XFX 6870 1gig to HIS 6950 2gig, a significant upgrade?

GOD'SlittleSERVANT

GOD'SlittleSERVANT

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I currently have an XFX 6870 1gig Black Edition and found an HIS 6950 2gig (unlocked to 6970) for a good price. If money wasn't an option, would this be a significant upgrade?
 
What games at what settings and how many pixels? Going from a 6850 to my 6970 2GB was a huge boots for me and my 5300x1050. I'd take a single card over multi-card any day. SLI and CFX are too glitchy for me.
 
I'd say that it wouldn't be a significant upgrade, but you'd be able to allow for more eye candy of a better frame rate in your games at the cost of a higher power draw and higher heat.

Like gentle mentioned, if you can get another 6870 for cheap and Crossfire, that should let you coast for awhile, but that 1 GB of vRAM per card will hurt you down the road, especially at higher resolutions.

I'd probably look into something like a 7870($280 or lower?) or 7950(~$300) for cheap if you want something more current, or a GTX 580 if you just want a strong card but are OK with older hardware.

Did you have a budget or are just able to get that unlocked 6950 cheap enough you're thinking about replacing your current card?
 
Skripka said:
What games at what settings and how many pixels? Going from a 6850 to my 6970 2GB was a huge boots for me and my 5300x1050. I'd take a single card over multi-card any day. SLI and CFX are too glitchy for me.
Click to expand...

1920 x 1080

Currently playing Diablo 3... waiting for Guild Wars 2
 
datap1mp said:
6970 2GB would easily max those games out, how is your performance currently?
Click to expand...

currently pretty good. I ultra everything out, but don't max out AA or anything like that.

Now I'm being offered a 6970 with a accelero xtreme cooler with a lil extra cash from me.
 
Safe bet is just roll w.the 6870 for now until the Q3 GPU offerings are released as prices on current tech will reflect new tech rolling out. You can already see the TOL cards sliding. The HIS6970 @the "egg" finally went down from $399 to $339-379 so something new is a'brewin'! Been debating the mutli-gpu path for a few years before actually trying it and two>one for sure. Any "glitchiness" is most likely the GPU bios's conflicting & "rough" driver installs meaning residual files from previous drivers are interfering w/the current driver install. Also the latest driver may not be the best for "your cards". Usually that's only learned through trial and error!! :-/
BUT you gotta think about the "path":
Path1 >>>>Now you're @1(Good) GPU \\
------------------------------------------>>>Stuck w/twoGPU's to sell less than 12months.
Added another of the above //

Path2 >>>> 6870 pulled for 6970* \\
--------------------------------------------->>>> 24-28months of TOL gaming
sold/traded 6870 added 6970x2 //

Path 3 >>>>> 670+ or 7870+ >>> 24+ moths of TOL gaming and room to grow adding additional GPU's.


Mind you this is my technique for rationalizing GPU upgrades hence still running 5770x2 from 2010. Having no issues running current games including the bf3 also support the theory. Add other paths possibly overlooked if necessary.
 
that's my brain easier to diagnose than explain. :) Basically your currrent card runs well. Adding another will perform better than the 6970 but in a year you'll yearn for more powah. Metro on ultra dx11 is a good test of your GPU's "age". If you get smooth and playable frames-not just "30 fps"- then whatever you are running'll be fine until nxt year. Adding in the 6970 now is a good deal but may be trumped in Q3 when newer gfx cards release. Particularly interested in the "7890" 1.5-2GB (idk which since all specs have been "projected". This card is supposed to be in the $260-300 range and easily(by specs) trumps a 6970. This is kinda what the graphs explain the alignment got butchered on post! ;D
 
hahaha, so much easier to understand. Thanks for dumbing that down, lol.

I'll wait it out for awhile with the 6870 I guess since I'm still running games on Ultra.
 
Having owned 6850's, 6870's and 6950's and testing each in crossfire. The 6950 is a decent upgrade from a 6870, but not huge. Do not bother with crossfire with 6870's. It works okay, but I even though average frame rates were pretty good, they were not always that smooth. If you want a good real noticable jump in performance,I would lean towards a 7950. Mine at 1200/1750 is often faster and smoother in games than my unlocked 6950's were in crossfire.
 
I would say go for a 7950 instead as it would offer a larger jump in performance as a few others have state. I went from a 6970 to a 7970 and noticed a pretty decent jump.
 
MSI HD 7950 OC can be had for USD 320 after rebates. There is no other card worth getting for around USD 300. This card will be a huge upgrade from HD 6870 and serve you well for a long time to come.
 
Weird, everything maxed out in BF3 and it runs flawless. Everything maxed out in WoW and I get frame drops....
 
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