Radeon 7970 3GB vs. GTX 680 4GB vs. GTX 680 2GB for 1440p

Radeon 7970 3GB vs. GTX 680 4GB vs. GTX 680 2GB for 1440p

  • Radeon 7970 3GB

  • GTX 680 4GB

  • GTX 680 2GB


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VitaX

Member
Dec 17, 2012
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After looking around and reading a lot of threads, I've narrowed down my decision to the following three video cards to use with my 1440p monitor. I don't plan on going SLI/Crossfire because I don't play graphic intensive games so I think one card should be enough for my everyday needs. Well anyway, hopefully this thread can help me decide, because I just can't pick one. I'm currently using an EVGA 8800 GTS 512MB, so which ever card I get should be quite an improvement I think. Main question is, do I switch over to the red team or stay on the green :hmm:

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202001

MSI Twin Frozr 4GD5/OC GeForce GTX 680 4GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127695

EVGA Superclocked, Signature 2 GeForce GTX 680 2GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130797
 

Lepton87

Platinum Member
Jul 28, 2009
2,544
9
81
Cheaper and faster or slower and more expensive with less OC headroom to boot, it's such a tough choice, I would just flip a coin ;)
 

Fx1

Golden Member
Aug 22, 2012
1,215
5
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id get 2x 670 GTX since none of those cards will max 1440 resolution in some games at 60 FPS or if money is an issue then go for 2x 660 TI GTX cards.
 

VitaX

Member
Dec 17, 2012
32
0
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id get 2x 670 GTX since none of those cards will max 1440 resolution in some games at 60 FPS or if money is an issue then go for 2x 660 TI GTX cards.
If I did that, should I get the 2GB version of 4GB version of the card?
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
for 1440p, 7950 crossfire OC'd, but if that's asking too much, single 7970 OC'd
 

DooKey

Golden Member
Nov 9, 2005
1,811
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If you are going to stick to one card buy the 7970 Ghz OC. If you are thinking of multi-card then I'd buy 2 GTX 670s.
 

Ferzerp

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,438
107
106
If you know you will stick with one, go the AMD.

If you're looking to add a second later, go nvidia.
 

The Alias

Senior member
Aug 22, 2012
646
58
91
perfrel_2560.gif

this should explain our choices
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,605
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Depends on the games. In some games AMD has a significant advantage, in other Nvidia has one. The 7970 GHz is a mere 10% faster on average in TPUs benchmark collection. 10% is nothing. If you pick specific titles, that can change drastically of course.

I would pick neither and wait for the refreshes which shouldn't be far off. 3 months at most I would presume. Regardless which GPU is used (GK114 or GK110 or whatever), the GTX780 likely will have a 384bit memory interface too, so this should even the playing field a bit.
 

The Alias

Senior member
Aug 22, 2012
646
58
91
Depends on the games. In some games AMD has a significant advantage, in other Nvidia has one. The 7970 GHz is a mere 10% faster on average in TPUs benchmark collection. 10% is nothing. If you pick specific titles, that can change drastically of course.

I would pick neither and wait for the refreshes which shouldn't be far off. 3 months at most I would presume. Regardless which GPU is used (GK114 or GK110 or whatever), the GTX780 likely will have a 384bit memory interface too, so this should even the playing field a bit.

dude the only games the 680 won were borderlands 2, tws2, starcraft, and wow and besides starcraft the fps difference little to none .
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,605
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dude the only games the 680 won were borderlands 2, tws2, starcraft, and wow and besides starcraft the fps difference little to none .

So? I didn't say otherwise. On average the 7970 GE is 10% faster in these 19 benchmarks. Additionally, the 680 will win in AC3, COD BO2, tie or win in FC3 and tie or win with SGSSAA. In single titles there may be significant differences between these cards, but on average with a broad selection of titles, they are almost equal.
 
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UaVaj

Golden Member
Nov 16, 2012
1,546
0
76
perfrel_2560.gif

this should explain our choices

let me add/elaborate. for that extra high resolution. you definitely want amd. higher memory bandwidth and larger vram. which are necessary ingredient for extra high resolution. which nvidia currently lacks.
 

raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,475
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So? I didn't say otherwise. On average the 7970 GE is 10% faster in these 19 benchmarks. Additionally, the 680 will win in AC3, COD BO2, tie or win in FC3 and tie or win with SGSSAA. In single titles there may be significant differences between these cards, but on average with a broad selection of titles, they are almost equal.

HD 7970 ghz is on average 10 - 15% faster than GTX 680 at 1440p. This is including the games where GTX 680 wins. If you only counted AMD wins it would be much faster. the HD 7970 Ghz wins the majority of the games and with significant margins. 10 - 15% on average is not a small difference.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/11/12/fall_2012_gpu_driver_comparison_roundup/3

http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page12.html

"Breaking down performance figures at 1920x1200, the GeForce GTX 680 was just ~1% faster than the Radeon HD 7970, while it trailed the 7970 GHz Edition by a 7% margin. This doesn’t change at 2560x1600, where the GeForce GTX 680 is 2% slower than the Radeon HD 7970 and 11% slower than the 7970 GHz Edition"

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...12-11-never-settle-driver-performance-17.html

at 2560 x 1600 Extreme settings the HD 7970 Ghz is on avg 15% faster than GTX 680.
 

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2011
2,605
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HD 7970 ghz is on average 10 - 15% faster than GTX 680 at 1440p. This is including the games where GTX 680 wins. If you only counted AMD wins it would be much faster. the HD 7970 Ghz wins the majority of the games and with significant margins. 10 - 15% on average is not a small difference.

Why would I do that, that is silly. Bias?
10%-15% IS a small difference. Think about it, what is that really? It certainly doesn't mean the difference between playable and unplayable. 99% of all people wouldn't even notice 10%-15%. We are still speaking about the average, just a reminder ;)
GTX680 is 9% faster than GTX670 at TPU, and 7970 GE is 10.5% faster than GTX680 at TPU (both at 1600p). So basically the distance between those pairs is the same. People always recommend the 670 over the 680 because the performance delta is so small. But when it comes to AMD vs Nvidia, the same performance delta suddenly is not so small? That is bias at its best.

20-25%, that in my opinion is a significant difference that actually begins to matter. With the current cards, it comes down to what games you like. It's best to judge on a game-to-game basis.

Just to make it clear:
I would recommend the 7970 GE because it is a tad faster and cheaper, especially with the good game bundle. But I don't like people who blow things out of proportion when the numbers don't lie.
 
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