Switching from 7950 to 680 (help!)

[Geosurface]

I recently switched from a 570 to a 7950 3gb. It's not working out for me, audio problems and overheating.

So I'm going back to Nvidia with a 680. I think.

I'm considering this EVGA 680 2gb, but the 7950 has 3gb.

I'm trying to run a setup with 3 displays, a 40" TV at 1080 on the other side of the room that I sometimes need to pipe sound to, a 27" monitor at 1200, and a secondary monitor at 1080.

I need to know whether switching to this 680 with a gig less of vram is going to be a stupid move.

I only ever game on either the 27" or the 40" TV, I don't do any multi-display gaming. Sometimes I websurf on the secondary monitor while doing certain games.

Is paying almost $150 more to lose 1gb completely stupid? Is that the wrong way to think about it? Is there another 680 I should be eyeing?

Current card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667

680 I'm eyeing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130768

 

[chimaxi83]

You're playing at 1920*1080? No, there will be little to no difference. Sounds like you're having a software/driver issue, but if brute forcing it and spending an extra $150 (for no performance gain if you overclock at all) to switch to Nvidia is what you want to do, go for it.

Also, if your TF III 7950 is "overheating" (but your old 570 wasn't? lol), then barring something defective with your card, you're doing something wrong.

 

[felang]

Just read about your audio issues in the other thread... if you have decided to go with NVIDIA I would just get a 670, the 680 is more expensive and only a bit faster. With a 670 2GB you should be able to max out any current and upcoming games at 1080p (your tv or monitor) resolution.

I would try to fix the problem you are having with the 7950 first though, overclocked it´s probably the best performance/$ card right now for 1080p gaming.

 

[Geosurface]

You're playing at 1920*1080? No, there will be little to no difference. Sounds like you're having a software/driver issue, but if brute forcing it and spending an extra $150 (for no performance gain if you overclock at all) to switch to Nvidia is what you want to do, go for it.

Also, if your TF III 7950 is "overheating" (but your old 570 wasn't? lol), then barring something defective with your card, you're doing something wrong.

the first 7950 they sent me overheated badly, people were saying it's pretty common for the thermal paste on these to be applied very poorly.

This second one isn't as bad, but it's not quite right either.

At this point the frustration with it's inability to interface with my TV the way my 570 could, is the bigger issue for me.

 

[Geosurface]

Just read about your audio issues in the other thread... if you have decided to go with NVIDIA I would just get a 670, the 680 is more expensive and only a bit faster. With a 670 2GB you should be able to max out any current and upcoming games at 1080p (your tv or monitor) resolution.

I would try to fix the problem you are having with the 7950 first though, overclocked it´s probably the best performance/$ card right now for 1080p gaming.

Will the 670 run the 3 displays as specified? I'm looking around and I saw a forum somewhere where people were saying no. They may have just meant specifically 3 display *gaming* though.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Will the 670 run the 3 displays as specified? I'm looking around and I saw a forum somewhere where people were saying no. They may have just meant specifically 3 display *gaming* though.

The GTX670 runs up to 4 screens. And you cane asily game on 3 if you wanted.

 

[thilanliyan]

The GTX670 runs up to 4 screens. And you cane asily game on 3 if you wanted.

He's asking about his specific setup which is different than the typical eyefinity/surround setup. I have no experience with multi monitor setups...sorry I can't help OP.

 

[ShintaiDK]

He's asking about his specific setup which is different than the typical eyefinity/surround setup. I have no experience with multi monitor setups...sorry I can't help OP.

And it will work perfectly fine with the setup he mentions.

Not really sure why you respond to my post?

 

[Sleepingforest]

If you have money for the 2GB 680, you probably have money for a 670 with 4GB of memory. That should be plenty to handle 3 monitors/TVs.

I believe this $450 card is factory overclocked as high as a stock 680.

 

[ShintaiDK]

4GB vs 2GB makes no difference for what he is using. You hardly use any VRAM at all putting from browser on screen2 and run a movie on the TV aka screen 3.

I got a Dell U2713HM, Dell U2407FPW and a Samsung UE55ES7005. So I know

 

[felang]

4GB vs 2GB makes no difference for what he is using. You hardly use any VRAM at all putting from browser on screen2 and run a movie on the TV aka screen 3.

I got a Dell U2713HM, Dell U2407FPW and a Samsung UE55ES7005. So I know

Exactly what ShintaiDK said. If you´re only gaming in one screen at a time 4gb is a complete waste. Yuo should have no problems hooking up three different displays to a 670 2GB.

 

[Geosurface]

Exactly what ShintaiDK said. If you´re only gaming in one screen at a time 4gb is a complete waste. Yuo should have no problems hooking up three different displays to a 670 2GB.

So something like Far Cry 3 on one screen at 2gb can perform identically to it on one screen with 4gb?

 

[Dankk]

So something like Far Cry 3 on one screen at 2gb can perform identically to it on one screen with 4gb?

Correct. Far Cry 3 will never use more than 2GB of video memory on a single 1080p screen. If you're playing with a 4GB card, then that extra 2GB will just sit there and do nothing. The game won't utilize that extra memory unless you're playing at a very high resolution/multi-monitors.

 

[thilanliyan]

And it will work perfectly fine with the setup he mentions.

Not really sure why you respond to my post?

Sorry, I was also going by his other thread, where he said he was having trouble sending audio to the TV (he got the video working fine). I'm sure just having the 3 screens he mentions will be fine, but will sending audio to the TV work as well, with the 670? I have no idea to be honest. Was just trying to provide more context to his setup and his previous problem, which I didn't do a good job of admittedly.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Will the 670 run the 3 displays as specified? I'm looking around and I saw a forum somewhere where people were saying no. They may have just meant specifically 3 display *gaming* though.

With a GTX 670 or 680 you can run HDMI out to your TV, and you have TWO dual link DVI ports on your card. One is analog only (remember that if you need to have digital).

The problem with the audio is in the driver package that it tries to send PCM or somesuch that your TV can't pick up. Install just the video drivers and leave out the HD Audio driver. The HDMI audio device will appear as a Generic HDMI sound device in the playback devices section. That will output stereo audio that your TV can understand and play back.

Try the above BEFORE buying a card. It might work for the AMD cards too. Apparently with Nvidia's software it is trying to output a format that only a receiver could decode or output. It might be fixed in new drivers, but when I did a quick search a thread on guru3d came up that was from last month.

 

[UaVaj]

Will the 670 run the 3 displays as specified? I'm looking around and I saw a forum somewhere where people were saying no. They may have just meant specifically 3 display *gaming* though.

NOPE.

read my thread if you want more info.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2288623

 

[ShintaiDK]

With a GTX 670 or 680 you can run HDMI out to your TV, and you have TWO dual link DVI ports on your card. One is analog only (remember that if you need to have digital).

You got it mixed up. Both are digital and only one can handle an analog monitor.

Its DVI-D + DVI-I + HDMI + Displayport on the cards.

 

[cmdrdredd]

You got it mixed up. Both are digital and only one can handle an analog monitor.

Its DVI-D + DVI-I + HDMI + Displayport on the cards.

Yeah you're right. I should have said only one is analog compatible.

 

[ShintaiDK]

NOPE.

read my thread if you want more info.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2288623

You refer to 3 screen gaming, as the OP aint asking for.