Is BIOS flashed HD 6970 the best bang for your buck Gaming GPU in history?

You do realize PhysX is an nVidia application and not an AMD application? LOL. And who says you need a 40 FPS to be playable? I was looking at AVG FPS andHD 6970easily gets above 30+ FPS. That's more than playable.And that's with July drives,AMD made signifant performance boost with their Crysis 2 drivers for August.Halo Reach runs @30 FPS, you are saying that game's is unplayble because it's running @30 FPS? LOL.And what time period is those benchmarks of Metro 2033 posted. HardOCP did benchmarks of Metro 2033 with HD 6970 and GTX 580 and they easily crack 30+ FPS @max settings @1920x1200 with 4X AA, no problems. GTX 580, the world's fastest single GPUgetting 25.4 FPS? Please. :roll:

Xtasy26

30FPS constant is playable but as you can see from the chart the game goes as low as 7FPS. And dont even bring in a console game in between, PC standards of maxing out are much different from those outdated machines.

8800GTX didnt hiccup on any game when it released so to compare with that you have to get very smooth performance on every game and not 30FPS with some hiccups.

Which benchmark, post please instead of saying BS that you have no idea about. Yes GTX 580 doesnt max metro 2033 either whats wrong with it? You NEED atleast 2x6950 to max out this game!

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

Did you PS2 costs $50-$90 MORE nearly 9 month's after release? No. So your argument fails.

Xtasy26

Your 6950 doesn't cost $50 to $90 more than it did 9 months ago. The fact that it now performs like a 6970 doesn't change the fact that it's not a 6970. There have been plenty of great GPUs over the past decade that have been unlockable to a more powerful version of the brand's product lineup. Often that higher-end card holds it's value until a whole new line of GPUs comes out. The 6970 is one such card. The 6950 unlock allows it to perform like the higher-end card. Is it a great value? Of course. Is it automatically the best? Of course not. Wait 2-3 years and see how it's held up.

Look at the poll results so far. You've been overwhelmingly shot down in your attempt to crown the Bios-flashed 6950 as the best bang for the buck gaming GPU in history. Frankly, I have no idea how you could even think that when an 8800gt can still run a lot of games on high settings up to about 1680x1050 nearly 4 years after release. The 9500 to 9700 mod created a tremendous bang for the buck card back in the day. Both of those were proven to be amazing values and great performers over a period of several years. You're just way too premature in your praise for the BIOS-flashed 6950.

Actually, a HD 6970 BIOSdid cost's $50-$90, 9 month's ago, when compared to a HD 6950. If you compared the price of for example XFX HD 6950 to aXFX HD 6970 then price was close to $100. Even today it's nearly $90-$100 more. How does it not make an actual HD 6970 when as you put it, "the fact that it now performs like a 6970"? So, you are now counting that it's not an actual HD 6970 just becuase it doesn't have HD 6970 sticker on the graphics card? LOL. I never said that 8800 GT or the 9500 to 9700 were great bang for your buck, I am just saying it's not as great bang for your buck as HD 6950 to a HD 6970. And how exactly do you know that a BIOS flashed HD 6970 won't be able to play games 2-3 years at similar settings that the 8800 GT can do now? You don't.

Since you can't sell your BIOS-flashed 6950 for the price of a real 6970, that means that it's not a 6970. So yes, I am saying that the sticker makes the difference. Plus it's not just the sticker.. It's the 2 6-pin power plugs instead of a 6 and an 8-pin like the 6970, and it's the fact that it won't clock as high as your average real 6970. You have a great card, no doubt.. But it's not the be all and end all of GPU value like you seem to think that it is. I could come out and say that a highly overclocked GTX 560 Ti is the greatest bang for your buck gaming GPU, because it costs $70 to $100 less than a GTX 570 and gives you all the same features and performance. That's pretty much the same comparison.

I'm not the one that has to prove anything about the longevity and long-term relevance of a GPU here. I'm pointing to the 9500---> 9700 mod and 8800gt cards that have PROVEN track records of playing games at respectable settings for a long time, while representing incredible value for money. The 9500 was more than $50-$90 cheaper than the 9700 that it could be converted into. That much I've already stated in an earlier post. Feel free to verify it yourself if you want. The 6950 and 6970 simply haven't been on the market and running games for long enough to even be in the discussion. Come back in 2-3 years and we'll talk. For now you're just pulling for the new kid on the block who hasn't proven himself yet.

I dont agree with people saying 6950s BIOS flashed are 6970s, they arent in my opinion, just doesnt seem right to call them 6970s when they werent bought as that. There are differences like the power connectors, therefore it isnt actually a 6970, its still a 6950 just with a BIOS flash.

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

Your 6950 doesn't cost $50 to $90 more than it did 9 months ago. The fact that it now performs like a 6970 doesn't change the fact that it's not a 6970. There have been plenty of great GPUs over the past decade that have been unlockable to a more powerful version of the brand's product lineup. Often that higher-end card holds it's value until a whole new line of GPUs comes out. The 6970 is one such card. The 6950 unlock allows it to perform like the higher-end card. Is it a great value? Of course. Is it automatically the best? Of course not. Wait 2-3 years and see how it's held up.

