Multimonitor Gaming: 7970, 680, or Wait?

[sgrams04]

I have a Sapphire 5870 1GB Vapor-X that I've been fairly happy with for 2 years. Currently, I run 3 monitors at 5760x1080 and I can't run anything with AA/AF too well. I feel the 1GB isn't good enough for my setup.

In preparation for the newer games coming out this fall (Guild Wars 2, Planetside 2, etc.), I want to upgrade. I've been pouring through the benchmarks and I really can't decide whether to go with the 7970 or the 680. They seem pretty much tied, making it harder for me to decide.

Should I hold off until December/January for the 8000/700 series?

 

[El Tigre]

If price is a concern, I would opt for the 7970 as that has 3GB VRAM and its a must to have above 2GB if you are gaming at that resolution if you are hoping to use AA and such. If you do get a GTX 680, get the 4GB version as 2GB will not be enough if you are hoping for AA and such with eye candy turned on.

If the 680 is too expensive, then go for this, the 4GB GTX 670 is another good alternative.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130785&Tpk=GTX%20670

 

[AdioKIP]

I went from a 5850 to a 7950. You going from a 5870 to a 7970 would be a good upgrade. The extra gig of ram on the 79 series is seldom used now (only seen 2 games go above 2 gigs of ram) but it will definitely help in the future, especially at EyeFinity resolutions.

You said you're planning for future games, if you are happy with your current games, then wait on your upgrade. Theres no point in buying a card now for games that havent been released when the longer you wait the cheaper the card will be or something even more powerful will be out by then and you can get more for your money. When I did my upgrade it was specifically because the more current games I was trying to play (saints row 3, Battlefield 3, MS Flight) where all struggling at EyeFinity resolutions with my 5850. I found myself having to dial back settings more than I usually had to with older games. I'm definitely happy with my upgrade, especially since I can easily overclock my 7950 past the levels of a stock 7970. I waited until after the first drop in price to get my card so only paid $400, but here 2 months later I'm seeing 7950's for $320 (after mail in rebate) and 7970's for the price I paid for my 7950, but thats the cost of staying on the leading edge with computer parts. The longer you wait, the cheaper the same parts get, or better ones come along.

 

[venur]

I have a Sapphire 5870 1GB Vapor-X that I've been fairly happy with for 2 years. Currently, I run 3 monitors at 5760x1080 and I can't run anything with AA/AF too well. I feel the 1GB isn't good enough for my setup.

In preparation for the newer games coming out this fall (Guild Wars 2, Planetside 2, etc.), I want to upgrade. I've been pouring through the benchmarks and I really can't decide whether to go with the 7970 or the 680. They seem pretty much tied, making it harder for me to decide.

Should I hold off until December/January for the 8000/700 series?

670gtx sli for about 800$ IMO.

The 680gtx and hd7970 are about the same power nowadays and the 670gtx is only -2,-5% powerfull (most benchmark my 670gtx did -2 and -3% over my 680gtx). But it is -100$

And well for GW2 and Planet side 2 I'm confident that a single 670gtx will be able to run it flawlessly in 5760x 1080p. You can just buy a second one when the price will have decreased or if you ever feel the need too.

 

[joedjnpc]

The 7970 is at a good price at the moment and seems to perform well at extreme resolutions like the ones you are playing at. I would imagine 3GB of RAM will be quite important once UE4 games @5760x1080 start to emerge.

On a side note I upgraded from that exact same GPU, was a nice card , very happy with the performance increase though.

 

[sgrams04]

Thanks everyone! Somethng I didn't think of was the soon-to-be-released AMD 7990. I may wait to see if that causes a price war and the prices for those go down, too.