[H] - GTX680 3-Way SLI vs. 7970 Tri-Fire review

[Jaydip]

where are you pulling those prices from?

These are still expensive by 50$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130655

 

[blackened23]

Why?

Because it will be a better price point and most people don't need more than 1.5gb.

Lets face it, most everyone here does NOT use surround or eyefinity, so I agree that a 1.5gb product would make sense. But apparently AMD is clueless.

 

[Don Karnage]

These are still expensive by 50$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130655

That ones overpriced

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814134124

 

[toyota]

Because it will be a better price point and most people don't need more than 1.5gb.

Lets face it, most everyone here does NOT use surround or eyefinity, so I agree that a 1.5gb product would make sense. But apparently AMD is clueless.

when the 8800gts 320mb, 8800gt 256mb, and 4870 512mb, gtx460 768mb came out they were all fine for "most" situations too when released. sadly within months of each those cards being released the amount of vram hurt them more an more. hell a 4870 1gb can still handle most games fine where the 4870 512mb would have to have MANY settings and even the resolution turned down. a 1.5gb 7970 would not be a wise choice as its already not enough in some cases right now.

 

[Jaydip]

again its STUPID to limit your high end gpus like that. we are at a point right now where 1.5gb is not always enough and that is only going to get worse.

Get worse?? There is only one demanding PC game releasing this Year,MP3.The consoles have already taken care of that.

 

[Don Karnage]

Because it will be a better price point and most people don't need more than 1.5gb.

Lets face it, most everyone here does NOT use surround or eyefinity, so I agree that a 1.5gb product would make sense. But apparently AMD is clueless.

I think 2GB would be a better alternative then 1.5GB

 

[blackened23]

when the 8800gts 320mb, 8800gt 256mb, and 4870 512mb there were all fine for "most" situations too when released. sadly within months of each those cards being released the amount of vram hurt them more an more. hell a 4870 1gb can still handle most games fine where the 4870 512mb would have to have MANY settings and even the resolution turned down.

1.5gb is fine for single screen gaming at 2560x1600. End of story.

When 4k resolution panels are released, then maybe you'll have a case, but 3gb+ is designed purely for surround setups. I think it would make sense to have a 1.5gb product, and they could give the user a choice for 1.5gb or 3gb depending on whether they are single screen or surround. Like I said though, the decision makers at amd are apparently idiots.

 

[Jaydip]

That ones overpriced

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814134124

It was a 3Gb 580 buddy ()
U proved my point more concretely

 

[toyota]

1.5gb is fine for single screen gaming at 2560x1600. End of story.

When 4k resolution panels are released, then maybe you'll have a case, but 3gb+ is designed purely for surround setups. I think it would make sense to have a 1.5gb product, and they could give the user a choice for 1.5gb or 3gb depending on whether they are single screen or surround. Like I said though, the decision makers at amd are apparently idiots.

that is BS for some games.

 

[Jaydip]

I think 2GB would be a better alternative then 1.5GB

U can't use 2Gb on a 384bit bus.A 7970 1.5Gb @ 399$ is a monster.

 

[toyota]

Get worse?? There is only one demanding PC game releasing this Year,MP3.The consoles have already taken care of that.

and people had that same silly excuse with other cards too.

 

[Jaydip]

that is BS for some games.

Here u go
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/22/nvidia_kepler_gpu_geforce_gtx_680_video_card_review/6

See how a 1.5Gb card can beat a 3Gb one.Vram means nothing unless u can use it optimally.

 

[Jaydip]

and people had that same silly excuse with other cards too.

What other cards?

 

[blackened23]

that is BS for some games.

If you say so. I had an entire page filled with 1.5gb vs 3gb GTX 580s at 2560x1600, and they performed EXACTLY the same.

I'll try to dig them up.

 

[toyota]

Here u go
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/22/nvidia_kepler_gpu_geforce_gtx_680_video_card_review/6

See how a 1.5Gb card can beat a 3Gb one.Vram means nothing unless u can use it optimally.

and how does that prove that SOME games dont need more than 1.5 of vram?

here in 7970 review. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/22/amd_radeon_hd_7970_video_card_review/4

Radeon HD 7970 - At Highest Playable Settings, total VRAM usage was 1.846GB.

that right there shows that 1.5GB is NOT always going to be enough with a 7970 level of card. and know damn well there are other games too.

