1. #1
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    ATI 6970 vs ATI 6950 in Eyefinity

    How much difference am I likely to see between these cards in eyefinity (3 screens) does anyone know?
    Suspected Resolution
    3x 1680 x 1050
    3x 1920 x 1080

    For the moment 1680 x 1050 is a far more likely resolution, since I still have 1 screen running at this resolution.



    XFX ATI Radeon 6970 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe
    880MHz Core, 2048MB 5500MHz GDDR5 Memory, 1536 Processing Cores, 2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI, 2 x Mini DisplayPort
    Order Code:
    Manf. Code:
    XFX-6970
    HD-697A-CNFC
    XFX
    Ordered Upon Request
    £264.98



    Sapphire ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe - Dirt3 Edition
    800MHz Core, 2048MB 5000MHz GDDR5 Memory, 1408 Processing Cores, 2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI, 2 x Mini DisplayPort, Includes Free Game (Dirt3)
    Order Code:
    Manf. Code:
    SAP-6950G
    11188-05-50G
    Sapphire
    1 at Suppliers
    £219.98

  2. #2
    Dropping a few reviews here
    http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/...570_sli_review (comparison of 6950, 6970, 570, 580 in triple-screen gaming. Using dual-GPU-configuration)

    http://widescreengamingforum.com/wik...eatured_Review (review in itself of 6950/6970)
    Be sure to buy the other screens in 16:10 as well then. :P

    The 6970 will be better, and pull ahead slightly since then, because of drivers optimising both cards.
    I have the 6970.
     

  3. #3
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisgoat View Post
    Dropping a few reviews here
    http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/...570_sli_review (comparison of 6950, 6970, 570, 580 in triple-screen gaming. Using dual-GPU-configuration)

    http://widescreengamingforum.com/wik...eatured_Review (review in itself of 6950/6970)
    Be sure to buy the other screens in 16:10 as well then. :P

    The 6970 will be better, and pull ahead slightly since then, because of drivers optimising both cards.
    I have the 6970.
    I opted for the 6970 but i'm seeing a very easy way to spend less..... by getting the 6950 assuming it performs within a reasonable margin.

    Also the 226BW is getting old and needs replacing at some point... so in the event that I do get round to replacing it. Wouldn't getting new screens at 1950x1080 be better in he long run?
    Last edited by Djinni; 2011-07-17 at 05:06 PM.

  4. #4
    I think the 6950 can be easily overclocked to a 6970 so, uh...

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    I opted for the 6970 but i'm seeing a very easy way to spend less..... by getting the 6950 assuming it performs within a reasonable margin.
    Also the 226BW is getting old and needs replacing at some point... so in the event that I do get round to replacing it. Wouldn't getting new screens at 1950x1080 be better in he long run?




    More settings slightly lower. That's about it?
    The version of the 6950 you chose seems good as well. And includes DiRT 3! Can't remember if it's 2GiB, but make sure it is.
    EDIT - because you editted (and the text is red, lovely). There ARE 1920x1200screens as well, ie, 16:10. But otherwise, sure. 1920x1080.
    But be adviced, it's not recommended, at all, to mix aspectratios. It won't be as smooth as you imagine.

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 07:07 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonshardz View Post
    I think the 6950 can be easily overclocked to a 6970 so, uh...
    No. It can be ghettomodded, but not easily nor will it be a true 6970 in effect.
    Last edited by BicycleMafioso; 2011-07-17 at 05:09 PM.
     

  6. #6
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    P.S. Tetris your 2nd link says: Page not found

    The requested page could not be found.

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 06:11 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisgoat View Post
    More settings slightly lower. That's about it?
    The version of the 6950 you chose seems good as well. And includes DiRT 3! Can't remember if it's 2GiB, but make sure it is.

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 07:07 PM ----------

    No. It can be ghettomodded, but not easily nor will it be a true 6970 in effect.
    It is 2gb and I have no idea what dirt3 is other than its a game lol.... very few decent games have ever come bundled with any hardware I've ever bought so I don#'t hold very high expectations for it.

    I also will not be counting on "ghettomodding" the 6950 up to a 6970... to do so would be stupid given that from what I've read being able to do that was removed some time ago. if I can do it it'll be a bonus, nothing more.

    From the looks of it in most games there's an average 1-2 fps difference between the 6970 and the 6950 in crossfire...
    Last edited by Djinni; 2011-07-17 at 05:13 PM.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    P.S. Tetris your 2nd link says: Page not found

    The requested page could not be found.
    Strange. Took it from a bookmark.
    In that case; Have at thee!
    http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...ty-vs-sli.html (dual GPU-setup again [because they wanna play at the highest])
     

  8. #8
    I'm a retard when it comes to ATI cards, so i will not comment on the actual question, but i would like to add that i think u can 'unlock' 6950s so they become 6970s .... might be worth looking into this and buying the 6950s to save money and make them 6970s afterall.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    It is 2gb and I have no idea what dirt3 is other than its a game lol.... very few decent games have ever come bundled with any hardware I've ever bought so I don#'t hold very high expectations for it.

