GTX 570 or Radeon 6970

R

Red Love X

New Member
I'm having a really hard time deciding between the two. Benchmarks seem to be at a standstill, with the 6970 winning 1/3, the GTX 570 winning 1/3, and the other third being a tie. It basically comes down to the "extras" each include.

GTX 570 - CUDA and PhysX support

Radeon 6970 - Eyefinity, 2GB, lower heat/power consumption (I think)

I will mainly be playing on 1900x1200 and on a single monitor, so it doesn't seem AMD has much to offer me there. Does anyone have first hand experience with those two cards, so I can try and make an informed decision?
 
CardboardSword said:
Get a 6950, flash it with a 6970 BIOS. Get a $370 card for $300. That's what I'd do.
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First build I've ever made, so I'd like to just go with whatever is stock. I understand that it's easy, but I'd rather not compound any potential problems. Thanks though.

Maybe the next build I attempt.
 
Well then comes down to your preference. They're both great cards so it really comes down to which one has more appeal to you? There isn't enough of a difference in value for me to say one is better than the other.
 
CardboardSword said:
Well then comes down to your preference. They're both great cards so it really comes down to which one has more appeal to you? There isn't enough of a difference in value for me to say one is better than the other.
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That's what I figured, I was just hoping someone had some insight into it. They do seem like nearly identical cards, so I think I'll just go with the GTX 570 for PhysX support, as I won't be using Eyefinity. That, and EVGA has one on Newegg that comes with Mafia II and Just Cause 2 as a free addition.

Thanks for your input.
 
If you're going with Nvidia, the 470 is also a nice looking option. Overclocks quite well i'm told, and has nearly as many cores and all the same technology as the 570. It costs about 70-80 bucks less though. With the money you save, you can get a nice aftermarket vga cooler if desired. See and compare for yourself:

EVGA GTX 470

EVGA GTX 570
 
I'd advise against anything based on GF100 actually. They just ran way too hot with too much power consumption for me to consider them. Plus if I'm not mistaken, the performance disparity between the 4XX series and the 5XX series is well worth the price increase. Its not a big enough reason to upgrade from a 470, to a 570, but definitely enough to pick it over the other if you're in the market for a new card.
 
You also never said what your budget was? I assume it's around 350 by the cards you indicated, but just checking.
 
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Russ88765 said:
You also never said what your budget was? I assume it's around 350 by the cards you indicated, but just checking.
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Yeah, I can spend around $350-$400 on the GPU. I've got the computer almost set up over in the desktop thread (you'd have to sift through a few pages to find it) and this seemed like the best fit for my computer. I could throw in a 5970/GTX 580, as the $200 isn't going to make or break my budget, but it didn't seem necessary for my very first build.
 
Are you up for bios flashing? It's a gamble and voids warranty, but can be quite beneficial i'm told. If you have doubts though, you can pick cards to compare specs against here. Gtx570 was recently added to the list, but depending on brand you may have to adjust it's clock speeds in the menu for an accurate comparison. Given that your budget is in the neighborhood of 350 and up, and the higher tier cards take a jump past that price range by a fair margin, I would compare the 570 vs the 6970. You might see something you missed before, such as memory or core differences. Even if you buy the 6950 with intent to flash, the 6970 is the end product of this so it makes more sense to compare those two instead. As for necessities, you would be pleasantly surprised how far money can go with video cards- even the cheap ones are solid performers. Now that ati has improved their drivers they are a force to be reckoned with.
 
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