Should I get another Radeon 7850 or a GTX 770?

taxemicshadow · Jul 6, 2013

Ok, so I am planning ahead for what I am going to put in my current computer. Right now I have one Radeon 7850, I am rather happy with it but I am always hungry for more performance. What I am wondering is if I should purchase another 7850 and run the two in crossfire or if I should sell off my current GPU and purchase a 770. I have sufficient wattage and all that, I am not new to this stuff, I just can't decide.

qbsinfo · Jul 6, 2013

you are better off getting one stronger card than xfire two weak ones. you also avoid the potential of stuttering problems.

CommentariesAnd More · Jul 6, 2013

^ Agreed. You are always better off with a powerful single GPU than two mid end GPU's. The 7850 in XFire = More heat , noise , micro stuttering issue , flickering issues. Also the GTX 770 can actually beat two 7850's in XFire. So sell the HD 7850 and get a GTX 770. If you don't receive enough money , try for a HD 7970. I hope I helped. Also will be coming back in 30mins , as its lunch time.

taxemicshadow · Jul 6, 2013

CommentariesAnd More :

The 7970 and 770 are very similar in performance and price, which do you think would be a better choice?

sam_p_lay · Jul 6, 2013

+1 to single card. And GTX770 is the faster card.

jerreece · Jul 6, 2013

taxemicshadow :

Correction, the 7970 "GHz Edition" and the GTX 770 are very similar. Sapphire used to have a deal on their Vapor-X 7970 GHz Edition for $349. That's over now. So a GHz Edition is now $439 after $20 rebate. Where as the GTX 770 is $400-$420 for very good cards at normal price.

I'd go for the GTX 770.

Here's a great review to compare the GTX 770, 7970 GHz Edition, and the regular 7970 cards.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6994/nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-review

17seconds · Jul 6, 2013

Since you are potentially a dual card user, absolutely go for the GTX 770. It's significantly faster than a 7970 non-GHz edition, but also is immune the very real problem of runt frames that plague all Crossfire setups. You also get to enable PhysX with the GTX 770.

This article linked below has lead to an industry-wide change in the perception of Crossfire performance and is the reason why most review sites now use FCAT and Frame Latency testing, including Tom's Hardware (chart below). They have basically discovered that the usual way of measuring FPS inflates performance numbers for Crossfire, due to runt frames being counted as full frames. Ultimately, it looks like adding a second card in Crossfire is a waste of money as it doesn't add to measured performance and may even be worse than one card due to introducing stuttering and compatibility issues.
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-Dissected-Full-Details-Capture-based-Graphics-Performance-Test-3
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-Dissected-Full-Details-Capture-based-Graphics-Performance-Tes-12

In the Tom's Hardware review of the GTX 770 in SLI, pay attention to the "Hardware FPS" versus the "Practical FPS". The Hardware FPS is what the FRAPS FPS counter is measuring early in the pipline; the Practical FPS is the actual FPS as measured by the output on screen after all the runt frames have been cleaned up and factored out. Practical FPS is a more accurate gauge of performance and gaming smoothness.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-770-gk104-review,3519-12.html

jerreece · Jul 6, 2013

Matto17secs,

I had not seen this myself. Been out of things too long apparently. Thanks for the share on that article.

taxemicshadow · Jul 6, 2013

I find something wrong with that graph. I would expect for there to be some form of deviation from the potential fps and practical fps on the Nvidia cards, not just the AMD cards.

