Which is considered the best 7770?

[4soundz]

After starting this thread..

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35513804&posted=1#post35513804


..I'm more or less thinking of getting an HD7770 but there are so many to choose from, which is considered the best one? is there an overclocked one like Gigabyte or XFX?

 

[Magic Carpet]

No one can answer this question. Sorry.

Buy whatever's cheapest 7770 with 2 gigs of VRAM and hope for the best

I personally fancy this design, but I doubt you can find it in stock:

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/31/f5f1.jpg/]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/URL]

 

[AnonymouseUser]

No one can answer this question. Sorry.

Buy whatever's cheapest with 2 gigs of VRAM and hope for the best

Wow, that's actually terrible advice. More often than not, low-end cards with extra RAM are running slower RAM (G/DDR3) which hurts the performance more than the extra RAM helps. The HD7770 is not powerful enough to really take advantage of more than 1GB RAM anyway.

Get an HD7770 with 1GB RAM and be sure it's GDDR5. The best advice is to simply get one of the highest rated cards on Newegg and/or Amazon at the best price (you can buy it elsewhere if you choose). There won't be a lot of performance difference between similar cards, but the ratings will help narrow the field to the more reliable cards.

 

[4soundz]

Wow, that's actually terrible advice. More often than not, low-end cards with extra RAM are running slower RAM (G/DDR3) which hurts the performance more than the extra RAM helps. The HD7770 is not powerful enough to really take advantage of more than 1GB RAM anyway.

Get an HD7770 with 1GB RAM and be sure it's GDDR5. The best advice is to simply get one of the highest rated cards on Newegg and/or Amazon at the best price (you can buy it elsewhere if you choose). There won't be a lot of performance difference between similar cards, but the ratings will help narrow the field to the more reliable cards.

Thanks for that, I've found a MSI 7850 2GB for only a little bid more, would that card be a lot better than the 1GB 7770?

 

[DDRGamer]

Thanks for that, I've found a MSI 7850 2GB for only a little bid more, would that card be a lot better than the 1GB 7770?

I went through a similar dilemma. My 2GB 7850 ended up costing $25 more (after factoring in taxes)

But, general consensus is yes, significantly better.

 

[fralexandr]

Yep, 7850 is a lot faster than the 7770.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/536?vs=549

As far as I'm aware of, the 7770 only comes in gddr5 , so magic is correct. Get a 2gb card. It will help in a few games, like bioshock infinite or a modded skyrim.
we'll probably be seeing some higher res textures coming out from console ports, since consoles aren't going to be vram limited anymore.

The 7770 2gb tends to be a bit pricey compared to a 7850 2gb.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Yep, 7850 is a lot faster than the 7770.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/536?vs=549

As far as I'm aware of, the 7770 only comes in gddr5 , so magic is correct. Get a 2gb card. It will help in a few games, like bioshock infinite or a modded skyrim.
we'll probably be seeing some higher res textures coming out from console ports, since consoles aren't going to be vram limited anymore.

The 7770 2gb tends to be a bit pricey compared to a 7850 2gb.

If buying for long-term gaming (2-3 years), with todays prices and sales... IMO, this is one the best buys, currently there is and certainly, the leader in the performance per dollar chart.

OP, I'd consider saving a bit more money and pick one of those 7950's instead. But, be advised that your power supply unit is capable of feeding this card and have enough cooling inside your case. Trust me, if you are playing modern games and don't like dialing back graphics settings all the time, this will be your lucky card. It's a good moment to buy it.

If you don't need the power, 7770 is good (but I ditched one, because I couldn't smoothly play on High settings in Crysis 3 @1050) and had serious issues with PhysX games (e.g. Borderlands 2). And that sleep bug... hope you won't have it. Last I heard, 7900 series is less likely to experience these problems, due to better drivers optimization and what not. Plus, extra memory on board will come in handy down the road at some point. At these $200+ prices, it's hard not to recommend it, even if you weren't looking for one in the first place.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

The 7850 and 7950 both require a better PSU, so unless you know your PSU can handle it then stick with the 7770 or get a 7790. The 7790 is pretty much on par with the 7850 but with the power requirements, noise, and size of the 7770.

