7970 or GTX 580 3gb?

[whatsup1396]

Well I have been looking to upgrade my 4870 and 4890 crossfire configuration for a while now and I've been looking at two cards, the 7970 and the 580. I know the 7970 is a faster card and is about the same cost as a 580 3gb however I know from personal experience and from other people that AMD's driver support is awful. Do you guys think a slightly slower card (580) is worth it more in the long run or should I take a gamble and go with the 7970? Thanks.

 

[nukemaster]

I have had fairly good luck with drivers as of late. I have also had poor drivers in the past on both sides(Like an unusable 8800GTX(just after Vista SP1 and when i got Vista for the first time) for 9 months while Nvidia was pushing new cards and not adding beta drivers for that card).

I think there are more issues with crossfire/sli with profiles being needed and whatnot.

I have been looking at the 7970 myself(takes less power, so if they get a better fan profile to make it a bit quieter), but just not ready for an upgrade.

If you play any games that take advantage of PhysX(Or other games optimized for Nvidia's hardware), then the 580 may be an option for you, but you will get opinions from everyone and there is not right vs wrong choice here.

The cards are very close for most games(they trade blows). You are almost stuck to go with your gut feeling.

 

[mfarrukh]

If you have the extra money, I would definitely recommend 7970.
AMD driver support is not that bad and we are the new ones are pretty good.

 

[nukemaster]

If you have the extra money, I would definitely recommend 7970.
AMD driver support is not that bad and we are the new ones are pretty good.

I like that they have application settings now(per game). It is an about time thing, but glad it is here.

The only negative i can really think of besides Physx(is that even a downside) is the lack of forcing some AA modes in DX 10+ games. Very minor if a game has its own AA built in.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5261/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/12

 

[Gordon Freeman]

I like that they have application settings now(per game). It is an about time thing, but glad it is here.

The only negative i can really think of besides Physx(is that even a downside) is the lack of forcing some AA modes in DX 10+ games. Very minor if a game has its own AA built in.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5261/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/12

Physx is in like all of 4 games so not like anybody is missing out or gaining anything other than lose of FPS when Physx are on really. To OP ether card is good but Nvidia 580 has reached it's peak and 7960 has not and is already faster in all games by a tangible margin so ...

 

[kitsunestarwind]

Driver support is never a real problem in Single card configurations of both Nvidia or ATI, most driver issues usually occur in SLI/Crossfire configurations