770 vs. 280x to replace misbehaving MSI 670

itomeshi

Junior Member
Aug 14, 2013
2
0
16
So I have a MSI 670 PE that's about at the two year mark. Most of my gaming is typically WoW, but I've been pushing into a few other games out of boredom over the last few months - Titanfall, Watch Dogs, EQ Landmark, Firefall, just to name a few - and I've had massive problems with all of them.

I think I pretty well have it tracked down to the issue described here at Tom's Hardware. While the article isn't perfect (it's a bit hyperbolic, and not great on details), it fits with what I see: Anything that taxes the GPU will cause the card to crash. Titanfall usually just abused the framebuffer, and may be better now; the other three games I listed all had high GPU usage in Afterburner, and sitting at high usage for a decent period of time would cause the crash. I would be fine with low FPS or stuttering (time to turn settings down!), but that's not what I get: Full on, 'your display driver has stopped responding' crashes. Note that depending on the game, I don't need particularly high settings to get this to happen; While 2560x1440 definitely exacerbates it, even at 1080p with 4xFF and other high settings I'll get these crashes.

It's not temperature related; My temps hover between 60 and 65C, and my case has solid airflow - 4 Cougar PWM fans. My power supply is also not likely to be the issue - I have a Corsair 760AXi, so it's rock solid and sufficiently powerful. I'm running the 340.43 driver, but the issue is not unique to this driver; I've had issues with more demanding titles for some time, but I chalked them up to poorly optimized launches and seldom get back to old games. I've also updated the MSI card to the most recent BIOS, because I heard rumors that it may help offset that design flaw, but no dice.

Full System Specs:
CPU: Core i7-3770k, stock speeds and cooler
MB: Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
RAM: 2x8GB GSkill
GPU: MSI GTX 670 PE, stock speed/volatage/power/fan
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo (x2, non-RAID)
OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
Monitor(s): 1x Dell Ultrasharp 27" 2560x1440, 2x Samsung 23" 1080p

Basically, I need to either get this card working up to par - either near the settings that GeForce Experience or the community recommends - or get a new card.

For new cards, I'm looking at either a 4GB 770 or a 3GB 280x. I'd love to jump to the 290, but that's a surprisingly large price difference. I'm also willing to hobble until Maxwell comes out, but that might be rough...

I'm specifically looking at the following models at the moment; I've got some Best Buy RZ certificates to burn, so they come out slightly cheaper. :)

XFX Double Dissipation Edition Radeon R9 280X 3GB
Model: R9280XTDFD
at BestBuy via 3rd party: $275
at Newegg: $310 after rebate
I like the lifetime warranty, XFX seems to be a top-tier Radeon card manufacturer (though this is just based on forum rankings I've seen), and the price is pretty damn solid. BB also has an even cheaper VisionTek, but I'd have to buy miniDP adapters, so no real savings there. I'm also vaguely considering a Gigabyte 290 4GB at BestBuy, but at $400 that's a HUGE jump, and I almost wonder if I'd be better served with a 280x now, another 280x when prices drop for CrossFire.

Zotac GeForce GTX 770 4GB
Model: ZT-70304-10P
at BestBuy via 3rd-party: $358
at NewEgg: $357
I do like NVidia - I've not had an AMD card in a few years due to their old driver issues - and I like that 4GB framebuffer. But that's $80 more for a card at/near the same performance, which is a really bitter pill to swallow. I can get a 2GB Zotac 770 at BestBuy for $299, but at that point, I'm willing to try a 280x for the bigger framebuffer and so I can give advice on their driver settings, etc. again to WoW guildies. :)

So, Anandtech masses, any advice? Do I need to pony up for a bigger card to be reasonably happy? Can my 670 be saved, or at least improved until Maxwell? Do I need to shut up and just buy the 280X that's been a really strong looking card? HELP!!!!!

Thanks!
 

Flapdrol1337

Golden Member
May 21, 2014
1,677
93
91
Try and make sure it's really the gpu, driver crashes sometimes have other causes.

can you test it in another system?

otherwise, if warranty is out anyway you could try underclocking or overvolting with msi afterburner.
 

Muyoso

Senior member
Dec 6, 2005
310
0
0
You just need to use something like Afterburner to lower the clockspeed a bit or raise the voltages a bit. Made my 670 PE OC completely stable.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
For new cards, I'm looking at either a 4GB 770 or a 3GB 280x. I'd love to jump to the 290, but that's a surprisingly large price difference. I'm also willing to hobble until Maxwell comes out, but that might be rough...

After the $20 MIR, this Gigabyte R9 290 is actually cheaper than the 4GB 770 you linked in the OP. And, you get a bunch of games with it.

And to add to what the others have said, definitely make sure the issue is the graphics card before you spend money.
 

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
13,444
2,084
126
why not return the card via RMA ?

ofc you can buy a new card. but that 670 should be giving you plenty good service on titanfall and such, i dont see why not just fix it.
 

Attic

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2010
4,282
2
76
If a bad graphics card, then go with a 290. The 770 4gb pricey for it's delivering.

