GTX 670 4gb or 2gb or 7970 3gb... I'M SO CONFUSED

Which GPU config

  • SLI - 2x EVGA Geforce 670GTX 4gb SC

    Votes: 8 33.3%
  • SLI - 2x EVGA Geforce 670GTX 2gb SC

    Votes: 7 29.2%
  • Crossfire - 2x MSI Radeon HD 7970 3gb

    Votes: 6 25.0%
  • EVGA GTX690

    Votes: 2 8.3%
  • Wait for the Radeon HD 7990

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • Wait for the Geforce GTX685 (???)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Wait for the Gefirce GTX670ti (???)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    24

cxinformatique

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Hello people!

At the end of the summer, like mid-august, I'll build a gaming rig which will contain a set of two (2) graphic cards. At first, I was thinking of getting a set of GTX 670 4GB because I want to run every existing game, to be more precise, ALL and EVERY next-gen game ( like unreal engine 4, Grand theft auto V, etc... ) on max settings with a high value of FPS and as I see with past experiment, games with open-world like or high texture pack requires ALOT of graphics memory ( for 16k texture, a minimum of 3gb is recommended for exemple ). As said, I wanted to know if, in SLI, GTX 670 4GB x2 ( which is 8gb of memory for graphical usage ) is too much overpower or if simply 4gb by combining 2 670 2gb is enough. AND, I saw that AMD 7970 3GB is almost on the same price of 670 4GB so would it be more profitable to go AMD way? I saw on benchmarks that they both offer similar perfomance depending the game and on SLI or Crossfire they do offer similar perfomance too!

I WON'T OC

I don't want fanboy comments.
For the 670, I'll take an EVGA Geforce 670gtx SC 4GB (489.99) or EVGA Geforce 670gtx SC 2gb (signature edition) (409.99 or 419.99)
and for the 7970, I would go with http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1796134&CatId=7387 (459.99$)

NO ASUS (except if it's 2 slots ... ), EVGA or MSI are my favorite, and for AMD GPU, I don't have any idea which company is better.

BTW, why is there 600$ 7970 3GB and 460$ version of the same card?!

By buying a SLI of 670, should I go directly with a 690?
Should I wait to see if there will be a GTX685, GTX670ti OR 7990?

As for my screen resolution, I'm using, right now, only a screen of 23" 1920x1080. In the future, I might have triple screen, and if I'm crazy, 3D triple screen. And anyway, yes having a SLI or CROSSFIRE of those cards is overkill, BUT I WANT TO OVERKILL MUHAHAHAHA.

I WON'T DO A SLI OF 680 AS THE PERFOMMANCE BETWEEN THE 670 VS DIFFERENCE OF PRICE ISN'T INTELLIGENT.
Thank you for all your comments and I'm open to new ideas.



For the rest of the config I'm gonna buy, here's the specs.

CPU:Intel i5 3570K
MOTHERBOARD:Asus Sabertooth z77
RAM:Corsair vengeance LP 1600mhz 4x4gb
CPU COOLER:Corsair H100 liquid cooling (for cpu, PushPull config (in the same time, which fans are F**KING silent and F**KING power)
GPUs:SLI of whatever
SSD:Corsair 120gb FORCE GT ssd
HDD:WD - Velociraptor 600gb
POWER SUPPLY : Corsair 1200AX
CASE : Corsair Obsidian 800d (which is already acquired)

My present config :
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Motherboard : Asus P5N-D
RAM : 6 gb DDR2-800
GPU : Asus GTX580
HDD : Seagates 500GB 7,200rpm
PowerSupply : Corsair 750TX
Case : Thermaltake Element S



Sorry if my english is not perfect. I tried my best...

 
you mentioned that you're buying toward the AUGUST, by then, GHz editions of stock 7970 will have been released, and possibly the 7990. the manufacturing quality of the 7970 has improved a lot since they were released, and I wouldn't be surprised that in august, the 7970 will run 1ghz at stock, manufacture OC editions will all go 1.1ghz+, and most will be able to OC to 1.2ghz or more. at these speeds, the 7970 will be a match for the 680, and exceed the 680 for triple display. hencey why I voted the 7970
 
Get 2x 690's, that should suit your needs ;)

7990 will never see the day of light.
can't argue with you on the 7990 XD though if it does come out, AMD had better be sure it's faster than the 690

anyway, wouldn't the OP be better off with a prebuilt machine from digital storm with their sub-zero liquid cooling setup? lol
 


wouldn't make a real difference on a single 1080 now would it? :p
 

cxinformatique

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Haha, love your answers guys.

So, in brief,
-the vram of the second graphic card is not taken in count.

Thanks for that information.

