Update: 7970! New Dell U3011, Need new GPU-GTX680?

[RaistlinZ]

My CPU is at 3.2. I can get 3.4 and it's stable but since I've still got my stock HS/fan it run a bit hot over 3.2.

It would cost me about $300 for the 680 after sell my 6950...or about 225ish for another 6950. I would then unlock them to 6970's.

Thanks for all the feedback so far. Was leaning towards the 680 when I made the thread. Think that option still has the slight lead. I'm not terribly worried about all the new games coming out. Only have time for a few select ones.

I play Starcraft 2 and Star Wars: The old Republic mostly. And I jump on BF3 from time to time.

Throw a better HSF on that mofo. No excuse not to since you can afford a U3011 and $500 video cards.

 

[saratoga172]

Throw a better HSF on that mofo. No excuse not to since you can afford a U3011 and $500 video cards.

I may do that. When I built it I didn't need to oc. Now if it's necessary I won't hesitate.

I guess my other option I've been considering is to just build a new rig and salvage what components I can. I was hoping for a one card easy solution though.

Any idea if my current proc would bottleneck a 7970 or a 680?

 

[Ferzerp]

You should be fine in most all situations. If people are gaming with a BD, you're ok with a 3.2 Ghz Nehalem. At least with one video card.

 

[jacktesterson]

I think the best bang for buck solution is a 2nd 6950. I think you'd be happy, even at 16x-4x should be fine. When the 2500k's just came out, I was running a 1090T @ 3.9 GHz with 2x 6950's at 2560x1440, and I was very happy. I had no issues gaming. It was a Dell 27 incher Ultrasharp. I couldn't stand the small text, these eyes just didn't go with that Res. I prefer 1920x1200.

or if you don't mid selling the 6950...


Sell it and buy a 7970.

If you O/C it will be no different than a 680, even O/C'd... and 3GB ram vs 2GB.

Lots of them on the net for $440-460 range used.

 

[Elfear]

Once prices drop to rumored levels ($479 + 3 games) I would go for a 7970. You can sell the games for $30-40 so total cost would only be $440-450. Most games won't need the extra 1GB of vram over the 680 but a few will benefit at 1600p (Skyrim for example). I went from a pair of 6950's@880Mhz to the card in my sig. Even at conservative clocks of 1225-1250Mhz it compares very well to the 6950's without the occasional hiccup that Crossfire presented. For my needs the 7970 is a great choice for 1600p gaming.

 

[jacktesterson]

You processor is fine for that Res and a 7970.

Since when is 40FPS unplayable? For me its fine.

A 7970 is going to game just fine at that Res with your CPU. High or better settings in 90% of games.

Sent from my LG-P935 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ferzerp]

Since when is 40FPS unplayable? For me its fine.

All of us are slightly different. There are people who can tell up in to the 60's. For me, it's the low 50's. I'd rather feel that 40's are playable, but I can perceive a slight offness about it. Part of it is based purely on the visual aspect of it, and part of it is based on the input delay. Part of it is probably based on variations in FPS where a frame or two come slightly slower than the others are.

All I know is the low 50's is the point where I stop perceiving any oddities in the display, and so I prefer to keep the framerate above that.

 

[JBT]

Get two 7850's and OC them. Same price as a GTX680, but faster. Of course you have to deal the various issues of multi GPU.

As far as FPS goes. If the game is sitting in the 40's normally its fine. If I'm going from 70FPS down to 40 its noticeable to me.

 

[saratoga172]

Quick update:

Picked up a 7970 last night. Got it installed and put it through its paces on a couple games. Maxed out everything except AA on SWTOR. I was getting consistent fps in the 60 range in bigger battles and 100's just running around. The bigger thing though is there was no jumpiness or stuttering. Very smooth gameplay.

I also tested my 6950, which was unlocked to the 6970 via bios flash, before I got it. To give reference for the same settings on the 6950 I was getting around 30ish and bottoming out around 25 in bigger battles. It was jumpy and skipped a few times. Running around was in the 60's. Almost a double increase in speed.

I'm very satisfied thus far. I've got a couple more games to try. I'll be giving SC2 a whirl in the next few days. Haven't fired up BF3 in a while so I may see how that one does as well. This card also overclocks like a champ. I'm at 1125/1575 from the stock settings with a reference cooler. Runs cooler than my 6950 did as well.

