GTX 580 vs GTX 660 vs HD 7870

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op24ti12mus94

op24ti12mus94

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My system:
Intel 3.4 Ghz i5 3570k processor
ASRock Z77 Pro4 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance (2 x 4) 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 PC RAM.
Corsair VS650 550 Watt PSU (can get a 650 if needed)
NZXT Lexa S Cabinet or Coolermaster CM 690 Nvidia edition.

I was fixed on Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 OC 2 GB bt thn i saw some reviews and they were like the 660 will not be good in the coming couple of years because of its 192-bit memory so i am confused a lot now.
Personally i don't want an ATI graphics card but i will go with it if its futureproof atleast another 3 years.

Please help me out fast, i am to decide my final system at the earliest!
 
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17seconds
None of those cards are future-proof. Get the one that offers the best value that you can afford right now. As long as you are playing at normal resolutions on a single monitor there will not be any difference between any of those cards in terms of future-proofing.

If it was me, I would get the GTX 660 as it costs less than the other options and performs better on recent games. In general, it performs within a comfortable margin of even the 7870 XT/LE for much less money. It also has PhysX, good driver support, unique technologies, and better support for multi-card configurations if you ever wanted to upgrade to SLI.

You can check for yourself the impact of the memory bus by checking this performance summary linked below. At...
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PHrag

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Jun 8, 2013
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Yelling in caps won't help anyone.
However, I'm as confused as you are, people keep saying that the 192-bit bus is a huge bottleneck and that the card can't utilize more than 1.5 GB of memory. Actually buying a new GPU as I write here. 7870 xt is clearly a better choice, 7870 is few % ahead and really depends on the game. I am going for a 660 because the price here is lower than 7870 by 50 bucks. Me, personally, wouldn't look at specs of the card and look at the benchmarks of games you play. I belive some really demanding games would show some serious bottleneck and if nvidia puts it even on 660 Ti, they probably know what they're doing.

If I had the money, I'd go for 7870.

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2012-vga-gpgpu/19-Tom-s-Hardware-Index-B-Performance,2976.html
 
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RedJaron

RedJaron

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Sep 20, 2011
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The 660 memory interface doesn't cripple the card, but it does represent a potential bottleneck at higher resolutions and AA levels, depending on the game. Tom's did an article on it. You'll notice that even with it slow downs, things remain at least playable, if not fully smooth.

I think a 7870 is a better all around card. It beats the 660 in some places, loses in others, but the margin is pretty small. So unless your system is right on the cusp of smooth frame rates, I doubt you'd notice the difference. But the 7870 has a fatter memory pipe and better compute performance if you need it so I'd go that way. And yes, the 7870 XT/LE is a cut-down 7950 core and is a great buy if you can find one.
 
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17seconds

17seconds

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Jul 27, 2010
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None of those cards are future-proof. Get the one that offers the best value that you can afford right now. As long as you are playing at normal resolutions on a single monitor there will not be any difference between any of those cards in terms of future-proofing.

If it was me, I would get the GTX 660 as it costs less than the other options and performs better on recent games. In general, it performs within a comfortable margin of even the 7870 XT/LE for much less money. It also has PhysX, good driver support, unique technologies, and better support for multi-card configurations if you ever wanted to upgrade to SLI.

You can check for yourself the impact of the memory bus by checking this performance summary linked below. At 1920x1200 versus 2560x1600, the 7870 only gains 2% versus the GTX 660, managing to only pull even in this test suite using 18 of the latest games.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_780_Direct_Cu_II_OC/26.html

perfrel_1920.gif
 
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op24ti12mus94

op24ti12mus94

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Sorry for my rudeness bt i was not getting any answers for my prev couple of questions too n nw this one too was unanswered too for a long time so thats why..
My budget is below Rs. 17000/- bt i cn consider increasing it a couple of thousands more bt that would be the last resort.
 
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op24ti12mus94

op24ti12mus94

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Thanks a lot for your reply,
i am getting Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Overclocked 2 GB for Rs. 15500/- whereas the Sapphire HD 7870 OC version would cost me somewhat Rs. 18500/- and the XT version would be Rs. 19500/- so what do you recommend?
 
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op24ti12mus94

op24ti12mus94

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Thanks a lot for you reply,
As i mentioned GTX 660 OC : Rs. 15500/-
HD 7870 OC : Rs. 18500/-
HD 7870 XT : Rs. 19500/-
My budget: Rs. 17000/- could increase couple of thousands if i hav no choice at all. So wat do u recommend, worth it?
also i would have to go with an FX 8350 if i am to choose an ATI card. :p
 
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op24ti12mus94

op24ti12mus94

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Sorry for my rudeness bt i was a bit frustrated for not getting any reply in a couple of my prev ques too.
Thanks a lot for your reply.
I would personally go with nvidia too anyday coz of their technologies and drivers bt i am a bit concerned abt the 192-bit memory which i fear would not server me for atleast a couple of years too.
Also i will have to go with an AMD FX 8350 if i choose 7870 to cut down the cost. So what do you say, worth it?
 
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op24ti12mus94

op24ti12mus94

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Sorry for my rudeness bt i was a bit frustrated for not receiving any reply on my couple of my prev ques too n i hav to giv an order for my pc today itself so thats why.
As i hav posted earlier that my budget is Rs. 17000/- bt i cn consider increasing it a couple of thousands if i dun hav any choice.
Also if i am to buy a 7870 then i will have to go for AMD FX 8350 to cut down the costs of the final PC.
GTX 660 OC : Rs. 15500/-
HD 7870 OC : Rs. 18500/-
HD 7870XT : Rs. 19500/-
so wat do u suggest?
 
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