So Ill have 300 bucks for a new ATI card, what would you choose?

J

jordan12

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Dec 29, 2000
Messages
10,226
So I will have 300.00 to 350.00 for a new video card.

What card would be the best choice in that price range? I want to stay with ATI cards, unless Nvidia has something outstanding in that range..

Any advice?

I can go $400.00 if it is a REALLY great deal...
 
For an ati card you are looking at the 6970.
$400 gets you close to 2 6950s in crossfire. A huge amount of power for high resolution/eyefinity setups.
 
I'd say go with the HD6950 and then unlock only the shaders. That's your best bargain per dollar.
 
Is it still hard to find a reference card for the 6950's? Also, would it be beneficial to wait for the 7xxx series?
 
I just scored a 6950 Trin Frozr II for somewhere around 270 after rebates and I believe the Twin Frozr III can be had for 300. Ive been nothing but happy with mine though.
 
jordan12 said:
So I will have 300.00 to 350.00 for a new video card.

What card would be the best choice in that price range? I want to stay with ATI cards, unless Nvidia has something outstanding in that range..

Any advice?

I can go $400.00 if it is a REALLY great deal...
Click to expand...

6950 do a shader unlock and apply the below registry change to unlock max overclock.

(the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0002" and "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0003" may vary based on your installation, check your registry and edit as needed)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0002]

"PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable"=hex:6f,01,05,01,00,04,04,10,18,58,00,68,00,b8,00,e8,\
03,e8,03,58,00,00,80,01,00,0f,00,00,02,08,3c,00,00,68,00,b8,00,00,18,01,09,\
00,18,01,26,01,83,01,00,00,a0,0c,00,00,30,01,40,01,4b,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
aa,00,00,00,78,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,56,01,0a,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,01,01,02,03,02,02,02,04,03,02,02,04,80,38,01,48,e8,01,01,ff,7e,04,00,00,\
01,00,00,00,a8,61,00,98,3a,00,84,03,b6,03,00,00,01,00,00,00,50,c3,00,48,e8,\
01,e8,03,7e,04,00,00,01,00,00,00,68,3c,01,48,e8,01,01,ff,7e,04,00,00,01,00,\
00,00,34,1b,01,48,e8,01,01,ff,7e,04,00,00,01,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,78,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,78,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,04,00,00,7a,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,f0,d2,00,00,40,9c,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,7a,00,00,00,00,04,\
00,70,11,01,00,c0,da,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,06,94,11,c4,22,54,24,60,09,3c,\
0f,88,13,0a,00,a0,86,01,00,40,0d,03,00,03,40,9c,00,84,03,50,c3,00,e8,03,68,\
3c,01,01,ff,02,98,3a,00,b6,03,48,e8,01,7e,04,02,98,3a,00,84,03,48,e8,01,e8,\
03,04,84,03,11,00,00,00,e8,03,1a,00,00,00,4b,04,28,00,00,00,4c,04,28,00,00,\
00

"EnableUlps_NA"="0"
"EnableUlps"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0003]

"PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable"=hex:6f,01,05,01,00,04,04,10,18,58,00,68,00,b8,00,e8,\
03,e8,03,58,00,00,80,01,00,0f,00,00,02,08,3c,00,00,68,00,b8,00,00,18,01,09,\
00,18,01,26,01,83,01,00,00,a0,0c,00,00,30,01,40,01,4b,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
aa,00,00,00,78,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,56,01,0a,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,01,01,02,03,02,02,02,04,03,02,02,04,80,38,01,48,e8,01,01,ff,7e,04,00,00,\
01,00,00,00,a8,61,00,98,3a,00,84,03,b6,03,00,00,01,00,00,00,50,c3,00,48,e8,\
01,e8,03,7e,04,00,00,01,00,00,00,68,3c,01,48,e8,01,01,ff,7e,04,00,00,01,00,\
00,00,34,1b,01,48,e8,01,01,ff,7e,04,00,00,01,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,78,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,78,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,04,00,00,7a,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,f0,d2,00,00,40,9c,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,7a,00,00,00,00,04,\
00,70,11,01,00,c0,da,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,06,94,11,c4,22,54,24,60,09,3c,\
0f,88,13,0a,00,a0,86,01,00,40,0d,03,00,03,40,9c,00,84,03,50,c3,00,e8,03,68,\
3c,01,01,ff,02,98,3a,00,b6,03,48,e8,01,7e,04,02,98,3a,00,84,03,48,e8,01,e8,\
03,04,84,03,11,00,00,00,e8,03,1a,00,00,00,4b,04,28,00,00,00,4c,04,28,00,00,\
00

"EnableUlps_NA"="0"
"EnableUlps"=dword:00000000
 
^^What does the registry change exactly? I know you can max overclock it but shouldn't there be some sort of limit so you don't kill your card?
 
Hm... spend a little more (oh.. its always a little more and more) and you can get 6950 Unlocked CF o.o
 
get on your local Craigslist and save some money to buy a game to go with your card, cause games are frickin exspensive, if you buy them that is ;)
 
Suprfire said:
Hm... spend a little more (oh.. its always a little more and more) and you can get 6950 Unlocked CF o.o
Click to expand...

OR, get one now and add one later if you need it..

What resolution are you running?, how many displays? , what is the rest of your system like? and what are you doing with it?
 
Maverick1337 said:
^^What does the registry change exactly? I know you can max overclock it but shouldn't there be some sort of limit so you don't kill your card?
Click to expand...

It changes the max overclock settings for the 6950.

What most people do is flash the card to the 6970 BIOS, but that's not good for two reasons.

