Trying to decide between 660 TI, 670 2GB, 7950 or 7970?

[CaptainZombie]

I am trying to decide on getting a new videocard soon. I was going to wait for the 700 series, but since there doesn't seem to be that big of a jump from rumors I don't mind going with a 600 series card. I currently have a EVGA 560 2GB SC which has been running pretty well, but I am starting to feel an achilles heel with some of the newer games like Bioshock Infinite and Crysis 3 having to really dial back settings. Whichever card I go with, I'd hope to get 2 years out of the card since I'd like to upgrade once one of the next gen cards comes out.

I am playing on a 50 inch HDTV @ 1080p, so it would be single monitor use only.

Specs
i5 2500k
8 GB DDR3 1333
EVGA 560 2GB SC
ASRock Pro 3M

I was considering one of the following,

-EVGA 660 TI 2GB or 3GB; I was reading the 3GB FTW SC comes close to 670 2GB performance, is that true?

-EVGA 670 2GB

-MSI 7950 or 7970; I've never owned an AMD based video card so I am really on the fence with AMD.

 

[3DVagabond]

The 7970GE (gigahertz edition) would be the fastest overall. If you are into O/C'ing then you can go with a 7950 and save some dollars. Once O/C'd there's no difference in game play experience between it and the 7970 (Assuming both cards are avg. O/C'ers). Clock for clock they're that close in overall performance.

 

[raghu78]

if you want to buy now go with HD 7950 boost.at the same clocks HD 7950 is 5% slower than HD 7970. average overclocks of 1100 - 1150 mhz which puts you on par or slightly ahead of a stock HD 7970 Ghz(1050 mhz). HD 7950(1150 Mhz) competes with a GTX 670(1250 mhz). for USD 300 - 325 its the price perf champ.

if you can wait Nvidia is going to release the GTX 760 Ti next month . this card is basically a GTX 670 with higher clocks. expected price USD 300

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/new...2c-gtx770-is-gtx6802c-gtx760ti-is-gtx670.aspx

 

[toyota]

since most people here will never even bother to ask, you need to list ALL of your current specs.

and there is zero point in going with the 3gb gtx660 ti over the 2gb model for single card use. a single gtx660ti is not capable of running games at settings that need more than 2gb of vram. heck if anything the 3gb could actually be slower in some cases.

 

[Sohaltang]

if you want to buy now go with HD 7950 boost.at the same clocks HD 7950 is 5% slower than HD 7970. average overclocks of 1100 - 1150 mhz which puts you on par or slightly ahead of a stock HD 7970 Ghz(1050 mhz). HD 7950(1150 Mhz) competes with a GTX 670(1250 mhz). for USD 300 - 325 its the price perf champ.

if you can wait Nvidia is going to release the GTX 760 Ti next month . this card is basically a GTX 670 with higher clocks. expected price USD 300

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/new...2c-gtx770-is-gtx6802c-gtx760ti-is-gtx670.aspx

All things equal you can get the 7970 for 375 and overclock it as well. Once your into it for over 300$ you might as well grab the Tahiti. I dislike when people compare overclocked cards to the next card up running at stock. The next card up will overclock too. Your into it for all that $$ so you might as well go for the win.

FWIW based on this advice the 7870 TAHITI is even a better buy. 230ish and you can push your marks higher than the stock 7950 or the stock 7970.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tahiti-le-7870-7930-benchmark,3401-5.html

 

[raghu78]

All things equal you can get the 7970 for 375 and overclock it as well. Once your into it for over 300$ you might as well grab the Tahiti. I dislike when people compare overclocked cards to the next card up running at stock. The next card up will overclock too. Your into it for all that $$ so you might as well go for the win.

FWIW based on this advice the 7870 TAHITI is even a better buy. 230ish and you can push your marks higher than the stock 7950 or the stock 7970.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tahiti-le-7870-7930-benchmark,3401-5.html

the Sapphire HD 7870 XT which has a good dual x cooler is USD 260. the powercolor hd 7870 Tahiti LE does not have a good cooling solution. it gets loud when overclocked. for 50 - 60 dollars more the HD 7950 boost provides 15% better performance at stock and even more when overclocked.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

the HD 7950 boost provides the best price perf at the high end without a doubt. even at stock speeds its 5% slower than HD 7970(925 Mhz). HD 7950 requires 50 - 75 mhz higher clocks to match HD 7970.