Look at the poll results so far. You've been overwhelmingly shot down in your attempt to crown the Bios-flashed 6950 as the best bang for the buck gaming GPU in history. Frankly, I have no idea how you could even think that when an 8800gt can still run a lot of games on high settings up to about 1680x1050 nearly 4 years after release. The 9500 to 9700 mod created a tremendous bang for the buck card back in the day. Both of those were proven to be amazing values and great performers over a period of several years. You're just way too premature in your praise for the BIOS-flashed 6950.

hartsickdiscipl

Actually, a HD 6970 BIOSdid cost's $50-$90, 9 month's ago, when compared to a HD 6950. If you compared the price of for example XFX HD 6950 to aXFX HD 6970 then price was close to $100. Even today it's nearly $90-$100 more. How does it not make an actual HD 6970 when as you put it, "the fact that it now performs like a 6970"? So, you are now counting that it's not an actual HD 6970 just becuase it doesn't have HD 6970 sticker on the graphics card? LOL. I never said that 8800 GT or the 9500 to 9700 were great bang for your buck, I am just saying it's not as great bang for your buck as HD 6950 to a HD 6970. And how exactly do you know that a BIOS flashed HD 6970 won't be able to play games 2-3 years at similar settings that the 8800 GT can do now? You don't.

Since you can't sell your BIOS-flashed 6950 for the price of a real 6970, that means that it's not a 6970. So yes, I am saying that the sticker makes the difference. Plus it's not just the sticker.. It's the 2 6-pin power plugs instead of a 6 and an 8-pin like the 6970, and it's the fact that it won't clock as high as your average real 6970. You have a great card, no doubt.. But it's not the be all and end all of GPU value like you seem to think that it is. I could come out and say that a highly overclocked GTX 560 Ti is the greatest bang for your buck gaming GPU, because it costs $70 to $100 less than a GTX 570 and gives you all the same features and performance. That's pretty much the same comparison.

I'm not the one that has to prove anything about the longevity and long-term relevance of a GPU here. I'm pointing to the 9500---> 9700 mod and 8800gt cards that have PROVEN track records of playing games at respectable settings for a long time, while representing incredible value for money. The 9500 was more than $50-$90 cheaper than the 9700 that it could be converted into. That much I've already stated in an earlier post. Feel free to verify it yourself if you want. The 6950 and 6970 simply haven't been on the market and running games for long enough to even be in the discussion. Come back in 2-3 years and we'll talk. For now you're just pulling for the new kid on the block who hasn't proven himself yet.

Excellent comment hartsickdiscipl...and on that thought this discussion should be put to bed....but something tells otherwise.

*+

I dont agree with people saying 6950s BIOS flashed are 6970s, they arent in my opinion, just doesnt seem right to call them 6970s when they werent bought as that. There are differences like the power connectors, therefore it isnt actually a 6970, its still a 6950 just with a BIOS flash.

V4LENT1NE

[QUOTE="GummiRaccoon"]

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

But games back in the day didn't require say 512MB of RAM to begin with. And again there were 21" monitors, although rare.

Xtasy26

They didn't require a ton of VRAM because they weren't being played at mega huge resolutions.

That gives further credence to my argument as a BIOS flashed HD 6970 is the best bang for your buck because your getting more for your money as opposed to previous bang for your buck GPU's.

There was a much bigger price difference between a 9500pro and a 9700pro and there was a much bigger performance difference.

AMD GPUs (in general) = the best bang for your buck

Nvidia GPUs (in general) = the worst bang for your buck

AMD GPUs (in general) = the best bang for your buck

Nvidia GPUs (in general) = the worst bang for your buck

Baurus_1

Why is this thread still active?

Ya'll gettin' trololololol'd

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

You do realize PhysX is an nVidia application and not an AMD application? LOL. And who says you need a 40 FPS to be playable? I was looking at AVG FPS andHD 6970easily gets above 30+ FPS. That's more than playable.And that's with July drives,AMD made signifant performance boost with their Crysis 2 drivers for August.Halo Reach runs @30 FPS, you are saying that game's is unplayble because it's running @30 FPS? LOL.And what time period is those benchmarks of Metro 2033 posted. HardOCP did benchmarks of Metro 2033 with HD 6970 and GTX 580 and they easily crack 30+ FPS @max settings @1920x1200 with 4X AA, no problems. GTX 580, the world's fastest single GPUgetting 25.4 FPS? Please. :roll:

Gambler_3

30FPS constant is playable but as you can see from the chart the game goes as low as 7FPS. And dont even bring in a console game in between, PC standards of maxing out are much different from those outdated machines.

8800GTX didnt hiccup on any game when it released so to compare with that you have to get very smooth performance on every game and not 30FPS with some hiccups.

Which benchmark, post please instead of saying BS that you have no idea about. Yes GTX 580 doesnt max metro 2033 either whats wrong with it? You NEED atleast 2x6950 to max out this game!