Next, you told me AMD are better on overclock ( even if I don't want to, I'll take this in consideration if I want more power )

AMD has more memory STOCK.

7970 CF x2 = 680 SLI x2

hmmm... So I'm beginning to go for the 7970 right now ( will be the first ATI card I buy if I choose this ).

AND YES I WANNA OVERKILL AND YES I'LL BUY 3 SCREENS. :)

For budget, 1000$-1200$ is in my range ( less is better, I want to put alot of money but if I can save some penny, I'll be happy ).

Thanks again for you comments, always open to new suggestions!

PS: by saying OP, I'm meaning INTELLIGENT OP ;P I think a Crossfire-4way is exagerate, as much as 2x 690... anyway my MB can only take 3 GPU max...

And I won't take watercool solution as I don't want to overclock, and If I want in a future, I won't do SUPER UBER WATER COOLING overclock... I don't like to rape my PC.



EDIT next to the edit of bigmack : And with 2gb of RAM will it be okay to run every game? With my presnt GTX580 ( If u had look my present config, I do know that my gpu is bottlenecked by my CPU ) I can't run 16k texture because there's not enough memory and that pissed me off... so 3gb sounds cool to me. Change my mind if I'm in the wrong way.
 


to me personally, it's not AMD has more memory so much as AMD has more memory BANDWIDTH, 386-bit vs Nvidia's 256-bit. which does make a difference for 3 monitors and is a major reason why as you go to higher resolutions, the 7970 starts to overtake the 680
 

cxinformatique

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Haha thanks BigMack for you answers.

And don't be angry mister recon-uk, after rain is sun.
And no I've got 3000$ budget for my whole configuration.

So I'm getting back to 670 2gb! It's hard to choose between 2 similars config who have there own postive and negative aspect. WHY THERE'S NO PERFECT GPU'S :(

Like a 670 with memory bandwith of 386-bit, 3gb vram. woooha.

Anyway, so another brief

7970CF is better for triple screen resolution, but has more drivers problem than 670. Would rather take this If i want to OC but it's not in my plan ( still usefull ) because OC can reach perfommance like 680.

670 has less drivers problem, cost not much, good sli perf ( very near the 680 too )
 
for a single 1080p,a single 670 is enough to max out almost any game,i hardly doubt than 2GB vram is not enough,even in case of 3 monitors,2GB is enough.remember 6990 or 590?
if any one wants to oppose then benchmarks(2GB vs 4GB) are welcome :)
for 3 monitor setup,a 670 SLi will do fine.for further info,take a look-
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1625084&mpage=1
if you really want absolutely dominating setup(o budget)go with 690 SLi ;)
EDIT: @OP,i won't suggest H100,it absolutely sucks IMO.reason?? here you go-
-costs $100+
-silver arrow beats it in noise/performance case-
42197.png

the fans of h100 are at high
noise levels-
42198.png

the fans of h100 are at low
you need to spend another 20+ bucks for a couple of good fans.
-and after so much,you face things like this-
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=29&post=276036&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0
better go with a high end air cooler like thermalright silver arrow or D14.

 
Intel Core i5-3570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128552

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191

Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB x3 3-way SLi
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

SILVERSTONE Strider Gold ST1000-G 1000W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256068

SilverStone RAVEN RV02-BW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163154

ASUS VS Series VS228H-P Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor x3 Nvidia SLi Surround
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236176

Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049&Tpk=antex%20620


$3024... epic rig.

Before rebates

not really the best you can get for $3k.i would suggest the following changes-
a 670 SLi will do fine.
a bigger case would be my preference(nothing is wrong with raven but that's just my opinion,some thing bigger like DF-85 would be good)
620 absolutely sucks.better go with hyper 612 PWM.
 
The raven is quite massive...
I own it myself...

Possibly the best air cooled case on the market.

Why not 3-way SLi 670's with that cash....

620... good point.

i know you have raven :) but as i mentioned that i would go with something bigger for that price tag(personal preference differs from person to person :))
3-way scaling is not worth $$$
 

cxinformatique

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Sorry, I'm currently working so I can't answer every 5 seconds. I already have my CASE which is corsair obsidian 800D ( best case ever OKAY?! ) and on 3k$, add the shipping :p

Seems a good config u gave me, because there's a 3-way sli and 3 monitors, but I NEED my 16 gb of ram ( for works... u know. Multi-tasking power )

And for corsair h100, have u looked for PUSH-PULL config benchmark, u put 2 fans under and on the rad so u have better airflow.
 


