Radeon 7970 3GB vs. GTX 680 4GB vs. GTX 680 2GB for 1440p

[VitaX]

After looking around and reading a lot of threads, I've narrowed down my decision to the following three video cards to use with my 1440p monitor. I don't plan on going SLI/Crossfire because I don't play graphic intensive games so I think one card should be enough for my everyday needs. Well anyway, hopefully this thread can help me decide, because I just can't pick one. I'm currently using an EVGA 8800 GTS 512MB, so which ever card I get should be quite an improvement I think. Main question is, do I switch over to the red team or stay on the green

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202001

MSI Twin Frozr 4GD5/OC GeForce GTX 680 4GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127695

EVGA Superclocked, Signature 2 GeForce GTX 680 2GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130797

[The Alias]

7970 hands down

[aaksheytalwar]

7970 ghz oc hands down.

[Lepton87]

Cheaper and faster or slower and more expensive with less OC headroom to boot, it's such a tough choice, I would just flip a coin

[Fx1]

id get 2x 670 GTX since none of those cards will max 1440 resolution in some games at 60 FPS or if money is an issue then go for 2x 660 TI GTX cards.

[VitaX]

Originally Posted by Fx1

id get 2x 670 GTX since none of those cards will max 1440 resolution in some games at 60 FPS or if money is an issue then go for 2x 660 TI GTX cards.

If I did that, should I get the 2GB version of 4GB version of the card?

[lehtv]

for 1440p, 7950 crossfire OC'd, but if that's asking too much, single 7970 OC'd

[Gikaseixas]

the mighty 7970

[DooKey]

If you are going to stick to one card buy the 7970 Ghz OC. If you are thinking of multi-card then I'd buy 2 GTX 670s.

[MentalIlness]

System specs ?

[ShintaiDK]

Using a GTX680 2GB myself on a Dell U2713HM. Always maxing everything in all games

[Ferzerp]

If you know you will stick with one, go the AMD.

If you're looking to add a second later, go nvidia.

[AdamK47]

Originally Posted by Ferzerp

If you know you will stick with one, go the AMD.

If you're looking to add a second later, go nvidia.

You really should try CrossFire.

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by ShintaiDK

Using a GTX680 2GB myself on a Dell U2713HM. Always maxing everything in all games

How are your framerates, and what games?

[Aristotelian]

Originally Posted by AdamK47

You really should try CrossFire.

Good to see you posting in VC&G again.

[raghu78]

At 1440p for a single GPU go with a HD 7970 Ghz. significantly faster.

[The Alias]

this should explain our choices

[boxleitnerb]

Depends on the games. In some games AMD has a significant advantage, in other Nvidia has one. The 7970 GHz is a mere 10% faster on average in TPUs benchmark collection. 10% is nothing. If you pick specific titles, that can change drastically of course.

I would pick neither and wait for the refreshes which shouldn't be far off. 3 months at most I would presume. Regardless which GPU is used (GK114 or GK110 or whatever), the GTX780 likely will have a 384bit memory interface too, so this should even the playing field a bit.

[ShintaiDK]

Originally Posted by lehtv

How are your framerates, and what games?

45-95 in Gw2 with exverything maxed for example. Normally I use vsync tho.

[The Alias]

Originally Posted by boxleitnerb

Depends on the games. In some games AMD has a significant advantage, in other Nvidia has one. The 7970 GHz is a mere 10% faster on average in TPUs benchmark collection. 10% is nothing. If you pick specific titles, that can change drastically of course.

I would pick neither and wait for the refreshes which shouldn't be far off. 3 months at most I would presume. Regardless which GPU is used (GK114 or GK110 or whatever), the GTX780 likely will have a 384bit memory interface too, so this should even the playing field a bit.

dude the only games the 680 won were borderlands 2, tws2, starcraft, and wow and besides starcraft the fps difference little to none .

[AdamK47]

Originally Posted by Aristotelian

Good to see you posting in VC&G again.

I didn't know I had left.

[boxleitnerb]

Originally Posted by The Alias

dude the only games the 680 won were borderlands 2, tws2, starcraft, and wow and besides starcraft the fps difference little to none .

So? I didn't say otherwise. On average the 7970 GE is 10% faster in these 19 benchmarks. Additionally, the 680 will win in AC3, COD BO2, tie or win in FC3 and tie or win with SGSSAA. In single titles there may be significant differences between these cards, but on average with a broad selection of titles, they are almost equal.

[UaVaj]

Originally Posted by The Alias

this should explain our choices

let me add/elaborate. for that extra high resolution. you definitely want amd. higher memory bandwidth and larger vram. which are necessary ingredient for extra high resolution. which nvidia currently lacks.

[raghu78]

Originally Posted by boxleitnerb

So? I didn't say otherwise. On average the 7970 GE is 10% faster in these 19 benchmarks. Additionally, the 680 will win in AC3, COD BO2, tie or win in FC3 and tie or win with SGSSAA. In single titles there may be significant differences between these cards, but on average with a broad selection of titles, they are almost equal.

HD 7970 ghz is on average 10 - 15% faster than GTX 680 at 1440p. This is including the games where GTX 680 wins. If you only counted AMD wins it would be much faster. the HD 7970 Ghz wins the majority of the games and with significant margins. 10 - 15% on average is not a small difference.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/...ison_roundup/3

http://www.techspot.com/review/603-b...ds/page12.html

"Breaking down performance figures at 1920x1200, the GeForce GTX 680 was just ~1% faster than the Radeon HD 7970, while it trailed the 7970 GHz Edition by a 7% margin. This doesn’t change at 2560x1600, where the GeForce GTX 680 is 2% slower than the Radeon HD 7970 and 11% slower than the 7970 GHz Edition"

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...rmance-17.html

at 2560 x 1600 Extreme settings the HD 7970 Ghz is on avg 15% faster than GTX 680.

[boxleitnerb]

Originally Posted by raghu78

HD 7970 ghz is on average 10 - 15% faster than GTX 680 at 1440p. This is including the games where GTX 680 wins. If you only counted AMD wins it would be much faster. the HD 7970 Ghz wins the majority of the games and with significant margins. 10 - 15% on average is not a small difference.

Why would I do that, that is silly. Bias?
10%-15% IS a small difference. Think about it, what is that really? It certainly doesn't mean the difference between playable and unplayable. 99% of all people wouldn't even notice 10%-15%. We are still speaking about the average, just a reminder
GTX680 is 9% faster than GTX670 at TPU, and 7970 GE is 10.5% faster than GTX680 at TPU (both at 1600p). So basically the distance between those pairs is the same. People always recommend the 670 over the 680 because the performance delta is so small. But when it comes to AMD vs Nvidia, the same performance delta suddenly is not so small? That is bias at its best.

20-25%, that in my opinion is a significant difference that actually begins to matter. With the current cards, it comes down to what games you like. It's best to judge on a game-to-game basis.

Just to make it clear:
I would recommend the 7970 GE because it is a tad faster and cheaper, especially with the good game bundle. But I don't like people who blow things out of proportion when the numbers don't lie.