So, you are docking points to AMD's GPU's becuase you they can't do PhysX, that's lame dude. Even nVidia's GPU's struggle with PhysX on, that's why many nVidia user's use another nVidia GPU for PhysX.

Perhaps you need to look up what the term average means, going down to 7 fps for one second isn't going to make much of a difference. And again those were with July drivers. The August drives get's a significant performance boost which in turns changes the performance for minimum frames.

And how much did the 8800 GTX cost? Oh wait, $650 when it was released.

And here are the HardOCP benches I was referring to:

^^ and that's with DOF off, which makes the HD 6970 and GTX 580 unplayble. But the author stated that @1920x1200 the game was playable with 4X MSAA with DOF on.

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

Your 6950 doesn't cost $50 to $90 more than it did 9 months ago. The fact that it now performs like a 6970 doesn't change the fact that it's not a 6970. There have been plenty of great GPUs over the past decade that have been unlockable to a more powerful version of the brand's product lineup. Often that higher-end card holds it's value until a whole new line of GPUs comes out. The 6970 is one such card. The 6950 unlock allows it to perform like the higher-end card. Is it a great value? Of course. Is it automatically the best? Of course not. Wait 2-3 years and see how it's held up.

Look at the poll results so far. You've been overwhelmingly shot down in your attempt to crown the Bios-flashed 6950 as the best bang for the buck gaming GPU in history. Frankly, I have no idea how you could even think that when an 8800gt can still run a lot of games on high settings up to about 1680x1050 nearly 4 years after release. The 9500 to 9700 mod created a tremendous bang for the buck card back in the day. Both of those were proven to be amazing values and great performers over a period of several years. You're just way too premature in your praise for the BIOS-flashed 6950.

hartsickdiscipl

Actually, a HD 6970 BIOSdid cost's $50-$90, 9 month's ago, when compared to a HD 6950. If you compared the price of for example XFX HD 6950 to aXFX HD 6970 then price was close to $100. Even today it's nearly $90-$100 more. How does it not make an actual HD 6970 when as you put it, "the fact that it now performs like a 6970"? So, you are now counting that it's not an actual HD 6970 just becuase it doesn't have HD 6970 sticker on the graphics card? LOL. I never said that 8800 GT or the 9500 to 9700 were great bang for your buck, I am just saying it's not as great bang for your buck as HD 6950 to a HD 6970. And how exactly do you know that a BIOS flashed HD 6970 won't be able to play games 2-3 years at similar settings that the 8800 GT can do now? You don't.

Since you can't sell your BIOS-flashed 6950 for the price of a real 6970, that means that it's not a 6970. So yes, I am saying that the sticker makes the difference. Plus it's not just the sticker.. It's the 2 6-pin power plugs instead of a 6 and an 8-pin like the 6970, and it's the fact that it won't clock as high as your average real 6970. You have a great card, no doubt.. But it's not the be all and end all of GPU value like you seem to think that it is. I could come out and say that a highly overclocked GTX 560 Ti is the greatest bang for your buck gaming GPU, because it costs $70 to $100 less than a GTX 570 and gives you all the same features and performance. That's pretty much the same comparison.

I'm not the one that has to prove anything about the longevity and long-term relevance of a GPU here. I'm pointing to the 9500---> 9700 mod and 8800gt cards that have PROVEN track records of playing games at respectable settings for a long time, while representing incredible value for money. The 9500 was more than $50-$90 cheaper than the 9700 that it could be converted into. That much I've already stated in an earlier post. Feel free to verify it yourself if you want. The 6950 and 6970 simply haven't been on the market and running games for long enough to even be in the discussion. Come back in 2-3 years and we'll talk. For now you're just pulling for the new kid on the block who hasn't proven himself yet.

But let's say if I were to sell at a price of HD 6970, why would I sell it at the price of a HD 6970? That would kind of defeat the purpose of having the best-bang-for your back GPU. Secondly, the 2 pin difference is negligble. The overclock capability is the same as a regular HD 6970, as proven by Techreport.

As for the 560 Ti matching performance of a GTX 570, well the GTX 570 could be further overclocked to get even more performance? Will 560 Ti cost $50-$90 MORE after it's release nearly 9 month's later. The answer is simply NO. And no is doubting the value of he 9500 to 9700 and the 8800GT value, we already know that. My question as with respect the price depreciation of the modded 9500---> 9700 for say 9 months later. The BIOS flashed HD 6950 can do more for the same money as with respect to those great bang for your buck GPU's such as 8800 GT and 9500----> 9700. I am comparing the achievements of those GPU's to the settings capable of BIOS flashed HD 6970 at the same settings at those price ranges.

It doesnt matter squat what the reviewer "said", post some benches where the 6970 maxes the game with 4xAA and DOF. Most reviewers dont even run the game on max settings cuz they prolly find it pointless since no single card can run it.

Even just cause 2 the 6970 barely maxes, not impressive at all...

8800GTX cost $600 but 8800GTS 640MB cost $400 which also maxed every single game at 1080p and STILL plays games very respectably. The thing with these cards was that you were getting MORE than twice the performance of any $300 card so they were very good value for their time.

