GTX670 v ATI7950

Procrastastudy

So I'm wondering what people's takes are on these two cards;

I'm willing to spend more on the nVidia as I will have to spend a lot less money on adapters.

I'm using 3 legacy DVI monitors and ideally would like to be able to switch to a 4th HDMI screen for big screen gaming without having to unplug stuff!

Only thing that is putting me off is if you look at the supported games for "surround" gaming (nVidia's Eyefinity) there is about 10. I'm under the impression that eyefinity doesn't need game support the games just do it. I'm happy to be disabused of this if its rubbish!

Games I play:
Skyrim
Fallout 3 and NV
Sins of a Solar Empire
Anything with Total War in the title
StarCraft II
Flight Sims mainly A10-C

Any advice would be appreciated Thanks! Sorry for the similar threads I'm only now really reaching a conclusion.

Eboggles

I'd go for an aftermarket 7950 (sapphire dual-x or twin frozr) and overclock the hell out of it, which would put it above a stock 7970 by an ok margin. The 3GB framebuffer would make a difference I'd say in Eyefinity as opposed to single screen so it'd be more futureproof. Although, the GTX 670 is a little beast in it's own right, with low power consumption and small size, but the lower OC capability is a big downer for me. I have my 6850 at 6870 levels at the moment, and it really makes a difference. Crysis 2 went from 23.8 avg to 28.9 on total maxed out settings (no AA). So if you're into overclocking I'd go with the 7950, otherwise get the GTX 670, maybe an aftermarket version as the stock ones are cheap (as in not great quality).

And as well as that, nVidia surround is quite new so I wouldn't really put much trust in it. A 2GB card pusing three monitors doesn't sound too good either.

5760x1200 gaming:

Shogun 2 for example (Prefer Rome, TBH ) gets

• 33.9 on a GTX 670

• 34.9 on a 7950

That's not a massive difference, but when you factor in that the 7950 can be driven over the 1ghz barrier so easily (Ref design did 1085mhz at TPU) its a big victory. It translates to a 15-25% performance boost.

Procrastastudy

This any good OC'd?

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=59045&agid=1942&apop=6

Eboggles

Yeah, this review seems to think so.
I'm not a fan of the fact it takes up three slots, and the Goofy heatsink looks ugly. Each to their own though .

Maybe shell out an extra tenner for the PCS+?There's a TPU review of it here. 42% memory overclock . 22% core as well.

Procrastastudy

If I want 2 in XFire I'm guessing the 3 slots is going to be an issue?

Will be on a Asus Sabertooth Z77 Mobo

Not thinking of doing this yet but picking one up later down the line - prorbably second hand.

Procrastastudy

Actually given the ability to use all the outputs thats the PCS is the one I'll go for!

Thanks Eboggles!

SpannerMonkey

a lot of bench marks have the factory tuned GTX 670's beating the 7970 never mind the 7950
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html

SpannerMonkey

actually considering the amount of screens your using the AMD might be better

the 7970 isnt much more

http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/info/p783395_3072MB-HIS-Radeon-HD-7970-Fan-Aktiv-PCIe-3-0-x16--Retail-.html

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-sapphire-radeon-hd-7970-5500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-925mhz-displayport-dvi-d-hdmi-minidisplayport

.

Eboggles

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

a lot of bench marks have the factory tuned GTX 670's beating the 7970 never mind the 7950
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html

They're pitting the best non-reference GTX 670 against stock 7970 and 7950's. The 7950 PCS+ is €60 cheaper than the ASUS DCII (in the review) but when overclocked well can provide very strong results in multi screen setups.

In 1920x1200 (which requires less grunt) an overclocked GTX 670 can perform equal to a 7950 which is also overclocked. Yet the 7950 is €60 less, runs much quieter (28DB under load!) and has the extra 1gb of VRAM to help it at higher resolutions. As well as that it greatly helps the OP due to the fact that all outputs can be used at the same time.