 

[3DVagabond]

All things equal you can get the 7970 for 375 and overclock it as well. Once your into it for over 300$ you might as well grab the Tahiti. I dislike when people compare overclocked cards to the next card up running at stock. The next card up will overclock too. Your into it for all that $$ so you might as well go for the win.

FWIW based on this advice the 7870 TAHITI is even a better buy. 230ish and you can push your marks higher than the stock 7950 or the stock 7970.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tahiti-le-7870-7930-benchmark,3401-5.html

Actually, once you overclock both the 7950 and the 7970 the 7950 is still a better value. There would hardly, if ever, be a time that, with both cards O/C'd, it would be possible to differentiate between the two in game play. The performance is that close.

If the OP was going to do some compute work (OpenCL rendering), then the extra shader power of the 7970 would be a worthwhile advantage. Just playing games though, not so much.

 

[Sohaltang]

the Sapphire HD 7870 XT which has a good dual x cooler is USD 260. the powercolor hd 7870 Tahiti LE does not have a good cooling solution. it gets loud when overclocked. for 50 - 60 dollars more the HD 7950 boost provides 15% better performance at stock and even more when overclocked.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

the HD 7950 boost provides the best price perf at the high end without a doubt. even at stock speeds its 5% slower than HD 7970(925 Mhz). HD 7950 requires 50 - 75 mhz higher clocks to match HD 7970.

Most 7970s have not ran at 925 since release a year ago. Many for about $375 are running 1ghz plus boost.

FWIW I never have an issue with fans getting "loud". Some do but over my system you cant hear my straight pipe mustang start up. If your gaming at whisper quit then you dont need to OC your card. If your not gonna OC then the 7970 is where its at.

 

[Sohaltang]

Actually, once you overclock both the 7950 and the 7970 the 7950 is still a better value. There would hardly, if ever, be a time that, with both cards O/C'd, it would be possible to differentiate between the two in game play. The performance is that close.

If the OP was going to do some compute work (OpenCL rendering), then the extra shader power of the 7970 would be a worthwhile advantage. Just playing games though, not so much.

I agree. At 1080 the 7870 Myst will perform pretty much on par as well. Might as well spend the 50$ on cheap broads and booze lol.

 

[Sohaltang]

I agree. At 1080 the 7870 Myst will perform pretty much on par as well. Might as well spend the 50$ on cheap broads and booze lol.

Ill go one step farther and really PO the GPU fanboys. @ 1080 you might as well buy a PS4 for 400$ and play on you 60 inch plasma.

 

[raghu78]

Most 7970s have not ran at 925 since release a year ago. Many for about $375 are running 1ghz plus boost.

FWIW I never have an issue with fans getting "loud". Some do but over my system you cant hear my straight pipe mustang start up. If your gaming at whisper quit then you dont need to OC your card. If your not gonna OC then the 7970 is where its at.

the HD 7970 OC cards cost USD 400 - 420. none of them are at USD 375. you are looking at a USD 90 - 100 price difference between the lowest priced HD 7950 boost and HD 7970 OC cards. given that 1100 - 1150 mhz is quite common on both HD 7950 boost and HD 7970 OC cards its upto the OP to decide if he wants to pay almost 100 dollars for 5% more perf.

Sapphire HD 7970 OC (1000 mhz)
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-H7970CB
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DV...dp/B009B6Y01Y/

MSI HD 7970 TF3 OC (1050 Mhz)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...460&CatId=7387
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127732

 

[Sohaltang]

the HD 7970 OC cards cost USD 400 - 420. none of them are at USD 375. you are looking at a USD 90 - 100 price difference between the lowest priced HD 7950 boost and HD 7970 OC cards. given that 1100 - 1150 mhz is quite common on both HD 7950 boost and HD 7970 OC cards its upto the OP to decide if he wants to pay almost 100 dollars for 5% more perf.

