Worth going from gtx 590 to gtx 680

[hokies83]

GTX680 is not really an good enough upgrade from a GTX590, especially not at high resolutions.

I can't see that well from that screenshot, but assuming you have a large enough space on your motherboard between PCIe slots, go for 2x MSI TwinFrozr HD7950 in CF. For $660 or so ($340 + $320 w/rebate), nothing even comes close. The performance drops off dramatically for GTX670/680 series at higher resolutions. 2x 1.1ghz HD7950 in CF would mop the floor with GTX680 @ 1.3ghz at your resolution. In fact, a 1.29ghz GTX680 can't even beat a 1.165ghz HD7970 at 2560x1600, so you can just imagine it's no competition for HD7950 CF with a mild overclock.

At 925mhz HD7950 is within 5% of HD7970. ~ Hexus.net Review

I know overclocking is a crapshoot at times, but even if you have the world's worst overclocking 7950 cards, they'll hit 1000mhz which essentially means you have 2x HD7970 in Cross-fire.

At this level of performance, GTX680 is a distant memory.

2560x1600 4AA
HD7970 CF is 60% faster vs. 680
2560x1600 8AA
HD7970 CF is 81% faster vs. 680
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2012/test-nvidia-geforce-gtx-690/4/

It's shocking that right now you can get 60-80% more performance for $660 compared to a $500+ GTX680 at about your resolution. Even if that 680 is overclocked to 1.3ghz, HD7950 CF at 1.1ghz will still beat it by a good 40-60%.

The cheapest setup from NV that even comes close to HD7970 CF performance is $800 GTX670 SLI and those have 2GB of VRAM, which is fine today but if you intend to keep this setup for 2-3 years on that monitor, you may want the 4GB versions, so almost $900-950 at that point....

HD7950 was a horrible buy at $470-490 but at $320-340, it's looking good for CF action.

The insane part is even if CF is totally broken for you, an overclocked 7950 would not be much slower than a 680 at 2560x1440 because a GTX680 is just 1% faster than a stock HD7970 at high resolutions. Whatever performance advantage GTX680 holds over thge 7970 at 1080P/1200P is all gone at 2560x1440/1600.

If you can manage to sell the GTX590 for ~$450, grabbing 2x HD7950 CF for $660 would net you a huge performance upgrade while a $500 GTX680 would do almost nothing in the grand scheme, unless you plan on getting 2!

Whats the best Version with duel Dvi.. i just bought a Perfect pixle cat leap for 260$ going to sell my u2711.. So i need duel dvi to run the catleap.

 

[hokies83]

Looked myself seems i got 2 choices...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150616
Or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102995

 

[hokies83]

Any imput on Cat leaps and 7950?

 

[jacktesterson]

No.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Looked myself seems i got 2 choices...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150616
Or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102995

Get the Sapphire, it's a Flex version that's set-up to run multi-monitor better and it also comes pre-over clocked.

Though I would recommend this MSI model over those two. It's very well built and already over clocked and yes it has a Duel-DVI according to MSI's website.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

http://msi.com/product/vga/R7950-Twin-Frozr-3GD5-OC.html

 

[RussianSensation]

Looked myself seems i got 2 choices...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150616
Or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102995

NO on the XFX model. It's hot and loud. I would rule that card out automatically.

Any reason you went for the FLEX edition of the HD7950? There is a factory pre-overclocked HD7950 @ 950mhz that's even cheaper. All HD7950/7970/GTX670/680 cards besides MSI HD7970 Lightning and Display-port only versions of GTX670/680 Galaxy series support at least 1 dual-DVI, with NV cards supporting 2x dual-DVI. If you are going to use only 1 monitor, there is no point in getting that FLEX edition when the 950mhz Sapphire is cheaper and faster.

Any reason you decided to skip the $320 MSI TwinFrozr 7950 or the PowerColor PCS+ HD7950 for $340?

The PCS+ is the quietest, Sapphire is the 2nd quietest and both run relatively cool:

Full Review for above graphs HD7950/7970 Roundup seems to confirm that PowerColor PCS+ is the quitest 7950 on the market, but MSI TwinFrozr and Sapphire overclocked the best for them:

Also, let's dig a little deeper to find the best HD7950 card before I log off for tonight:

Computerbase HD7950 roundup - PCS+ seems to be the quietest but Sapphire HD7950 the best overclocker for them.

You can use Google Chrome Translate Hardware.fr and Computerbase.de articles into english.

.............

For the GTX670 side, Tom's Hardware has even included videos of noise levels at load for each card. :thumbsup:

Noise levels at 70*C (because above 70*C GTX670/680 cards start losing some of their GPU Boost increments):

Anyway, I think that should get you more comfortable with your buying decision by seeing what choices you have and how they stack up.