800D is one of my favorite but only if you go with a custom liquid cooling loop,other wise it's not the in fact no way near to the best airflow case(no intake fans at front:p)
3 way SLi?? i know it's mouth watering but do you know the aftermaths and maintenance required? let me mention a few-
driver support sucks most of the times
many games don't support 3 way SLi
reference design cards will sound like a jet under load
scaling is not worth extra cash.
for h100 p/p,do you even know when we need p/p config? seriously it's one of the worst thing to put 4 fans on a rad with dimensions-
122 x 275 x 27 mm
you need p/p for something like this-
xspc_rx360_7.jpg

NOT this-
corsair-h100-cooler_radiator.jpg

you can oppose but i would like to see some benchmarks showing the benefit of four fans justifying their cost :p
 
Are you the guy with 10 tabs open in internet explorer
or
The guy who runs adobe photoshop with 900tabs open with a game running
or
The guy playing a game whilst checking out his daily porn site?


Different types of multitaskers......

8GB is more than sufficient for these :p use 16GB for intensive virtualization
 
At the end of the summer, like mid-august, I'll build a gaming rig which will contain a set of two (2) graphic cards.

At the end of the summer, the advice you get is likely to be vastly different that what you'll get today.

As said, I wanted to know if, in SLI, GTX 670 4GB x2 ( which is 8gb of memory for graphical usage )

No it isn't...... memory allocation does not "add". Two 4GB cards gives you 4GB

As for which card .... look at the $ per frame figures

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite: Hard Reset, COD-MW2, Far Cry 2, ANNO 1404, Metro 2033, ANNO 2070, BFBC2, BF3, Crysis 2, AvP, Lost Planet 2. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:


Card - Cost ( Single / 2-way SLI /CF ) $ / Frame - $ / Frame SLI/CF
GTX 680 - $ 500 ( 989 / 1578 ) $ 0.51 - $ 0.63
680 DCII Cu TOP - $ 520 ( 1077 / NA ) $ 0.48 - ERR
GTX 670 - $ 400 ( 917 / 1539 ) $ 0.44 - $ 0.52
670 DCII Cu TOP - $ 430 ( 999 / 1679 ) $ 0.43 - $ 0.51
7970 - $ 480 ( 872 / NA ) $ 0.55 - ERR
7970 DCII Cu - $ 580 ( 924 / NA ) $ 0.63 - ERR
7950 - $ 400 ( 746 / NA ) $ 0.54 - ERR
7870 - $ 360 ( 701 / NA ) $ 0.51 - ERR
7850 - $ 260 ( 596 / NA ) $ 0.44 - ERR

In the table above for example, the Asus 670 Cu DCII TOP costs $430 each and gets 999 fps in single card configuration at a cost of $0.43 per frame and 1679 in SLI at a cost of $0.51 per frame. The AMD cards w/ NA did not complete all games in the test suite. This should be resolved in an upcoming driver fix. The nVidia card w/ NA was not tested in SLI.

In order of bang for the buck...... the Asus 670 TOP takes 1st place at $0.43 per frame, followed by the refernce 670 and the 7850 at a tie for 2nd..... in 4th ya have the 680 TOP at $0.48 ....all other cards are more than $0.50 per frame with the 7970 and 7970 TOP bringing up the rear with $0.55 and $0.63 respectively.

I WON'T OC
I don't want fanboy comments.
For the 670, I'll take an EVGA Geforce 670gtx SC 4GB (489.99) or EVGA Geforce 670gtx SC 2gb (signature edition) (409.99 or 419.99) and for the 7970, I would go with http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicat [...] CatId=7387 (459.99$)

On what basis have you made these selections ?

1. The SC on the EVGA 670 means "super clocked" so it will be OC'd already when ya take it outta the box.

2. The EVGA 670 SC has a reference 6 phase VRM, Asus and many others use 8 or more phase VRM's.

3. Both are 2-slot cards

4. 3D Mark 11 scoring

The EVGA 670 SC hits 8691 "outta the box" and 9443 OC'd
http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-geforce-gtx-670-sc-review/23

The Asus 670 DCII TOP hits 9340 "outta the box" (9% faster) and 9739 (3% faster) OC'd
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-geforce-gtx-670-directcu-ii-top-review/23

The 7970 hits 7924 "outta the box" (18% slower) and 8570 (14% slower) OC'd
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/24

5. Idle /Loads temps on the Asus TOP are 30C / 72C, Idle /Loads temps on the EVGA are 29C / 78C,

6. Noise levels on the Asus TOP are 37 dBA and 38 dBA, 6. Noise levels on the EVGA SC are 37 dBA and 43 dBA

7. The Asus model is substantially less expensive

In conclusion, the Asus 670 TOP is faster, runs cooler, is quieter and is cheaper than the alternatives....much so with regard to the 7970.


