6950 2 gig vs 7xxx

[marcplante]

Newegg has a deal on a 2 gig hd6950 177, including bf 3. I've been lagging upgrading my gpu since i haven't had time to get into bf3 our any other gpu intensive game, but this seems like a good deal, plus the card would help with framerate on my driving Sim gtr evo.

I know the 7xxx series cards are more efficient, but they seem fairly pricey right now...i can wait til the holidays if a black Friday type deal will bring prices down, but 150 feels like my price point (I'm factoring in some value for the bundled game).

Jump on deal? or wait?

 

[Smoblikat]

Jump on that, it might unlock to a 6970. The closest thing to a 6950 would be a 7870, and they both have 2gb Vram, so not much gains there.

 

[AtenRa]

I have an ASUS HD6950 1GB and i play BF3 at 1920x1080 at high settings (no blur no AA). For that price + the game it is definitely worth it.

 

[Durvelle27]

were is this deal ? don't see it looking to get a new card .

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Jump on that, it might unlock to a 6970. The closest thing to a 6950 would be a 7870, and they both have 2gb Vram, so not much gains there.

Wrong. A 7850 is sorta guaranteed to reach 580 plus performance results. No 6970 can reach that level, and most 6950s can't reach even 6970 leave alone 580. A 7870 can reach 660TI with a nominal overclock or something like a stock 7950 which is like 40-50% faster than a 6950.

I would take a 7850 for 50 bucks more if you can spend that much. Else the 6950 isn't a bad deal at all.

 

[balane]

Newegg has a deal on a 2 gig hd6950 177, including bf 3.

There are four 6950 cards on Newegg. The cheapest one is the Sapphire with Dirt 3 for $190 after mail in rebate.

The card that comes with BF3 is the XFX DD and it costs $230 after MIR.

I would get the 7850 over any 6950 deal I see currently on Newegg.

What card/deal are you looking at OP?

 

[Darkrage]

this card probably.........

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/782...5xcdfc-battlefield-3-and-deus-ex-game-coupons

 

[AtenRa]

Wrong. A 7850 is sorta guaranteed to reach 580 plus performance results.

dont thing so, even at 1GHz the HD7850 is lagging behind even the HD7870.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/28.html

and most 6950s can't reach even 6970 leave alone 580.

HD6950 at 950MHz is faster than default HD6970 (880MHz).

An HD6950 2GB at $177 + the BF3 game is absolutely perfect. Its performance is in par with HD7850 at default, it is cheaper + you get the game for free.

 

[Protomize]

dont thing so, even at 1GHz the HD7850 is lagging behind even the HD7870. HD6950 at 950MHz is faster than default HD6970 (880MHz).

An HD6950 2GB at $177 + the BF3 game is absolutely perfect. Its performance is in par with HD7850 at default, it is cheaper + you get the game for free.

1ghz clock on the HD 7850 is rather conservative. 1.1 or 1.2 or even 1.25ghz is where the HD 7850 starts to stick it's noise into HD 7950/GTX 580 performance.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

dont thing so, even at 1GHz the HD7850 is lagging behind even the HD7870.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/28.html

HD6950 at 950MHz is faster than default HD6970 (880MHz).

An HD6950 2GB at $177 + the BF3 game is absolutely perfect. Its performance is in par with HD7850 at default, it is cheaper + you get the game for free.

Again, wrong. 1100ghz is sorta given for a 7850 on stock cooling, usually higher. And a 7870 is nearly a 580 anyway overall.

And not even 6950 will reach 950mhz in fact most won't even reach 900mhz and at the same speed it will loose to the 6970. Avg performance inc of a 6950 with all mods is 5-10% for an average card, rest is lottery. It is 35-40% for a 7850 which even on stock is 5-15% faster than a 6950.

 

[AtenRa]

1ghz clock on the HD 7850 is rather conservative. 1.1 or 1.2 or even 1.25ghz is where the HD 7850 starts to stick it's noise into HD 7950/GTX 580 performance.

What voltage do you need to reach 1.25GHz ?? does any HD7850 can reach that OC ??

 

[AtenRa]

And not even 6950 will reach 950mhz in fact most won't even reach 900mhz and at the same speed it will loose to the 6970.

My ASUS CU II HD6950 1GB reaches 880MHz with default voltage and i have OC it at 1GHz easily, any HD6950 will reach 950MHz with voltage adjustment, even 1GHz.

HD6950 at 900MHz is 1-2% slower than HD6970 at default 880MHz clocks.

I dont say that 6950 is better than 7850 but for the price + the two games it is absolutely fine even for BF3.

 

[Binky]

I have both a 6950 and a 7950. For a new purchase, you should also consider that the 6950 puts out much more heat than the 7950 at almost any speed (and I'd assume the 7850 is the same). My 7950 at a 25% OC of 1100mhz is quieter and cooler under full load than my 6950 at stock speeds under full load. They are both great cards but the 7xxx series seems far superior to me.

 

[Arkaign]

6950 is great, but 7850 and above are better of course. The only major problem is the pricing of the current-gen cards from both AMD and Nvidia.

If I understand the OP correctly, and that's $177, with at least one game that you want and would buy anyway (BF3), that lowers the effective price of that 6950 to $150ish, and that's simply untouchable by any current-gen card.

I had a 6950, and handed it down to my GF by replacing it with a 670 FTW edition. Both are great, both handle BF3 very very well at 1920x1200. I kind of regret the 670 as good as it is, it seems almost overkill to me for 1200p, but I bought it preparing to buy one of the Catleap Q270s, and the 6950 is a little too slow to reasonably game at that res.

If you game at 1080p, then the 6950 should be killer for you.

EDIT : Looked at the deal, awesome. Deus Ex : HR was really good imho, one of the first games of that type that I actually played all the way through in a long time. In comparison, I usually play SP for about 15 minutes before getting bored.

 

[mephiston5]

I jumped on that deal...I was in the market for a new card, and had interest in both of the bundled games.

 

[marcplante]

Thanks for your inputs. I'm not a hard core gamer. I'll get to play bf3 for occasional hour session or run my driving Sim on the 1080 TV with my wheel and pedals.. This should be fine for the price.

Marc