The 7790 does require the 6-pin power connector but comes with an adapter for use with 2 molex connectors, so make sure your PSU has those connectors if it doesn't have the 6-pin connector itself. At ~$110 (after rebate), it's probably the best budget card available. The 7950 @ ~$210 is probably the best mid-range card. The 2GB 7790 would be even better, but I don't know if it's really worth the additional $30.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Now that I've actually taken the time to look at your other thread, your PSU is only 350W, so don't go any higher than a 7790. The other components will limit even the 7790, but the price difference from the 7770 is fairly negligible. Save your money for a PC upgrade/replacement.

 

[crazzy.heartz]

Thanks for that, I've found a MSI 7850 2GB for only a little bid more, would that card be a lot better than the 1GB 7770?

When i am playing newer games like Crysis 3, Farcry 3 or Skyrim with high rez textures, processor utilization is less than 80%, (with High-Mid settings), but all the Ram is being used..

Another user here mentioned that Skyrim uses 1.6 Gb without any mods installed..

Would recommend you to get a 2 Gb card instead of 1 Gb.. Especially if you are going to play games at 1980x1080p with Hi-Rez textures that most games use nowadays..

Also, if you are going to use this graphics card for 2+ years, get the 7850.. It's worth the price premium..

 

[crazzy.heartz]

just checked out your original thread as well.

if you were using "Power macron power mpt-350p" with a GT8800 OC'd, that PSU should be able to handle the stock 7850 just fine..

However, there is depreciation in components with time and is the reason why i bought a 7770 (4850 replacement) for my old Core 2 duo system.. Even when i had a corsair 400W.

You can also play safe and get a 7790 which is comparable at stock speeds. 7850 won't be able to stretch it's legs anyways on the old PSU and that's where it really shines..

at 1600x900, 7770 / 7790 would play anything you throw at it..

---------------------------------

On a side note, you can get a new PSU, get the 7850 & then, OC both your GPU & CPU for the best experience..

I saw a massive jump in performance OC'ing my e7400 from 2.8 Ghz to 3.5 Ghz.. that too at stock voltage and cooler..

 

[fralexandr]

his computer from the other thread
Intel core 2 Duo CPU E8400, 3.00GHZ
Ram 2 GB
Gygabyte 8800gt slightly over clocked
Mother board Asus P5KC
Power macron power mpt-350p
Windows XP

intended resolution: probably 720p

-----

the mpt-350p is spec'd for a max of 20A on the 12v rail == 240w max for cpu + gpu
should probably be looking for gpus <175w
http://www.casing.com.tw/PDF-file/pdf-power/atx12V-MPT-350_spec.pdf
it looks like their max current ratings are probably peak, and not continuous though, so you should probably keep the gpu under 120w (i've seen several places listing it as 15A on the 12v)
the amd 7850 is probably the best card you can safely run off that PSU.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_660_OC/25.html

at 720p a 7770 1gb would probably be fine.

 

[Jimzz]

The best 7770 is a 7790


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150670

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Depends on what you're after OP.
For me, I wanted quad displays, so that limited my choices (to get 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x miniDP).

Ended up going with an open-box Gigabyte 7770 (Rev 2) from MC for $65 + tax
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4278#ov

 

[fralexandr]

The best 7770 is a 7790

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150670

but wait!, for just $21 more *AMIR* you can get an even better 7770! :
7850 2gb $154 - 25 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131473

or, but wait! for just $30 less, you can get the original 7770!:
7770 1gb $109 - $30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127687
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131488

the xfx does give lifetime warranty though, which is nice.

 

[4soundz]

his computer from the other thread
Intel core 2 Duo CPU E8400, 3.00GHZ
Ram 2 GB
Gygabyte 8800gt slightly over clocked
Mother board Asus P5KC
Power macron power mpt-350p
Windows XP

intended resolution: probably 720p

-----

the mpt-350p is spec'd for a max of 20A on the 12v rail == 240w max for cpu + gpu
should probably be looking for gpus <175w
http://www.casing.com.tw/PDF-file/pdf-power/atx12V-MPT-350_spec.pdf
it looks like their max current ratings are probably peak, and not continuous though, so you should probably keep the gpu under 120w (i've seen several places listing it as 15A on the 12v)
the amd 7850 is probably the best card you can safely run off that PSU.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_660_OC/25.html

at 720p a 7770 1gb would probably be fine.

