GTX 560 vs Radeon HD 6870 » Forum Post by Whisker

Speaking from a preventative problems stand point, ATI cards sometimes have issues with the .dds format (nVidia format) that Sins uses and is heavily used in mods trying to save on space, and picture portraits in game get messed up. Not that playing Sins should be the deciding factor, but its worth at least a mention.

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Quoting Stant123,

reply 1

Speaking from a preventative problems stand point, ATI cards sometimes have issues with the .dds format (nVidia format) that Sins uses and is heavily used in mods trying to save on space, and picture portraits in game get messed up.

I have a soft spot for nVidia since my first computer I built had an 8800 in it. Ever since then, I don't know I think nVidia has been what I prefered. But I'm not sure I like the idea of either a dumbed down card (Since it's essentially the 560 ti, just one of the cores or whatever it's called turned off). And I've seen a lot of love around for the 6870, so I keep going back to it though.

Quoting Stant123,

reply 1

Not that playing Sins should be the deciding factor, but its worth at least a mention.

Considering this is a Sins forum, I think that's a fair point. Besides, there are three games I want this system to run out of the game at as high a setting I can get; Old Republic, Sins, and Civ 5. I believe that Sins with the graphic improving mods is probably the highest demanding of the games I want to play, so actually Sins is a leading factor in which card I play.

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Talking of Star Wars, my guildie mentioned that some people with ATI cards were having some graphic errors, like green lines. But, I've also heard that everyone is having them. I have less trust with ATI since I had problems years ago with a strange stutter step in LOTR and some other off line games.

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benmanns

Join Date 12/2005

+93

talking about games in general it should be Nvidia
comparing those 2 cards immediatly gives me the itch... the HD6870 doesnt even come close to the gtx 480 ! thze 560 gtx is even stronger than the 480
Unsure what test you reviewed but to answer you that question quick : take the GTX560 it also has physx for games like batman or alice

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Quoting Lord Xia,

reply 3

Talking of Star Wars, my guildie mentioned that some people with ATI cards were having some graphic errors, like green lines. But, I've also heard that everyone is having them. I have less trust with ATI since I had problems years ago with a strange stutter step in LOTR and some other off line games.

Interesting enough, it would seem that the game has some difficulty running Crossfire for the ATI cards. Though my current build is a budget pc and i'm not looking to run Crossfire/SLI, it still is part of the equation. (My motherboard doesn't even have the option currently).

Quoting Roloccolor,

reply 4

talking about games in general it should be Nvidia
comparing those 2 cards immediatly gives me the itch... the HD6870 doesnt even come close to the gtx 480 ! thze 560 gtx is even stronger than the 480
Unsure what test you reviewed but to answer you that question quick : take the GTX560 it also has physx for games like batman or alice

Here you go, a review of the card as well as some benchmarks you can flip through:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-560-amp-edition-gtx-560-directcu-ii-top,2944.html

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Not spamming, just sayin'

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Old Republic, Sins, and Civ 5 don't need anything close to that powerful of a card. Your old nvidia 8800 will run things up to BF3 on decent settings let alone the much less graphical intense games you listed.

That said if I was choosing I would go for Nvidia cards over ATI as they seem to run into the least amount of problems when it concerns games. There is a reason why the Nvidia logo shows up in a lot of games as well as the first and maybe only thing to show up in the video card requirements. The majority of these high graphic triple A games are optomized for the Nvidia driver. ATI not so much. That should be a big deciding factor when choosing between the two.

That and I have been using Nvidia for years and they havn't let me down yet so why switch?

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I have used ATI cards for many years after a bad Nvidia experience (it was 10 years ago though). Never had a single problem with ATI cards on new games. Granted I don't play shooters. But my 6950 rocks Skyrim on full Ultra at 60 fps with no hiccups and I had no problems at launch of that game either. Just keep your drivers up to date and look for beta drivers targeted for your specific game if there are issues. Nvidia does the same thing.

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mqpiffle

Join Date 10/2010

+44

I just bought the ATI 6770 for about $135us and it runs Skyrim smooth as silk on ultra, and all my TBS games just fine.

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First off, I'd like to thank you all for your productive comments and suggestions. Free cookies (or Karma if you prefer) for all!

Quoting Rovert10,

reply 7

Old Republic, Sins, and Civ 5 don't need anything close to that powerful of a card. Your old nvidia 8800 will run things up to BF3 on decent settings let alone the much less graphical intense games you listed.

Very true Rovert. What I meant was that those were the games I was going to get when I first built the computer and would start to play immediately. However, I'd like to play more RPG's on the computer, due to the modding community. For example I'd love to get into Skyrim...

Quoting bonscott,

reply 8

I have used ATI cards for many years after a bad Nvidia experience (it was 10 years ago though). Never had a single problem with ATI cards on new games. Granted I don't play shooters. But my 6950 rocks Skyrim on full Ultra at 60 fps with no hiccups and I had no problems at launch of that game either...

Quoting mqpiffle,

reply 9

I just bought the ATI 6770 for about $135us and it runs Skyrim smooth as silk on ultra, and all my TBS games just fine.

That is interesting, when you say Ultra, is that with FXAA enabled? And how about Transparent/Adaptive AA? In any case though, the 6950 is a little bit above my pay scale, as I'd like to keep the graphic card below $200. The 6770 though is interesting, though I think I may pay the extra $20 if I'm in that range for a little more performance from the 6850.

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