[QUOTE="V4LENT1NE"]

I dont agree with people saying 6950s BIOS flashed are 6970s, they arent in my opinion, just doesnt seem right to call them 6970s when they werent bought as that. There are differences like the power connectors, therefore it isnt actually a 6970, its still a 6950 just with a BIOS flash.

Kendog87

A 560 Ti doesn't have the same number of cores as a 570. A 570 in turn can be further overclocked too.

It doesnt matter squat what the reviewer "said", post some benches where the 6970 maxes the game with 4xAA and DOF. Most reviewers dont even run the game on max settings cuz they prolly find it pointless since no single card can run it.

Even just cause 2 the 6970 barely maxes, not impressive at all...

8800GTX cost $600 but 8800GTS 640MB cost $400 which also maxed every single game at 1080p and STILL plays games very respectably. The thing with these cards was that you were getting MORE than twice the performance of any $300 card so they were very good value for their time.

Gambler_3

What? I don't even know what are you trying to prove withJust Cause 2benchmarks. Just Cause 2 has no issue running on HD 6970 or GTX 580. Why doesn't it matter? It's not rocket science to figure out that if you could get the frames @2560x1600 without DOF, you could easily get it to run with DOF with GTX 580 and HD 6970 and 1920x1200. There are boatload of videos on Youtube showing Metro 2033 runnin maxed out on a HD 6970 and GTX 580.

4xAA and DOF are the most demanding settings in metro 2033, the AA alone cuts the FPS literally in half. You cant assume things like that, I already showed you a bench at 19x12 where all the cards get their ass kicked at max settings, it's your turn to give evidence otherwise. It's pretty much widely known that a GTX 580 cannot max metro 2033, go make a thread on any enthusiast forum like overclock.net and you will get the answer fairly quickly.

Sorry I dont trust youtube videos, no way to verify what hardware they are running under the hood and what settings they are running the game at.

Oh and how can I forget GTA4, thats 2 games that launched before 6970 came that it cant max.

And witcher 2 is the latest game that 6970 cant max. Sorry but 8800GTS had much more dominance on games in it's first year than the 6970.

It doesnt matter squat what the reviewer "said", post some benches where the 6970 maxes the game with 4xAA and DOF. Most reviewers dont even run the game on max settings cuz they prolly find it pointless since no single card can run it.

Even just cause 2 the 6970 barely maxes, not impressive at all...

8800GTX cost $600 but 8800GTS 640MB cost $400 which also maxed every single game at 1080p and STILL plays games very respectably. The thing with these cards was that you were getting MORE than twice the performance of any $300 card so they were very good value for their time.

Gambler_3

Who cares? Just Cause 2 is a mediocre game at best with crap optimization.

Why don't you take Dragon Age 2 (you know, an actual GOOD game) and see how the overpriced P.O.S. GTX 580 (with its laughable 1.5GB VRAM) does against the HD 6970, especially in a multi-GPU setup? It will be a completely different story.

6970 = brute force, great multi-GPU scaling, more VRAM

580 = overpriced, mediocre multi-GPU scaling, less VRAM

You can't support your hypothesis with cherry-picked results and discard all other notions that your hypothesis is wrong or even slightly off key. You seem to be picking every game that supports AMD more and trying to say that is the truth. Bad science. Tsk Tsk.

Nom nom, feed me! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyophYBP_w4

But let's say if I were to sell at a price of HD 6970, why would I sell it at the price of a HD 6970? That would kind of defeat the purpose of having the best-bang-for your back GPU. Secondly, the 2 pin difference is negligble. The overclock capability is the same as a regular HD 6970, as proven by Techreport.

As for the 560 Ti matching performance of a GTX 570, well the GTX 570 could be further overclocked to get even more performance? Will 560 Ti cost $50-$90 MORE after it's release nearly 9 month's later. The answer is simply NO. And no is doubting the value of he 9500 to 9700 and the 8800GT value, we already know that. My question as with respect the price depreciation of the modded 9500---> 9700 for say 9 months later. The BIOS flashed HD 6950 can do more for the same money as with respect to those great bang for your buck GPU's such as 8800 GT and 9500----> 9700. I am comparing the achievements of those GPU's to the settings capable of BIOS flashed HD 6970 at the same settings at those price ranges.

Xtasy26

Well since the GTX 570 can be overclocked to perform like or better than a GTX 580, doesn't that make the 570 the greatest bang for the buck gaming GPU in history, hmm? That seems to be your way of thinking. You think that making a $250 GPU perform like a $350 GPU is great enough to name it the king, so why not a $350 GPU that can perform like a $500 one? Isn't that even more impressive? What about some of the GTX 560 Ti's, which can be overclocked to match the GTX 570 and 6970 in performance? That's a direct parallel to the type of thing that you're raving about with the 6950 unlock, which makes it perform like a 6970. It doesn't matter how many cores a card has. What matters is how it translates into performance. Now I know that some 6950's can overclock to perform within a few percentage points of a GTX 580, which is very impressive. But even then we have the question of how these cards will stand the test of time, and that's the most critical element in the discussion as far as I'm concerned. That's a point you can't win.