As for the rest of the build, the only reason even think about the H100 is that you plan on overlcocking the begeezes outta a CPU and you don't care about noise. If you are not overclocking ...... consider the following:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=674&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=5

It's almost ironic that coolers like this are becoming available just as processors transition to designs that may ultimately render them unnecessary; even overclocked to 5GHz, an Intel Sandy Bridge 2600K doesn't need anywhere near this level of cooling.

I can attest that the referenced cooler (Thermalright Silver Arrow) is extremely quiet but I can't see spending $80 on it or the Phanteks cooler if you are not going to overclock. I'd spend a more modest $50 and get the Hyper 612 PWM

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=797&Itemid=62

Corsair H70 (high)* 65.3
Thermaltake Frio OCK* 65.2
Thermalright Venomous X 63.0
Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM 62.3

which, while still running quiitly, beats the H70 by 3C underload

Read the Guru3D reviews before ya jump into the CF game.....with 3 120 Hz screens, I'd be wanting the option for adding a 3rd card and you simply would be extremely unwise to go AMD with 3 cards

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-7970-crossfire-review/21

The past year if you have read up in our forums, AMD's Radeon team has been a step too slow with driver support. While there are monthly updates and hotfixes titles like Rage and Skyrim have been plagued by driver bugs, especially in Crossfire modes. It took AMD weeks to fix. When you drop 60 EUR on game you want to be able to play it on release day, period.

When we relate that to our test suite with CrossfireX in mind AMD did not return with a homerun either. We had some issues, COD MW2 had a negative scaling issue, Anno 1404 refused to scale properly below 1920x1200 (though that one might have been the one title severely CPU limited) and Dirt 2 showed massive graphics corruption. We inserted Anno 1404 but didn't even bother with the other two titles hence I did not include them in the benchmark session.
 

cxinformatique

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Thanks again for your answers! Very good community.

Which type of users I am? Most of the one U said xP In fact, I do use virtualization, add some explorer windows open AND some internet explorer tabs AND some musics (can't live without it) AND skype AND ... depending of what i'm doing xP

I do photoshop and video edit too.

I'm an hardcore user of my computer.

for the asus, I wasn't conscious of the fact that they were 2 slots. I thought they were like their big brother ( 3 slots, which sucks my ass as the MARS 3 is 2 slots... LOL? ). But some parts have been chosen for their style(seems fucked up eh? but when I think about an Obsidian 800D with the config I've choose, it gives me erection) , as the z77 will nicely fit with evga signature editions and watercool is pretty impressive. Yes, I do know that some pieces can be better, but all of those are, still, good components that have greats reviews.

The difference of temperature is VERY limited for a pushpull config on the h100. But, alot of people loves this type of configuration to get a maximum airflow with less fan speed, so, less sounds. More usefull if u OC ( which is not in my near plans, still usefull for the day my cpu will be older ).

Yes, maybe my judgement will change as i'll buy the components mid august, but it's just to build myself an idea and, by the way, I learn alot by reading your comments.

I've been interested in buying aircooler like noctua-nd14 and blablabla. But I want to try a watercooling solution, and maybe, in my next next config, will I do an homemade watercooling system. I chose the h100 because he will perfectly fit in my obsidian, he has the best perf for factory watercooling (correct me if i'm wrong!, I saw this in past bench)and ivy-bridge has some problem of temps too.

About the 7970, I'll forget them, but if the editions 1ghz get in store and drivers are more stable, maybe i'll change my idea that day but for now I'll stay in nvidia side.

Would be interested to see the temps of evga 670 SC OC'd because their perf sounds intersting on that point.

but for the asus model of 670... seriously, u gave a good point about their perf vs price. Need to think about it :O could put more money to get a red / black MB ;)
 

first of all,mind your language pal.
next,if you think you are such an expert then go ahead and rake your decisions,why are you even posting on toms?
i told h100 is not good,i also showed proof and personal problems faced by customers,but still if you don't want to listen then good luck mate with your "high end" build.
 
I agree with hellfire m8, there are some kids doing their first time builds here, and even among adults, that kind of language is uncalled for (especially if you're really just wearing for the sake of swearing, I'd be more forgiving if your custom water loop leaked and broke your rig or something)

second of all, dude, $100 water-loop for the sake of just having it for aesthetics running a CPU at stock clocks, REALLY??? and you're telling us you want a 670 over a 680 for value's sake? it's really hard to recommend you parts here when you're just all over the place

last: look at your memory usage when you do all those "multitasking" that you do, I HIGHLY doubt you get even close to utilizing 8GB. if you want 16GB just for bragging rights. go for it, but at least admit it :D