GIGABYTE AMD 7870 vs GTX 660/TI

[hbeduryan818]

Im looking for a gpu. Max res my monitor can handle is 1080p which one would be faster and better i was gonna get the 7950 but not enough money. Pairing with mspower mobo and 3770k

 

[steddora]

I'd probably go with the 7870 in that position. Since you're running single monitor at 1080p; they both can handle that more than enough. However the higher memory bus of the 7870 is going to allow that card to perform much better with high MSAA/FSAA settings. That's the only downside of the GTX660 and GTX660Ti cards. 384-bit on the 7870 vs the 192-bit on the 660 cards make the difference when it comes to high end anti-aliasing.

The GTX660Ti is a GTX670 with a chopped down memory bus just so you know. Without the large AA settings the 660Ti will usually keep right up with most GTX670's.

 

[bigcyco1]

The 660 TI is faster then a 7870 but you can get the 7950 for the same price as a 660 ti i think.

 

[hbeduryan818]

I'd probably go with the 7870 in that position. Since you're running single monitor at 1080p; they both can handle that more than enough. However the higher memory bus of the 7870 is going to allow that card to perform much better with high MSAA/FSAA settings. That's the only downside of the GTX660 and GTX660Ti cards. 384-bit on the 7870 vs the 192-bit on the 660 cards make the difference when it comes to high end anti-aliasing.

The GTX660Ti is a GTX670 with a chopped down memory bus just so you know. Without the large AA settings the 660Ti will usually keep right up with most GTX670's.

Is the 7870 worth it or should i wat a couple weeks more for the 7950

 

[bigcyco1]

Is the 7870 worth it or should i wat a couple weeks more for the 7950

Not really unless you want to but a 660 ti is not much slower then a 7950 just so you know.And a 670 is faster then 7950.

 

[hbeduryan818]

Not really unless you want to but a 660 ti is not much slower then a 7950 just so you know.

No bottleneck right? Woth the 3770k

 

[bigcyco1]

No bottleneck right? Woth the 3770k

No

 

[hbeduryan818]

No

Im a bit too late but would a 3570k with the 7950 be a better choice lol

 

[bigcyco1]

Im a bit too late but would a 3570k with the 7950 be a better choice lol

I am not a fanboy so i cannot say if it be better or not it wouldn't be any worse it's a little faster and would most likely overclock better.

 

[steddora]

The 7950 is a good bit faster than the 7870. Not a giant leap or anything but it does perform better. The 660Ti is close to the performance of the 7850 until you start pumping the anti-aliasing like I said. The 7950? It's just a beast and can be had for similar prices to the 660Ti. The GTX660, just push that off of the list if it ever was as it's an "ok" card but just lacks the power of even the 7850.

And there's no single card solution next to multi-GPU single slot cards that your processor would even begin to be any problem bottlenecking with. I suggest the 7950 if you can fit it into your budget. They are quite the amazing card and they truly shine once you pump up the anti-aliasing.

 

[hbeduryan818]

The 7950 is a good bit faster than the 7870. Not a giant leap or anything but it does perform better. The 660Ti is close to the performance of the 7850 until you start pumping the anti-aliasing like I said. The 7950? It's just a beast and can be had for similar prices to the 660Ti. The GTX660, just push that off of the list if it ever was as it's an "ok" card but just lacks the power of even the 7850.

So the 7870 is good i got it for 239.99 as the 7950 is 329.99

 

[bigcyco1]

So the 7870 is good i got it for 239.99 as the 7950 is 329.99

The Answer is 660 is faster then a 7850 a 7870 is faster then a 660 a 660 ti is faster then a 7870 the 7950 is faster then a 660 ti the 670 is faster then a 7950 the 7970 is faster then a 670 dizzy yet lol.

 

[steddora]

LOL bigcyco1! The 7870 is a great board. You'll be happy with it for sure. It should pretty much be able to max every game out there right now at 1080p.

The GPU's these days are just confusing as could be. However, AMD has really brought the price bracket pretty good. The 7950 is the "card" to have as it's performance is great compared to the competition. The 7850-7850 are GREAT cards and with their higher memory bandwidth; they can handle the AA like the 670 and higher line. The memory bandwidth isn't really noticeable until you start pumping the AA and take it from me that's every bit true. My pair of GTX550Ti's are awesome. I can run BF3 at MAX settings at 1080p, until I start adding AA. Once I get the AA in the midrange; that 192-bit memory bus really starts showing. Even on lower quality settings, the AA can literally kill my cards. However, the 7850 (which will easily outperform my pair of GTX550's) can run probably max AA on BF3 with every other setting maxed at 1080p. The GTX660Ti, limited like me; once you see one in action, you'll "just say no" if you like having good AA settings. Biggest difference in the 7950 and 7850 I see other than small performance is the bus is 256-bit rather than 384-bit on the 7950. But the 256-bit is more than enough for decent AA at 1080p and might start being a little sluggish at say 2560x1600 or so as the AA just becomes insane on the memory bus.

For lowest cards I'd buy right now...

