I'm looking to buy a new card this month, somewhere around the £200 mark but I can go higher. I'll be playing a variety of current and next gen games at high settings, 1080p.
The card du jour seems to be the GTX 760, but the Radeon 7950 is very close in terms of price and specs. Just as examples, two similarly priced versions of the cards:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd-7950-twin-frozr-oc-be-28nm-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-2x-mini-dp
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-760-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-980mhz-boost-1033mhz-cores-1152
The 760's tend to have better clock rates for the price and came out this year. However I'm conflicted by the 3GB memory on the 7950s. I've been getting the vague impression that higher vram is increasingly desirable what with the next gen of consoles pushing things in that direction. However this is merely speculation and I have no intentions to play games at resolutions over 1080p.
So, should I be put off of the 760 because of it's merely average 2GB?
Another option would be to extend my budget to around £250 and go for either one of the 4gb 760 models arriving soon:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-evga-gtx-760-ftw-acx-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1085mhz-boost-1150mhz-cores-1152-dport-dvi-
Or even pick up a low end 7970, which I gather is a cut above the 7950 and 760, but is it worth the extra £60?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd-7970-twin-frozr-iii-oc-boost-edition-5500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1000mhz-2048-cores-mdp
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, thanks!
The card du jour seems to be the GTX 760, but the Radeon 7950 is very close in terms of price and specs. Just as examples, two similarly priced versions of the cards:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd-7950-twin-frozr-oc-be-28nm-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-2x-mini-dp
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-760-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-980mhz-boost-1033mhz-cores-1152
The 760's tend to have better clock rates for the price and came out this year. However I'm conflicted by the 3GB memory on the 7950s. I've been getting the vague impression that higher vram is increasingly desirable what with the next gen of consoles pushing things in that direction. However this is merely speculation and I have no intentions to play games at resolutions over 1080p.
So, should I be put off of the 760 because of it's merely average 2GB?
Another option would be to extend my budget to around £250 and go for either one of the 4gb 760 models arriving soon:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-evga-gtx-760-ftw-acx-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-1085mhz-boost-1150mhz-cores-1152-dport-dvi-
Or even pick up a low end 7970, which I gather is a cut above the 7950 and 760, but is it worth the extra £60?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd-7970-twin-frozr-iii-oc-boost-edition-5500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1000mhz-2048-cores-mdp
Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated, thanks!