Raistlinz: I picked up the Cooler Master v8 for my proc as well as some Arctic Silver 5. With my 3.2 OC my proc temps have dropped from 50
s idle to lows 30's and high 20's. Running prime 95 I'm topping out around low 60's. Compare that with the 90's I was seeing.

Unless a GTX680 comes back in stock in the next 30 days and there are radical improvements in games I think I'm set. My system seems to be purring along now.

I wouldn't be against a GTX685 though if nVidia wanted to release one in say 2-3 weeks.

 

[Ferzerp]

If you bought a 7970, even if the 680 is back in stock, i'd not switch unless there are a few borderline playable things that you know are faster on nv. The difference is pretty minor.

 

[Wuzup101]

So I have to ask - how do you like the u3011? I am planning to purchase one in the next 2 months or so for the release of guild wars 2 (and to replace my aging dell 2407fwp). I was a bit worried about gaming performance given my current 6950 xfire setup, but it seems that I should be okay and be able to play most things at high-ish settings (other than BF3 I'm not playing anything really demanding). So I have to ask - how awesome is the monitor (lol)?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I use a 7970 1175 1625 with u2711 at 25x14. Most games run perfect at 25x14 without aa, max settings with rare drops below 60 fps if ever including bf3, Alan wake. Crisis 1 runs fine at 25x14 max no aa with avg fps 50ish or so. Crysis 2 19x10 max no aa with high Rez pack with dx11 with avg fps 60-80 and rarely below 50-60. Without dx11 without high Rez pack I can play at 25x14 smoothly. Pretty much all games run maxed out at 25x14 max some with aa some with out aa, rarely does fps drop below 60. Exceptions crysis2 metro.

And crysis2 looks perfect even with 19x10 and 19x12. No blurriest at all, just perfect.

Skyrim 25x14 max 8x aa mostly 60 fps or always 60 fps

But my core is like 25% oc and mem around 20% oc.

A 7970 oc will outperform 6950 cf in terms of fps in most games and give better experience than 6970 oc cf or 6990 oc

 

[RaistlinZ]

Quick update:

Picked up a 7970 last night. Got it installed and put it through its paces on a couple games. Maxed out everything except AA on SWTOR. I was getting consistent fps in the 60 range in bigger battles and 100's just running around. The bigger thing though is there was no jumpiness or stuttering. Very smooth gameplay.

I also tested my 6950, which was unlocked to the 6970 via bios flash, before I got it. To give reference for the same settings on the 6950 I was getting around 30ish and bottoming out around 25 in bigger battles. It was jumpy and skipped a few times. Running around was in the 60's. Almost a double increase in speed.

I'm very satisfied thus far. I've got a couple more games to try. I'll be giving SC2 a whirl in the next few days. Haven't fired up BF3 in a while so I may see how that one does as well. This card also overclocks like a champ. I'm at 1125/1575 from the stock settings with a reference cooler. Runs cooler than my 6950 did as well.

Raistlinz: I picked up the Cooler Master v8 for my proc as well as some Arctic Silver 5. With my 3.2 OC my proc temps have dropped from 50
s idle to lows 30's and high 20's. Running prime 95 I'm topping out around low 60's. Compare that with the 90's I was seeing.

Unless a GTX680 comes back in stock in the next 30 days and there are radical improvements in games I think I'm set. My system seems to be purring along now.

I wouldn't be against a GTX685 though if nVidia wanted to release one in say 2-3 weeks.

Nice. We're pretty much in the same boat spec wise. I think our setup will last for at least another 2 years before feeling the need to upgrade.

 

[saratoga172]

So I have to ask - how do you like the u3011? I am planning to purchase one in the next 2 months or so for the release of guild wars 2 (and to replace my aging dell 2407fwp). I was a bit worried about gaming performance given my current 6950 xfire setup, but it seems that I should be okay and be able to play most things at high-ish settings (other than BF3 I'm not playing anything really demanding). So I have to ask - how awesome is the monitor (lol)?

I must say I'm quite enjoying the extra screen real estate. At first I thought 24 was fine and the 30's were overkill.

But working for the IT dept has its perks. Was able to get work to get me one for my pc there. I went from 2 24's to the Dell U3011. It's freaking sweet. It's monstrous and makes the 24's seem small. Liked it so much I picked one up for myself for home...was able to apply some discounts so I didn't pay $1400.