7850 and GTX670. They have decent bus width for AA and perform great out of the box. The 7850 is a LOT cheaper as well and honestly; I wouldn't even consider the 660 as it's memory bus is apparently 192-bit just like the 660Ti. Like I said, once you become victim of the narrow bus; you'll never want to go back. I want a 384-bit! Bah I'm starting to hate my GTX550's again LOL

 

[steddora]

I figured I'd add this for you. Don't take the results to mean "true to life" performance. But the page gives you an idea. The one I linked really shows the limited bus of the GTX660Ti compared to the 7850. A $300 card vs a $230 card; I would rather have the AA in the end especially since they will both perform very well at 1080p.

http://www.hwcompare.com/13141/geforce-gtx-660-ti-vs-radeon-hd-7850/

You can switch to different cards to see "Estimated" performances. Pretty handy little tool for narrowing your card search.

 

[hbeduryan818]

I figured I'd add this for you. Don't take the results to mean "true to life" performance. But the page gives you an idea. The one I linked really shows the limited bus of the GTX660Ti compared to the 7850. A $300 card vs a $230 card; I would rather have the AA in the end especially since they will both perform very well at 1080p.

http://www.hwcompare.com/13141/geforce-gtx-660-ti-vs-radeon-hd-7850/

You can switch to different cards to see "Estimated" performances. Pretty handy little tool for narrowing your card search.

Ive been hearing alot of great news with amds newest drivers

 

[bigcyco1]

Yeah i love my 670 actually have two now but when i had just one @1080p Overclocked mildly was straight beast! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnLUJxCBZUg&feature=plcp Crysis 2 Campaign MSI GTX 670 PE i wish i could shoot them for real but don't think i would like going to jail lol!!

 

[steddora]

AMD has come a LONG way since they purchased ATi. The 7xxx series of cards really surprised me and I actually want a 7950. Though I'm waiting on the 8xxx series... (grumble). The 7950 out of the box is one of the best GPU's that sell for under ~350 and the performance gains on more expensive chips aside from multi-gpu is negligible in my book. The 7850 is a great card and will out perform my pair of GTX550's and I almost bought one just to have the ability to actually have decent AA settings in my games.

Also to add another note, overclocking on AMD GPU's is something out of a space novel. I've read some different results people have any I was actually stunned by some of them. Like I remember a guy with a 7950 clocked his card to higher performance than a 7970Ghz edition with a non-reference cooler. I almost poo'd to be honest. I'm glad to see nVidia has some real competition now as it was getting out of hand with ATi falling behind back in the day. I remember people arguing that intel was going to come and save the GPU market. I still lol when I hear that.

 

[hbeduryan818]

AMD has come a LONG way since they purchased ATi. The 7xxx series of cards really surprised me and I actually want a 7950. Though I'm waiting on the 8xxx series... (grumble). The 7950 out of the box is one of the best GPU's that sell for under ~350 and the performance gains on more expensive chips aside from multi-gpu is negligible in my book. The 7850 is a great card and will out perform my pair of GTX550's and I almost bought one just to have the ability to actually have decent AA settings in my games.

Also to add another note, overclocking on AMD GPU's is something out of a space novel. I've read some different results people have any I was actually stunned by some of them. Like I remember a guy with a 7950 clocked his card to higher performance than a 7970Ghz edition with a non-reference cooler. I almost poo'd to be honest. I'm glad to see nVidia has some real competition now as it was getting out of hand with ATi falling behind back in the day. I remember people arguing that intel was going to come and save the GPU market. I still lol when I hear that.

I think intel should join the mobile cpu/gpu market

 

[bigcyco1]

AMD has come a LONG way since they purchased ATi. The 7xxx series of cards really surprised me and I actually want a 7950. Though I'm waiting on the 8xxx series... (grumble). The 7950 out of the box is one of the best GPU's that sell for under ~350 and the performance gains on more expensive chips aside from multi-gpu is negligible in my book. The 7850 is a great card and will out perform my pair of GTX550's and I almost bought one just to have the ability to actually have decent AA settings in my games.

Also to add another note, overclocking on AMD GPU's is something out of a space novel. I've read some different results people have any I was actually stunned by some of them. Like I remember a guy with a 7950 clocked his card to higher performance than a 7970Ghz edition with a non-reference cooler. I almost poo'd to be honest. I'm glad to see nVidia has some real competition now as it was getting out of hand with ATi falling behind back in the day. I remember people arguing that intel was going to come and save the GPU market. I still lol when I hear that.

There usually a fanboy war here weekly but past two months things have really tone down.I am glad to i like AMD GPU and NV GPU both and try not to take sides though when it comes to cpu i can't get on that amd train not impressed sorry.

 

[JJ1217]

I'd probably go with the 7870 in that position. Since you're running single monitor at 1080p; they both can handle that more than enough. However the higher memory bus of the 7870 is going to allow that card to perform much better with high MSAA/FSAA settings. That's the only downside of the GTX660 and GTX660Ti cards. 384-bit on the 7870 vs the 192-bit on the 660 cards make the difference when it comes to high end anti-aliasing.

The GTX660Ti is a GTX670 with a chopped down memory bus just so you know. Without the large AA settings the 660Ti will usually keep right up with most GTX670's.

256 bit on the 7870 by the way