GTX 770 vs RADEON 7970 GHz edition

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Kingbob

Kingbob

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I know this question has been asked before, however I think my question is a little different than the other ones.

Im looking to spend about $410 on a graphics card. At the moment, newegg has both cards for $410. I only really need 2GB of memory so the 3GB on the 7970 isn't that big of a deal. I could care less about any games that come with either card.

With that aside, my question is which card is better? I'm looking for a card that will last me a good 3-5 years and play max settings all the while (1x 1080p monitor).

I'd also appreciate any reasoning and proof to back up your answer. Thanks!
(I will, of course, pick a best solution)
 
Solution
Neospiral


Well, that's the dilemma in all of computer parts buying. Do I buy now, or wait until the next generation? For example this year my upgrade cycle dictated that I build a new rig in February, but I knew Haswell would be out in June. And the waiting sucked, but I did it and I'm glad I did.

If you can bear waiting and you're ok with a stop gap solution (like the one you mentioned), Volcanic Islands GPU's are supposedly out before the end of this year. As for nVidia GTX 8xx series, I haven't heard one...
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Neospiral

Neospiral

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Well, lately the deciding factor for a lot of people between those two cards is AMD's Never Settle games bundle, but if that doesn't matter to you, it's probably going to be about which games you like playing more. The two cards are basically neck and neck on most games, although the GTX 770 probably has a slight edge overall. This might help:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-770-gk104-review,3519.html
 
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Neospiral

Neospiral

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According to the Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart, the 7970ghz Edition is SLIGHTLY, but probably unnoticeably, faster.
Click to expand...

The hierarchy chart is a very rough ranking, that's why I linked the review with direct benchmark comparisons between the two cards. As you can see, out of 8 games tested, the 770 beats out the 7970 on 4 of them, while the 7970 beats the 770 in the other 4. They are almost exactly the same.
 
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rad666

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My apologies for being too lazy to dig through the article to find out myself, but are they benching versus a stock HD7970, or a 7970ghz Edition (they one he's looking at)?
 
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Kingbob

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This is a really hard decision! Im a little bit scared of the 7970 because its 1.5 years old. However, isn't the 770 just a rebranded, OCed 680?
Would I be better off waiting for the 8xxx series and getting a 7950 or something?
 
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Neospiral

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Haha, that's exactly what I thought too when I first looked at it. In the test setup, the 7970 they are using is specifically listed as an AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB. Not sure why they didn't list it that way in the charts...
 
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rad666

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The truth is probably a bit more complicated than that, but mostly yes it is.




I bought my 7970ghz four WEEKS ago, so I wasn't really concerned by it's age, especially since AMD has said they aren't releasing the 8xxx series (or whatever they're going to call them), and someone please correct me if my info is out of date, early next year.
 
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Neospiral

Neospiral

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Well, that's the dilemma in all of computer parts buying. Do I buy now, or wait until the next generation? For example this year my upgrade cycle dictated that I build a new rig in February, but I knew Haswell would be out in June. And the waiting sucked, but I did it and I'm glad I did.

If you can bear waiting and you're ok with a stop gap solution (like the one you mentioned), Volcanic Islands GPU's are supposedly out before the end of this year. As for nVidia GTX 8xx series, I haven't heard one way or another.

And yes, the GTX 770 is a GTX 680 with 7Ghz memory instead of 6GHz, and a higher base clock. You have to go up to the GTX 780 to get the newer GK110 architecture.
 
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rad666

rad666

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It's even more interesting since they list the stock 7970 at the same level as the 770, and the 7970ghz as slightly faster :??:

Though, to be honest, one step on the chart is basically meaningless.
 
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Kingbob

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Yeah that does make a lot of sense. The 8xxx/9xxx is supposed to be released in Q3, probably October, and the 8950 is supposed to be 10% better than the 7970GHz for the same price ($400). I think I'll wait it out, thanks for the help.

My only problem is, how do I sell my 7870? I just put it on craigs list before posting on here. I doubt ill get any offers on Craig's list anyways. How would you recommend selling a GPU (it has a lifetime warranty)?
 
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Neospiral

Neospiral

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Haha well, in my case I happen to have a few friends who build their rigs from my hand-me-downs, so I usually don't have an issue unloading an old GPU :)

For Craig's List though, I doubt you'd have a problem if you price it reasonably. Check out what others are going for in your area and make a decision. And these Cragslist people haggle, so set yourself a floor. Sorry I can't be more help on that :(
 
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