GTX 670 vs GTX 680 vs HD 7970@Gaming Build.. Help!

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MandyBoy

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Oct 14, 2012
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I'm opting for a new PC build in June. It would be for gaming. One 120Hz monitor BenQ XL2420T. I shall be taking one powerful Graphics Card. I'm torn between these:

1. EVGA GTX 670 FTW+ 4gb
2. EVGA GTX 680 2gb
3. ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II OC 2gb
4. Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7970 GHz OC 3gb
5. Gigabyte HD 7970 WF 3X GHz 3gb.

No fanboyism. Please give logics with your suggestion.

I'll be playing all kinda games, most of them RPGs.

Any suggestion out of the list is also welcome. Please help soon. I'll be buying from Amazon.com.

Sorry for my English. I'm Indian.
 
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bystander

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Dec 9, 2009
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Do you have any plans to add monitors to your single 120hz monitor? If not, the 1st option is pointless.
None of those will get you near 120 FPS in many games without lowering settings, are you ok with lowering settings, or will you be tempted to add SLI or Crossfire later? If so, scratch 4 and 5 due to Crossfire issues, and 3 due to it being 3 slots. That would leave #2.
Do you have intentions to play in 3D with your 120hz monitor? If so, options 1-3 are best, though likely 2 & 3 if you plan to only use the one monitor.

If you answered no to all those questions, then get what is cheapest between 2 through 5.
 
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fudoka711

fudoka711

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If you want the best bang for your buck and the most power right out of the box, go with either 7970 option, probably the Sapphire Vapor-X one, although reviews for both 7970's are close.

A few caveats with the 7970's - they do produce more heat and noise than their 670/680 rivals and use more power as well.

I have heard that 680's overclocked will actually do better than 7970's, whilst still using less power and producing less noise/heat.

You should also consider the free games you get with the 7970 purchase. You would get Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. You get Metro: Last Light with the 680 purchase.
 
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nguyenm

nguyenm

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May 1, 2013
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Pros and cons between the 2 series

Reasons for getting the HD7970: 1080p+ res gaming because of 3gb vram, Bitcoin Mining is beast, Tomb Raider TressFX, Free Games, OpenCL GPGPU application double and single precision, slightly cheaper, eyefinity is much better on AMD cards (hands down), good driver support so far.
Reason for getting GTX670/680: PhysX, driver-matured 3D gaming profile, more driver support, good 1080p+ if you get the 4gb version, CUDA-optimized GPGPU, less heat, power and noise, greater aesthetics, good SLI scaling.
 
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technoholic

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Get either GTX 670 or HD 7970. These are the best bang for your buck, so get whichever is cheaper in your area. If you OC, both cards can achieve a similar performance to their bigger and more expensive brothers. I'd pick the cheapest one cause i am sure all these parts cost way more in your country than in USA or UK. Also if you are willing to get second card later, i'd stay away from Radeons due to some latency/FPS issues.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Hmmmm tell me how GREAT Kepler overclocks, please do...
 
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17seconds

17seconds

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Jul 27, 2010
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OK. It's actually pretty easy to do.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Point_Of_View/GeForce_GTX_680_TGT_Ultra_4_GB/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7970_X_Turbo/31.html
Using the "overclocking" section from TechPowerUp's most recent GTX 680 (7 cards represented) and 7970 reviews (6 cards represented), we get the following data:
1)
The range of core overclocks for the GTX 680 is: 1130 - 1240 MHz.
The range of core overclocks for the 7970 is: 1155 - 1265 MHz.
2)
Looking at the Turbo Boost clocks of the GTX 680, you get a range of: 1195 - 1306 MHz, significantly higher than the high-end 7970's. It's also well-documented that Kepler cards regularly exceed the GPU-Z readout for their Turbo Boost clocks.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Was sooooooo hoping SOMEONE would say that... This is gonna be fun...

Now are you aware that Nvidia GPU Boost 1.0 on Kepler cards(excluding Titan) actually start to throttle the GPU despite high clock rates, soooo now read below qouted from the article you posted yourself.

GTX680 : "Actual 3D performance gained from overclocking is 13.5%."
HD 7970 (important to note this is the normal edition) : "Actual 3D performance gained from overclocking is 14.6%."

As you can see, despite the fact that the actual increase in MHz is higher on the GTX680, the ACTUAL REAL WORLD performance increase is LESS...
Wow now would you look at that...

This makes it IMPOSSIBLE for the GTX680 to be overclocked to an equivalent level, much less a higher level than an HD7970 GHz.

Here is our own director in chief's own take on this exact subject :
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-680-review-benchmark,3161-4.html#
 
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17seconds

17seconds

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Referencing multiple reviews on TechPowerUp, the Average power consumption of the 7970 GHz (a measure of how much heat the GPU produces) ranges from: 158-222 watts (199 watts avg.).
The GTX 680 ranges from 158-189 watts (172 watts avg.).

In terms of noise, the quietest custom 7970 is 36 dBA (43 dBA avg.)
The quietest custom GTX 680 is 33 dBA (36 dBA avg.)

Based on the data, on average, custom cooled 7970's are noisier and generate more heat than the GTX 680.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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LOL nice, diversion. Admittance of being wrong on the first point. Thanks.

And yes, I never argued with the HD7970 generating more heat and being slightly louder in general...

One more thing, have you seen the pricing on GTX680s these days compared to the HD7970s(normal and GHz)... Just saying...
 
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17seconds

17seconds

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Jul 27, 2010
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Not sure what point you're trying to make. If you have switched to discussing overclock scaling, we need to know what percentage the overclock was. As it is, you're comparing apples and oranges, and your self-congratulations are a bit overblown.
 
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M

MandyBoy

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Oct 14, 2012
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I'll never go 3D or eyefinity. Only one 120hz monitor for this rig. I wont be overclocking the GPU much. I'll add one GPU after 2-3 years.

I'm keen on buying HAF X case.

So, please give me the final advice.
 
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Rafeed Iqbal

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Apr 8, 2013
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I'm not going to add any comments on the bickering between the two "GPU Masters", But of my understanding the 7970 provides more for less and with upcoming updates to AMD drivers should fix CrossFire if you wish to add a second gpu later.From the two 7970s you have listed I'd go for the Sapphire one unless the Gigabyte one is significantly cheaper.
 
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