5870 vs 6970: Crunching, Gaming and Value?

[xvi]

I just bought a 5870, but I've recently found a deal for two 6970s. I've done some research and it seems that for a 33% increase in power consumption, all I get in return is occasionally better gaming performance (thanks to advanced tessellation), theoretically worse compute performance and rumored-to-be 17% better crunching performance (which is an interesting contradiction). All the reviews at the time said the card was better in theory, but will only be better in the future when games take advantage of the tessellation. So, here we are in the future. Did that hold true? Did it work?

Gaming performance wise, the 5870 does decently enough for most games, but flops a bit at World of Warcraft. I do feel a general want for something better.

Crunching wise, the 6970 seems to do ~16% better according to sources rumors than the 5870 despite being down 64 cores.

Supplying the combined 500w TDP isn't an issue as I have a 650w dedicated PSU for them and I've formerly run two 4800 series cards. Performance per watt seems to be down quite a bit though.

Mostly tempted because it seems like a good deal (about the same price per card as the 5870). Hesitant because while I'm not going to starve by any means if I buy it, I'm trying to save money.

Would appreciate knowing what the general consensus on these cards is.

 

[brandonwh64]

6970 will put out more PPD

I run two 6950s unlocked from 7AM to 6PM daily and get 40K with my 5770 added

 

[xvi]

6970 will put out more PPD

I run two 6950s unlocked from 7AM to 6PM daily and get 40K with my 5770 added

That's something I was a bit confused about. I've seen ~16% better crunching performance despite computing benchmarks showing the 6970 to be slower.

Core speed times memory speed times number of shaders, not like that actually MEANS anything, would give a 13% increase in.. magical.. something or other units.

	Core	mem	shaders	core*shad*mem	Human Readable
5870	850	1200	1600	1632000000	1632
6970	880	1375	1536	1858560000	1858.56
					
potentially 1.1388235294%

Still, it's a good deal and it'd really ramp up my crunching regardless.

 

[stinger608]

I actually think that you would be better off running dual 7770's or a single 7850 or 7870 rather than the 6xxx series of cards.

 

[Norton]

That's something I was a bit confused about. I've seen ~16% better crunching performance despite computing benchmarks showing the 6970 to be slower.

Core speed times memory speed times number of shaders, not like that actually MEANS anything, would give a 13% increase in.. magical.. something or other units.

	Core	mem	shaders	core*shad*mem	Human Readable
5870	850	1200	1600	1632000000	1632
6970	880	1375	1536	1858560000	1858.56
					
potentially 1.1388235294%

Still, it's a good deal and it'd really ramp up my crunching regardless.

The main difference in these is in the architecture of the gpu series and the coding for gaming, OpenCL, etc...

Unless it's a steal (under 130-140 each) I would advise against a pair of 6970's, especially if you are trying to combine crunching, gaming, and power usage. The sweet spot imho would be a pair of 7850's
- about 100k gpu crunching ppd
- 7970 performance or a little more/less depending on game
- low power usage (max 130w each card and 2nd card goes to 0w when not needed due to Zero Core Technology)
- you can swap in a 7870 in the future and get a real boost with a 7870/7850 Crossfire combo

 

[xvi]

The main difference in these is in the architecture of the gpu series and the coding for gaming, OpenCL, etc...

Unless it's a steal (under 130-140 each) I would advise against a pair of 6970's, especially if you are trying to combine crunching, gaming, and power usage.

By your definition, they are a steal. They wanted $275 for the pair which was just a smidgen over what I was hoping for. I see the 6970 going for $160-180-ish on eBay and I don't understand why people would want those when it's not much faster (and more power hungry) than a 5870 for (eBay value, $50-ish) less.

Actually, they just sold. Sent them an offer, but it looks like someone beat me to it.

The 7770s looked to be the best price/performance for folding, but their lack of 3D performance made me think otherwise. The 7870 seems to do about 10% more 3D performance than the 6970 (and ~31% better crunching performance) for around 156% the price.

I'dunno. The competition's nearly over, I missed the sale, and the single 5870 isn't doing too bad.

- about 100k gpu crunching ppd

Is that WCG points or BOINC points?

 

[Norton]

By your definition, they are a steal. They wanted $275 for the pair which was just a smidgen over what I was hoping for. I see the 6970 going for $160-180-ish on eBay and I don't understand why people would want those when it's not much faster (and more power hungry) than a 5870 for (eBay value, $50-ish) less.

Actually, they just sold. Sent them an offer, but it looks like someone beat me to it.

The 7770s looked to be the best price/performance for folding, but their lack of 3D performance made me think otherwise. The 7870 seems to do about 10% more 3D performance than the 6970 (and ~31% better crunching performance) for around 156% the price.

I'dunno. The competition's nearly over, I missed the sale, and the single 5870 isn't doing too bad.

Is that WCG points or BOINC points?

That's BOINC ppd (700k WCG ppd)

A 7770 is basically half a 7870 so a pair of 7770's should do 70-80k ppd.... I get 70k with one 7870 and just over 100k with three 7770's (a bit low due to all of them running in the same rig)

Nothing wrong with a 5870 that you already own