So I'm in a toss up between a 6870 and a 6950 atm. On one hand, the 6870 is still a fairly capable gpu and it's not like I'll be doing a ton of pc gaming (mostly diablo 3, which I'm pretty sure it'll run and then some, and maybe some bf3 or other random games friends decide to play), not to mention it lowers my up-front costs for my build. On the other hand, I can just spend $70 more and get a 6950, unlock the shaders for good single card performance. In my head, it's mostly a question of whether the 6870 will be good enough. This will be paired with a 2500k btw. Any thoughts?

 

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Your monitor resolution is vital. Higher resolution means more work for the video card. A 20-22 inch monitor at 1680x1050, I'd say a 6870 is easily able to handle that. Go a little bigger with a 24 inch 1920x1080 or 1200 resolution monitor and the choice gets tougher. 6870 is still capable, but a 6950 is about 15% faster and could be the difference between acceptable and unacceptable FPS performance. So you might need to lower some settings a bit in games for a 6870. It's really hard to say if 15% more performance is worth 28% more money.

Regarding unlocking a 6950. I think that was only possible with a 2GB stock model. 2GB will cost a little more. But I don't really see any cards on NewEgg for example that appear to be stock anymore. You might need to do some digging to find a stock model that can still be unlocked. And the stock cooling on the 6950 (and 6970) kinda sucks anyway, it's noisy. So I'd probably go with a non-stock model with better cooling.

I'll likely be going with a 20-22" at 1920x1080, although I probably wouldn't be too concerned if I had to drop down to 1680x1050. I was aware that only the 2gb models unlock, which is why I didn't say anything about that, but I didn't know about the stock model point so I'll have to look into that. If that actually is the case, I'll probably opt for the 6870, although the 15% to 28% tradeoff is where I'm stuck since it's hard to call.


Edit: Just checked out the Sapphire one I was looking at getting, and it sounds like the unlocked 6950 bios is already loaded, you just flip the switch on the card.

 

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Yea i have to figure out what GPU i want to upgrade to. currently using a 5670. basically anything would be a huge improvement for me lol. ive been hearing many people going with 570s but not sure. i have some homework to do i guess. i dont have any preference for the brand. im more of the type if it works great then get it!

 

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Think I'm gonna build the rig using a psu/mobo ready to xfire, then buy the 6870 and expect that a little down the road I'll be xfiring another 6870 (or something else, who knows). I like the idea of saving some cash up front, and I'm pretty sure I can live with running some higher end stuff at 1680x1050, especially considering I'm not much of a pc gamer anyway.

 

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http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063.html

decent rundown.

 

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