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Upgrading from 280GTX

Z

Zetherin

Gawd
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
765
I'm currently looking to upgrade from a 280GTX but am a bit unsure as to what to choose. A lot of people seem to be recommending the HD6970 over the 580GTX as people say the 580GTX isn't a good value.

I'll be gaming on 1920x1200 and would like to play all the newest games (or at least a good number of them) maxed. I also wouldn't really like to go the CF/SLI solution, and don't wish to spend too much more than $300 if possible.

Any suggestions are welcome, thanks.
 
Zetherin said:
Not familiar with this bios switch thing, I'll have to look into this. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Basically when you flip the switch it may unlock from 1408 shaders (6950 spec) with a factory overclock of 880mhz core over the standard 800mhz to 1536 shaders (6970 spec) with the same 880mhz core clock speed of a reference 6970. The memory is about 20mhz lower. You can then overclock the card pretty well.

this card uses sapphires own vapor chamber cooler which seems to work better than AMD's OEM vapor chamber. So it runs cooler and the fan is more silent.

The only problem with this card, which in my opinion is the new king of value is that it sells like krispy cream donuts fresh after baking. Noone can seem to find them in stock and by the time you notice they are in stock they are sold out. At least from my searching so far. I'll admit I haven't searched as thoroughly because I have a pair of 6950s already and my current mobo doesn't do tri fire.
 
People say that the 6970 is = to the gtx 570 not the 580 right?

But either way that new switch thing sounds amazing..
 
MiLk said:
People say that the 6970 is = to the gtx 570 not the 580 right?

But either way that new switch thing sounds amazing..
Click to expand...

Yes in terms of single card single monitor performance they are about equal as in they trade blows depending on the game.

The GTX 580 is also waaay out of your price range.

The cheapest GTX 580 I could find is $429.99 and that is after a $20 MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187125
so basically it's $449.99 up front. The sapphire toxic is $269.99 after a $20 MIR and the difference in performance between the 2 cards is negligable we're talking 15% at 1920x1200 depending on the game. 10-15% is about 11fps or less.
 
So, go with the 6950, but if I can't find it then go with... what?

The 6970?
 
Zetherin said:
I'm currently looking to upgrade from a 280GTX but am a bit unsure as to what to choose. A lot of people seem to be recommending the HD6970 over the 580GTX as people say the 580GTX isn't a good value.

I'll be gaming on 1920x1200 and would like to play all the newest games (or at least a good number of them) maxed. I also wouldn't really like to go the CF/SLI solution, and don't wish to spend too much more than $300 if possible.

Any suggestions are welcome, thanks.
Click to expand...

The single GPU die hards always recommend a GTX 580. I'm already a dual GPU convert so I don't care about single GPUs anymore :) pssst dual 6950s ;)

But if your heart is set on a $300 budget. A single HD 6950 is pretty good also
 
Zetherin said:
So, go with the 6950, but if I can't find it then go with... what?

The 6970?
Click to expand...

If you can't find the toxic see if you can find an unlockable 6950 (more on that below)

6970s another good choice but currently are hard to find under $300.00, the closest I see is this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125371
$339.99 after MIR

However that brings me to another topic. 6970s are selling out too fast and are hard to find in stock. Some say for the bitcoin craze which should be dying out very soon, others say due to supply/demand. Supposedly they are supposed to start appearing in better quantities soon.

If you can find a reference 6950 which will give you a chance to unlock. Or find a after market 6950 that may unlock, that would absolutely be the best card to go with. Keep in mind though, even if a model is unlockable it doesn't mean that it'll definitely unlock for you.

Finally another worthy choice is a GTX 570

This one is $269.99 after MIR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162075
 
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