17seconds · Jul 6, 2013

jerreece :

It's one of those things where people would say you would "have to be living under a rock" to have not heard about it. It's been quite a big deal since 2011 and really picked up steam after December 2012 with special reports by TechReport.com and then PCPer.com. Of course, HardOCP has been going on about it for years, but without the tools to measure it.
http://techreport.com/review/21516/inside-the-second-a-new-look-at-game-benchmarking
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/01/17/amd_crossfirex_drivers_opportunity_lost/#.UdhZM-ChDFI
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited/11
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-TITAN-Performance-Review-and-Frame-Rating-Update/Frame-Rat

The problem has been acknowledged by AMD and they report that they will have a fixed driver out sometime this summer.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6857/amd-stuttering-issues-driver-roadmap-fraps/4
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-AMD-Improves-CrossFire-Prototype-Driver
http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/amd_anti_micro_stutter_crtossfire_driver_delayed_to_late_july.html

17seconds · Jul 6, 2013

taxemicshadow :

Nvidia has been using frame metering technology for the past several years. It simply does not happen with Nvidia SLI setups. AMD has only become aware of the issue just over the past half year.

You can go back to the infamous microstuttering article on Tom's Hardware to see that even in 2011 GTX 560 Ti's in SLI played smoother at lower framerates than the 6870's in Crossfire setup:

Quote:
In this particular title, SLI doesn't scale as well as CrossFire, resulting in a lower average frame rate than two Radeon HD 6870s in CrossFire. The Radeons, however, suffer from visible micro-stuttering, while the slower GeForces subjectively seem to be faster due to the reduction of the phenomenon.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-5.html

spat55 · Jul 6, 2013

Get another HD 7850, if you are going to sell the HD 7850 go for the GTX 770, if your selling at £80 and it is a 2GB model I'll have it! You can get more on ebay though I think

jerreece · Jul 6, 2013

17seconds :

jerreece :

It's one of those things where people would say you would "have to be living under a rock" to have not heard about it. It's been quite a big deal since 2011 and really picked up steam after December 2012 with special reports by TechReport.com and then PCPer.com. Of course, HardOCP has been going on about it for years, but without the tools to measure it.
http://techreport.com/review/21516/inside-the-second-a-new-look-at-game-benchmarking
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/01/17/amd_crossfirex_drivers_opportunity_lost/#.UdhZM-ChDFI
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited/11
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-TITAN-Performance-Review-and-Frame-Rating-Update/Frame-Rat

The problem has been acknowledged by AMD and they report that they will have a fixed driver out sometime this summer.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6857/amd-stuttering-issues-driver-roadmap-fraps/4
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-AMD-Improves-CrossFire-Prototype-Driver
http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/amd_anti_micro_stutter_crtossfire_driver_delayed_to_late_july.html

Yeah and I've been under that rock for a couple years or so. LOL I usually come out from under the rock when I'm ready to start upgrading or rebuilding my computer. Then I dive back in for a while.

sam_p_lay · Jul 6, 2013

Haha I think many people are like that

Like how smartphones are a hell of a lot more interesting when you're about to buy a new one...

anthony8989 · Jul 6, 2013

taxemicshadow :

It's user-specific. The 7970 comes with 3-4 free games. The GTX 770 comes with Metro Last Light and PhysX for games that support it. I'm personally GeForce biased. I've owned several cards from both manufacturers and found less issues with the GeForce cards.

sam_p_lay · Jul 6, 2013

I've also had much better experiences with nVIDIA hardware, which is why I recommend it. Apparently that AMD Never Settle free games promotion has run out now anyway.

ayevee · Jul 7, 2013

anthony8989 :

Where do they bundle it? No where in the US has any sort of bundle. Except actually earlier today on newegg it said certain 7970's came with a bunch of games but after I refreshed twice it dissapeared and showed that only certain cards got Far Cry 3.. Then I refreshed again and now it shows like 2 cards get crysis 3...

sam_p_lay · Jul 7, 2013

Yeah it looks like you missed the boat on that one.

ayevee · Jul 7, 2013

sam_p_lay :

Man I would've bought the sapphire 7950 today if it came with it. Might go with the 760 now or maybe even a 770..

sam_p_lay · Jul 7, 2013

GTX760 makes more sense interms of price/performance, but GTX770 would give you just enough muscle to max Crysis 3 at 1080p. Personally I'd go with GTX760.

Should I get another Radeon 7850 or a GTX 770?

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