Buyer's Remorse Help me Decide

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GinoS

GinoS

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I'm looking forward to BF4 and know I need to upgrade my video card. My system:

Mobo: Asus P8Z77-V LE Rev X

CPU: 3.50 gigahertz Intel Core i5-3570

RAM: 16 gigs

Video: EVGA GeForce GTX 560

Today I picked up a EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2 at TigerDirect for $339 (with a $30 rebate). That's a 2 gigabyte card. I was trying to decide between that and an XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double D Video Card - 3GB which was available for $359.

One of the system builders at Tiger said I should go with the EVGA card because I'm running an Intel processor. My question is, did I get the right advice?

I haven't opened the EVGA card. I do love their products but I've used Radeon based video cards in the past. I'm not married to either chipset. So, should I return the EVGA and spend the extra $50 and get the XFX card?

I am limited to buying what's on hand at local retailers. I'd love to go Newegg but I want to pay cash up front so e-retailers are out.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
AGx-07_162
The Radeon HD 7970 may be slightly more powerful and may be the better of the two considering the extra memory. However, the two perform very similarly. For a good breakdown, I'll point you over to this thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/379159-33-7970.

As for the advice...."because you're running an Intel processor", no, that's not good advice because you can run AMD graphics cards with Intel Processors, they're not incompatible, and it's not like Intel makes NVIDIA chips anyway). The computer I'm on right now is running Radeon HD 6770m with an Intel i7. If the guy had given you some sort of reason, like the Radeon would bottleneck the CPU then it would have been more logical advice but it sounds more to me like someone...
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COLGeek

COLGeek

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Buying a GPU based on the brand of the CPU is utter nonsense. Your Intel CPU will work equally as well with either an AMD or a Nvidia GPU. That was terrible advise and rationale.

That being said, what resolution do you plan to game at?
 
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AGx-07_162

AGx-07_162

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The Radeon HD 7970 may be slightly more powerful and may be the better of the two considering the extra memory. However, the two perform very similarly. For a good breakdown, I'll point you over to this thread: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/379159-33-7970.

As for the advice...."because you're running an Intel processor", no, that's not good advice because you can run AMD graphics cards with Intel Processors, they're not incompatible, and it's not like Intel makes NVIDIA chips anyway). The computer I'm on right now is running Radeon HD 6770m with an Intel i7. If the guy had given you some sort of reason, like the Radeon would bottleneck the CPU then it would have been more logical advice but it sounds more to me like someone who just prefers NVIDIA over AMD.

[Select best answer if you feel like I helped]

 
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COLGeek

COLGeek

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Then have no remorse as either choice is more than capable of gaming quite well at that resolution. Really no bad choice. Sounds like you made a pretty good choice given the price difference.

Enjoy!
 
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Avro Arrow

Avro Arrow

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I used to work at Tiger Direct. Their markup on nVidia is much higher than ATi and also, they tend to stock more nVidia. That's why he fed you that line. He's full of crap. AMD does NOT design ATi cards to work better with AMD CPUs any more than nVidia makes their cards to work better with Intel. If he said that, he shouldn't be in that line of work. I would walk right back with it asking to speak to the manager. I would ask him/her where on earth his employees get such nonsense and demand a full refund. I would then order the 7970 from newegg. God that really pisses me off because I used to be a salesman at Tiger Direct and I never, EVER lied to a customer. If I didn't know something I looked it up. That was the whole point of my laptop advice thread. Check this article and you'll know what to do:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html
 
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GinoS

GinoS

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Not that I'm in the habit of defending incompetent clerks, but in the clerk's defense he DID direct me to the cheaper product, so I do not feel he was trying to increase his sales numbers. In fact clerk#1 told me both cards looked like good bargains and consulted with Clerk#2 (who he said was one of their build pros) and Clerk#2 said intel works better with NVidia. So, I do not feel I was ripped off in any way by TigerDirect. The basic question is, which card is better or are they pretty much equal. If there equal I saved $50. If not, I need to decide if the extra gig of ram and is worth buying the XFX product. I thank everyone for their responses.
 
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COLGeek

COLGeek

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Performance between the 2 is very similar. In many ways, it is down to preference. I would prefer the AMD based offering. Others would prefer the Nvidia offering.

If cost is no matter, then go with the XFX to give yourself the assurance that video memory will not be an issue in the future.

Regardless, there is no bad choice here.
 
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Warsam71

Warsam71

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@OP - just a quick note, we used the 7970 throughout the year to demo BF3 (including gamescom in germany), and it worked beautifully. We're partners with EA Digital Illusions and have been working with them for a while on optimizing the game...and BF4 is just around the corner... ;-)
 
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