Your xfire 6950's should actually work pretty well on most games. You might knock out a couple of the high end settings but should get to keep most turned up. Biggest improvement for me is turning off AA when I'm playing SWTOR. My frames jump up around 50-60%. Much smoother as well.

When you get it though you'll like it. The monitor is simply amazing. I've got a pic of it sitting next to my 24 at home if you want to see the difference size wise.

 

[saratoga172]

Nice. We're pretty much in the same boat spec wise. I think our setup will last for at least another 2 years before feeling the need to upgrade.

Sweet. You're CPU is a bit better than mine but I've yet to really come close to taxing my PC. Recently I haven't done a lot of taxing computer tasks. That'll change soon with the development I'm picking up for work and my side business. But I beefed up my ram to 16GB which is what's really going to help me most...up from 4GB which I was utilizing.

Only thing I'll need in the near future (2-3 months) is another, bigger SSD. Probably 256 unless a 512 comes down the pipe for a smoking deal. 256 should cover my needs.

But otherwise I see this PC lasting me another couple years unless I just get the upgrade itch because CPU's have jumped so far forward.

 

[shellbunner]

Man, I'm debating waiting for the FTW version of the 680's, or picking up the Dual X Sapphire 7970, and overclocking the hell out of that for my U3011.
I love this monitor, but my 6850 CF is struggling.

Saratoga, have you tried any other games yet? Curious how they are.
Thx for your posts, they're helping me decide which direction to go.

 

[Rvenger]

nvm

 

[Olikan]

680 powers my dell 30". I sold my 7970.

how much did you lost for 10% of performance?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

how much did you lost for 10% of performance?

Its not even 10% performance. Once you overclock both, when both are at 1200 then the 7970 is about 5%+ faster But of course not in every game, in a large number of games it will still be 5% slower.

So about even you can say. In fact assuming the same core clock, overall the 7970 is a bit faster but that small difference is irrelevant.

 

[saratoga172]

I originally got the 7970 before the GTX 670 dropped. I was satisfied but felt I needed a bit more for the 30 inch monitor.

Took my card back to Fry's and exchanged it plus some dough for dual GTX670's. My mobo didn't support SLI however so I upgraded my system. Got a Z77 MSI mobo and an i5-2500k. Also picked up a new 950W PSU for the SLI config.

Got the MSI OC'd 670's for $399 each. Ran a quick test with the stock setup for the cards with the new proc. Nothing overclocked. Fresh Windows install with the latest drivers. Ran very smoothly.

I've since OC'd my proc to 4.5 stable. Running a CM v8 on it keeps it at 67-69 under 100% load max. Low 30's during idle. 670's are still stock but I plan on overclocking them a bit (10% or so most likely). They are beastly right now though.

I play a lot of Star Wars: The Old Republic right now and it seems to be a bit more CPU intensive like Starcraft however it utilizes to some extent the 4 cores. I rarely see over 35-40% usage across cores though. Before I was OC'd it was around 45-50%. So temps are similar in the low 50 range. Frames are 90's and up. Never seen it dip below the 80's. Average is probably low 100's. Very smooth gameplay. No stuttering whatsoever.

SC2 is another game I play from time to time. SLI doesn't seem to play too much into SC2. With one card it was already over 100. With 2 I'm about 120 or so. Peaks higher but I'd say about average. After the CPU OC I'm sitting about 135-140ish.

BF3 is in the low 80's with my cards being stock as I bought them...slight OC. CPU Oc only bumped it by a couple frames. Game ran smooth before and after OC. I'll report back after my OC how BF3 reacts.

Overall extremely happy with the SLI 670's as a whole. Everything maxed and nothing drops below 80fps average. This should last me a while as I'm not always updating my games catalogue every month. I tend to get a game and play it for a bit. I can always revert to gaming on the 1080p monitor as well if necessary. But that won't be for at least a year or two.

