Replacement GPU decision assistance

[LNW]

Hey all,

 

I currently have a Sapphire 6900xt Nitro+ SE that appears to be failing. So I will be replacing it tomorrow and could use some advice. Locally, I can pick up either a 6900xt Toxic LE (watercooled card) or a 6950xt Nitro+. Both would be the exact same price, so the choice comes down to performance alone. Do you think that the Toxic Limited edition would perform well enough to justify grabbing that instead of the Aircooled 6950? 

 

Any input is greatly appreciated!

[RONOTHAN##]

The Toxic LE IIRC is the XTX model of the Toxic line, AKA the worse one. The 6950 XT will perform better.

 

If it was the Toxic Extreme vs the 6950 XT, then it would be a different story. The difference between a 6900 XT XTXH core and 6950 XT is the stock power limit is higher and the memory can go 100MHz higher, that's it. If you aren't gonna overclock then, the 6950 XT would be a bit better out of the box, though if you did overclock them manually I'd expect the Toxic to possibly inch ahead ever so slightly. 

 

The reason I'm specifying XTX and XTXH is that there are two versions of the 6900 XT, one with locked memory clocks and a 3GHz core clock limit, and another with semi unlocked (you can still max out the slider most of the time, but the slider does go higher) memory slider and a 4GHz core clock limit, plus it's a lot better binned. It's effectively a 6925 XT. 

[PDifolco]

I did watercool my 3080, and watercooled cards are great, because of their much better thermals they can be OCed much more and are more silent

Problem with "stock" watercooled cards is that you can't do maintenance on the cooling (usually you can't even refill it), and if it gets clogged, emptied and fails you cannot replace anything yourself...

So I'd rather get the aircooled 6950XT and add a block, pump and rad myself

 

[LNW]

22 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Problem with "stock" watercooled cards is that you can't do maintenance on the cooling (usually you can't even refill it), and if it gets clogged, emptied and fails you cannot replace anything yourself...

So I'd rather get the aircooled 6950XT and add a block, pump and rad myself

 

You've got a valid point. I think we've got a winner. Thank you!