Thank you and everybody else for all the help you are giving me, what I cant decide now is if I should go for this card

and another 2GB ram, or if I should build a new system with a better CPU etc etc. To be honest I would rather the first option if I could get away with playing new games for the next couple of years at decent settings.

 

[Magic Carpet]

If you don't mind playing at low to medium settings, then the card above will serve you well for the next 2 years.

I have a similar CPU to you, but even overclocked to 4.0 Ghz, it's about only as fast as a modern dual-core Pentium at 2.9Ghz. It was bottlenecking even a slow Geforce 640 in some games. But then again, if you don't have the funds for at least an i5 model cpu, then I wouldn't even bother upgrading.

Another 2 gigs of RAM will give you a nice boost, regardless of what you choose to do ^.

Consider upgrading your power supply unit as well, the new ones are more efficient and normally run a lot cooler. Like this.

EDIT: Seems like a quality board. It supports Core 2 Quad processors, if you could snatch one for <$80, then that could prolong useable life of your PC and make that 7850/7950 somewhat useable. It seems to support DDR3 memory, albeit its maxed at 4GB. Better to get 2x4gb DDR2 then. Upgrading this board is only feasible if you can get the parts on the cheap side. Otherwise, a new board/cpu is going to be a better option for you.

 

[4soundz]

If you don't mind playing at low to medium settings, then the card above will serve you well for the next 2 years.

I have a similar CPU to you, but even overclocked to 4.0 Ghz, it's about only as fast as a modern dual-core Pentium at 2.9Ghz. It was bottlenecking even a slow Geforce 640 in some games. But then again, if you don't have the funds for at least an i5 model cpu, then I wouldn't even bother upgrading.

Another 2 gigs of RAM will give you a nice boost, regardless of what you choose to do ^.

Consider upgrading your power supply unit as well, the new ones are more efficient and normally run a lot cooler. Like this.

EDIT: Seems like a quality board. It supports Core 2 Quad processors, if you could snatch one for <$80, then that could prolong useable life of your PC and make that 7850/7950 somewhat useable. It seems to support DDR3 memory, albeit its maxed at 4GB. Better to get 2x4gb DDR2 then. Upgrading this board is only feasible if you can get the parts on the cheap side. Otherwise, a new board/cpu is going to be a better option for you.

So

AMD A6-3670K 2.7 GHz Quad Core 80 euro
7850 2GB 155 euro
2 GB Ram 30 euro


So thats a total of 265 euro, worth it?

 

[lehtv]

Your board is an Intel board, it doesn't support AMD processors... In any case, I think it's not worth it to upgrade the processor on such an old socket. You should be looking to upgrading to either a cheap AMD AM3+ board and an FX-4300/FX-6300, or an Intel B75 board with an i3 4000-series.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Ah, you're in Eurozone, that's a different world, my friend. Due to stronger local currency buying parts in Europe is usually trickier and more expensive (I prefer to shop in the US).

So

AMD A6-3670K 2.7 GHz Quad Core 80 euro
7850 2GB 155 euro
2 GB Ram 30 euro


So thats a total of 265 euro, worth it?

Not really. I know, you are trying to save money, but you are only going to end up with a much inferior platform all together. Don't try to cut corners here. You want a least an Intel Core i5-4430 processor (preferably i5-4670K) with 1 stick of 4GB DDR3 ram (you can add more later). This is a much better processor for games and should serve you well with future video card upgrades. If you are going to pick an i5-4670K, you will need a Z87 Express based board to allow overclocking (down the road, when you are bored). If you don't need overclocking, stick to any non-K i5 cpus on H87/B85 boards.

I'd rather downgrade to a 7750/7770 and get that processor ^, than 7850 with A6-3670K. Besides, 4670K features a strong integrated graphics which you could use, until next generation of Radeon cards (circa 2013 Q4 - 2014 Q1). The Radeon 7000 series has been long on the market and is due to be replaced/refreshed rather soon. Think about that.