Beez

Seriously Eboogles I dont know if you have shares in AMD or your just a dedicated fanboy but you have got to get to grips with Kepler being superior to the 7900 series. Overclock a GTX670 to 1300Mhz which alot of people are managing and a 7970 cant get anywhere near it at 1080p

And this is from someone who has come from a 5870 so Im not a NVIDIA fan in particuler

deceit

Beez wrote: »

Seriously Eboogles I dont know if you have shares in AMD or your just a dedicated fanboy but you have got to get to grips with Kepler being superior to the 7900 series. Overclock a GTX670 to 1300Mhz which alot of people are managing and a 7970 cant get anywhere near it at 1080p

And this is from someone who has come from a 5870 so Im not a NVIDIA fan in particuler

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2245435
This is for the max overclock for both. With the users 3 screens the gap should increase slightly more but is it worth the increase in price is the question?

I have a 7970 myself and i'm happy with it but my next build is going to be on the gtx690 if an 8gb version comes out (if not two 4gb 680's) and a hex core intel as I need an excuse to blow my 5k wage increase :P.
In fairness I think you should set yourself a budget and then start checking the cards that are in that budget and buy the best one from that price range you have set out. If you are going to buy a 7970 you should be comparing a gtx670 after market one in a similar price range before you do so.
I wouldnt take brands into account.

glynf

Beez wrote: »

Seriously Eboogles I dont know if you have shares in AMD or your just a dedicated fanboy but you have got to get to grips with Kepler being superior to the 7900 series. Overclock a GTX670 to 1300Mhz which alot of people are managing and a 7970 cant get anywhere near it at 1080p

And this is from someone who has come from a 5870 so Im not a NVIDIA fan in particuler

I agree with Eboggles 100% re. The 7970 over the 670, no matter how good a 670 is at 1080, when you're running anything over 5040 x 1050 VRAM is a concern, 2gb is just not enough. not enough vram and you get all sorts of texture popping and micro stutter. Do some research on a few surround/eyefinity forums.

OP you'll definatley need to xfire/ sli to get decent Fps on high settings in modern games. When you up the Aa then You'll see your VRAM usage go up.

This is from my experience form running eyefinity since the 5970 came out. I want to go from 2 x 7970 s to 2 x 680's but I'm waiting till I can get the 4gb versions.

ATM 2gb is just about enough to run bf3 at reasonable eyefinity/surround res' at decent fps in a years time it's not going to handle the latest & greatest.

deconduo

Beez wrote: »

Seriously Eboogles I dont know if you have shares in AMD or your just a dedicated fanboy but you have got to get to grips with Kepler being superior to the 7900 series. Overclock a GTX670 to 1300Mhz which alot of people are managing and a 7970 cant get anywhere near it at 1080p

And this is from someone who has come from a 5870 so Im not a NVIDIA fan in particuler

From the OCUK thread, less than 5% of people are hitting 1300 on their gtx 670, and even less are stable. No one is arguing that at stock the GTX 670 >> HD 7950, but several reviews show that overclocked they are even or the 7950 pulls ahead at higher resolutions. Given that the OP wants to run 3 monitors in eyefinity/surround, the 7950 is a better buy he if wants to overclock, whereas the 670 is better if not.


Vortez@1080p
Game|7950 fps|670 fps|Difference
BF3|69.61|73.53|5.6%
Crysis 2|76.4|68.9|10.8%
Crysis|65.1|56.85|14.5%
Metro|37.5|38.33|2.2%
Skyrim|120.53|116.75|3.2%
Batman|54|65|20.3%
Dirt 3|101.53|110.8|9.1%
Average|||1.2%


HardOCP@1440p
Game|7950 fps|670 fps|Difference
Batman|50.5|49.7|1.6%
Skyrim|79.4|74.5|6.6%
BF3|54.2|58.1|7.2%
Average|||0.3%


Guru3D
Game|7950 fps|670 fps|Difference
Crysis 2@1200p|43|40|7.5%
Crysis 2@1600p|71|69|2.9%
AVP@1200p|59|60|1.7%
Average|||2.9%


Sources:
Vortez 7950
Vortez 670
Guru 7950
Guru 670
HardOCP 7950
HardOCP 670

glynf

deceit wrote: »

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2245435
This is for the max overclock for both. With the users 3 screens the gap should increase slightly more but is it worth the increase in price is the question?

