, it seems like most of them, including the one you linked to, clock to the same speeds that the reference 7950 can get to.
 
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imgneevrythng said:
is there a reason why you would never touch it? I understand non-reference cards can overclock better, but looking at the deal on that Power Cooler now, it's at $269.99, $249.99 after rebate.

Comments on it have been pretty positive, and people have been able to overclock it pretty well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131478

not to mention looking at this review of 6 different 7950 cards, it seems like most of them, including the one you linked to, clock to the same speeds that the reference 7950 can get to.
Click to expand...

Reference 7950 get very loud and very hot. No way you could run one at 1150-1200 core without it being stupid loud. Forthe price difference non reference cooler is a great buy. That review is pointless clearly has no voltage tweaking.
 
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