I have £350. HD7970 or GTX670?

[Fx1]

Apparently just as good.

Back to OP, pricing does not mean equal. You have to compare tiers. 680 vs 7970, 670 vs 7950. Within the tier, they are generally within 10% performance, depending on the game. The 7970, however, does have the potential to go very far. Between the 7970 and the 670, the 7970 is a far faster card.

Generally, in the same tier, nvidia and amd will perform very similarly, but the nvidia card will cost a bit more. The amd cards will, if all things go well, overclock better than their nvidia counterparts. Nvidia cards will generally run with less power and heat generated, and the 670 and lesser cards will have smaller PCBs, if you have tight spaces. However, the 7970 and 670 are across two tiers, which means for the same price, the 7970 will be a bit better.

http://www.techspot.com/review/645-tomb-raider-performance/page3.html

7970 kills even Titan

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Fx1 posting more misinformation?

 

[Eureka]

http://www.techspot.com/review/645-tomb-raider-performance/page3.html

7970 kills even Titan

By Steven Walton on March 12, 2013

Outdated drivers, man. Your review is using 314.14.

HardOCP: http://hardocp.com/article/2013/03/20/tomb_raider_video_card_performance_iq_review/1#.UUzEaRzFUz4

NVIDIA - We are using the 314.21 driver released on 3/15/2013. This driver contains up to 45-60% performance improvement over the previous 314.14 driver in this game.

 

[Fx1]

Outdated drivers, man. Your review is using 314.14.

HardOCP: http://hardocp.com/article/2013/03/20/tomb_raider_video_card_performance_iq_review/1#.UUzEaRzFUz4

So they fixed the drivers 3 days after i finished the game.

Well i would be unhappy if i had a Titan or 680

 

[Kyndylan]

Wow, thanks for such a lot of good advice guys! And it's even reaching a broad consensus - I didn't think that happened on the internets?

It seems to be more or less settled then - a 7970 it shall be.

The Asus is a vast triple-slot card, and more pertinently is considerably more expensive, so I may have to pass it up.

What other options are there for something cool and quiet? I'm definitely not watercooling, so stock or custom pcb isn't an issue.

 

[Eureka]

Wow, thanks for such a lot of good advice guys! And it's even reaching a broad consensus - I didn't think that happened on the internets?

It seems to be more or less settled then - a 7970 it shall be.

The Asus is a vast triple-slot card, and more pertinently is considerably more expensive, so I may have to pass it up.

What other options are there for something cool and quiet?

MSI Twin Frozr/Lightning coolers, HIS IceQ, or Gigabyte Windforce 3 coolers. Very quiet coolers.

I'm partial to Windforce 3. But I've had good history with Gigabyte and I'm ok with it. Also they come with an additional stress bar along the PCB to help eliminate flex... a nice little touch.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Wow, thanks for such a lot of good advice guys! And it's even reaching a broad consensus - I didn't think that happened on the internets?

It seems to be more or less settled then - a 7970 it shall be.

The Asus is a vast triple-slot card, and more pertinently is considerably more expensive, so I may have to pass it up.

What other options are there for something cool and quiet?

You are on a pro AMD forum, keep that in mind

That said I'd go for the 7950 over the 7970, you'd give up ~6% of your performance to spend ~$100 less for an equally capable cooler.


I'd buy say a TF3 or Sapphire 3L 7950 for $300 over a $370 DD 7970 (garbage cooler).

 

[Eureka]

You are on a pro AMD forum, keep that in mind

That said I'd go for the 7950 over the 7970, you'd give up ~6% of your performance to spend ~$100 less for an equally capable cooler.

I'd agree with both the sentiments.

Coming from a 7970, a 670 and then a 7950... I haven't noticed a damn difference between the 3. The difference is that I have around $100 net more in my bank going from the 7970 to the 7950. The 7970 is noticeably faster in benchmarks (46 vs 41 stock on stock in Heaven), but in reality, I'm not going to miss it.

