What is the difference between these video cards

[pkm]

A video card that has a special casing like big and bulky i assume it must be fast. But then there are video cards that are cheap with just a small fan and only the front with a casing. I don't understand how there are video cards with the same name but with a huge price difference. One is just a small thing with a small fan and heat sink cover while the other is huge and encased in a rectangle box.

What determines which is faster? What figures of the specifications do you look at when determining which video card is fast other than the VRAM or a big rectangle?

[Khalus]

Look at the specs there are some differences, although sometimes not. With some of the cards though, when all you see are fans on the outside, thats your cheap heatsink that dumps all the heat back into your case. Some of the cards however, and generally the more expensive ones with the full cases and a single fan near the end have an internal heat sink {the name eludes me atm} and with them 90%+ of the heat is ejected out the rear of the card/case. Keeps the interior of your PC much cooler, thusly the GPU and other components as well.

[chazus]

Can't tell the difference without providing actual examples. Specs, models, all that stuff matters but NONE of it matters without info.

[pkm]

Look at how big this is

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150561

Then there is this

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presenta...n=&lid=1&leg=0


So which is faster? And lets say they are similar cards as well. How do you tell what is faster?

[Afrospinach]

So which is faster? And lets say they are similar cards as well. How do you tell what is faster?

Benchmarks and reviews. I can tell you that the r7 250 is entry level and the 6870 is a mainstream performance card form yesteryear so it will probably beat the 250 up and down the block with little effort still.

I think the bottom line here is to decide what you want out of the card then ask someone, unless you want to plow through reviews like the rest of us. Neither Nvidia, AMD or any of their partners do the consumer any favours with their naming schemes and it can bite you in the ass.

[Biernot]

Look at how big this is

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150561

Then there is this

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presenta...n=&lid=1&leg=0


So which is faster? And lets say they are similar cards as well. How do you tell what is faster?

There are two factors:

1. A bigger cooler usually means, that card produces more heat, and thus is often faster (but not always). But this theory is only of limited use, when you compare totally different generations of gpus.

2. When you have two cards with the same chip but different coolers, then there are usually two reasons:
a.) One of the cards is overclocked and thus produces more heat. The overclocked card is obviously faster, but the difference is usually not that big.
b.) A bigger, better cooler means the fans can run slower and thus are less noisy.


To answer your question about the two mentioned cards (Radeon 6870 vs. R9 250): You either know, or you look at reviews and benchmarks
The 6870 is already a bit older (3 years maybe) but was then an upper middle-class card (around $200 then). The R9 250 is actually a fairly low-end card and should be comparable to a 6670 of the same generation as the 6870. So the Radeon 6870 is probably twice as fast.

A very good source for comparing cards is this site: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU13/583

[chazus]

They are not similar cards at all. They are two generations of technology apart. 6870's came out in late 2010. R9-270 came out this year, just a couple months ago.

So, a few things.

The 6870, when it was current, was a mid/high end card, probably running in the $250 segment. The R9-250 is new, but a very weak card, in the $100 segment. Thats why the 6870 has a much larger cooler and is a physically larger card.

Now, the specs.

The R9-250, despite being newer, is probably a weaker card than the older 6870. Largely due to the number of (in AMD/ATI's case) Stream Processors, as well as the memory path. of course, this is made even a bit more convoluted due to the fact that, being two generations apart, the technology is different. Its hard to compare two different generations easily, because things change. Specs (Stream Processors, CUDAs, memory and core clocks) do not gaurantee better performance if numbers are bigger. Its an indicator, but not a law.

How do people know which is better? Research. Information. Knowing what is what. Comparing same generation cards is a lot easier. An R9-260 is obviously better than the R9-250. A Geforce 770 is better than a 760. But comparing cross brand, cross generation takes benchmarks and some understanding of what makes what do well.

[DeltrusDisc]

HD 6970
HD 6950
HD 6870

So the 6870 was 3rd overall in its generation from AMD, cool.

Let's look at this new generation...

R9-290X
R9-290
R9-280X
R9-280
R9-270X
R9-270
R7-260X
R7-260
R7-250

The R7-250 is 9th in this generation, and this is a meager 2 generations later. The 6870 is stronger, but also consumes a lot more energy to do its work. The R7-250 is strictly NOT a gaming video card, don't let anyone fool you. It will do alright for some light gaming of very low-end games, and probably struggle to put out high 1080p graphics for any decent game. Frankly, I'd advise against it.

[MrKnubbles]

From just a quick glance, one had GDDR5 memory while the other has DDR3. You're definitely going to want the GDDR5.

I actually use THIS SITE to compare video cards and spot the differences. It's probably a lot of information that you don't quite understand, though.

[ldev]

http://www.hwcompare.com/15374/radeo...radeon-r7-250/

Bigger card seems to be twice as fast.

[pkm]

Wait so those 2 i linked...

The 6870 (my current) is faster than the R7 one??

[DeltrusDisc]

Wait so those 2 i linked...

The 6870 (my current) is faster than the R7 one??

Yes, the R7-250 is so low-end, it's not meant to be an upgrade for everyone on older cards.

Just like people who have 7970 GHz cards, would only really see any benefit going to an R9-290X... and they would want to wait for the aftermarket ones, as the reference ones are rife with issues most people would not want to deal with.

etc etc

[chazus]

Wait so those 2 i linked...

The 6870 (my current) is faster than the R7 one??

Just like a lot of things in the world, newer doesn't equal better.

What would you rather have, a 2009 BMW M6 with all the bells and whistles, or a 2013 Honda Civic with it's more prominent feature being "power locks".

It's sort of a bad comparison, but newer doesn't always mean better. Of course theres a break even point somewhere.... And sometimes Newer IS better, due to something being -so- old (Radeon X1800 or something) that no amount of raw power can make up for the fact that certain software/hardware isnt supported.

When in doubt, ask people who know! =D

I can, 9 times out of 10, eyeball a card's model name and know if its 'better or not', or at the very least know where to check to see how it stacks up in specific situations.

[pkm]

I was wanting to get another video card to play BF4. So would i be looking at $200 minimum for a card better than mine?

[chazus]

About that. You'd be looking at either a ATI R9-270X or a geforce 760. It also depends on what CPU you have too.

[pkm]

About that. You'd be looking at either a ATI R9-270X or a geforce 760. It also depends on what CPU you have too.

Its a phenom X4 955 and my resolution is 1920x1080

Not looking for top performence but decent frames ya know...