# Geforce GTX 560 vs Radeon 6850/6950



## Ankur

I want to play games at very high settings and probably video editing. I may play games 3 to 5 hours continuously. Which GPU should I consider for my budget of 400$


----------



## CardboardSword

If you have $400, then get a 6970 or a GTX 570. They both check in between $350 and $370 and are better than the other options you've listed.


----------



## Aastii

CardboardSword said:


> If you have $400, then get a 6970 or a GTX 570. They both check in between $350 and $370 and are better than the other options you've listed.



6950 is more cost effective than the 6970 is. You can try to unlock it to a 6970 as they are the same chip, just a different BIOS. Then, for the price, a 570 is the better option than the 6970 is.

I would say go for a 6950 and try to get it to a 6970. If it fails, you still have a hell of a card that will plow through any game with ease. If it does work, you will be able to get a much more expensive card, but have paid less for it, and have the extra power that it brings.

If you want to go green, the 570 is still a hell of a card, and cost/performance wise, a great option


----------



## CardboardSword

Aastii said:


> 6950 is more cost effective than the 6970 is. You can try to unlock it to a 6970 as they are the same chip, just a different BIOS. Then, for the price, a 570 is the better option than the 6970 is.
> 
> I would say go for a 6950 and try to get it to a 6970. If it fails, you still have a hell of a card that will plow through any game with ease. If it does work, you will be able to get a much more expensive card, but have paid less for it, and have the extra power that it brings.
> 
> If you want to go green, the 570 is still a hell of a card, and cost/performance wise, a great option



I realize that, but I'm getting tired of explaining in every second thread that the 6950 can do so  Plus I've heard that AMD is trying to crack down on it, so I'm a little more wary recommending it now for that reason. I'm not saying it's more cost effective, but if he's looking for gaming horsepower and he has the money to spend on it then maybe he'd be more comfortable going with the sure thing. You can't lose between the 6950/6970/GTX 570, it just depends on how much money you are willing to spend.


----------



## Ankur

I think I will go for 6950, but is there a more cheaper GPU that can handle games at full settings or which is the cheapest (in price) GPU which can do the job for full settings.


----------



## CardboardSword

Again, the 6870 is a pretty strong card too, but there are a few games that it might stumble a bit with. Your best bet is still probably the 6950.


----------



## Ankur

I checked out with the dealer and he said that 6950 is out of my budget when calculated in Rupees. How good is GTX 560/480 vs 6870/6850.


----------



## fastdude

Ankur said:


> I checked out with the dealer and he said that 6950 is out of my budget when calculated in Rupees. How good is GTX 560/480 vs 6870/6850.



In terms of performance:

GTX480 > GTX560/HD6870 > HD 6850

However for the price, the last three are all great cards, choose whichever one fits budget. With 560 vs 6870 it depends what you value more: PhysX or Eyefinity.

GTX480 runs hot uses lots of power and is about as fast as GTX570


----------



## Ankur

I hate to say this but my budget is now lowered down to 200 $. I just realized that GTX 480 is 399$  .

Is there any good card that can play games at full settings under my budget?
At least for 2 years?


----------



## Foodang

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354216

Personally I LOVE Nvidia. But this card will give you the best bang for $200.


----------



## Ankur

Foodang said:


> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354216
> 
> Personally I LOVE Nvidia. But this card will give you the best bang for $200.


Yea that is the card I am looking for. What Nvidia card do you think is worth under 200?


----------



## Foodang

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0348985

It's your choice between the brands.


----------



## CardboardSword

I think I'd get a 460 over a 6850. They're both real good, but the GTX 460 overclocks so well that it's not uncommon to see them trade blows with a 6870.


----------



## Ankur

CardboardSword said:


> I think I'd get a 460 over a 6850. They're both real good, but the GTX 460 overclocks so well that it's not uncommon to see them trade blows with a 6870.



is it easy to overclock GTX 460, I haven't overclocked GPUs and CPUs


----------



## CardboardSword

Ankur said:


> is it easy to overclock GTX 460, I haven't overclocked GPUs and CPUs



Overclocking a GPU is much easier than a CPU. Just download an overclocking program (I use MSI Afterburner, but there are a bunch of other options.) and move the sliders for your memory and core clock up. You obviously can't do too much too fast, but do small increments and stress test with a program like OCCT to check for errors. If it gives errors after an increase, back your overclock down ~5mhz and test again, it should be stable. I'd also recommend doing one at a time (Get your core as high as it'll go, then once you've found your wall there, then do the memory.) because it's easier to find the instability.


----------



## Ankur

CardboardSword said:


> Overclocking a GPU is much easier than a CPU. Just download an overclocking program (I use MSI Afterburner, but there are a bunch of other options.) and move the sliders for your memory and core clock up. You obviously can't do too much too fast, but do small increments and stress test with a program like OCCT to check for errors. If it gives errors after an increase, back your overclock down ~5mhz and test again, it should be stable. I'd also recommend doing one at a time (Get your core as high as it'll go, then once you've found your wall there, then do the memory.) because it's easier to find the instability.



Cool! seems easy to me, so now I can confirm GTX 460. But when 460 is overclocked then can it be compared to performance of say non-overclocked 480/570?


----------