Sapphire HD 7970 OC (1000 mhz)
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-H7970CB
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DV...dp/B009B6Y01Y/

MSI HD 7970 TF3 OC (1050 Mhz)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...460&CatId=7387
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127732

I paid 379AR (newegg, I posted the link in the deal section 2 weeks ago) delivered for the sapphire 7970 OC and got 3 games. If you cant resell 3 games for 4.99$ then Im totally wrong. In hindsite the 7870 myst for 230$ would have been the better deal. I dont really regret it, the 7970 will scale better as the prices fall next year. The 7950 is IMHO no mans land. Paying more for the same performance of the MYST and still cant say you got the best card under 500$. If 50$ makes a difference between 7950 and 7970, another 50$ makes even more since for the MYST.

 

[raghu78]

I paid 379AR (newegg, I posted the link in the deal section 2 weeks ago) delivered for the sapphire 7970 OC and got 3 games. If you cant resell 3 games for 4.99$ then Im totally wrong. In hindsite the 7870 myst for 230$ would have been the better deal. I dont really regret it, the 7970 will scale better as the prices fall next year. The 7950 is IMHO no mans land. Paying more for the same performance of the MYST and still cant say you got the best card under 500$. If 50$ makes a difference between 7950 and 7970, another 50$ makes even more since for the MYST.

the Sapphire HD 7950 boost cards can be found from time to time at USD 290 (270 after mail in rebate). just as you found a good deal on HD 7970 OC at USD 380 AR there are scores of users who bought HD 7950 boost cards at USD 270 AR. the price difference between HD 7950 boost and HD 7970 OC is USD 90 - 110. its definitely not 50 dollars. you are the only person I have heard say the HD 7950 is in no man's land. the opinion among buyers is the HD 7950 represents the best value among high end cards. period. no arguments.

 

[CaptainZombie]

I have to really be careful with overclocking, I just bought this Fractal Design Node 605 last week. I moved everything from my Cooler Master case and this is what my setup looks like. I'm afraid that if I start overclocking in this case, I can grill burgers for everyone. I do have 5 fans on this case and will be looking to add a 3rd party cooler to the CPU to just keep things cool in this case. I also plan to get a modular PSU this week to cut down on the cables.

I know I can fit a 7970 in here, since I've seen it installed with some reviews of this case. I've been a longtime Nvidia customer so a part of me is concerned with going to AMD due to reading about drivers, etc.

If I were to go with a 7950 or 7970, how much wattage should my PSU be?

 

[raghu78]

I have to really be careful with overclocking, I just bought this Fractal Design Node 605 last week. I moved everything from my Cooler Master case and this is what my setup looks like. I'm afraid that if I start overclocking in this case, I can grill burgers for everyone. I do have 5 fans on this case and will be looking to add a 3rd party cooler to the CPU to just keep things cool in this case. I also plan to get a modular PSU this week to cut down on the cables.

I know I can fit a 7970 in here, since I've seen it installed with some reviews of this case. I've been a longtime Nvidia customer so a part of me is concerned with going to AMD due to reading about drivers, etc.

If I were to go with a 7950 or 7970, how much wattage should my PSU be?

a quality 500w - 550w psu with atleast 36A on +12v rail, preferably 40A. also for single GPU HD 7900 cards drivers are good . even for CF the frame pacing driver should be released in July.

when buying the card check the length of the card and make sure it will fit in your case.

 

[CaptainZombie]

a quality 500w - 550w psu with atleast 36A on +12v rail, preferably 40A. also for single GPU HD 7900 cards drivers are good . even for CF the frame pacing driver should be released in July.

when buying the card check the length of the card and make sure it will fit in your case.

I am looking to pick up a 600W modular, most likely this one here. Going to move that 550W in my current setup into my kids PC since its a better PSU than what they have now.

Corsair CX Series CP-9020060-NA 600W
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...erReviewsBlock

My brother has several MSI 7970 Reference Cards and he was telling me everything he has thrown at it the thing works like a charm. He also does a lot of bitcoining with his cards too. I'm not interested in bitcoin just pure gaming. He even offered to sell me one of his 7970's, he was considering the 7990.