Is a 7770 at $110 A good deal?

[maniac5999]

When the 7750 and 7770 came out, the big indictment against them was that they were too expensive. Right now, Microcenter is selling an OC'd 7770 for $110 (after MIR) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0385588

Anyway, I'm considering buying it, because my 4870 just gave up the ghost. I had graphics failures turn my monitor every color of the rainbow this past week, and even gave me a pretty pinstripe pattern. I'm currently on my IGP. I was SUPPOSED to have one of the $220 after MIR 7850s arrive from Newegg yesterday, but somehow UPS lost it. Overall, I was still fine with my 4870. Civ5 was a little choppy, but the other games I play (SoSE, Skyrim, Trop4, etc) were all fine. What I'm wondering now is if people think that I should splurge for the 7850, or just get the 7770.

For what it's worth, I have a 1080p monitor, and I will overclock whichever one I get, and I think that I'm probably going to keep this rig for another year or two, then move it to basic HTPC duty (likely just using the IGP) and replace it with Haswell, or the successor to Haswell. If I get the 7850 I'll probably keep it when I upgrade to Haswell, If I go for the 7770, It'll probably get replaced.

 

[Don Karnage]

This one

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0385358

 

[maniac5999]

This one

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0385358

Does this mean that you're suggesting the 7770 over ordering another 7850 from newegg? Also why do you think that one is $8 better than the gigabyte?

Also, FWIW, I had a Zalman VF1000 on the 4870. I could always plop it on the new card if it'll fit.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Sue UPS to get your money back and buy another 7850

 

[3DVagabond]

What's your resolution?

 

[Gloomy]

I don't think it's a good deal. I'd go the extra meter and buy a 6850 at around 130 dollar signs.

 

[Termie]

Just posted a deal at Newegg for a 6870 at $130. Check this hot deal thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2244708.

I agree with Don that the cooler on the Sapphire is worth the extra $8, but unfortunately, I don't think buying the 7770 is the right call generally. Way too close in performance to what your 4870. Skip it.

 

[jacktesterson]

I'd look for a 6870. I've seen them as low as $130.00

 

[maniac5999]

What's your resolution?

Um, post #1:

For what it's worth, I have a 1080p monitor...

I don't think it's a good deal. I'd go the extra meter and buy a 6850 at around 130 dollar signs.

Just posted a deal at Newegg for a 6870 at $130. Check this hot deal thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2244708.

I agree with Don that the cooler on the Sapphire is worth the extra $8, but unfortunately, I don't think buying the 7770 is the right call generally. Way too close in performance to what your 4870. Skip it.

If I was a FPS junkie I'd be all over that 6870. The issue with VLIW is that it's peaky. Sometimes it does great, sometimes it does crappy depending on the game. Look at the comparison: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=536 Where does the 6870 hand the 7770 it's ass? Crysis and Metro 2033. I don't own Metro, and I bought the Crysis 3 pack for $9.99 off steam on a whim. Total time played? Three hours. On the other hand, view the games where the 7770 actually BEATS the 6870; Skyrim and Civ5. I've put in more than 20 hours on Skyrim, and more than 200 on Civ5, so that's kind of a big deal for me. Also, remember that I have no problem OCing the nuts off this thing, and GCN does a lot better with OCing than VLIW5, so add 20-30% to the 7770's score. Unfortunately, at this time I think that all the VLIW cards have removed themselves from the competition.

Also, after a night of thinking, I'm a little less desperate to get it replaced TODAY. the SoSE beta runs shockingly well on the 3200. I thought I was turning the game on to prove that it wouldn't immediately crash when I wasn't using the 4870. Three hours later I'm still playing (with AA/AF off)

 

[Hypertag]

Clearly, you have decided what you want to do already.

 

[RussianSensation]

HD7770 is a turd. It can't even beat an HD6850 and loses by 30-35% to the HD6870. Once you enable 8AA in some games, the loss widens to 50% against the 6870. Oh and also HD7700 series tanks in some older games.

