NEED HELP IN CHOOSING A GRAPHICS CARD: 7870 VS 660 OR 7950 vs 660Ti

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siddhanthgupta

Junior Member
May 7, 2013
16
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I want to buy a new graphics card and I need your help. I have the following choices available:

1) AMD 7870
2) NVIDIA GTX660

Both of these are available for around INR 15000 (or USD 275)
Alternately, I could extend my budget and go for one of the following:

1) AMD 7950
2) NVIDIA GTX660 TI

Both of which are available for around INR 20000 (or USD 370)

These are the lowest prices available in my city (Kolkata, India). I have a couple of quesions I'm hoping you guys will be able to help me with:

1) Is there any inherent advantage in choosing an Nvidia card over an AMD? It seems that physX is the only special advantage, and very few games have that (The only physX related game I have played recently is Arkham City). I am currently using an AMD card, and have used Nvidia before, so I really have no personal preference.

2) Is the 25% price jump between the 660/7870 and the 660TI/7950 worth it? I will probably be changing my card in about 2 to 3 years, so is the premium worth the increase in performance?

Also, I want to clear up some things about my usage:

1) I will not overclock any card

2) I play most new games, and I want to play them at high/very high settings for atleast 1-1.5 years. I can drop to medium after that time, if need be.

So, what do you guys suggest I do? Thanks in advance.
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
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lol there is already a thread asking nearly the same thing.

you need to list ALL your current specs. that includes the power supply and at what resolution you want to play at.
 
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siddhanthgupta

Junior Member
May 7, 2013
16
0
0
toyota said:
lol there is already a thread asking nearly the same thing.

you need to list ALL your current specs. that includes the power supply and at what resolution you want to play at.
Click to expand...

Sorry...I forgot to mention that.

I will be gaming on a 24" 1920x1080 monitor. I have no plans to buy a higher res screen, or a multi-display setup.

Also, I will be buying a corsair GS600 power supply along with whatever graphics card I choose to buy, so that's covered.

I will be using my current cpu: i3 2100 for a while, and upgrade to Haswell i7 later this year. But I don't think that should be a problem.

Also, could you post the link to the thread page here, can't seem to find it.
 
Jaydip

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
3,691
21
81
For 5000 extra grab the 7950 or 670(if within the same price range).There is also a rumor stating that NV will release the 7xx seris in May.So you may wait a bit as well.
 
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siddhanthgupta

Junior Member
May 7, 2013
16
0
0
Jaydip said:
For 5000 extra grab the 7950 or 670(if within the same price range).There is also a rumor stating that NV will release the 7xx seris in May.So you may wait a bit as well.
Click to expand...

I can't really wait.
And the 670 is not nearly in the same price range.
 
Jaydip

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
3,691
21
81
siddhanthgupta said:
Thanks, but could you justify spending the extra 5K on the 7950?
Click to expand...

For 5000 extra you will get wider memory bus,higher bandwidth,more stream processors and the ability to reach the performance of the top tier cards when overclocked.Even if you don't oc it is still quite a bit faster than 7870.
 
AtenRa

AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
14,003
3,362
136
HD7950 (+ game bundle), if you can buy a 1GHz edition like ASUS CU II.
 
guskline

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
476
126
I have all Nvidia cards. However, given your choices and budget the 7950 is the BEST card of the 4. A very powerful card that fits all of your needs.
 
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siddhanthgupta

Junior Member
May 7, 2013
16
0
0
AtenRa said:
HD7950 (+ game bundle), if you can buy a 1GHz edition like ASUS CU II.
Click to expand...

The game bundle does not interest me, as I already have all the games they are giving with the card.

I was hoping to get an ASUS, but I'm having trouble finding an ASUS 7950 locally.

Also, I have been reading online that the 660Ti has a lot less framerate spikes as compared to the 7950. Any truth to these claims?

I have absolutely no desire to overclock any card I get, so I really don't care about overclocking headroom. I just want to run games at the stock clock speed for 2-3 years on high settings. I'm asking this because the ASUS 660Ti is readily available and a little cheaper than the 7950, and also because I kinda want a card ASAP.
 
