GTX 660 OC (non ti)+good PSU vs Radeon HD 7870

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Borsalino

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'sup guys? I'm slowly upgrading my my PC and i'm starting with the graphics card. I need to get one asap but my budget is tight. I did my research and came up with two cards, the Palit GTX 660 OC vs. Powercolor HD 7870 2GB. I read some reviews and found out that the 7870 is a little better than the 660, but the 7870 is about $30 more expensive than the 660 OC in my country.

Now my problem goes on with the PSU. I have Qube 700W PSU that came along with the pc case (stock). With my current budget, I can either get the gtx 660 and a $100 true-rated PSU or get the HD 7870, use the 700W stock PSU temporarily and wait 15 more days before I can get my next salary to upgrade my PSU. With that being said, my questions are:

1. is the HD 7870 worth the extra $30 for performance-price ratio vs the gtx 660 oc?
2. if yes, would it be too risky to use the stock 700W PSU on the HD 7870 even if its just for 15 days? The PC is mostly on for about 10 hours/day for gaming, 5 hours in the morning and 5 hours at night.
 
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clutchc
I'm not so sure the HD 7870 stock is better than the GTX 660 OC. I have 2 x GTX 660 OC in the rig in my sig. I also have a 2nd machine (i7-870K) with 2 x HD 7870 OC cards. I've tried both pairs of cards in both machines and the 660s seem to be a tad faster in games; at least in the games I have. And provide a bit smoother game play. For a single card, any good quality 550W PSU should be fine.
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clutchc

clutchc

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I'm not so sure the HD 7870 stock is better than the GTX 660 OC. I have 2 x GTX 660 OC in the rig in my sig. I also have a 2nd machine (i7-870K) with 2 x HD 7870 OC cards. I've tried both pairs of cards in both machines and the 660s seem to be a tad faster in games; at least in the games I have. And provide a bit smoother game play. For a single card, any good quality 550W PSU should be fine.
 
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Borsalino

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Thanks for the feedback! That's a very interesting info you gave me there. What are the games that you play in both of your rigs, the settings and average fps?

 
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clutchc

clutchc

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I'm afraid I don't have those figures at my fingertips right now. I do however have a couple 3DMark Vantage runs I can pass on:

i5 2500K at 4.0GHZ w/2 x GTX 660 OC:
ike2.jpg


i7-870K at 3.6GHZ w/2 x HD 7870 OC:
bjdw.jpg
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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+1^ byogamingpc
I generally agree. However, I'm pleasantly surprised with the 13.8 AMD beta driver so far. The stutter in CF is much reduced in the titles I've tried. In fact, I've had to concentrate on finding m-s to see any at all.
 
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Borsalino

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Thanks for that benchmark! Seems like its gonna be gtx 660 then.

Noob question about multiple cards: are all gtx 660 SLI ready? I'm not sure if the Palit gtx 660 OC that i'll get is SLI. The MSI is hard to find here in our country, and ASUS is just too darn expensive.
 
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iam2thecrowe

iam2thecrowe

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if you can afford to get a good quality psu and the 660ti, then i would do that. a "qube" psu sounds dodgy, and it might not even produce 350w continuous, the 700w is more likely a peak power rating, and you could blow it, and other components if something goes wrong. Stick with psu brands like seasonic, antec, corsair, and you cant go wrong. If you were looking for gtx660 sli in the future then you want a 600w+ good quality psu. for a single card a good quality 500w psu is more than enough.
 
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abuzz

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if you are going with single card go with 7870hd but if you are planing for multi gpu setup go with gtx 660. But remember sooner nvidia will stop producing gtx660, so if you are going to SLI do it as soon as possible.
 
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Borsalino

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The physX makes the gtx more interesting, but i've read a few stuff around the internet that Ubisoft games are more enhanced by Radeon cards. Is there any truth on this?



This is my current PSU:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8776/rt9m.jpg

Should I be worried about this and replace it? If so, would this be enough for the single graphics card?
http://www.corsair.com/us/power-supply-units/vs-series-power-supply-units/vs-seriestm-vs450-450-watt-power-supply.html

Right now I can only afford this VS 450W or a 550W series. I'll get the card tomorrow and empty my wallet with the VS 450W, or can I save, wait and use my 700W for the meantime? I'll get my paycheck on the 25th and by then I can get an even better graphics card.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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If you plan on keeping the i3 dual core, you may want to re-think SLI. The SB dual core w/HT is a great little processor, but it may not be enough to get your money's worth out of two GTX 660s. Two cards will no doubt be faster than one card, but the processor may bottle neck 2 x GTX 660s.

The 700W's +12V rail ratings are a little light for dual cards IMO, but would probably suffice if the PSU is of good quality. I've never heard of it.
The 450W PSU would be a little light, but OK for a single card since the CPU is low wattage. The GTX 660 is a 140W (11.6A @ +12V) card when maxed out. The OC version will be a bit more demanding, and your own O/C'ing will take it even higher. But the little Corsair has a strong 33A +12V rail.
 
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17seconds

17seconds

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NVIDIA and Ubisoft Form Gaming Alliance for This Fall's Hottest Games
http://nvidianews.nvidia.com/Releases/NVIDIA-and-Ubisoft-Form-Gaming-Alliance-for-This-Fall-s-Hottest-Games-a12.aspx
http://www.techpowerup.com/189394/nvidia-and-ubisoft-form-gaming-alliance-for-this-falls-hottest-games.html
 
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Borsalino

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I will eventually upgrade everything of what I have right now XD. I'm just starting with the graphics card, then PSU, RAM, CPU (i5 maybe), then another graphics card and a bigger casing and other cooling stuff.

So will the 700W Qube psu work on the gtx 660 oc or do I have to get the corsair vs 450? Because if it will work, probably i'll just stick with it for maybe two weeks before I get my paycheck to get a true rated PSU (possibly 800W or more for long-term use when I upgrade everything)
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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You'll have to provide the specs from the PSU before we can say for sure. Amperage and wattage associated with the +12V rail(s), mainly. I believe Cube was a PC provider, and the PSU just carries their name. But I'm not sure about that.
 
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