Just bought a 7870 for $220 AR -- good option?

[Aepheme]

Had a few parts laying around from an old system:

ASRock X58 Extreme
i7-930
6GB of PC3 12800 (3x2GB)
An old 400W powersupply

Wanted to build out a decent system at the lowest possible cost, so picked up a:
Diamond HD7870 2GB ($239 w/ $20 MIR = $219 AR)
120GB Samsung 840 SSD ($99)
Thermaltake v3 Black Gaming Chassis ($35 w/ $15 MIR = $20 AR)

Previously owned a HD7950, so know this will be a bit of a downgrade, but never felt like I was using the maximum on it anyway (maximum resolution will be 1080P and the rest of the hardware here isn't brand new).

Any thoughts on if this is a good value point? Or should I return this one and get something else? Other Radeon options in the same price range (from MicroCenter) are:

HD7850 2GB
* $180 - Sapphire
* $190 - Asus / MSI / GB / Diamond / HIS
* $200 - PowerColor

HD7870 2GB
* $220 - Diamond
* $225 - MSI
* $230 - HIS
* $240 - Gigabyte / Asus
* $250 - Sapphire

The GTX 660 is also going for ~$200 right now, as an alternative. Thanks for the help!

 

[buklau]

Found a gtx660 for $174.99 after rebate, something to consider over 7870. If you still decide to grab a 7870, look up to a 7870 XT (tahiti core 1536).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127699

7870 xt

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

 

[RussianSensation]

GTX660Ti for $205 after 10% off using code VGA0509, ends 5/15 and after $25 MIR.

 

[toyota]

GTX660Ti for $205 after 10% off using code VGA0509, ends 5/15 and after $25 MIR.

if noise is not a concern then that is very good deal. lol two of these would match or beat Titan for way less than half the price.

 

[zaydq]

GTX660Ti for $205 after 10% off using code VGA0509, ends 5/15 and after $25 MIR.

I second this.

 

[Lepton87]

if noise is not a concern then that is very good deal. lol two of these would match or beat Titan for way less than half the price.

In any memory intensive scenario it would choke to a slideshow with a meager 1.5GB. The other 512MB can't be accessed at full speed.

 

[toyota]

In any memory intensive scenario it would choke to a slideshow with a meager 1.5GB. The other 512MB can't be accessed at full speed.

at 1080 it will not matter as the 2gb buffer is plenty for anything other than some modded game. and that is nonsense about the other 512mb and nothing but a myth. my 192 bit gtx560 se scaled perfectly fine past 768mb of vram just like the gtx660 will do going past 1.5 gb.

EDIT: there are gtx660 3gb models and they don't have mismatched memory but they can actually be slower than the 2gb models. so again the mismatched memory has no real world impact.

 

[Lepton87]

at 1080 it will not matter as the 2gb buffer is plenty for anything other than some modded game. and that is nonsense about the other 512mb and nothing but a myth. my 192 bit gtx560 se scaled perfectly fine past 768mb of vram just like the gtx660 will do going past 1.5 gb.

EDIT: there are gtx660 3gb models and they don't have mismatched memory but they can actually be slower than the 2gb models. so again the mismatched memory has no real world impact.

yeah right, NV has some magic fairy dust and can access 2gb of RAM over 192bit bus at full speed.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150/2

 

[toyota]

yeah right, NV has some magic fairy dust and can access 2gb of RAM over 192bit bus at full speed.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4221/nvidias-gtx-550-ti-coming-up-short-at-150/2

and that article proves nothing especially as for as performance goes and they even tell you that. AGAIN I owned and tested the hell out of a 192bit gtx560 se. there was ZERO real world impact on performance when going over 768mb. it kept scaling perfectly fine so if there is a performance hit there then its NOT measurable. my experience with that card made me comfortable enough to go with the 192bit gtx660 ti. so please stop acting like 1.5gb is some kind of cut off on the 192bit gtx660 ti because its NOT just like 768mb was not on the 1gb 192bit gtx560 se.

 

[Dankk]

GTX660Ti for $205 after 10% off using code VGA0509, ends 5/15 and after $25 MIR.

Wow, nice deal.

 

[DooKey]

In any memory intensive scenario it would choke to a slideshow with a meager 1.5GB. The other 512MB can't be accessed at full speed.

Have any links to this supposition? I'd love to see some benchmarks.

 

[toyota]

Have any links to this supposition? I'd love to see some benchmarks.

yeah it cant be proven. I was really worried about that too when I picked up the 1gb 192 bit gtx560 se but like I mentioned it was no issue and scaling was not impacted at all past 768mb.

 

[Soulkeeper]

"An old 400W powersupply"
This kinda raises an eyebrow. I'm not sure if you'll be overclocking, but you might want to take a look at upgrading that at some point.

 

[Headfoot]

"An old 400W powersupply"
This kinda raises an eyebrow. I'm not sure if you'll be overclocking, but you might want to take a look at upgrading that at some point.

Yes I agree.
The 930 and a 7870 is going to use a decent amount of juice. I would just get a new power supply and not run the risk of it ruining any of your parts.

 

[futurefields]

Get a better PSU... i7 + 7870 deserves better than an "old 400W"

 

[Aepheme]

Thanks for all the advice on this everyone... bought a new PSU:

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC from Newegg ($60 - $20 MIR = $40 AR).

Returned the graphics card and about to pull the trigger on that 660 TI mentioned above (for $205). Looks like the next best option in the ~$200ish price range is the 7870 Tahiti (for $235 AR at Newegg). From there it's a big jump up to a 7950 (for $290 AR at Newegg).

Looks like an Nvidia card then...!