If you want the quietest 7950s, PCS+ is a good bet, if you want the best chance for 1.1ghz+ overclocks, I'd lean towards the 950mhz factory pre-overclocked Sapphire dual-fan card since it's a nice balance of overclocking and noise and prob that GPU has been pre-binned to hit higher speeds.


Honestly it just depends how long you want to keep the cards. If you plan on upgrading again in 2 years, I think if you are going to drop $370 on each HD7950, then GTX670 SLI with say WindForce 3x is probably worth $60 more.

If you are going to keep this setup for sure for more than 2 years, then I don't think I'd get the 2GB 670s. Although, $370 HD7950 is pushing awfully close to HD7970 at that point. This week AMD is launching HD7970 Ghz Edition (GE) and I think prices on HD7970 may drop to $400 with rebates. You may want to wait 1-2 days to see how that plays out and if it pushes 7950 pricing even lower.

Also, the main point I wanted to get across to you was that at high resolutions such as 2560x1440/1600, 1 GPU is going to struggle to reach 50-60 fps with AA in modern games. This review lets you toggle to 2560x1600 and you can see framerates drop almost in half!
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,907095/Test-der-Radeon-HD-7970-GHz-Edition/Grafikkarte/Test/?page=2

Perhaps you can start a separate thread of HD7950 CF vs. HD7970 CF vs. GTX670 SLI or something like that. You should get more input from actual owners of either setup. Since I don't own HD7950 CF or GTX670 SLI, I am going off reviews and not personal experience. $800 is a lot on a GPU setup. I know blackened23 has used everything under the sun from this generation. You may want to PM him about his particular experiences with CF and SLI for a more specific issues that may be omitted in a general thread like this.

Just make sure you take a quick 5 min look at some basic reviews with HD7970 CF vs. 670/680 SLI / 690 to see the performance in the games you specifically play with either setup. Some games have better CF or SLI scaling. This review covers a lot of games: Computerbase

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Wouldn't be worth it to sell a perfectly good gtx 590 not until at leased another generation.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Wouldn't be worth it to sell a perfectly good gtx 590 not until at leased another generation.

Wrong, now is the time to sell the card while it's still recent and worth something. The GTX 590 is not clocked that high and not a good over clocker. So it will only go down in value. Especially compared to the other recent duel GPU cards. AMD's 5970 & 6990 both command a high resale value because of Bitcoins. The 690 is actually a powerful card except two 670s are stronger and cheaper.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Wrong, now is the time to sell the card while it's still recent and worth something. The GTX 590 is not clocked that high and not a good over clocker. So it will only go down in value. Especially compared to the other recent duel GPU cards. AMD's 5970 & 6990 both command a high resale value because of Bitcoins. The 690 is actually a powerful card except two 670s are stronger and cheaper.

What are you babbling on about you do know the reason why the GTX 590 is still worth something right BECAUSE IT STILL IS AN EXTREME HIGH END POWERHOUSE ! op will get more life and value by holding onto the card for as long as he can which will BE A LONG time. from now instead of always upgrading and getting gouged on the price of the latest and shiniest.

 

[cmdrdredd]

What are you babbling on about you do know the reason why the GTX 590 is still worth something right BECAUSE IT STILL IS AN EXTREME HIGH END POWERHOUSE ! op will get more life and value by holding onto the card for as long as he can which will BE A LONG time. from now instead of always upgrading and getting gouged on the price of the latest and shiniest.

The longer you hold it the less it will be worth. It's simple economics. Like when you buy a car, in 2 years it's resale value to a dealer for trade-in would be much higher than if you kept it for 5 years and then attempt to trade it in. The value decreases over time.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

The longer you hold it the less it will be worth. It's simple economics. Like when you buy a car, in 2 years it's resale value to a dealer for trade-in would be much higher than if you kept it for 5 years and then attempt to trade it in. The value decreases over time.

Buy last generations and save IMHO buy a 680 when the 780 is out and buy a 580 now IMHO. So with a 590 I would not even think about getting rid of it until the 7xx series is out maybe even the 8xx series albeit even then pending upon if the new games OP might want to play are even taxing. Really the GTX 590 should be gold until after the new consoles arrive and the game Developers push the graphical bar higher.

 

[blackened23]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around why people are suggesting a 680 purchase for a downgrade in performance. Ridiculous. While the power consumption argument is nice, who in the world pays 500$ for a downgrade in performance with better power consumption...

The bottom line is that it isn't an upgrade and the ONLY REASON to do it is if you find a buyer for your 590. Then buy to your hearts content.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Buy last generations and save IMHO buy a 680 when the 780 is out and buy a 580 now IMHO. So with a 590 I would not even think about getting rid of it until the 7xx series is out maybe even the 8xx series albeit even then pending upon if the new games OP might want to play are even taxing. Really the GTX 590 should be gold until after the new consoles arrive and the game Developers push the graphical bar higher.

Some people want the latest stuff.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Some people want the latest stuff.