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

But let's say if I were to sell at a price of HD 6970, why would I sell it at the price of a HD 6970? That would kind of defeat the purpose of having the best-bang-for your back GPU. Secondly, the 2 pin difference is negligble. The overclock capability is the same as a regular HD 6970, as proven by Techreport.

As for the 560 Ti matching performance of a GTX 570, well the GTX 570 could be further overclocked to get even more performance? Will 560 Ti cost $50-$90 MORE after it's release nearly 9 month's later. The answer is simply NO. And no is doubting the value of he 9500 to 9700 and the 8800GT value, we already know that. My question as with respect the price depreciation of the modded 9500---> 9700 for say 9 months later. The BIOS flashed HD 6950 can do more for the same money as with respect to those great bang for your buck GPU's such as 8800 GT and 9500----> 9700. I am comparing the achievements of those GPU's to the settings capable of BIOS flashed HD 6970 at the same settings at those price ranges.

hartsickdiscipl

Well since the GTX 570 can be overclocked to perform like or better than a GTX 580, doesn't that make the 570 the greatest bang for the buck gaming GPU in history, hmm? That seems to be your way of thinking. You think that making a $250 GPU perform like a $350 GPU is great enough to name it the king, so why not a $350 GPU that can perform like a $500 one? Isn't that even more impressive? What about some of the GTX 560 Ti's, which can be overclocked to match the GTX 570 and 6970 in performance? That's a direct parallel to the type of thing that you're raving about with the 6950 unlock, which makes it perform like a 6970. It doesn't matter how many cores a card has. What matters is how it translates into performance. Now I know that some 6950's can overclock to perform within a few percentage points of a GTX 580, which is very impressive. But even then we have the question of how these cards will stand the test of time, and that's the most critical element in the discussion as far as I'm concerned. That's a point you can't win.

what about 2 6870s or 2 460s which cost less and smash it in performance.

CF AND SLI ARE CLEARLY THE BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK OF ALL TIME

ALL TIME

And honestly, a 2nd hand card that works will actually be even better.

can you image the BANG for the BUCK for 2 USED 460s

oh

mah

gawd

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

But let's say if I were to sell at a price of HD 6970, why would I sell it at the price of a HD 6970? That would kind of defeat the purpose of having the best-bang-for your back GPU. Secondly, the 2 pin difference is negligble. The overclock capability is the same as a regular HD 6970, as proven by Techreport.

As for the 560 Ti matching performance of a GTX 570, well the GTX 570 could be further overclocked to get even more performance? Will 560 Ti cost $50-$90 MORE after it's release nearly 9 month's later. The answer is simply NO. And no is doubting the value of he 9500 to 9700 and the 8800GT value, we already know that. My question as with respect the price depreciation of the modded 9500---> 9700 for say 9 months later. The BIOS flashed HD 6950 can do more for the same money as with respect to those great bang for your buck GPU's such as 8800 GT and 9500----> 9700. I am comparing the achievements of those GPU's to the settings capable of BIOS flashed HD 6970 at the same settings at those price ranges.

GummiRaccoon

Well since the GTX 570 can be overclocked to perform like or better than a GTX 580, doesn't that make the 570 the greatest bang for the buck gaming GPU in history, hmm? That seems to be your way of thinking. You think that making a $250 GPU perform like a $350 GPU is great enough to name it the king, so why not a $350 GPU that can perform like a $500 one? Isn't that even more impressive? What about some of the GTX 560 Ti's, which can be overclocked to match the GTX 570 and 6970 in performance? That's a direct parallel to the type of thing that you're raving about with the 6950 unlock, which makes it perform like a 6970. It doesn't matter how many cores a card has. What matters is how it translates into performance. Now I know that some 6950's can overclock to perform within a few percentage points of a GTX 580, which is very impressive. But even then we have the question of how these cards will stand the test of time, and that's the most critical element in the discussion as far as I'm concerned. That's a point you can't win.

what about 2 6870s or 2 460s which cost less and smash it in performance.

CF AND SLI ARE CLEARLY THE BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK OF ALL TIME

ALL TIME

And honestly, a 2nd hand card that works will actually be even better.

can you image the BANG for the BUCK for 2 USED 460s

oh

mah

gawd

lmfao.. nice

Who cares? Just Cause 2 is a mediocre game at best with crap optimization.

Why don't you take Dragon Age 2 (you know, an actual GOOD game) and see how the overpriced P.O.S. GTX 580 (with its laughable 1.5GB VRAM) does against the HD 6970, especially in a multi-GPU setup? It will be a completely different story.

6970 = brute force, great multi-GPU scaling, more VRAM

580 = overpriced, mediocre multi-GPU scaling, less VRAM

Baurus_1

Get the **** out now you AMD fanboy!

what about 2 6870s or 2 460s which cost less and smash it in performance.

