Upgrade for 30K

[shayem]

If you can increase budget, get i5-2500 with eye closed. i5+6950 will be a killer combo.

Mainly stock 6950 cores can be unlocked without any issue. But msi TF III can be unlocked too according to some review. Here is one. you can find more here. But even without unlocking TF III can give you 6970 like performance. SO get it.

 

[comp@ddict]

What will be difference between a core i5 and a phenom x4 while gaming??

With a HD6950? Except select games such as Starcraft II, if you play at 1920x1080 at full hd, both CPUs will give you the requisite 60fps in a game(or both wont if it's a gpu bottleneck)

So, if you wish, you can spend 6-7k extra and grab the SB combo, but strictly from gaming perspective keeping your gpu in mind, you should be fine buddy.

I did the same thing, get the cheapest quad and the then powerful HD5850.

Now if a game gives me below 50fps, it's because of a gpu bottleneck, and If I get above 60fps, who cares if it's 60 or 80 with another CPU? I've alredy hit the smoothest gameplay requirement!

Although, in a few games, INTEL cpu's give higher "lowest" frame rate, but nothing earth shattering.

 

[Cilus]

If its that much of difference,i will opt for 6950.Which 6950 do u think can be unlocked to 6970(MSI,Sapphire,Powercolor,XFX or any other).

What will be difference between a core i5 and a phenom x4 while gaming??
If there is very much difference between them,i will increase my budget

comp@ddict has answered your 2nd query. For 1st query, yes MSI Twin Frozer III version of HD6950 can be unlocked to HD6970.

 

[Karan93]

^^^I want the performance difference between the following rig(for gaming) :- 1. Core i5 2500 with hd 6850 2. Phenom II X4 965 with hd 6950 .I know that i5 is a much better cpu than the phenom,but i am concerned about gaming and i have very tight budget.Anyone having a phenom x4 plz suggest

 

[Cilus]

Phenom II X955 + HD 6950 >> Core i5 2400 + HD 6850 in gaming.....clear and simple

 

[Karan93]

Phenom II X955 + HD 6950 >> Core i5 2400 + HD 6850 in gaming.....clear and simple

Ok will go for the phenom II +HD6950.Is there any performance difference between HD6950 1GB and 2GB versions at 1920*1080 res.As far as i know there is no difference between them.I can get a 6950 1gb at around 13.5k.

 

[Cilus]

If you try hard in the local market, you can get the 2 GB Sapphire HD 6950 within 15K. Although there is no such performance difference between the 1 GB and the 2 GB models in current games, but the extra 1 GB frame buffer might be handy in future when more shader heavy games will be released. It will also help in highest anti-aliasing values. The other benefit is most of the stock HD 6950 2 GB versions can be unlocked to a HD 6970 by a simple BIOS tweak.

 

[Karan93]

I can get 1GB version for 13.5k.It would be a better option as if i buy a 2gb version and unlock it,i would not get fps because processor(phenom II X4) will bottleneck

 

[Cilus]

No man,for handling a high end GPU, you don't need a very high end processor. Even a highly clocked Athlon II X4 like Athlon II 640 @ 3.1 GHz can handle GTX 570 or HD 6970 without issues. In fact Tomshardware actually had done a extensive review Gamers: Do You Need More Than An Athlon II X3 on it. The conclusion was if multi-gpu setup is there, AThlon II X3 440 is good enough. This review was performed in 2010 and obviously the condition has been improved a lot as games are becoming more multi core optimized. So along with a Phenom II X4 955, there is virtually no chance of bottleneck in 1080P resolution. Also 955 is a Black Edition processor and 3.4/3.5 GHz can be reached very easily with the stock cooler. I used to run mine @ 3.6 GHz sometimes.
So just grab the Phenom II 955 + HD 6950 2 GB combo without thinking much.

 

[Karan93]

If a high end procy is not required for a high end gpu then why people reccomend a i5 with 6870 gpu.In the pc purchase guide thread i5 procy is there with 6870 gpu for 50k and even for 60k.Phenom II X4 is paired with gtx460 (which has less performance than hd6950)