What we want and what we need to run a game are different things LOL I want 27 way SLI GTX 990s LOL In reality I am happy with my 1050P rez and my GTX 560 playing BFBC2 & BC2 V

 

[cmdrdredd]

Yeah but as I said in the other thread. This is a hobby, some people don't mind spending the money because they can afford to.

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Yeah but as I said in the other thread. This is a hobby, some people don't mind spending the money because they can afford to.

I like Case Modding and dickering around with all my PC components and upgrading as much maybe even more than the next guy but what I am really into now it saving money and creating the rig that is the best most frugal bang for my buck all the while still maintain acceptable performance according to my own personal specs. There are so many GREAT GREAT games that don't take much to run maxed at 60fps and I love to revise all the great classics like Hexen ect. As I get older the less into the BS I become and you know what I can have as much fun in BFBC2 as I could in BF3 but at leased by playing BFBC2 and BC V I don't need to spend $500 to get great performance like I am in BC2 ect LOL.

 

[cmdrdredd]

What I spend is pretty cheap compared to what some people have on here. I don't think I went overboard at all lol.

 

[Rubycon]

590s fold better if you do that.

 

[hokies83]

Im leaving my 590 for this fact..

They are hard as hell to sell..

And after the next generation.. they will be like gtx 295s... people have to almost give them away...

So i say do away with it now before it is to late ..

I have choose my card..

I will be running 1 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131471

Also im trading my gtx 590 for one of these.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121560

The power color comes clocked at 1100mhz.. The asus has been confirmed to clock over 1200mhz.. I game at 2560x1440 res.. and i think ill be happy with this set up.. Unless the drivers are not working well for me..

 

[hokies83]

Another thing im taking in account why im choosing amd gpu over Nvidia *ive always owned Nvidia"

Is the fact a 1000mhz 7970 is on par with a gtx 590 @ 2560x1440 res..
Best ur gonna get out of that 590 is 650mhz are risk frying it upping voltage.. i rather not..
You can get the 7970 to 1200mhz making it the faster card at high res gaming..

 

[Gordon Freemen]

Another thing im taking in account why im choosing amd gpu over Nvidia *ive always owned Nvidia"

Is the fact a 1000mhz 7970 is on par with a gtx 590 @ 2560x1440 res..
Best ur gonna get out of that 590 is 650mhz are risk frying it upping voltage.. i rather not..
You can get the 7970 to 1200mhz making it the faster card at high res gaming..

Not real smart move to go through the hassle of selling you card for a literal $500 side grade in performance or less than that.

 

[hokies83]

Not real smart move to go through the hassle of selling you card for a literal $500 side grade in performance or less than that.

Doing it for re sale in the future.

And im trading card for card.

 

[DrBoss]

Wouldn't be worth it to sell a perfectly good gtx 590 not until at leased another generation.

i totally agree with this statement.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Another thing im taking in account why im choosing amd gpu over Nvidia *ive always owned Nvidia"

Is the fact a 1000mhz 7970 is on par with a gtx 590 @ 2560x1440 res..
Best ur gonna get out of that 590 is 650mhz are risk frying it upping voltage.. i rather not..
You can get the 7970 to 1200mhz making it the faster card at high res gaming..

It depends on the game as well. Some titles are a bit faster on the 590 while others are so close its a wash.

 

[RussianSensation]

Not real smart move to go through the hassle of selling you card for a literal $500 side grade in performance or less than that.

Can you please explain why not? HD7970 trade makes so much sense assuming that Asus DirectCU II card doesn't have BSOD and constant crashes as that series of HD7970 cards has had a lot of problems. Otherwise, GTX590 cannot beat HD7970 at 2560x1440/1600 and it has micro-stuttering to boot since it's a dual-GPU card that's struggling for frames at that resolution.

The OP will have 2x 7970s and get a lot more performance. Keeping the 590 does nothing to improve his situation. You know that GTX590 is barely faster than a 1050mhz HD7970 at high rez, we are talking 2-3%?

Trading 590 for a $450 HD7970 is smart since soon that 590 will have no resale value at all. It can't be used for bitcoin mining. Most importantly it does nothing to allow the OP to improve his gaming performance by keeping the 590.

Do you have better suggestions?

Xbitlabs' July 2, 2012 Review:

2560x1400 0AA
GTX670 = 77.3
GTX670 AMP! = 87.1
GTX680 = 87.9
HD7970 1050mhz GE = 91.2

2560x1400 AA
GTX670 = 48.1
GTX670 AMP! = 55.5
GTX680 = 53.7
HD7970 1050mhz GE = 59.4

1100mhz Vortex is $450....

I think if the OP wants to improve performance, HD7950 CF, GTX670/680 SLI/690 or HD7970 CF are his only options. I think HD7950 CF is still the best bang for the buck among all of those. Plus it has the 3 free games coupon which prob can be sold, making this deal even cheaper!

That's probably $650 for 7950 CF right there.