Which card is better for mining?

[dzhax]

I'm new to this whole mining thing and I want to setup a little rig. I've been eyeing up some cards I want to purchase and need help deciding which one is better / more worth me buying...

I'm going to purchase 2 cards and I will be installing it in an Asus P8P67 REV3 with a i5 2500k.

Board: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2004774&CatId=13
CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073161&CatId=6988

Card 1: $259.99 -$30 Rebate = $229.99
XFX Radeon HD 6950 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=708648

Card 2: $259.99
Diamond Radeon HD 6950 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1387558

Card 3: $183.99 - $10 Rebate = $173.99
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1006280&CatId=3669

[Garr255]

I personally don't have any of those, but every XFX card I've had has been top notch.

[dzhax]

I tried using https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison but i'm having trouble understanding what performance i will get out of the above cards.

I can afford all 3 of them i just want to get the best m/hash possible

I will be using guiminer with the default miner.

[Murdaversa]

I tried using https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison but i'm having trouble understanding what performance i will get out of the above cards.

I can afford all 3 of them i just want to get the best m/hash possible

I will be using guiminer with the default miner.

I currently am using the sapphire 6950 flashed with 6970 firmware, overclocked to 930 and memory underclocked to 300, im getting about 400-410 mh/s. i think that this is a great card choice!! i am actually selling mine if you are interested! pm me

[dzhax]

I currently am using the sapphire 6950 flashed with 6970 firmware, overclocked to 930 and memory underclocked to 300, im getting about 400-410 mh/s. i think that this is a great card choice!! i am actually selling mine if you are interested! pm me

That would be nice but i always read to never buy used cards. Plus i would need another card still and I've never flashed a video card before. would not even know where to start.

[Xian01]

Nothing wrong with the XFX 6950 @ $229. Best bang for your buck.

[dzhax]

Anyone know if best buy special orders products for customers?
I have a line of credit with them and would prefer to put it on credit instead of shelling out cash.
All their 6950s are out of stock, well at least according to the site. I plan on going to the store in the morning but don't to ask if they can order me 2 6950s.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=8549551821304942900&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=6950&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=&qp=q36393530~~cabcat0500000%23%235%23%23c~~cabcat0507000%23%232%23%234~~ncabcat0507002%23%231%23%233&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp=15&iht=n

Best buy has 3 6950s listed on their site. 2 are XFX and one is a visiontek. Which of these 3 you think is best?

[zvs]

6950's aren't good to buy for mining, unless you're also going to be using it as a gaming card.

You can put together a 3x5830 system for $500 (or less), that's about 1ghash

[dzhax]

6950's aren't good to buy for mining, unless you're also going to be using it as a gaming card.

You can put together a 3x5830 system for $500 (or less), that's about 1ghash

My board only has 2 pci express x16 slots so i cant do a 3 card setup. I'm trying to get the best i can out of 2 cards an be close to $500.