CF AND SLI ARE CLEARLY THE BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK OF ALL TIME

ALL TIME

And honestly, a 2nd hand card that works will actually be even better.

can you image the BANG for the BUCK for 2 USED 460s

oh

mah

gawd

GummiRaccoon

I hath seen teh truth :o

4xAA and DOF are the most demanding settings in metro 2033, the AA alone cuts the FPS literally in half. You cant assume things like that, I already showed you a bench at 19x12 where all the cards get their ass kicked at max settings, it's your turn to give evidence otherwise. It's pretty much widely known that a GTX 580 cannot max metro 2033, go make a thread on any enthusiast forum like overclock.net and you will get the answer fairly quickly.

Sorry I dont trust youtube videos, no way to verify what hardware they are running under the hood and what settings they are running the game at.

Gambler_3

It is demanding, it still doesn't change the fact that @19x12 it can do so and get playable framerates or @1080P. Why you wouldn't trust Youtube video's is beyond me. I have seen them and it runs at playable resolutions @1080P.

Oh and how can I forget GTA4, thats 2 games that launched before 6970 came that it cant max.

And witcher 2 is the latest game that 6970 cant max. Sorry but 8800GTS had much more dominance on games in it's first year than the 6970.

Gambler_3

I have GTA4 and I could run it maxed. Not going to comment on Witcher 2 because I don't have the game.

[QUOTE="Xtasy26"]

But let's say if I were to sell at a price of HD 6970, why would I sell it at the price of a HD 6970? That would kind of defeat the purpose of having the best-bang-for your back GPU. Secondly, the 2 pin difference is negligble. The overclock capability is the same as a regular HD 6970, as proven by Techreport.

As for the 560 Ti matching performance of a GTX 570, well the GTX 570 could be further overclocked to get even more performance? Will 560 Ti cost $50-$90 MORE after it's release nearly 9 month's later. The answer is simply NO. And no is doubting the value of he 9500 to 9700 and the 8800GT value, we already know that. My question as with respect the price depreciation of the modded 9500---> 9700 for say 9 months later. The BIOS flashed HD 6950 can do more for the same money as with respect to those great bang for your buck GPU's such as 8800 GT and 9500----> 9700. I am comparing the achievements of those GPU's to the settings capable of BIOS flashed HD 6970 at the same settings at those price ranges.

hartsickdiscipl

Well since the GTX 570 can be overclocked to perform like or better than a GTX 580, doesn't that make the 570 the greatest bang for the buck gaming GPU in history, hmm? That seems to be your way of thinking. You think that making a $250 GPU perform like a $350 GPU is great enough to name it the king, so why not a $350 GPU that can perform like a $500 one? Isn't that even more impressive? What about some of the GTX 560 Ti's, which can be overclocked to match the GTX 570 and 6970 in performance? That's a direct parallel to the type of thing that you're raving about with the 6950 unlock, which makes it perform like a 6970. It doesn't matter how many cores a card has. What matters is how it translates into performance. Now I know that some 6950's can overclock to perform within a few percentage points of a GTX 580, which is very impressive. But even then we have the question of how these cards will stand the test of time, and that's the most critical element in the discussion as far as I'm concerned. That's a point you can't win.

Again, a GTX 580 can be overclocked to get even more performance, so can a HD 6970, so your argument doesn't hold. Secondly, I was referring to single GPU not GPU's. Hence, the term best bang for your buck GPU.

You can't support your hypothesis with cherry-picked results and discard all other notions that your hypothesis is wrong or even slightly off key. You seem to be picking every game that supports AMD more and trying to say that is the truth. Bad science. Tsk Tsk.

Nom nom, feed me! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyophYBP_w4

LordsLoss

How is it cherry picked? HardOCP supports my thesis at the resolution in question. So does many Youtube video's. That's hardly cherry picked. And your Youtube video I thought was about running games. So, LMAO.

So I literally just got back from getting a geforce 6250 LE for Free.

That's right free.

That's like infinite performance per dollar spent.

Cannot possible get better bang for the buck.

So I literally just got back from getting a geforce 6250 LE for Free.

That's right free.

That's like infinite performance per dollar spent.

Cannot possible get better bang for the buck.

GummiRaccoon

:lol: You're right.. that's the best bang for the buck EVARRRRR

I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Baurus_1 actually. I guess I should have quoted him. LordsLoss

You still aren't quoting the person you are talking to.

the bang for buck of the 6950 bios flashed to 6970 just got better with sapphire releasing the toxic edition. Let me just summarize the keypoints of the review. It has a factory flashed 6970 bios switch, beats out the 570 gtx out of box, beats out the 580 gtx at stock with an overclock (without the bios switch even enabled). Card itself costs $270 after rebate on newegg and comes with deus ex 3 and dirt 3 free. This card is entering god like value domain...Also it seems sapphire dun goofd. They missed a bios tdp issue, and the problem was missed for a few months until hardocp actually figured it out. God talk about incompetent. Anyways here is the review. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/1 If i could redo the poll I would change my vote to yes blaznwiipspman1

That is an AMAZING deal! :shock:

For $270, a HD 6950 GPU that is pretty much guranteed to BIOS flash to a HD 6970. And with a free copy of Deus Ex AND Dirt 3 for free. That's just icing on the cake! Your are getting $100 worth of games with free copies of Dirt 3 and Deus Ex. This card is OFFICIALLY the BEST bang for your buck GPU ever!

