EVGA GTX 650 Ti Boost Vs. Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 & questions about both GPU's

TheDragonBorn

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I am deciding between these two cards and it has been very hard to decide between these too. I wanted to ask you all here about which is better and other questions too. Sorry if this is kinda long I just want as much info as possible and it will be very appreciated. :)

Also, I don't care which card you prefer, like, or use be it NVIDIA or AMD. I care about what is better here and what will offer more and is the better choice. As long as you're happy and I will be happy with my choice is all that matters.

1: Which card is more powerful, plays games better, better FPS, and best and highest resolution?

2: What card generates less heat?

3: Which one has better drivers and ease of use?

4: How good is Sapphire and EVGA?

5: How important/good is PhysX and will I really be missing out?

6: How many games support PhysX?

7: What are your experiences with either card/brand
 
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people have had issue with amd drivers, i have not. your gpu does not have any link with your cpu, i use an intel 3570k with an asus sabertooth z77 board, works like a dream!

misfitkid86

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the 7870 is a beast! i have a single sapphire 7870 oc card and it works more than well for most games. hell, for little money or power you can crossfire those and it beats one 7970! get the 7870 you will not regret it!
 

misfitkid86

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i have the oc 2gb card and it runs overerclocked 1100/1350 idle around 24c to an general max of 55c. not hot, the xt will be a bit hotter but still pretty cold.
 

TheDragonBorn

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Cool beans. How are the drivers when it comes to AMD and NVIDIA and how easy/good are they? On a side note: I'm going to use an Intel Processor and Mobo is that completely fine if I use an AMD card and will it effect performance in any way? Thanks. :)
 

misfitkid86

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people have had issue with amd drivers, i have not. your gpu does not have any link with your cpu, i use an intel 3570k with an asus sabertooth z77 board, works like a dream!
 
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misfitkid86

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while i have not used evga since i have only run amd, i have heard only great things about them, some cards even have a lifetime warranty! sapphire is pretty good, they have quick turn around time on rma's but i have had to use that before. in my opinion for amd cards i would go asus, or asus/evga for nvidia cards.
 

misfitkid86

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if the 650ti was $70 cheaper it would be worth it but at that price it's a fraction of the power for the love of god skip it! sapphire is good but i might say go with asus or xfx instead, xfx has a lifetime warranty which of cours is awesome.
 

TheDragonBorn

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I did read that the Sapphire 7870's had an issue with black screens and there are those who say it was an early batch that was affected. If the issue has been corrected than I'll go for it. Makes me think of the Xbox and the red ring thing it had and only down the road did it get "resolved" Also, I have been reading a lot on here and PhysX, no offense to anyone who likes it, doesn't seem worth it to me very much. Only a handful of games use advanced PhysX and very few of those games I like. If the issue with the Sapphire 7870 has been corrected I'll go for it. :) I will look at ASUS, but the sapphire looks to be the better price.
 

misfitkid86

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yes, the issue has been fixed, i have and am currently using the card that was effected with the issue. i do like sapphire and yes physx isn't in a lot of games. physx is cool and can add a lot to certain games but is not worth a $100 dollars more. if you went with an nvidia card i would say go for the 760 ($250) but the 7870 rocks.
 
amd drivers are ok, except in multi card configs, which they have done a lot for, but still need work. nvidia's multi-card option has better game support and less micro-stuttering. but in the case of 650ti boost vs 7870, they arent even in the same price range or performance category. the 650ti boost competes with the 7850 and is usually priced accordingly. the gtx660 trades blows with the 7870.
 

TheDragonBorn

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Hmm, well it seems to be between the 650 ti Boost and the 7870 sapphire. It looks like some people can still get a sapphire with the issue, but that's very few people and the ti boost is still a nice card and has physx. Choosing cards is a pretty tough choice and I feel I could not go wrong with either one. What games are more optimised for what card, an Nvidia or an AMD?
 


wouldn't matter what games are optimized for what, the 7870 would come out on top 99% of the time over the 650ti boost. If they are the same price I would get the 7870 without hesitation, although i generally avoid sapphire since the better brands are often only a few $$ more.
 

TheDragonBorn

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True, but I did get through reading quite a few threads not just here, but elsewhere about the 7870 and the black screen issue. One thread back in august even talked about getting the black screen. I don't think I want to take the risk with that one so I may go for the 650 ti boost or 660. I know GPU's and other hardware components aren't perfect, but the issue with the 7870 is a little hard to ignore unless it's only sapphire brand 7870's being affected.
 

misfitkid86

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it was only sapphire, and if you didn't buy that you really ought to get the 7850 it's even cheaper and still around 10% faster than the 650 ti.
 


the 7850 is not faster than the 650ti boost, were not talking about the vanilla 650ti.
 

misfitkid86

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http://www.hwcompare.com/13797/geforce-gtx-650-ti-2gb-vs-radeon-hd-7850/ no obviously this is a comparison between two reference cards but still. and considering the 7850 is cheaper for the most part.