If you are thinking multi gpu then definatetly go 290. It has improved Crossfire over previous generations.
 

Headfoot

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2008
4,444
641
126
So, Anandtech masses, any advice? Do I need to pony up for a bigger card to be reasonably happy? Can my 670 be saved, or at least improved until Maxwell? Do I need to shut up and just buy the 280X that's been a really strong looking card? HELP!!!!!

Thanks!

You can get a 290 aftermarket for $360 so I don't see how $10 more than a 770 is that much more expensive. 770 4GB at that price is a waste of money. Get an aftermarket 290.

$350 AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-505-_-Product
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Before you go out and spend $275-350 on 280X/770, I would try to RMA the 670 card and explain to MSI that it crashes in all of your games. You will have to pay for shipping which is still worth it. While 280X is 30-34% faster than a stock 670 in TitanFall and Firefall at your resolution, it won't be much faster in WOW. I think if you are going to spend $300-350 on a new GPU, might as well consider an after-market R9 290 or wait 3 months and get a GTX860/860Ti/870.

280X ~ 7970GE
http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Titanfall_-test-2560_i.jpg

firefall%202560.png


BTW, the 670 PE overclocks well. If you get an RMAed card that works fine, it should hold you over for another 2-3 months until GTX800 launches. Also, to make the upgrade worthwhile, it's a lot nicer to get a 50-75% faster card than only 30% faster when spending $300+ especially since it seems like you keep your GPU for 2 years or more.
 
Last edited:

itomeshi

Junior Member
Aug 14, 2013
2
0
16
Well, finally did some more conclusive testing with Unigine.

At 2560x1440, 2x AA, Normal Tesselation, I'd easily crash at stock. Even increasing the core voltage +30 and the power limit to 114% max wasn't enough, but with the core clock down 30 mhz (so it's running at 1149 with boost on) it's stable. I suspect this will make an RMA difficult - I'm seeing the effect mentioned in this PCPer review - though the specs list 'Core Clock Speed(MHz) 1019 (Boost Clock: 1079)' on MSI's page, it's clearly running at 1149 under Unigine.

Screenshot: http://imgur.com/9fGkSPU

One thing that's slightly odd about this is that the base clock is unchanged - without a game running, it settles at 823mhz, or roughly 850mhz (stock 670 speed) -30mhz underclock. This is just bizarre to me, both clocks are out of spec by default.

Am I right in my thoughts on a more difficult RMA when it's running overspec by default? Anyone have any experience RMAing with MSI?

Before you go out and spend $275-350 on 280X/770, I would try to RMA the 670 card and explain to MSI that it crashes in all of your games. You will have to pay for shipping which is still worth it. While 280X is 30-34% faster than a stock 670 in TitanFall and Firefall at your resolution, it won't be much faster in WOW. I think if you are going to spend $300-350 on a new GPU, might as well consider an after-market R9 290 or wait 3 months and get a GTX860/860Ti/870.

BTW, the 670 PE overclocks well. If you get an RMAed card that works fine, it should hold you over for another 2-3 months until GTX800 launches. Also, to make the upgrade worthwhile, it's a lot nicer to get a 50-75% faster card than only 30% faster when spending $300+ especially since it seems like you keep your GPU for 2 years or more.

I agree the 670 should. I think that if it's stable at a decent clock, along with hopefully a few Firefall patches, I should be good. I played it shortly (about 1 month) after launch, and I had the stupid 'materialsystem_dx11.dll' crash. It's definitely NOT a GPU speed/power/temp issue - it was framebuffer overflow related - hence part of my interest in a bigger framebuffer.

I do like the idea of waiting for Maxwell. Even if I can hold out until then just to pick up a card that's being retired, I think I'll be happier that way.

You can get a 290 aftermarket for $360 so I don't see how $10 more than a 770 is that much more expensive. 770 4GB at that price is a waste of money. Get an aftermarket 290.

$350 AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-505-_-Product

It's also something of a 'my last 4-5 cards have been NVidia, I remember hating the Catalyst drivers 5-6 years ago, and while I'm sure that isn't the same, I'm worried they aren't that much better' fear.

If a bad graphics card, then go with a 290. The 770 4gb pricey for it's delivering.

If you are thinking multi gpu then definatetly go 290. It has improved Crossfire over previous generations.

I love the IDEA of 2x290 in Crossfire - my God, it's full of stars! I don't see myself plunking down for the 2nd card in a fast enough timeframe to make it sensible - in the year or two I'd be waiting, we'll likely have single card CPUs that will beat it. 2x280, I can see saving $100 vs. a 290 now and then spending $240-$270 later.
 

Martrox

Senior member
Oct 27, 2000
758
0
71
OK, here's something to consider. Bought a XFX R9 290 off ebay for $210. Bought a Kraken g10 for $30 and Giel heatsink set for $14. Had an old thermaltake Water AIO. Runs 1040/1550 @60c and is very quiet.......

Just a thought.......