And for those who say that you can't overclock a BIOS flashed HD 6970, they are clueless, as the reviewed showed one can easily overclock it, just like a regular HD 6970.

And I will add a 'virtual' +1 to the poll. :P

the bang for buck of the 6950 bios flashed to 6970 just got better with sapphire releasing the toxic edition. Let me just summarize the keypoints of the review. It has a factory flashed 6970 bios switch, beats out the 570 gtx out of box, beats out the 580 gtx at stock with an overclock (without the bios switch even enabled). Card itself costs $270 after rebate on newegg and comes with deus ex 3 and dirt 3 free. This card is entering god like value domain...Also it seems sapphire dun goofd. They missed a bios tdp issue, and the problem was missed for a few months until hardocp actually figured it out. God talk about incompetent. Anyways here is the review. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/1 If i could redo the poll I would change my vote to yes blaznwiipspman1

Should I buy this card, keep the games, and then sell the card for like 30 bucks cheaper? Think it would work?LordsLoss

...Or you could buy the card and sell the two games on e-bay for less than the $50 for each game and make some money. This would further reduce the costs of the graphics card.

[QUOTE="blaznwiipspman1"]the bang for buck of the 6950 bios flashed to 6970 just got better with sapphire releasing the toxic edition. Let me just summarize the keypoints of the review. It has a factory flashed 6970 bios switch, beats out the 570 gtx out of box, beats out the 580 gtx at stock with an overclock (without the bios switch even enabled). Card itself costs $270 after rebate on newegg and comes with deus ex 3 and dirt 3 free. This card is entering god like value domain...Also it seems sapphire dun goofd. They missed a bios tdp issue, and the problem was missed for a few months until hardocp actually figured it out. God talk about incompetent. Anyways here is the review. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/08/29/sapphire_toxic_hd6950_video_card_review/1 If i could redo the poll I would change my vote to yes mitu123

Me too..

That's why there's a mad dash to pick up one of these bad boys. The ability to BIOS flash to a HD 6970 with mereclick of a switchand gettingDeus Ex and Dirt 3 for free on top of it....I can't think of a time ever in the history ofgaming GPU history that such a think hashappened. WITHOUT a DOUBT that it's the best bang for your buck.

It's going out so fast that newegg can't send out e-mails fast enough through their Auto Notify when the stock becomes available. LOL.

I understand what you're trying to say, but you cannot claim that your flashed 6950 is a 6970, it's just not logical.

Your theory would be something along the lines of this:

• Man A purchased a $80,000.00 Porsche and it goes X amount of seconds from 0-60.
• Man B builds a car, costs him in all parts $60,000.00 and it goes from 0-60 in the same time it takes the Porsche and it performs overall just like the Porsche that cost $80,000.00.
• So, you're saying that Man B now has a Porsche.

I know, it's kind of a poor analogy, but that's what you're saying. You took something of lesser value (HD 6950), you were able to improve upon it (runs like a HD 6970), but that doesn't mean you have the exact same thing that costs more. It's still just a HD 6950. This is what is annoying people, you keep trying to say you have something you never had. Did you pay for a 6950 or a 6970? What you have is a 6950 that performs like a 6970, you don't have a 6970.

If you feel the need to argue this, then you obviously fail at a basic level of logical thinking. You can't have something you don't have; you don't have a HD 6970, you have a HD 6950.

I've counted at least 3 times (I'm sure there are more, but I don't feel like reading through all the posts again) that you refer to your card as a HD 6970 or a BIOS flahsed HD 6970. Your card is not a HD 6970, it's a flashed 6950. Just because you flashed it to a BIOS that the 6970 uses, still does not make it a 6970. It gives it the performance of a 6970, doesn't make it one.

You're comparing an apple to an orange. Sure, they're both round, but they look different, feel different and taste different.

Your HD 6950 is different over a HD 6970, and even if the only noticeable difference is the power plugs - it's still different. Then again, doesn't the 6970 have more Steam Processors over the HD 6950, regardless of the BIOS you run? I don't know everything about GPUs, so I'm not sure if that's relavent or not or if I'm understanding it correctly, so someone correct if if I'm wrong.

In the end, getting a good performance boost out of your 6950 is nice and I'm not going to argue that point. But you need to stop saying you have a 6970 when you don't. You have a 6950 that performs to a 6970.

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games. The difference between 6970 and 6950 is hardly worth $60.

And btw TC whatever happened to your original argument? This toxic card is superior to yours due to how easy it is to make it a 6970 and this card is cheaper than what you paid so your card has actually depreciated in value contrary to what you had been saying the whole thread. ;)

I understand what you're trying to say, but you cannot claim that your flashed 6950 is a 6970, it's just not logical.

Your theory would be something along the lines of this:

• Man A purchased a $80,000.00 Porsche and it goes X amount of seconds from 0-60.
• Man B builds a car, costs him in all parts $60,000.00 and it goes from 0-60 in the same time it takes the Porsche and it performs overall just like the Porsche that cost $80,000.00.
• So, you're saying that Man B now has a Porsche.

