Confused between HD6950 2GB and HD6870 1GB

Hello guys, as i am very near in finalising my configuration, I have a big doubt. So here it goes.

First i thought of buying the HD6950 2GB, as i wanted the ultimate performance in BF3 in my budget, but after researching for a while over a lot of benchmarks, i have seen that it delivers about 30-40 FPS on Ultra. I definitely have to lower the settings to High in order to get good framerates, thats for sure.

Now the problem arises here, if i were to lower the settings on the highest card i can afford, why should i spend extra 4K on it? I mean can i get the HD6870 1GB and run it on High instead? I only plan to game on 1080p resolution. So please guide me, is HD6950 2GB overkill for me? I just want good and stable frame rates in BF3 and other Frostbite 2 games (COD doesn't take up much resources and other game genres i don't like very much). Is 4K price difference justified between the 6950 and 6870?

Go for the 6950 2GB. It will handle 1080p gaming at high settings properly.

But is it worth the extra money?

It would've be really worth it if you could unlock it. Sadly you can't. Only the first few batches of 6950 (read: reference cards only) could be unlocked to 6970. The following ones were laser-cut to prevent that.

If you're not looking to play over 1080p, then you should be fine with 6870.

6950 can be had for around 14k now. and 6870 cost 2k less. sell out more but get 6950.

Sam you got a typo there. 6960?

He could OC the 6870 to match the 6950 performance.

If you want to go for 6950, go for the overclocked models. Otherwise a highly overclocked 6870 will be sufficient for bf3 in high settings at 1080p.

Gaurav Bhattacharjee said:
Sam you got a typo there. 6960?

today i am posting typo all over the place :-(

Get 6950.
Best Bet..BTW Frostbite is not the only Best Engine out there..
Upcoming Upgrade to Unreal Engine and Current Cryengine 3 games are gonna make any system come down to their knees so basically you are not just spending extra for just better performacne in j2 games(battlefield 3 and NFS:The Run..currently the only Frostbite 2 games) but for all major game relases.

BTW No card is OVERKILL For game like BF3 And Crysis.

Sujeet said:
Get 6950.
Best Bet..BTW Frostbite is not the only Best Engine out there..
Upcoming Upgrade to Unreal Engine and Current Cryengine 3 games are gonna make any system come down to their knees so basically you are not just spending extra for just better performacne in j2 games(battlefield 3 and NFS:The Run..currently the only Frostbite 2 games) but for all major game relases.

BTW No card is OVERKILL For game like BF3 And Crysis.

this guy opened my eyes, and you're absolutely right about the fact that there are other engines too that will take a toll on even the best rigs out there, and pretty much no card is overkill for games like BF3. Thank you, i now most probably be going for the HD6950 2GB. Buying my new PC in the coming 10 days, can't wait anymore!

Also, what company would you recommend for this card, my friend (also the guy i am buying from) says that the single fan Powercolor one will suffice as overclocking doesn't increase performance by a large margin, so no need to spend extra over dual fan editions (still he's into confirming the prices of both cards). Please help

Cant comment over region based slight price variations but Opting for Dual Fan solution will always keep you in COOLER zone.Literally.!
MSI will be good.

@ OP - if you have a supported mobo and PSU just get 2x HD6850s or else opt for R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC ;-)

^^ 2x HD6850 looks cool, but it's way too overbudgeted. I guess HD6950 2GB is the way to go. I can't wait anymore for the HD7850 to release, so now i have to buy HD6950 no matter what, will update on my other thread after buying, with pictures and reviews...

@desiJATT : Could you post about your PSU/SMPS ??? It will be helpful to suggest good.

Here's my PC Configuration thread. Everything is listed there

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/pc-components-configurations/154041-budget-gaming-pc-40k.html

get the HD 6950 twin frozr III from MSI i have the twin frozr II model n i finished playing BF3 n it didnt lag in any aspects of the game at High settings mind u i still had only 4 GB of Ram at that point of time .... after that i got 4 gb more.... all games after that like Batman : Arkham City and Assassin's Creed : Revelations have worked like a charm for me !!! :wink:

i guess you have got Corsair CX430. So get 6850/6870.

I think Cx430v2 will not able to handle HD6950

^exactly, the 6950 uses 250w under load & it will be more if OC-ed.

So better not to risk it. Either get 6870 or 6850 & be happy with CX430 or Get 6950 with TX 650 v2.

hmmmm.. ok so i think i have to change the PSU.

Now the verdict is, I will be buying the HD6950 2GB, but i have to change the PSU for it. I am looking forward to the Corsair CX500, will it suffice?

get TX 650 v2 for 5.6k. Thats better anyday.

^^will do.
Get Corsair GS600 instead .bit pricier than CX500 but will be best bet...if you can or else stick to that.
Min req. For 6950 is 500 watts...so getting cx500 will keep at borderline..get gs600 for safer zone.

Look for Seasonic S12 II 620 or Corsair GS600.

guys thanks for suggestion but the max budget for the PSU is around 3-4K not even a penny more than that....and also, i know that 6950 requires atleast 500W, and will it be ok if i run it on borderline, i mean they always list marginally extra on the requirements than what actually is needed. Also, i calculated my PSU wattage on an online website and the result was around 450W with 100% peak load (PSU rating not actual usage). What do u say?

^^4k is enough for gs600.

Else spend a bit more and get the Seasonic S12II-620 for 4.4k. Its 80+ Bronze Certified and also comes with 5yrs warranty.
You can also get the S12II-520 for 3.5k.

dude, i have to say one thing only, that if you are looking for a 1080p gaming card, specially to play BF3 at ultra, AMD 6870 can handle it like hell.... it delivers superb performance and will give you 40+ frames providing you have got good processor and ram. so if you don't want to spend extra bucks then surely go for it...
also, buy corsair gs600 psu if you have plans to buy psu too..
but make sure that you have got rest of hardware up to date...
i have got a weak processor core2duo e7400 which makes me unable to play it at ultra,

saswat23 said:
Else spend a bit more and get the Seasonic S12II-620 for 4.4k. Its 80+ Bronze Certified and also comes with 5yrs warranty.
You can also get the S12II-520 for 3.5k.

This seems a good buy for me, well under the budget and good rating, and 80+ Bronze certification. Seems good to me.

Shivam24 said:
dude, i have to say one thing only, that if you are looking for a 1080p gaming card, specially to play BF3 at ultra, AMD 6870 can handle it like hell.... it delivers superb performance and will give you 40+ frames providing you have got good processor and ram. so if you don't want to spend extra bucks then surely go for it...
also, buy corsair gs600 psu if you have plans to buy psu too..
but make sure that you have got rest of hardware up to date...
i have got a weak processor core2duo e7400 which makes me unable to play it at ultra,

hmmm...i'l be buying the HD6870 only if my budget becomes really tight...but thats only if i couldn't afford the HD6950

get a ~4-4.5k PSu ( pick one from the suggested psus ) - after getting the PSu if you have budget issue then opt for Sapphire HD6950 1GB model - price should be ~14-14.5k - performs almost similar as the the 2GB variant.