Check out my rig?

spirit said:
Oh right, looks fine then.

The 6970 and the 7870 perform very similarly, but I'd still get a new 7870. It's not uncommon for high-end cards from the previous generation to perform very similarly to the more mid-range cards of the current generation.

Take the 5870 for example. It was one of the fastest cards from the 5000 series, yet it performs very similarly to the 6870, which was a mid-range card from the 6000 series (the 6970 was the 5870's successor).

The same holds true for NVIDIA for the most part.

It's usually because the new high-end cards need to perform quite a bit better than the previous generation high-end cards in order to make the upgrade worthwhile.
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Well that makes sense.

The reviews on the 7850 2gb I'm going with, people are saying they're playing bf4 on ultra, so I think it's good enough for me, and it's only $140. Though if the 6970 performs like you say (I'm going to check it out) I imagine that particular card should be quite a bit cheaper, even new.

Haha hardware compare shows that 6970 is better in most fields than the 7870! But that's just paper. You say they perform "very similarly" but which do you think is better?
 
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Sorry, I think I remember that actually the 6970 performed closer to the 7950 than the 7870.

They're both good cards, but I'd get the 7870 over the 6970 because it's newer. The 6970 is two generations old, now, the 7870 is one generation old. The 6970 is no longer on sale whereas the 7870 is (though the 7870's days are probably numbered now that the R9 270X has replaced it).

7850 2GB is a good option for the money. If you can spend more, get the 7870. I'd probably forget about the 6970 at this point.

I'm not saying the 6970 is a bad card, I'm just saying it's old and I always get try to get the latest I can get. I'd only consider a 6970 if you can get a properly killer deal on one.
 
spirit said:
Sorry, I think I remember that actually the 6970 performed closer to the 7950 than the 7870.

They're both good cards, but I'd get the 7870 over the 6970 because it's newer. The 6970 is two generations old, now, the 7870 is one generation old. The 6970 is no longer on sale whereas the 7870 is (though the 7870's days are probably numbered now that the R9 270X has replaced it).

7850 2GB is a good option for the money. If you can spend more, get the 7870. I'd probably forget about the 6970 at this point.

I'm not saying the 6970 is a bad card, I'm just saying it's old and I always get try to get the latest I can get. I'd only consider a 6970 if you can get a properly killer deal on one.
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You can get a 6970 for around $130 on ebay which is an insane deal, especially considering that it can easily outperform a 7850 which costs the same. For me it's a no brainer, the 6970 would be the better choice if you're going for price/performance.
 
SpringWater said:
You can get a 6970 for around $130 on ebay which is an insane deal, especially considering that it can easily outperform a 7850 which costs the same. For me it's a no brainer, the 6970 would be the better choice if you're going for price/performance.
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Well the 6970 may be stronger than the 7850, but it's used vs new. I've always preferred new to used when it comes to electronics, because you really don't know how heavily the item was used or if it has any undesirable quirks.

I think I'll probably just stick with this 7850 2gb for $140. It's cheap and new, lol.

____

So if I didn't want to buy a disk drive for my system, how would I go about getting my OS installed? I haven't used a disk drive in ages because I do all my PC gaming completely digital, including programs and movies, so I don't really see the need to spend $20 on one for a one-time use.
 
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LambentTyto said:
Well the 6970 may be stronger than the 7850, but it's used vs new. I've always preferred new to used when it comes to electronics, because you really don't know how heavily the item was used or if it has any undesirable quirks.

I think I'll probably just stick with this 7850 2gb for $140. It's cheap and new, lol.

____

So if I didn't want to buy a disk drive for my system, how would I go about getting my OS installed? I haven't used a disk drive in ages because I do all my PC gaming completely digital, including programs and movies, so I don't really see the need to spend $20 on one for a one-time use.
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Who said used? Manufacturer refurbished, which is like new.
 
I usually stay away from factory refurbished motherboards and video cards. It usually means they were defective and sent back and then repaired. I like staying away from motherboards and video cards that was defective right off the bat. The reason is experience, bought some when first starting out, most were still defective or something would happen in a short period of time. Would rather have a good working used item.
 
StrangleHold said:
I usually stay away from factory refurbished motherboards and video cards. It usually means they were defective and sent back and then repaired. I like staying away from motherboards and video cards that was defective right off the bat. The reason is experience, bought some when first starting out, most were still defective or something would happen in a short period of time. Would rather have a good working used item.
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My gts 250 was a refurb and it works just fine. PCunicorn, here's a link to a refurb:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VisionTek-6970-/291013689293?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item43c1c47fcd

I see them everywhere, you have to look harder.
 
SpringWater said:
My gts 250 was a refurb and it works just fine. PCunicorn, here's a link to a refurb:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VisionTek-6970-/291013689293?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item43c1c47fcd
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Did you grasp what I said at all? Your one card means nothing to me. I'm talking ordering many of them vs. Used and open box. Until you have been doing this for 20 years don't tell me how your one 250 is doing. You gave your opinion, I gave mine. It would be best to leave it at that.
 
I think when you're building a new machine anyway it's nice/best to stick with new components.
 
StrangleHold said:
Did you grasp what I said at all? Your one card means nothing to me. I'm talking ordering many of them vs. Used and open box. Until you have been doing this for 20 years don't tell me how your one 250 is doing. You gave your opinion, I gave mine. It would be best to leave it at that.
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I see what you mean now, sorry I didn't get your post the first time.
 
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