I wouldn't spend $110 on the HD7770 since that means in 1 years time it's basically paper weight. There is no way it'll be capable of playing next wave of DX11 games. I bet you can find a used GTX560 Ti for $150 or even HD6950 2GB for $150 used. I'd spend $40 and get those and overclock/unlock them.

 

[blastingcap]

HD7770 is a turd. It can't even beat an HD6850 and loses by 30-35% to the HD6870. Once you enable 8AA in some games, the loss widens to 50% against the 6870. Oh and also HD7700 series tanks in some older games.

I wouldn't spend $110 on the HD7770 since that means in 1 years time it's basically paper weight. There is no way it'll be capable of playing next wave of DX11 games. I bet you can find a used GTX560 Ti for $150 or even HD6950 2GB for $150 used. I'd spend $40 and get those and overclock/unlock them.

There aren't that many "bad" cards, but there are definitely "bad" prices.

 

[Termie]

If I was a FPS junkie I'd be all over that 6870. The issue with VLIW is that it's peaky. Sometimes it does great, sometimes it does crappy depending on the game. Look at the comparison: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=536 Where does the 6870 hand the 7770 it's ass? Crysis and Metro 2033. I don't own Metro, and I bought the Crysis 3 pack for $9.99 off steam on a whim. Total time played? Three hours. On the other hand, view the games where the 7770 actually BEATS the 6870; Skyrim and Civ5. I've put in more than 20 hours on Skyrim, and more than 200 on Civ5, so that's kind of a big deal for me. Also, remember that I have no problem OCing the nuts off this thing, and GCN does a lot better with OCing than VLIW5, so add 20-30% to the 7770's score. Unfortunately, at this time I think that all the VLIW cards have removed themselves from the competition.

Also, after a night of thinking, I'm a little less desperate to get it replaced TODAY. the SoSE beta runs shockingly well on the 3200. I thought I was turning the game on to prove that it wouldn't immediately crash when I wasn't using the 4870. Three hours later I'm still playing (with AA/AF off)

You would be lucky to get a 15% overclock on the 7770. It's already highly clocked.

The Skyrim and Civ5 examples are certainly relevant, but it's an issue with 4xMSAA. Not a defense of the VLIW5 architecture, but just saying - you could tweak the 6870 to give you nearly 50% greater performance than the 7770.

You are certainly the first person I've come across to suggest that the 6870 has somehow been put out to pasture by the 7770.

 

[maniac5999]

You would be lucky to get a 15% overclock on the 7770. It's already highly clocked.

The Skyrim and Civ5 examples are certainly relevant, but it's an issue with 4xMSAA. Not a defense of the VLIW5 architecture, but just saying - you could tweak the 6870 to give you nearly 50% greater performance than the 7770.

You are certainly the first person I've come across to suggest that the 6870 has somehow been put out to pasture by the 7770.

It's all about the games that you play with VLIW5. I happen to like some strategy games that it doesn't play nice with. I'm willing to pay more, should I just suck it up and get another 7850? I'd prefer to go 28nm because I pay about $0.22/kw, but I could consider Nvidia.

 

[Don Karnage]

I really want to see some 1300 core 7770 benchmark runs

 

[Termie]

It's all about the games that you play with VLIW5. I happen to like some strategy games that it doesn't play nice with. I'm willing to pay more, should I just suck it up and get another 7850? I'd prefer to go 28nm because I pay about $0.22/kw, but I could consider Nvidia.

It's a tough call - you have both the gaming rationale and the power use rationale in favor of the 7850, but unfortunately, it's way more expensive. There's a huge gap in the lineup, so it's hard to suggest the ideal card for you. If you don't mind spending more now, get the 7850 for sure.

 

[maniac5999]

LOL, Irony of ironies. I asked the super's son on monday if they got a package for me, and he said no. The super told me today that he did... It was my HIS 7850. I'm sorely tempted to leave my ticket with newegg for refund outstanding because the damn UPS guy was too lazy to ring the buzzer and walk up the stairs to bring it to me, but I'll probably contact them this evening to close it.