 

[digitaldurandal]

U can't use 2Gb on a 384bit bus.A 7970 1.5Gb @ 399$ is a monster.

Of course you can. You have to use different size memory modules. It has been done before.

2x128@512 = 1gb
2x64 @256 = 0.5gb
= 384bit lanes with 1.5gb

EDIT:

I think it really should be
4x64@256
4x32@128

BUT, you should get the point.

 

[toyota]

Of course you can. You have to use different size memory modules. It has been done before.

2x128@512 = 1gb
2x64 @256 = 0.5gb
= 384bit lanes with 1.5gb

and it had bad side effects so you will likely never see it done on high end cards.

 

[blackened23]

and how does that prove that SOME games dont need more than 1.5 of vram?

here in 7970 review. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/22/amd_radeon_hd_7970_video_card_review/4

Radeon HD 7970 - At Highest Playable Settings, total VRAM usage was 1.846GB.

that right there shows that 1.5GB is NOT always going to be enough with a 7970 level of card. and know damn well there are other games too.

That right there shows that you don't understand how frostbite 2 works. Frostbite 2 engine will scale LOD dyanmically depending on available VRAm. Go find the youtube video from Geforce LAN last year, a DICE developer was a guest speaker and he very specifically stated that frostbite 2 scales level of detail depending on available VRAM. If you have less than 2gb of VRAM it will not hurt performance - the LOD will be slightly less.

And i'll dig up those benchmarks for you. 1.5gb = 2gb = 3gb = 4gb for single monitor performance

 

[Jaydip]

and how does that prove that SOME games dont need more than 1.5 of vram?

here in 7970 review. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/22/amd_radeon_hd_7970_video_card_review/4

Radeon HD 7970 - At Highest Playable Settings, total VRAM usage was 1.846GB.

that right there shows that 1.5GB is NOT always going to be enough with a 7970 level of card. and know damn well there are other games too.

U r not getting the point.I know there are games which can use more than 1.5Gb but they are exceptions.Remember how badly 590,6990 performed in Witcher 2 @1600P with ubersampling on.So do u mean 590,6990 suck @ 1600P?.There will always be oddballs but in general a 1.5Gb 7970 will be sufficient for 99% of the gamers.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

AMD has garbage drivers, who knew?

 

[boxleitnerb]

Guys, remember that the displayed VRAM usage says little to nothing about how the game would run on less memory. Caching can use more memory than is actually needed. The only proper way to analyze this is by looking out for stuttering, reduced detail and (dramatically) less fps.

 

[toyota]

U r not getting the point.I know there are games which can use more than 1.5Gb but they are exceptions.Remember how badly 590,6990 performed in Witcher 2 @1600P with ubersampling on.So do u mean 590,6990 suck @ 1600P?.There will always be oddballs but in general a 1.5Gb 7970 will be sufficient for 99% of the gamers.

and you are missing MY POINT. you dont gimp your fastest card by not giving it enough vram to handle every playable situation. you dont cut down the vram and tell customers not to play games with settings that create oddball situations. 1.5gb will limit you now in some cases so it would be stupid to equip a 7970 with hit.

 

[Jaydip]

and you are missing MY POINT. you dont gimp your fastest card by not giving it enough vram to handle every playable situation. you dont cut down the vram and tell customers not to play games with settings that create oddball situations. 1.5gb will limit you now in some cases so it would be stupid to equip a 7970 with hit.

I am not asking AMD to abandon 3Gb 7970s, all i am asking them is to release a 1.5Gb 7970 @399$ for 99% of the gamers.

 

[rangda]

1.5gb is fine for single screen gaming at 2560x1600. End of story.

Skyrim with HD texture mods runs out of VRAM on my crossfire 6950's @2560x1600 so it is not "End of story". Given the hundreds of hours I sank into Oblivion that is a pretty big problem for me. YOU may not care about more VRAM but I certainly do.

 

[blckgrffn]

I am not asking AMD to abandon 3Gb 7970s, all i am asking them is to release a 1.5Gb 7970 @399$ for 99% of the gamers.

7970 3GB @ $399 sounds better to me.

It just seems highly unlike the 7970 will ever be "gimped" in such a fashion. If there is going to be a 1.5GB 79xx card, a 7950 makes the most sense. And that would be somewhat consistent with the previous generation high end cards.

I find it hard to believe 1.5GB of DDR5 could be anything close to $70-80. There are too many $70-$100 cards with 1GB of DDR5 for that to make any sense.