I have a 7970 myself and i'm happy with it but my next build is going to be on the gtx690 if an 8gb version comes out (if not two 4gb 680's) and a hex core intel as I need an excuse to blow my 5k wage increase :P.
In fairness I think you should set yourself a budget and then start checking the cards that are in that budget and buy the best one from that price range you have set out. If you are going to buy a 7970 you should be comparing a gtx670 after market one in a similar price range before you do so.
I wouldnt take brands into account.

5k would buy you a serious monster.:eek:

Doubt there will ever be an 8GB 690, much as I would love one. I read somewhere (either Nvidia or [H]ard forums) they don't have enough room on the PCB for much more than 4gb, and the 690 will be reference only by Nvidia & re-branded, so no non-reference boards.

deceit

glynf wrote: »

5k would buy you a serious monster.:eek:

Doubt there will ever be an 8GB 690, much as I would love one. I read somewhere (either Nvidia or [H]ard forums) they don't have enough room on the PCB for much more than 4gb, and the 690 will be reference only by Nvidia & re-branded, so no non-reference boards.

Yea it will be .
I found out today they would have given me a 10k raise if I pushed it, gutted now as imagine the pc i'd get from that :P
It also means I can turn my i7 workstation into another esx server so I could have vmotion between them and use my bulldozer pc as my workstation and run linux on it then so will perform alot better

glynf

Congrats, and too bad re. 10k, but never kick a gift horse in the bollix

deceit

glynf wrote: »

Congrats, and too bad re. 10k, but never kick a gift horse in the bollix

Best thing is I get away with spending the cash with the gf as its seen as an investment into the future because I work in IT so they are useful to me :P

Eboggles

Just to update, the Sapphire 7950 Flex Edition has just been announced. It offers great multi-monitor connectivity (main feature) and it also sports the black Dual-X cooler. Just a thought.

Procrastastudy

I've actually pretty much settled on the bog standard HIS:

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/3072+MB/55102/HIS+HD+7950+GDDR5+3072MB+DVI+HDMI+2xMiniDP.article

Nice and cheap and should do for what I want. Apparently all 4 outputs can be used on these cards (all 7950s).

Open to any corrections as usual

Eboggles

Yeah they're all great, but you're using 3 Dvi ports? What way are you hooking up the monitors with the HIS one? it only has one DVI, one HDMI and 2 DP. Adapters will probably cost a bit.
The Flex edition has two DVI ports, and comes with a HDMI-DVI adapter, which means you won't need to buy adapters, which means the prices will be near enough equal. And when you factor in that the Cooler is a demon and the 7950 is an overclocking gem, it could be the better buy. However it isn't in shops just yet.

Procrastastudy

Wont I need active adapters as I'm essentially using 4 monitors (3+1 separate but plugged in)? Or does the Flex have that built in?

Thanks for all the info Eb!

glynf

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Wont I need active adapters as I'm essentially using 4 monitors (3+1 separate but plugged in)? Or does the Flex have that built in?

Thanks for all the info Eb!

GCDLawstudent,


These active adapters will do fine, look around and you will find them cheaper too.

Similar question to your here, post #4 has your answer.:)

deceit

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Wont I need active adapters as I'm essentially using 4 monitors (3+1 separate but plugged in)? Or does the Flex have that built in?

Thanks for all the info Eb!

The 7970 I bought comes with two active adaptors so its possible the 7950 comes with at least one. The 7970 I have is reference design also.

glynf

HIS usually give you SFA with their cards;

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4539/his_radeon_hd_7950_3gb_video_card_review/index.html


But they include a 'new Weight Lifter'- for the nerd that has everything..:D