Anyway, it looks like I got a good one, and all for $227 shipped to my door. (after MIR) Right now I'm doing 1050/5400 undervolted to only 1.05v (Stock mine runs at 1.138) The HIS cooler seems OK, temperatures have gotten up to 66*, but the fan hasn't broken 50%. Granted, while my case's overall airflow isn't great, I do have a low speed 80mm intake fan shooting right at the GPU fan.

Final question, GPU Tweak doesn't seem to let me go over 1050mhz I went to tuning and clicked the advanced button on the bottom left, but I don't see any option to "Extend Overclocking Range"

 

[alexruiz]

I was going to say something, but I will refrain
Keep in mind that the performance of the HD7xxx can only go up.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/HD_7770_OC/26.html

 

[Hypertag]

I was going to say something, but I will refrain
Keep in mind that the performance of the HD7xxx can only go up.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/HD_7770_OC/26.html

This is great rebuttal. Clearly this proves that the 7770's dominance over the obsolete 6850 and 6870 has occurred. Beyond that, it is clear that the 7770 is on the precipitous of overtaking the 6950's level of performance. I think in a few months we could even see GTX 680 level performance from the 7770 based upon the results there.

 

[maniac5999]

This is great rebuttal. Clearly this proves that the 7770's dominance over the obsolete 6850 and 6870 has occurred. Beyond that, it is clear that the 7770 is on the precipitous of overtaking the 6950's level of performance. I think in a few months we could even see GTX 680 level performance from the 7770 based upon the results there.

I'm not sure if you're serious or not. The first part of your statement seems honest. If you look at the 1920 and 2560 tables the 1100mhz 7770 splits the 6850 and 6870, and it probably has another 100-200mhz left in it. I'm having trouble reading the 2nd part of your statement as anything other than facetious however.

Also, I'm with Don, I'd love to see what a 7770 can do at 1300mhz, but I'm not giving up my 7850 to find out.

 

[blastingcap]

I'm not sure if you're serious or not.

I'm not sure if YOU are serious about not being sure he's serious. Is your sarc-detector that seriously dysfunctional? Seriously? :hmm:

 

[alexruiz]

This is great rebuttal. Clearly this proves that the 7770's dominance over the obsolete 6850 and 6870 has occurred. Beyond that, it is clear that the 7770 is on the precipitous of overtaking the 6950's level of performance. I think in a few months we could even see GTX 680 level performance from the 7770 based upon the results there.

Sarcasm aside, it only shows that the video card that generated the question by the OP is already above HD6850 performance (Techpower up tested with cat 12.2, while most of the reviews we have seen were with beta drivers)

The comment of "can only go up" is simply that newer drives will keep improving, fix bugs and tweak settings. Those games where a HD6870 beats a HD7850 will be a thing of the past once drivers mature The HD7770 card quoted is above HD6850 performance levels, already costs less, has more room for improvement and uses less electricity. If all you can throw is sarcasm and ignore numbers, well, what can I say...

OP, the HD7770 will eventually settle in performance at higher than HD6850 / GTX460 and lower than HD6870 across the board. At ~$110, it already is compelling. It wasn't intended for gaming at above 1080p, but the HD6850 or GTX 460 weren't either. The biggest complaint by the hardcore enthusiasts is that many expected ~HD6870 performance with ~HD6670 power consumption and ~HD6450 price


Alex

 

[aaksheytalwar]

For $110 a 7770 oc is nearing a 6870 and faster once Oced I guess. What more can you want? A 6870 is anyway $150+ and 7770 doesn't loose much anywhere

 

[jay2nice000]

7770 for 110 is a good deal but just get a 6850 for 140 it has more powerrrrrr

 

[RussianSensation]

. It was my HIS 7850. Anyway, it looks like I got a good one, and all for $227 shipped to my door. (after MIR) Right now I'm doing 1050/5400 undervolted to only 1.05v (Stock mine runs at 1.138) The HIS cooler seems OK, temperatures have gotten up to 66*, but the fan hasn't broken 50%.

So you ended up grabbing the 7850? Good choice.