FWIW, I had the 7970 in the 12.11 days, so it wasn't that long ago. Also, between the three cards, I liked the 670's hardware the best... small PCB, low power consumption and absolutely no coil whine. On the other hand, it did give me some odd shadow issues. The WF3's coil whine is minimal compared to my Visiontek 7970...

 

[Lonyo]

You are on a pro AMD forum, keep that in mind

That said I'd go for the 7950 over the 7970, you'd give up ~6% of your performance to spend ~$100 less for an equally capable cooler.


I'd buy say a TF3 or Sapphire 3L 7950 for $300 over a $370 DD 7970 (garbage cooler).

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=113,101,83,71,70,112

£217 HD7950
£218 GTX660Ti

£241 HD7950 (non-XFX)

£283 HD7970
£285 GTX670
£294 HD7970 @ 1GHz
£310 HD7970 @ 1GHz (non-XFX)

£340 HD7970 Ghz Edition

£369 GTX680 2GB

£460 GTX680 4GB

 

[Eureka]

Given those choices, I'd go with the 283 GBP XFX 7970... even if it has a crappy cooler, it's still decently fast at stock and you should be able to get some OC performance out of it. And you can always add a cheapo AIO water cooler for the card.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=113,101,83,71,70,112

£217 HD7950
£218 GTX660Ti

£241 HD7950 (non-XFX)

£283 HD7970
£285 GTX670
£294 HD7970 @ 1GHz
£310 HD7970 @ 1GHz (non-XFX)

£340 HD7970 Ghz Edition

£369 GTX680 2GB

£460 GTX680 4GB

Oh God, Europe! I couldn't even tell you which card is voltage locked (although I had to ask myself before buying)!

Man that selection of 7950's is not so hot :hmm:

 

[Kyndylan]

Oh God, Europe! I couldn't even tell you which card is voltage locked (although I had to ask myself before buying)!

Man that selection of 7950's is not so hot :hmm:

Don't rub it in! Or more to the point, don't open my eyes to what we're lacking!

 

[wand3r3r]

Given those choices, I'd go with the 283 GBP XFX 7970... even if it has a crappy cooler, it's still decently fast at stock and you should be able to get some OC performance out of it. And you can always add a cheapo AIO water cooler for the card.

About the water, is it reference?

For that list of prices I'd go 283 7970 too for bang/buck. Scratch that DD, go:
£294 HD7970 @ 1GHz

Then just slide the slider up to 1.1 or 1.2GHz.
What card is that exactly?
Edit. It's an XFX too. Unsure between the two, either way slide the core clock up when you get it.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

My bad, I caught the Euro at the start but as the thread went on I forgot about it /\

I'd find out which are voltage locked and which aren't before buying >.<

 

[Eureka]

About the water, is it reference?

For that list of prices I'd go 283 7970 too for bang/buck. Scratch that DD, go:
£294 HD7970 @ 1GHz

Then just slide the slider up to 1.1 or 1.2GHz.
What card is that exactly?

Also a XFX.

For the water, I mean get an Asetek cooler and a bracket. I don't know about the prices in Europe, but here you can get a cheapo water cooler for $30-40 at the right time, and the bracket for $10.

http://triptcc.com/product/fan-bracket/

 

[Kyndylan]

My bad, I caught the Euro at the start but as the thread went on I forgot about it /\

I'd find out which are voltage locked and which aren't before buying >.<

Pound Sterling! None of that Single Currency business over here, y'know!

As for finding out which cards are voltage locked - where would one obtain such information? Knowledgeable folks on forums, or is it something that manufacturers tend to advertise? I don't think I've ever come across it...

 

[Eureka]

Pound Sterling! None of that Single Currency business over here, y'know!

As for finding out which cards are voltage locked - where would one obtain such information? Knowledgeable folks on forums, or is it something that manufacturers tend to advertise? I don't think I've ever come across it...