 

[4soundz]

Ah, you're in Eurozone, that's a different world, my friend. Due to stronger local currency buying parts in Europe is usually trickier and more expensive (I prefer to shop in the US).

Not really. I know, you are trying to save money, but you are only going to end up with a much inferior platform all together. Don't try to cut corners here. You want a least an Intel Core i5-4430 processor (preferably i5-4670K) with 1 stick of 4GB DDR3 ram (you can add more later). This is a much better processor for games and should serve you well with future video card upgrades. If you are going to pick an i5-4670K, you will need a Z87 Express based board to allow overclocking (down the road, when you are bored). If you don't need overclocking, stick to any non-K i5 cpus.

I'd rather downgrade to a 7750/7770 and get that processor ^, than 7850 with A6-3670K. Besides, 4670K features a strong integrated graphics which you could use, until next generation of Radeon cards (circa 2013 Q4 - 2014 Q1). The Radeon 7000 series has been long on the market and is due to be replaced/refreshed rather soon. Think about that.

Magic carpet thanks again.

So with EU prices that would be

INTEL Core i5 4430 170 euro
4GB DDR3 30 euro
Mod 1150 ASRock B85 75 euro
PSU ?
And 7770 card 130 euro

But you say the 7000 series is going to be replaced soon so I should hold on a month or so?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Magic carpet thanks again.

So with EU prices that would be

INTEL Core i5 4430 170 euro
4GB DDR3 30 euro

Yeah, albeit 170 euros for 4430 is a little bit on the high side. Where exactly are you located?

Mod 1150 ASRock B85 75 euro

Should be fine.

PSU ?

Try FSP in the 450-550w range with Bronze, Silver or Gold rating. Or better yet, give us a list of what's available for you in your local store.

And 7770 card 130 euro

But you say the 7000 series is going to be replaced soon so I should hold on a month or so?

Well, you can buy everything now minus discrete gpu and use the time to get up to speed and like your new system, then you can just add a new Radeon card without reinstalling Windows 7/8, when the series hits the stores. Like I said, until then you can use integrated graphics processor available on i5 processors. That's how I would do it, if I needed to build a gaming system today with a next-gen video card.

Magic carpet thanks again.

My pleasure

 

[4soundz]

Magic C again thanks for everything, I know now that I shouldn't upgrade my current set up but instead build a new one. I will take all your advice look around for prices and post a list of things like you said and if you like you could them help me choose.

 

[DDRGamer]

Magic carpet thanks again.

So with EU prices that would be

INTEL Core i5 4430 170 euro
4GB DDR3 30 euro
Mod 1150 ASRock B85 75 euro
PSU ?
And 7770 card 130 euro

But you say the 7000 series is going to be replaced soon so I should hold on a month or so?

What games do you plan on playing and at what resolution? AMD CPUs can't match i5s, but depending on what you want to play, may be perfectly suitable (and cheaper)

 

[4soundz]

If you don't mind playing at low to medium settings, then the card above will serve you well for the next 2 years.

I have a similar CPU to you, but even overclocked to 4.0 Ghz, it's about only as fast as a modern dual-core Pentium at 2.9Ghz. It was bottlenecking even a slow Geforce 640 in some games. But then again, if you don't have the funds for at least an i5 model cpu, then I wouldn't even bother upgrading.

Another 2 gigs of RAM will give you a nice boost, regardless of what you choose to do ^.

Consider upgrading your power supply unit as well, the new ones are more efficient and normally run a lot cooler. Like this.

EDIT: Seems like a quality board. It supports Core 2 Quad processors, if you could snatch one for <$80, then that could prolong useable life of your PC and make that 7850/7950 somewhat useable. It seems to support DDR3 memory, albeit its maxed at 4GB. Better to get 2x4gb DDR2 then. Upgrading this board is only feasible if you can get the parts on the cheap side. Otherwise, a new board/cpu is going to be a better option for you.

Hello its me again!

So I've been reading this thread again and was thinking building a new rig will cost somewhere between 500 euro I really would like to avoid that now, so could I get some cheap memory to get up to 4g, get the 7850 and have windows 7 installed for now to play all new games at 720p, and then in a year or two build a new rig with the 7850?

Could I get away with that and keep an eye out for a used Core 2 Quad