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Purchase second 7870 for crossfire vs single 7970

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  • Crossfire
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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November 17, 2013 5:50:23 PM

I know this question has been asked time and time again, as I have done some research.

I was shopping for 7870's yesterday, and from what I read crossfire will allow me to play at a higher framerate. However, the 7970 has more vram, I assume that this will allow for better graphics processing. Which is the better choice? I do know for a fact, that I push my card to its limit, and that extra gig of vram sure looks appetizing, but is it worth the trade off for the frames that crossfire will offer me

I would like some advice, should I purchase a second 7870 to do crossfire, or should I just sell my current 7870 and put the money towards a 7970.

Im buying off of amazon,

a 7870 is about 180, while a 7970 is about 300

I mostly am doing this so I can play bf4 on ultra, smooth as silk 60fps, with aliasing. Rather than playing on high, with the fps about 45(eyeball estimate), and little to no aliasing. (graphics whore)

I play on 1080p 60hz monitor, but would definetly be open to upgrading, especially if I have a better graphics card that will support it.

Thank you in advance for taking time to reply to my question, appreciate it

More about : purchase 7870 crossfire single 7970

November 17, 2013 5:54:22 PM

it is worth noting that price is not an issue, I am not paying much out of pocket because I have an amazon gift card from textbooks, in addition, if i choose the 7970 i will sell my current 7870
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November 17, 2013 5:58:08 PM

IM also interested an open to nvidia cards, my budget is about 320.
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November 17, 2013 6:10:34 PM

I would sell the 7870 and pick up a GTX 770. It's a steal now with the 3 free games and 100 bucks off SHIELD.
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November 17, 2013 6:11:35 PM

It's a little out of your budget at $329, but if you successfully sell the 7870 then it would be right in the money.
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November 17, 2013 6:14:31 PM

assassins creed and splinter cell are not very interesting to me, but batman is. With that said, aside from the games, in terms of performance, what can i expect from the gtx 770 rather than the 7970?

I do see that the gtx 770 has only 2gb of vram. Skryim and bf4 already use all my vram, should the 2gb concern me?
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November 17, 2013 6:15:27 PM

James62389 said:
I would sell the 7870 and pick up a GTX 770. It's a steal now with the 3 free games and 100 bucks off SHIELD.

The HD 7970 is still $65 less expensive than the GTX 770 and also comes with three free games. I guess that makes it a better steal than the GTX 770 eh? LOL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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November 17, 2013 6:18:08 PM

7970 3gb vs gtx 770 2gb

3gb vram > 2gb vram?
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November 17, 2013 6:18:31 PM

Go with the single 7970. I actually had crossfired 7870's then upgraded to crossfired 7970's, what I learned is that only a few games actually play better crossfired (BF4 is the only one that works flawlessly for me). I ended up disabling crossfire and using a single 7970, frames are a bit lower as you would suspect but the micro stutter with crossfire is just hell.

For reference:
2x Crossfired HD 7870 BF4 FPS (maxed settings): 30-45fps
2x Crossfired HD 7970 BF4 FPS (maxed settings): 50-80fps
1x HD 7970 BF4 FPS (maxed settings): 40-50fps
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Best solution

November 17, 2013 6:31:36 PM

Games are getting so close to breaching. 2gb vram now, I would go the 7970. Most 7970s can be ocd or his flashed to GHz edition speeds also. And you wouldn't have the headache that is crossfire. Just recently side-graded from dual 660s to a 7970, and all though microstutter is less evident in sli to crossfire, going back to a good single card feels smoother, lower frame latencies.
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November 17, 2013 6:44:01 PM

Avro Arrow said:
James62389 said:
I would sell the 7870 and pick up a GTX 770. It's a steal now with the 3 free games and 100 bucks off SHIELD.

The HD 7970 is still $65 less expensive than the GTX 770 and also comes with three free games. I guess that makes it a better steal than the GTX 770 eh? LOL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Actually, with the $100 off SHIELD. No. I was simply stating my opinion buddy. No need for the attitude.
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November 17, 2013 6:54:06 PM

James62389 said:
Avro Arrow said:
James62389 said:
I would sell the 7870 and pick up a GTX 770. It's a steal now with the 3 free games and 100 bucks off SHIELD.

The HD 7970 is still $65 less expensive than the GTX 770 and also comes with three free games. I guess that makes it a better steal than the GTX 770 eh? LOL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Actually, with the $100 off SHIELD. No. I was simply stating my opinion buddy. No need for the attitude.

No attitude intended, I was making a joke. Yes, $100 off of shield is a good deal IF you want to buy shield. Otherwise, the HD 7970 is the better deal. Right now, nVidia's price:p erformance ratio doesn't touch ATi's. If the reverse were true, I'd be telling him to buy nVidia as well.
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November 17, 2013 7:36:01 PM

Avro Arrow said:
James62389 said:
Avro Arrow said:
James62389 said:
I would sell the 7870 and pick up a GTX 770. It's a steal now with the 3 free games and 100 bucks off SHIELD.

The HD 7970 is still $65 less expensive than the GTX 770 and also comes with three free games. I guess that makes it a better steal than the GTX 770 eh? LOL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Actually, with the $100 off SHIELD. No. I was simply stating my opinion buddy. No need for the attitude.

No attitude intended, I was making a joke. Yes, $100 off of shield is a good deal IF you want to buy shield. Otherwise, the HD 7970 is the better deal. Right now, nVidia's price:p erformance ratio doesn't touch ATi's. If the reverse were true, I'd be telling him to buy nVidia as well.


Thanks for the response, and I do agree. And as you can probably tell, I do plan on getting a shield. haha. Take care.
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