D

Dark Shroud

Golden Member
Mar 26, 2010
1,576
1
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The frame rating issues does not affect single cards and there is already a driver fix for that.

The 7950 is the more powerful card and you can always sell the game bundle.
 
P

parvadomus

Senior member
Dec 11, 2012
685
14
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siddhanthgupta said:
This shows that the 7950 beats the 660Ti in crysis warhead, whereas the 660Ti gets better frames in BF3.

I'm still just as confused...:confused:
Click to expand...

That benchmark uses very old drivers, 7950 is as fast or faster in almost all games than 660ti. 7950 boost is as fast as 670 in most cases.
 
guskline

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
476
126
siddhanthgupta said:
This shows that the 7950 beats the 660Ti in crysis warhead, whereas the 660Ti gets better frames in BF3.

I'm still just as confused...:confused:
Click to expand...
Welcome to the world of high end video cards. There is no "perfect" card. That being said, what games do you play the most? What is your present video card? What are the rest of your computer specs? Can you wait for newer cards? Will your local vendor even have them?

There is no easy answer.
 
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raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,475
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siddhanthgupta said:
This shows that the 7950 beats the 660Ti in crysis warhead, whereas the 660Ti gets better frames in BF3.

I'm still just as confused...:confused:
Click to expand...

outdated drivers. see reviews after 12.11 drivers. HD 7950 boost competes with GTX 670. HD 7950 is 5% slower than HD 7970 at same clocks. at average overclocks of 1100 - 1150 mhz the performance is on par with HD 7970 Ghz (1050 mhz).

http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...hz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,1.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/his_radeon_7950_x_iceq_review,1.html

go for Sapphire HD 7950 boost or MSI HD 7950 twin frozr or HIS HD 7950 iceq x2 boost. unlocked voltage and good coolers.
 
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siddhanthgupta

Junior Member
May 7, 2013
16
0
0
Fastx said:
I know you said you really can't wait for the GTX 7xxx series but if it were me I would still wait if at all possible before I decide which card to go with at this point in time imo.
Click to expand...

guskline said:
Welcome to the world of high end video cards. There is no "perfect" card. That being said, what games do you play the most? What is your present video card? What are the rest of your computer specs? Can you wait for newer cards? Will your local vendor even have them?

There is no easy answer.
Click to expand...


The GTX 7xx series is not really an option. Even if it releases in May/June, it will not hit stores (in India) before end June/beginning July. Once it does, it will be priced significantly higher than the current crop of graphics cards.

Also, with the new-gen cards will probably only be a little faster and more power-efficient, and hence, not worth the wait, or cost.

And as I already mentioned, I play all new games (action, FPS, RPG, racing). I don't stick to a single game/genre.


raghu78 said:
outdated drivers. see reviews after 12.11 drivers. HD 7950 boost competes with GTX 670. HD 7950 is 5% slower than HD 7970 at same clocks. at average overclocks of 1100 - 1150 mhz the performance is on par with HD 7970 Ghz (1050 mhz).

http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...hz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,1.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/his_radeon_7950_x_iceq_review,1.html

go for Sapphire HD 7950 boost or MSI HD 7950 twin frozr or HIS HD 7950 iceq x2 boost. unlocked voltage and good coolers.
Click to expand...

I was hoping for an ASUS card, but the Sapphire boost edition is available here. I am not exactly sure of Sapphire's reliability or its service. But many people have suggested sapphire's cards in lots of forums.

Is sapphire reliable? Or should I look for an ASUS card elsewhere?
 
Fastx

Fastx

Senior member
Dec 18, 2008
780
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Then I would go with raghu 78 suggestions either a Sapphire Boost 7950 2L or a MSI TF3 if going 7950 at this point imo.
 
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ozzy702

Golden Member
Nov 1, 2011
1,151
530
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I have several Sapphire cards (7970s and 7950's) and have never had a problem. They are AMD's biggest GPU vendor.
 
Attic

Attic

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2010
4,282
2
76
If I were in your shoes I'd save a bit of money and get the 660Ti. 7950 is a better card, but it really makes it known only when oc'd. The 660Ti is a great card regardless of the 7950's edge.
 
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