 

[blackened23]

Of note is the single review that I've seen test this theory in BF3 and shows it to be a faulty theory. The 7970 has more memory, but the same settings consume much, much more memory (and this was at much, much higher resolution). The review is in multi-gpu configurations, but that shouldn't change much here.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/28/nvidia_kepler_geforce_gtx_680_sli_video_card_review/5

Fezerp, I agree with your principle that getting more than 2gb is not worth it. 2gb 680 is a better buy for sure. You can easily pass 2gb in certain games with high AA levels, but there are very few games where this is applicable. Remember, presentation stuff takes VERY LITTLE vram but MSAA eats it up like no tomorrow.

The first thing to know about bf3 is that it dynamically changes LOD depending on available VRAM. So you're not really understanding how frostbite 2 works. If you have more VRAM, it will take advantage of it-- So if you have 3-4gb of VRAM, slight gain in LOD. If you have 2gb, thats fine too, no performance hit but less LOD. This was discussed by a DICE developer at last years geforce LAN, youtube it if you doubt this.

Crysis 2 with HD textures modded and DX11 tessellation passes 2gb of VRAM at 1600p if you are using ULTRA detail, as does metro 2033 with all of the bells and whistles enabled at 1600p. Dont' believe it? Run the games with MSI afterburner overlay at 1600p with those test conditions. Furthermore, many DX11 games where you want to enable SGSSAA can also surpass 2gb of VRAM, in some cases 4-8X MSAA will also do the same thing, but there's VERY VERY few titles where this is applicable. If you doubt this, run MSI AFTERBURNER overlay with memory usage showing at a 1600p resolution. Its black and white, i've been toying with a 4gb 680 recently and it definitely does pass 2gb in a few games.

Again - I agree with your principle -- getting more than 2gb isn't worth it. But you're wrong in your assertion that you can never pass 2gb, that just isn't true. Its just rare and limited to a few titles that not many people play anymore, and its also conditional based on the level of AA you're using. There is also a large variation in VRAM usage among different games. I just played SR3 at 1600p with 8X MSAA and VRAM usage was around 1.25gb. Crysis 2 however, was right at 2.4gb. Crysis 2, metro 2033, skyrim modded to hell and back with high levels of MSAA to name a few are games that can potentially pass 2gb in the right test conditions.. But you have to be at a high resolution 1440p+ or surround with high AA levels to bring this to light. For the average cretin at 1080p it doesn't make a difference.

 

[palladium]

Off topic: Just curios, OP can you manage to get 10bpp support for your U3011 using DP? Or is that feature still limited to Quadro cards only..?

 

[saratoga172]

Off topic: Just curios, OP can you manage to get 10bpp support for your U3011 using DP? Or is that feature still limited to Quadro cards only..?

I haven't tested it to be honest. I've only used the dual link DVI thus far for my connection. nVidia drivers are supposed to support it though. I can always test it out I suppose.

 

[lopri]

Once prices drop to rumored levels ($479 + 3 games) I would go for a 7970. You can sell the games for $30-40 so total cost would only be $440-450. Most games won't need the extra 1GB of vram over the 680 but a few will benefit at 1600p (Skyrim for example). I went from a pair of 6950's@880Mhz to the card in my sig. Even at conservative clocks of 1225-1250Mhz it compares very well to the 6950's without the occasional hiccup that Crossfire presented. For my needs the 7970 is a great choice for 1600p gaming.

Well as of now I think I'll forget about both and get back to the real life for a while. I thought I was going to pick either a 7970 or 670/680, then 670 supply apparently doesn't meet demand and now 7970 prices are going up.

Since I'm not in a rush on anything I'll just wait it out until the initial craze dies off.

 

[saratoga172]

Well as of now I think I'll forget about both and get back to the real life for a while. I thought I was going to pick either a 7970 or 670/680, then 670 supply apparently doesn't meet demand and now 7970 prices are going up.

Since I'm not in a rush on anything I'll just wait it out until the initial craze dies off.

If you look around you can score a 670 for $400. As of right now Newegg has 6 different 670's in stock.

I have two of these MSI's I snagged from a local retailer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127675

And the 7970's are on Newegg starting at $459 but the $469 Sapphire with the aftermarket cooling would be a better buy imo.

I still highly recommend the 670's in SLI for even the 30 inch dell I've got. I've yet to tax my VRAM and I've got all settings cranked up on the games mentioned above. Most taxing I've seen is BF3 at about 1.7 GB. Star Wars has peaked at almost 2 a couple times but usually holds steady under 1GB believe it or not.

Using MSI Afterburner as my measuring tool.