Assume they are all. It's word of mouth knowledge at the moment... manufacturers won't advertise it but if you call the companies, they may or may not tell you (if the rep even knows).

 

[MeldarthX]

hmmmm......Balla do you have a list of 7950 that weren't voltage locked from the states?

If you do I could figure out which ones corrolated; since I'm also in the market for one

http://www.ebuyer.com/452636-powerc...ual-mini-displayport-pci-e-ax7950-3gbd5-2dhv2

Interesting that list has Novatech but nothing from Ebuyer which happens to be a much bigger site; kinda the newegg of the UK......and while UK is in Europe it is its own market Balla

 

[Kyndylan]

hmmmm......Balla do you have a list of 7950 that weren't voltage locked from the states?

If you do I could figure out which ones corrolated; since I'm also in the market for one

http://www.ebuyer.com/452636-powerc...ual-mini-displayport-pci-e-ax7950-3gbd5-2dhv2

Interesting that list has Novatech but nothing from Ebuyer which happens to be a much bigger site; kinda the newegg of the UK......and while UK is in Europe it is its own market Balla

Yes, it appears the UK version of PC Partpicker is far from comprehensive, either in terms of products or in terms of retailers. Several of the CPU coolers that I'm wondering about don't appear on the site, even though they're definitely on Amazon, Scan etc.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

You are on a pro AMD forum, keep that in mind

Or maybe thats because neutral to a green fan looks red
Did you notice you were the ONLY person in this thread to avoid recommending a 7970? Sure, the rest of the forum is ALL fanboys

And btw, Fx1 is a blatant fanboy as well, and his post about finishing Tomb Raider made me facepalm

See the difference?

From an unbiased point of view, if you have 7970 and 670 at the same price, there is no reason whatsoever to buy the 670, unless again you are obsessed with "Nvidia features"

 

[Fx1]

Or maybe thats because neutral to a green fan looks red
Did you notice you were the ONLY person in this thread to avoid recommending a 7970? Sure, the rest of the forum is ALL fanboys

And btw, Fx1 is a blatant fanboy as well, and his post about finishing Tomb Raider made me facepalm

See the difference?

From an unbiased point of view, if you have 7970 and 670 at the same price, there is no reason whatsoever to buy the 670, unless again you are obsessed with "Nvidia features"

The fanboy attack Lol. So lame.

I had a 460 SLI until this 7970.

AMD cannot be beaten in Price/Performance and this is why i say 7970. You can get a 7970 for less than £300 which beats a £370 680 GTX in nearly every game. Add the 2 free AAA games you get with each GPU which is worth £50-60 and you cannot say Nvidia is worth buying.

This isnt a fanboy opinion its a FACT

When Nvidia offers the best deal then ill say buy nvidia

 

[Kyndylan]

Or maybe thats because neutral to a green fan looks red
Did you notice you were the ONLY person in this thread to avoid recommending a 7970? Sure, the rest of the forum is ALL fanboys

And btw, Fx1 is a blatant fanboy as well, and his post about finishing Tomb Raider made me facepalm

The fanboy attack Lol. So lame.

I had a 460 SLI until this 7970.

Now now, we've had a remarkably civil thread thus far! Don't spoil it.

My decision has now been made, so this thread is redundant from that point of view. If people want to continue the discussion feel free.

 

[Maximilian]

Neither, get an HD7950, one went for £180 on ocuk, b-grade but still a good price. If you have access to their members market they crop up there occasionally too.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Did you notice you were the ONLY person in this thread to avoid recommending a 7970? Sure, the rest of the forum is ALL fanboys

Well yeah, I wasn't aware the EU had such a poor selection of 7950's or that their prices were what they are.

I find it weird you can label me nvidia bias for recommending a 7950 over a 7970, but then again it doesn't surprise me.

I would still recommend the 7950 over the 7970 even now, but I have no idea about the coolers used or the cards so why should I continue talking/recommending when it's foreign to me?

 

[jacksonn24]

definitly 7970