1 - It changes the RAM voltage and timings on the card, and the RAM is not the same between the 6950 and the 6970

2 - Flashing to the 6970 disables the manual voltage control in MSI AB


The better way to flash the card is by performing the following steps:

1 - Take the manufacturer's 6950 BIOS (in my case XFX) and load it into RBE (techpowerup.com has it)

2 - Unlock the 6970 shaders

3 - Force flash your card(s) and reboot

4 - Apply the registry entry (this changes the max overclock range to match the 6970, while keeping the card as a 6950 and also disables ULPS.)

5 - Install your drivers and reboot when needed

6 - Install the MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 2 (or the version that is available when you install)


With these steps you have full control over vCore as well as the 6970 shaders. You also don't need to worry about burning up your RAM since the BIOS is still the 6950.
 
lloose said:
For an ati card you are looking at the 6970.
$400 gets you close to 2 6950s in crossfire. A huge amount of power for high resolution/eyefinity setups.
Click to expand...

Just overclock a HD6950 (will give you 5% more performance), diffirence is not much with 6970 and you don't need to use 2 cards in SLI, too much power usage when a game doesn't even require the performance so it's best to think about your energy bill, this way you'll sooner have the money to upgrade once more in the future.
I advice making sure you always have the best CPU in combination with your GPU to increase performance. No use having monster cards when your CPU bottlenecks performance as I've learned ^^
 
I like my 6950 a LOT, but I can only OC it to 850 on the GPU for total stability, and I don't touch the memory or blue screens all the time. I do have the shaders unlocked though, which can't hurt at all!
 
HD6950 flashed is your best bet. Look around on the forums you can usually get some used for $230-250.
 
TTsar562 said:
Wait a couple of month and the hd 7k series will come out.
Click to expand...
How do you know? Could be a couple of months (very doubtful), could be next year. There's no solid release date for the 7k series cards, just speculation...

SemiAccurate expressed doubt about TSMC's ability to deliver the 28-nm parts in volume, however, saying retail cards might arrive some time between July 2011 and July 2012.
Click to expand...
 
saying retail cards might arrive some time between July 2011 and July 2012.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes:

On topic: I got an hd 6950 2gb, it unlocked very easily and I got to 921/1550 Mhz @ 1.115V...
You might not get the same results but with that much overclockability and the shader unlock,
I say definitely go for an hd 6950 if you like overclocking (you should try to find a reference one, the custom ones *might* not unlock and will cost you a few more bucks).
And the reference design is actually pretty good, just use a custom fan profile with MSI AB, TRIXX or another nice overclocking tool : I get mine at around 65 degrees with a fan speed of 55%, even with the overclock.
Also, if you don't use multiple monitors, you can get a 1gb version even cheaper.

tl;dr : hd 6950 is imo the best price/performance around 300$
 
quick question: why would you want to disable ULPS isn't that just the powersaving when at desktop feature? Mine ramps up to 880 when I game unless im missing something
 
Adam1203 said:
It changes the max overclock settings for the 6950.

What most people do is flash the card to the 6970 BIOS, but that's not good for two reasons.

1 - It changes the RAM voltage and timings on the card, and the RAM is not the same between the 6950 and the 6970

2 - Flashing to the 6970 disables the manual voltage control in MSI AB


The better way to flash the card is by performing the following steps:

1 - Take the manufacturer's 6950 BIOS (in my case XFX) and load it into RBE (techpowerup.com has it)

2 - Unlock the 6970 shaders

3 - Force flash your card(s) and reboot

4 - Apply the registry entry (this changes the max overclock range to match the 6970, while keeping the card as a 6950 and also disables ULPS.)

5 - Install your drivers and reboot when needed

6 - Install the MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 2 (or the version that is available when you install)


With these steps you have full control over vCore as well as the 6970 shaders. You also don't need to worry about burning up your RAM since the BIOS is still the 6950.
Click to expand...

Thanks for nice, simple, clear instructions
 
For $300... 6850s in crossfire. :D

The HD6000s scale very nicely (80-100% scaling in many games and benchmarks). But if you're not up for the possible issues that come along with crossfire, then I'd go for a single HD 6950 2GB for $250 and flash it into a 6970.
 
blade52x said:
For $300... 6850s in crossfire. :D

The HD6000s scale very nicely (80-100% scaling in many games and benchmarks). But if you're not up for the possible issues that come along with crossfire, then I'd go for a single HD 6950 2GB for $250 and flash it into a 6970.
Click to expand...

Possible issues? Do you guys that say this crap actually run crossfire? Cause I haven't had a single issue with my trifire setup.
 
I've got a 6950 that i'm trying to get rid of and its a great card! its the 2gb version, runs anything i play at max settings/max res! highly recommended.
 
MM27 said:
I've got a 6950 that i'm trying to get rid of and its a great card! its the 2gb version, runs anything i play at max settings/max res! highly recommended.
Click to expand...


Umm, so why are you trying to get rid of it?
 
SeaFoam said:
Possible issues? Do you guys that say this crap actually run crossfire? Cause I haven't had a single issue with my trifire setup.
Click to expand...

Yes I do. And no I haven't had any issues, unless you consider high video card temperatures (80-90C) and more fan noise an issue, which I do not. What I more or less meant to say was try not be too let down if a game developer gives you crappy crossfire scaling and/or support. (Like RIFT for example).

I recommended the 6850s because I use them, and they simply kick ass. From what I've read, the 5850 > 6850. But in crossfire, the 6850 > 5850 due to better scaling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top