Ati 6950(2gb) or Nvidia 560ti

[Blackdog_kt]

In all honesty though, this is something that swings back and forth with each series. The 4xx series by nVidia have been some of the hottest and loudest cards to date, maybe even worse than the current Ati lineup.

Then it also depends on what kind of specific manufacturer you choose. For example, some MSI cards come with after-market coolers which are much more efficient and since they don't need to run the fans at full tilt to cool the card, they are also considerably quieter too. An Ati 6950 with one of these coolers can very well be quieter than a similar nVidia card with a stock cooler and vice versa.

Lot's of variables, it's not always easy to choose

[Kupsised]

Originally Posted by Osprey

Why haven't you asked us the other night Nitrous? Cancel that order FFS.

560Ti all the way. The ATI cards pump the heat and absolutely scream. You had better buy some ear defenders with it.

I don't know if it's because I've got a good cooling system, but mine's cold as anything and quiet to boot. My PC is fan cooled, and even in the summer where tempratures got above 35c here (where with no aircon it's too hot for me, let alone the poor PC) the card didn't even seem warm, and I haven't heard a peep out of it either. Mine's not standard ATI though. 3D club or something like that, can't really remember. From what I remember I think they put an extra fan on it, not sure, but still, cool as anything and quiet as a mouse (at least compared to my HDD )

[Flanker35M]

S!

A good ventilated case is top priority with any brand GPU/CPU system to keep temps at bay. Also placing the case in a place where the in and outgoing airflow is not obstructed helps a lot. Sure anyone can say brand N or A is hotter/louder than the other, but most of times it is the case causing most problems being too small, crammed, dusty or whatever.

I run AMD 6970HD 2Gb and it idles at 36'C, after a long session of gaming around 70'C and still the fan is not any louder than my case coolers or CPU cooler. nVidia has good cooling solutions as well so they are pretty decent in noise department as well.

And finally I would not judge AMD or nVidia only by Cliffs Of Dover. I can say that CoD is the crappiest running game on my rig(see sig) bar none. I play World Of Tanks, EVE Online, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Deus Ex Human Revolution etc. without problems in performance or image quality. I would make a GPU comparison on CoD after Luthier & Team have patched this game to be what it should be and not a beta as it is now.

[Osprey]

Fair comments. I am judging based on my old black edition 4890 vs the new 560ti Twin Frozer, and an article in PC Performance mag earlier this year which specifically cited the ATI 6xxx cards as noisy as f**k

[louisv]

The thing with AMD (ATI is gone) is that the software seems to be their last priority...

I used to be an ATI buyer, but I moved to Nvidia because of really crappy ATI drivers.

On one model it took them 1 year to stabilize the driver and the card ended up less powerful than the previous model...2 years before. That is about when they sold to AMD.

But somehow the problem remains, check posts about it, then try to find as many problems for Nvidia...

[Nitrous]

An update for you guys.

Il2 Clod v 1.02.14821

All settings maxed. Ssao off. 1680x1050

Average fps on Black Death Track

Gigabyte NVIDIA 560ti @ 900 mhz = 23

Vtx ATI 6950 2gb = 31

I'm chuffed.

[Tailshot]

As long as your happy thats what counts

[r0bc]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

The 4xx series by nVidia have been some of the hottest

I've burnt myself twice now by touching the heat pipe

Originally Posted by Tailshot

As long as your happy thats what counts

That's all that matters.....both good cards.

[Flanker35M]

S!

Osprey, the 4890 was/is one noisy card and runs hot. A friend of mine had one before and it howled. He upgraded to a 5870HD and his noise levels dissappeared, he thought something was wrong when the box was humming instead of screaming

The 68XX-series were noisy but those 69XX-series cards I've seen in friends' machines are not loud at all. Also there are many aftermarket coolers to buy or some brands offer even a better one like TwinFrzr etc.

I've used nVidia and AMD over the years and can not really say anything bad. Both offer good performance, AMD maybe more for the invested money as nV has always been the one with beefier price tag. But nevertheless I would recommend both brands, the rest is up to the buyer what he/she is looking for and the budget.