Radeon or Nvidia?

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  1. Posts : 117
    Windows 7 [64-Bit]
       #1

    Radeon or Nvidia?


    I am shopping for a new video card. I currently own a XFX 5870 HD and I was looking to upgrade to a HIS Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2GB but I was also debating on whether I should go with a GTX 560 or not. I am running a AMD Phenom II X6 1100T for a CPU and from what I hear, AMD CPU's and GPU's are optimized to work seamlessly together due to the chip-set being produced by the same manufacturer. I am looking to stay within the $300 max range.
    Any opinions are welcome.

    Thanks.
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  2. Posts : 4,517
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #2

    Either will be a good card, but it will come down to 2 things.

    1) You personal pref.
    2) Price

    Assuming you can get both for very close to the same price, the 570 would be the more powerful card between the two, although not by a huge margin.

    The AMD card will have an advantage on VRAM, and more flexibilty for multiple monitors on a single video card.
    The Nvidia Card will offer PhysX, and IMHO better drivers overall. <-- note thats a personal opinion


    But, if gaming at 1080P or less (single monitor) it will not make much of any difference for the Vram.
    Higher resolutions, the AMD card may actually get a bit of a lead due to it.


    So between the 2, you just need to figure out what you need, and whats the most important to you. Really cant go wrong with either.




    In regards to the CPU itself, it doesnt matter which brand it is. What matters is the computing power it has for those games that rely heavily on the CPU.
    And in some games the CPU will be be the major factor, not so much whether you have the 570 or the 6950 as they both will do thier part easily.

    So your AMD CPU will run either of those cards without any issue.
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  3. Posts : 9,582
    Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
       #3

    I've been using AMD processors for several years now, both with NVidia chipsets and with AMD ones (my current system). In all cases, I have exclusively used NVidia graphics without any problems.
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  4. Posts : 2,240
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #4

    The only other thing to consider is whether or not you'll be using a multi-monitor setup and having 2 or 3 montiors expanded while gaming. If so then AMD card with EyeFinity. I'm not sure if Nvidia has something similar yet.
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  5. Posts : 117
    Windows 7 [64-Bit]
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Thanks for you opinions. I use only one 1080p HDTV (42") as my gaming monitor so probably won't matter much with which card I decide on I guess. I actually wanted to correct my self as far as the Nvidia GPU I mentioned. I meant to say that I was looking at the GTX 560 instead of the 570.
    I would imaging the GTX 560 and the Radeon 6950 HD are right on par with one another. I also used to own a 9800 GTX and I didn't experience anywhere near as many BSOD as I have since upgrading to the 5870 HD that I currently own, so you make be right as far as saying that Nvidia has better drivers. PhysX is also nice as well so I may fine myself leaning back toward Nvidia.
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  6. Posts : 117
    Windows 7 [64-Bit]
    Thread Starter
       #6

    One more thing. Is a GPU with 2GB of RAM necessarily better than a card with 1GB of RAM? Will there be a noticeable difference in performance?
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  7. Posts : 4,517
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #7

    BeKure said:
    One more thing. Is a GPU with 2GB of RAM necessarily better than a card with 1GB of RAM? Will there be a noticeable difference in performance?

    For the most part, with a single monitor at 1080P or less, No.
    My 570 seldom gets over 1GB, and for many games stay around 500-850ish.

    However, heavily moddded games (Skyrim or Fallout using lots of very hi-res textures for example) will easily break the 1GB VRAM barrier.



    But the large majority of games, without hi-res mods will not use more than 1GB.
    Im sure there may be an exception or so out there, but none that I have played anyway.
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  8. Posts : 117
    Windows 7 [64-Bit]
    Thread Starter
       #8

    I plan on purchasing a game call TERA Online when it releases in May and it looks as if it will utilize high resolution textures as well. I would like a video card that can run Skyrim and/or Fallout on the highest settings with no lag. Anywhere form 30-60 fps will do just fine. I guess I have to do a little bit more research on each of these card until I narrow it down to what will better suit my needs.
    Thanks again for you help.

    By the way, the amount of memory on the GTX 570 I am interested in is 1280MB. Do games like Skyrim and Fallout break even the 1280MB barrier? I'm also interested in gaming for the future as well. I don't want to have to upgrade my GPU until around late 2013 or early 2014.
    Last edited by Brink; 19 Feb 2012 at 23:47. Reason: merged
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  9. Posts : 4,517
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #9

    Youll be fine will 1GB of VRAM on all of those, untill you start really running ALOT of hi-res texture mods.


    Of the games I play, Skyrim can eat up the most.
    With athe Full HD pack, and other mods such as the Realistic Water and Flora etc (all at x2 or x4 the default resolutions) ...
    running around in the wild my 570 is at around 1100-1150MB use. In citys its under 1GB.


    But, thats with a lot of mods. The base game itself is something like 600-750ish at the most? Same as most any other game.


    Although it does get close, Ive not had any issue from the 570 with 1280MB VRAM.
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  10. Posts : 3,168
    Windows 10 64bit
       #10

    radeon because there cheaper and offer the same performance for less money
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