Graphics Cards

[sang]

So I did some research the past few days and have created a small matrix of card price vs mhash.

The mhash speeds were taken from the hardware matrix here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison
Power draw figures were taken from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units
Prices are generally before tax/shipping and most of the prices came from Newegg.

This was compiled during the first week of June 2011.

Card  |  Price | Speed per $ | Speed | Power-draw
5770 @ $95  = $0.44/mhash     215      108w
5830 @ $110 = $0.36/mhash    300       175w
5850 @ $200 = $0.64/mhash    315       151w
5870 @ $500 = $1.25/mhash    400       188w
6750 @ $100 = $0.60/mhash    165       86w
6770 @ $95  = $0.52/mhash    180       108w
6850 @ $150 = $0.65/mhash    230       127w
6870 @ $165 = $0.55/mhash    300       150w
6950 @ $220 = $0.58/mhash    375       200w
6970 @ $310 = $0.82/mhash    375       250w
6990 @ $750 = $1.00/mhash    750       375w

Given the results of this data and shopping around for a few days, I am buying a few 6870's since the 5830's are no longer to be found :-) I chose the 6870 over some of the lesser cards mostly due to possible resell value and re-purposing for my gaming rig.

[1713521106]

1713521106

[1713521106]

1713521106

[1713521106]

1713521106

[1713521106]

1713521106

[Basiley]

weird[big. esp for 5870 ] prices for 58x0 and overrated performance[numbers ok only for overclocked units], esp for 5830.

[smoki]

A few adjustments:
- 5870 will do close to 440 MH/s at 1 GHz gpu clock. Not many will do that without a slight voltage increase
- 5850 can do up to 400 Mh/s at 1 GHz gpu clock. That will usually require a voltage bump, which brings power consumption very near 5870 levels. At a more modest gpu overclock of 900 MHz, it will do about 350 Mh/s
- 5830 power consumption is usually nearer 5850 level, around 160-165 W
- 5770 and 6770 are the same gpu so all the numbers should be the same
- 6950 can hit 6970 MH/s numbers only with unlocked shaders. That also brings power consumption right up to 6970 level.

[Basiley]

can we separate "with overclocking" results into another table ? for reference.
and add PSU requirements with Amps rating.

[sang]

Re: Overclocked numbers

I used an mhash number I figured was realistic. Im getting 300mhash/s on all my 5830s without voltage mods. When I couldnt decide on a figure I usually just picked something in the middle of the results on the hardware comparison page.

Feel free to take my figures and adjust guys :-)

[Basiley]

"feel free and adjust" contradict with main "reference tables" usage/meaning, cuz ppl: 1. reference with stock clocks. 2. not always mining w/overclock.
i mean, tweaking/overclocking/customizing/modding-related variations just add [not always necessarily for 1st steps/intro]complexity for newbies, already overhelmed by volume of info.

[qed]

If you want this to be useful you need to write hash rate _at reference settings_ Overclock it's too much depending on the particular chip you got.

I have a 6950 able to go at 930MHz (from 800MHz) without any overvoltage and another one not able to go over 880MHz.

[Basiley]

sure. you can get lucky GPU exemplar or not, have good experience/hands/brain in overclocking/buying/systembuilding or not and etc and etc.
anyway table info is "just for reference" to ease comparsion, not make it complex. but separate table[or column in it]about overclocked counterpart performance could be handy too, sure.

[Yuvea]

so I was playing with those numbers and modified them slightly to account for overclocked cards and for canadian dollars (all prices are pre-tax/shipping, retail and available only).

Card table               
card   price $CAD   power (watts)   mh/s   mh/s / $   mh/s / w
5770    $90.09    108   215   2.39   1.99
5830    $129.75    195   300   2.31   1.54
5850    $189.86    200   350   1.84   1.75
5870    $262.49    210   420   1.60   2.00
6750    $114.99    100   165   1.43   1.65
6770    $107.49    120   195   1.81   1.63
6850    $149.99    175   230   1.53   1.31
6870    $160.12    175   310   1.94   1.77
6950    $244.79    220   360   1.47   1.64
6970    $329.99    250   400   1.21   1.60
6990    $745.00    475   800   1.07   1.68


Seems to me that the best deals in terms of performance/$ are: 5770, 5830, 6870.
In terms of performance/watts: 5870, 5770, 6870.

When looking at the best performer overall: 6990, 5870, 6970

Now finding a bunch of 5870s in Canada is a PITA and is most likely done through the used market (where the prices are even better!)