    I also will not be counting on "ghettomodding" the 6950 up to a 6970... to do so would be stupid given that from what I've read being able to do that was removed some time ago. if I can do it it'll be a bonus, nothing more.
    Stop editting -.-

    DiRT 3 is a very decent racing-game. I'm considering buying it separate.

    No, the old ways don't work anymore. Soldering (spl?) does, however. IE, something I wouldn't advice the average user into doing.

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 07:15 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Neeko View Post
    I'm a retard when it comes to ATI cards, so i will not comment on the actual question, but i would like to add that i think u can 'unlock' 6950s so they become 6970s .... might be worth looking into this and buying the 6950s to save money and make them 6970s afterall.
    No. They don't produce revision 1.0 cards anymore, they stopped that late-Jan mid-Feb. Incredibly difficult to find unsold ones. :P
     

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisgoat View Post
    Strange. Took it from a bookmark.
    In that case; Have at thee!
    http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...ty-vs-sli.html (dual GPU-setup again [because they wanna play at the highest])
    haha lol :P I was looking at this one... and no by no means do I require to run all games at maximum settings, it's sure nice but not worth the extra money in most cases, moderate to high is usually enough.

    lol :P no can't stop editing... It's a habbit... I'm always writing something hitting post then remembering to add/change something a couple of seconds later.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    haha lol :P I was looking at this one... and no by no means do I require to run all games at maximum settings, it's sure nice but not worth the extra money in most cases, moderate to high is usually enough.
    And you could always turn of the two extra screens and run singlemonitor for that! (although, after getting used to multi-screen, that's more in the sense of Blasphemy! and less pretty, despite higher settings, I reckon)
    Last edited by BicycleMafioso; 2011-07-17 at 05:18 PM. Reason: Single-PLAYER, really? Singlemonitor obviously.
     

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisgoat View Post
    And you could always turn of the two extra screens and run singlemonitor for that! (although, after getting used to multi-screen, that's more in the sense of Blasphemy! and less pretty, despite higher settings, I reckon)
    Turn off? are you crazy?

    At the very least they will be running other things like web browsers and movies :-D

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    Turn off? are you crazy?

    At the very least they will be running other things like web browsers and movies :-D
    Well, I did mean turn off the eyefinity-setup. :P
    But yea, between the referencemodel of 6970 and that specific 6950, I'd choose the 6950. EDIT - esp at your low resolution.


    (Also, crud. I'm seeing to get close to 3000posts now. D: I need to go back and delete some)
     

  14. #14
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisgoat View Post
    Well, I did mean turn off the eyefinity-setup. :P
    But yea, between the referencemodel of 6970 and that specific 6950, I'd choose the 6950. EDIT - esp at your low resolution.


    (Also, crud. I'm seeing to get close to 3000posts now. D: I need to go back and delete some)
    lol.... and cool thanks ok :-)

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 06:37 PM ----------

    Since it's inifinatly more likely i'd have the money to Crossfire the 6950 what sort of power draw would that have?

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 06:42 PM ----------

    P.S how do I tell a reference design card from a "custom" one?

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    lol.... and cool thanks ok :-)

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 06:37 PM ----------

    Since it's inifinatly more likely i'd have the money to Crossfire the 6950 what sort of power draw would that have?

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-17 at 06:42 PM ----------

    P.S how do I tell a reference design card from a "custom" one?
    Two crossfired 6950, 4x 7200RPM HDDs (guesstimate), 1ssd, 1 DVD+-rw, one i5-2500k overclocked to 4.7GHz at 1.36vCore, four 120mm fans..

    552w.

    It has the reference cooler, like the 6970 does in your picture. Ie, a radial fan in one end, a closed shroud and all the exhaust is in the rear or near-rear.
     

  16. #16
    Scarab Lord Djinni's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisgoat View Post
    Two crossfired 6950, 4x 7200RPM HDDs (guesstimate), 1ssd, 1 DVD+-rw, one i5-2500k overclocked to 4.7GHz at 1.36vCore, four 120mm fans..

    552w.

    It has the reference cooler, like the 6970 does in your picture. Ie, a radial fan in one end, a closed shroud and all the exhaust is in the rear or near-rear.
    I figured that just men't it had a "custom" cooler... not that the card itself had changed at all..

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Djinni View Post
    I figured that just men't it had a "custom" cooler... not that the card itself had changed at all..
    There are reference PCBs with custom coolers; They are not refererence design/model, though
     

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