Help me upgrade from 2x4850s

[Shmee]

7950 CF OC sounds good to me.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I suggest a single 7970 ghz edition or 680 oc galaxy

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

3GB is a bastard size. And its only 3GB due to the 384bit bus. So unless AMD continues with the 384bit bus (And I doubt that.) and nVidia joins them. Then 3GB will be a forever useless amount.

Its simply a lame argument that the 1GB extra VRAM can save the HD7970 in all its lacking.

Let us be fair here, I see no evidence that the 7970 is "lacking" compared to the Nvidia alternatives and the price point it is at.

3GB is not "useless" it is 1GB more than 2GB. When games require more then 2GB of VRAM 3GB will fare better then 2GB. That was a silly argument.

That would be like saying the GTX 480 had a useless 1.5GB of VRAM compared to 1GB of VRAM. In games that use more then 1GB of VRAM the GTX 480 does better then comparable cards with 1GB of VRAM.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Let us be fair here, I see no evidence that the 7970 is "lacking" compared to the Nvidia alternatives and the price point it is at.

3GB is not "useless" it is 1GB more than 2GB. When games require more then 2GB of VRAM 3GB will fare better then 2GB. That was a silly argument.

That would be like saying the GTX 480 had a useless 1.5GB of VRAM compared to 1GB of VRAM. In games that use more then 1GB of VRAM the GTX 480 does better then comparable cards with 1GB of VRAM.

Hopefully you didnt use MSI AB or similar to measure it. ^_^

 

[3DVagabond]

3GB is a bastard size. And its only 3GB due to the 384bit bus. So unless AMD continues with the 384bit bus (And I doubt that.) and nVidia joins them. Then 3GB will be a forever useless amount.

Its simply a lame argument that the 1GB extra VRAM can save the HD7970 in all its lacking.

Quit while you're behind. Your argument is nonsensical. They can't design a game for all settings and all resolutions.

I understand what you are saying about game designers designing games to run on more typical amts. of vRAM. That all goes out the window when the brand with the odd amount helps with "design" costs. Or, users start to mod the game. Both of which happen all of the time.

 

[Etrusk]

So anyhow, I went with 2 of these GTX670s > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125423

Reasons:
1) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-6.html
2) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217-16.html
3) Price - I would get the Zotac AMP! but it is significantly more expensive where I am.
4) http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/gigabyte-palit-zotac-geforce-gtx-670_3.html

"Interestingly, our monitoring utilities both reported a peak GPU clock rate of 1189 MHz, although the specified boost frequency is 1058 MHz. Indeed, judging by the frame rate in Aliens vs. Predator (2010), the graphics card was somewhat faster than if it had been clocked at 1058 MHz. Moreover, we managed to overclock the GPU by 120 MHz to 1100 MHz without changing its voltage! That’s an excellent result, especially as the boost clock rate was as high as 1310 MHz at some point. The graphics memory was stable at 7568 MHz (+30%):"

5) After 3 years of AMD, I feel it would be good to jump over to the other side to have a personal comparison of quality of service, patching etc.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[guskline]

So anyhow, I went with 2 of these GTX670s > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125423

Reasons:
1) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-6.html
2) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217-16.html
3) Price - I would get the Zotac AMP! but it is significantly more expensive where I am.
4) http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/gigabyte-palit-zotac-geforce-gtx-670_3.html

"Interestingly, our monitoring utilities both reported a peak GPU clock rate of 1189 MHz, although the specified boost frequency is 1058 MHz. Indeed, judging by the frame rate in Aliens vs. Predator (2010), the graphics card was somewhat faster than if it had been clocked at 1058 MHz. Moreover, we managed to overclock the GPU by 120 MHz to 1100 MHz without changing its voltage! That’s an excellent result, especially as the boost clock rate was as high as 1310 MHz at some point. The graphics memory was stable at 7568 MHz (+30%):"

5) After 3 years of AMD, I feel it would be good to jump over to the other side to have a personal comparison of quality of service, patching etc.

Thanks for all your help.

Good move. You'll be thrilled with the difference!