Radeon 6950 - a good or bad card for CloD?

[Psycho_Ch!cken]

To echo the previous posters, the 2GB 6950 runs CloD pretty well. I run it in 1920 x 1200 with all settings maxed out except SSAO, which I leave turned off. Framerates hover around the 60-70fps mark with a dozen or so planes over the channel. Over land things drop to around 40-50. On the ground in the tutorial missions or over cities though, things tend to dip severely into the 20's and even the low teens.

Of course, it improves markedly if you drop the graphics settings a little, I'm just stubborn (and I don't believe that the current performance is yet acceptable for the level of visual fidelity we're getting on "max" settings).

And yes, the "3 blue lines" problem is readily apparent, but it doesn't bother me most of the time. It's fairly easy to ignore and it'll eventually get fixed.

I'm still waiting for Crossfire to be fixed though. My second 6950 gets to idle for the time being, since performance is abysmal in CloD with Crossfire running at the moment.

[Ze-Jamz]

To answer the OP's question:

Yes good great card, i had a massive difference coming from a HD5770 to this card.. i can play the game on max settings apart from forest which is on Med and building amount which is on Med too..

1920x1200 res
SSAO unchecked
Vsync unchecked < not really sure what diff that makes, cant see any
FullSceen enabled
35-70FPS depending where i am

Yes i have the blue lines which im sure will be fixed sure enough

[RE77ACTION]

A 6950 is very good bang for the buck. With your screen resolution I would certainly recommend a 2GB graphics card. The blue stripes are most probably temporary.

[Warhound]

Can only echo the previous statements. Outside of the 3 lines on the horizon the card runs any game, including CLOD, like a dream and the 2GB certainly helps with high texture qualities and resolutions.
Also you can unlock it to a 6970 without worries as it has a dual bios, any of the few cards that end up with artifacts can usually be set back to 6950 stock clocks (or inbetween 6950 and 6970) while still having the benefit of the extra shaders...and if not you just revert to the original bios with the flick of a switch.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/...ng/vidcard/159 successful/unsuccessful unlock chart at the bottom
(Not unlocked mine as it's a non-reference design without a BIOS switch)


As for buying a cheaper card and going SLI/crossfire later on..I'm not a fan of it, you need a better PSU, sometimes a more expensive motherboard and by the time you are tempted to plug in that extra card you're usually better off just buying a new single one which performs better than 2 older ones in tandem.
And there is always the odd game you love which hates SLI/xfire.

[Scotch_Bonnet]

Don't flash a 6970 bios to your card...

Flash a modded 6950 bios that unlocks your shaders, and then overclock to 6970 levels. The 6970 bios is known to send the wrong voltage to the memory causing stability problems.

[Majo]

No stability problems here with a "biosed" 6950 and as said before is able to run reasonably well the game, perhaps some issues with the blue stripes in the horizon and FPS droping down over the cities, nothing new.

Still...

If you plan to keep playing il2 sturmovick 1946, you will have to have a total complete different setup in your ccc, Radeon Pro, Ati Tray Tools, whatever...
in order to be able to optimize your graphics for OpenGL in Il2 (1946) vs. DirectX D3D Il2 (CoD).

Still...

If you compare your performance with a GTX560 ti or GTX570 you will always be behind by 10 FPS in both games, Il2(1946) & Il2(Cod)... with better image quality... ummm yes!!! ... but still 10 FPS behind.

Regards , Majo.

[l3uLLDoZeR]

Originally Posted by Scotch_Bonnet

Don't flash a 6970 bios to your card...

Flash a modded 6950 bios that unlocks your shaders, and then overclock to 6970 levels. The 6970 bios is known to send the wrong voltage to the memory causing stability problems.

I 2nd that! You can only flash the stock 6950 2gb card..the ones with 2 fans or pre-overclocked cards can't do this. I like my 6950 for the price...reviews say it works great with two cards so I may add another down the road.

[Flying_Nutcase]

Originally Posted by l3uLLDoZeR

You can only flash the stock 6950 2gb card..the ones with 2 fans or pre-overclocked cards can't do this.

I need confirmation: Can the Sapphire 6950 FleX, which has its own cooling system, be raised to 6970 levels?

Thanks for any help on this one.

[TedStryker]

Hi Flying_Nutcase

I see you've gone with Sapphire as the best choice as regards manufacturer - thats handy info.

Thanks for your great website btw

Ted

[Flying_Nutcase]

Originally Posted by Flying_Nutcase

I need confirmation: Can the Sapphire 6950 FleX, which has its own cooling system, be raised to 6970 levels?

Thanks for any help on this one.

Actually from this review:
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/...eo-card-review

...they mention that the FleX uses the original stock 6950:
"The underlying 6950 is still the original stock model."

If I3ullDoZer's comment ("You can only flash the stock 6950 2gb card.") is correct, the Sapphire FleX would seem like a good choice given:

- The extra cooling (hitechlegion.com: "Sapphire has put special coolers on the FleX versions that far surpass the stock model coolers.") and
- EyeFinitity support (hitechlegion.com: "Using an onboard chip, users could easily connect 3 monitors without any extra hassles.").

GPU masters: Does the Sapphire 6950 FleX add up to you guys as being a solid purchase? Any downsides other than the higher price?