I know, it's kind of a poor analogy, but that's what you're saying. You took something of lesser value (HD 6950), you were able to improve upon it (runs like a HD 6970), but that doesn't mean you have the exact same thing that costs more. It's still just a HD 6950. This is what is annoying people, you keep trying to say you have something you never had. Did you pay for a 6950 or a 6970? What you have is a 6950 that performs like a 6970, you don't have a 6970.

If you feel the need to argue this, then you obviously fail at a basic level of logical thinking. You can't have something you don't have; you don't have a HD 6970, you have a HD 6950.

I've counted at least 3 times (I'm sure there are more, but I don't feel like reading through all the posts again) that you refer to your card as a HD 6970 or a BIOS flahsed HD 6970. Your card is not a HD 6970, it's a flashed 6950. Just because you flashed it to a BIOS that the 6970 uses, still does not make it a 6970. It gives it the performance of a 6970, doesn't make it one.

You're comparing an apple to an orange. Sure, they're both round, but they look different, feel different and taste different.

Your HD 6950 is different over a HD 6970, and even if the only noticeable difference is the power plugs - it's still different. Then again, doesn't the 6970 have more Steam Processors over the HD 6950, regardless of the BIOS you run? I don't know everything about GPUs, so I'm not sure if that's relavent or not or if I'm understanding it correctly, so someone correct if if I'm wrong.

In the end, getting a good performance boost out of your 6950 is nice and I'm not going to argue that point. But you need to stop saying you have a 6970 when you don't. You have a 6950 that performs to a 6970.

neatfeatguy

Yes, that is a poor analogy. So, when you are buying a car you are looking at the brand. Such as Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari. Someone, who builds a car that performs as fast as Porshe doesn't have the same engine as a porshe, not the same parts, not the same seats, etc, because those parts are built exclusively by Porshe. Whereas, in the PC hardware industry it's completely different.

A BIOS flashed HD 6950 is built from the same die as a regular HD 6970. They are the same GPU's it's just that some of the cores have been disabled. So, by BIOS flashing a HD 6950 to a HD 6970 you are essentially unlocking the cores which were enabled to begin with because they were built on the same die.

So, they are the same, the perform the same, have the same number of stream processors (which you are incorrect about), and can run at the same clock frequency.

And no a BIOS flashed HD 6970 has the same number of cores as a regular HD 6970.

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games. The difference between 6970 and 6950 is hardly worth $60.

And btw TC whatever happened to your original argument? This toxic card is superior to yours due to how easy it is to make it a 6970 and this card is cheaper than what you paid so your card has actually depreciated in value contrary to what you had been saying the whole thread. ;)

Gambler_3

Of course it's a better deal, I didn't get two games with it did I? ;)And of course a regular HD 6950 has depreciated as did a regular HD 6970, but the price difference between this and a regular HD 6970 is still the same $50-$100+.

And I am referring to the bios flashed Toxic HD 6970 2 GB version in the link (as the better deal), not the XFX 6950 1GB, justto make it clear.

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games.

Gambler_3

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games.

mitu123

[QUOTE="mitu123"]

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games.

Gambler_3

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

[QUOTE="mitu123"] And were those free games Dirt 3 and Deus Ex HR?:P

mitu123

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games. The difference between 6970 and 6950 is hardly worth $60.

And btw TC whatever happened to your original argument? This toxic card is superior to yours due to how easy it is to make it a 6970 and this card is cheaper than what you paid so your card has actually depreciated in value contrary to what you had been saying the whole thread. ;)

Gambler_3

the toxic 6950 is given a factory bump of 50mhz to 880mhz core clock. It comes with a bios swithc to a 6970 and also after reading alot of reviews this card can hit 1000mhz on the core which is a ridiculous speed. This is why its able to beat out a 570gtx at stock and after being flashed and overclocked beats out the 580gtx. And no I don't care about the review you posted which had like every known TWIMTBP title on nvidia's sponsorship website benchmarked.

[QUOTE="Gambler_3"]

OMG you guys love to over react it's getting so ridiculous. The XFX 6950 1GB was also available with 2 free games not that long ago for JUST $210 with rebate, that IS better value than the toxic card with 2 free games. The difference between 6970 and 6950 is hardly worth $60.

And btw TC whatever happened to your original argument? This toxic card is superior to yours due to how easy it is to make it a 6970 and this card is cheaper than what you paid so your card has actually depreciated in value contrary to what you had been saying the whole thread. ;)

blaznwiipspman1

the toxic 6950 is given a factory bump of 50mhz to 880mhz core clock. It comes with a bios swithc to a 6970 and also after reading alot of reviews this card can hit 1000mhz on the core which is a ridiculous speed. This is why its able to beat out a 570gtx at stock and after being flashed and overclocked beats out the 580gtx. And no I don't care about the review you posted which had like every known TWIMTBP title on nvidia's sponsorship website benchmarked.

I couldn't resist, had to post this:

22 Greatest Graphic Cards of all Time

I couldn't resist, had to post this:

22 Greatest Graphic Cards of all Time

neatfeatguy

Dont you mean best 23 GPU's? they had 2 at the end :P