670 or 7970

[mrwil]

ok so yea i'm rethinking my gpu decision, i will be running 5760x1080 i wanted to cf 7970 with 650w and i wont be able to so can i just cf 2 gtx 670 with 650w ? and will i be able to max bf3 with just 1 gtx 670 2gb at 5760x1080 with 2x aa ? and yea 2 gtx 670 is a bit cheaper then getting 2 gtx 7970 and a new psu , this is the current psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

spec atm i5 2500k oc 4.8ghz at 1.34v
8gb corsair vengeance 2x4
asrock extreme 4 gen 3
m4 128gb ssd
1tb
evo 212

and yea sry for asking so much question its just i wont be buying more parts for my pc for about 3-5yrs after i get my gpu/last monitor i wont be buying parts just want to make sure i get something good to last me a few years .

 

[bobusboy]

IMO the OC head room on the 7970 will more than make up for the price difference.

As for playing at those resolutions; both cards in xfire or SLI will chew through that res.

IMO 650 watt is the absolute minimum for xfire/SLI and if you're overclocking you're really gonna want to watch the 12v rail. IMO bigger PSU is required but YMMV

 

[mrwil]

all my video cards so far bn from amd and the only problem i had was bad fans just wanted to try the 670 just because nvidia has CUDA, Physx, yea idk what that is but yea i'm just thinking on this 2 cards ASUS GTX670-DC2T-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670 2GB 430$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121638

and SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7970 OC 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 465$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102982

only bad thing is with the 7970 if i cf i will need a new psu and i heard with the 670 sli i wont need a new psu .

 

[hellfire24]

ok so yea i'm rethinking my gpu decision, i will be running 5760x1080 i wanted to cf 7970 with 650w and i wont be able to so can i just cf 2 gtx 670 with 650w ? and will i be able to max bf3 with just 1 gtx 670 2gb at 5760x1080 with 2x aa ? and yea 2 gtx 670 is a bit cheaper then getting 2 gtx 7970 and a new psu , this is the current psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

spec atm i5 2500k oc 4.8ghz at 1.34v
8gb corsair vengeance 2x4
asrock extreme 4 gen 3
m4 128gb ssd
1tb
evo 212

and yea sry for asking so much question its just i wont be buying more parts for my pc for about 3-5yrs after i get my gpu/last monitor i wont be buying parts just want to make sure i get something good to last me a few years .

i don't think that you can run 7970 CF or 670 SLi with a 650w psu-
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-670-review/8
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/8
but a 750w will do fine even if you overclock.
a single 670 or 7970 will NOT perform well on that resolution.670 SLi is the way to go,here is a review-
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1625084&mpage=4

 

[bobusboy]

CUDA is no good to you unless you're doing number crunching or 3d design
Physx is over rated and I don't miss it in games that "support"it but it does look sweet in some applications

IMO the 7970 is AWESOME and the over clocking ability puts the 670 to shame.


The real difference is gonna be between the ati SLI drivers and the ATI xfire drivers
IMO ATI is still the way to go but it's up to you.

 

[mrwil]

lol it always comes up to 7970 on higher resolution i will just stop asking and get the 7970 just 1 for now and later on another with a new psu -_- ~ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

 

[hellfire24]

IMO the 7970 is AWESOME and the over clocking ability puts the 670 to shame.
The real difference is gonna be between the ati SLI drivers and the ATI xfire drivers
IMO ATI is still the way to go but it's up to you.

 

[vmem]

for 3 monitor the 7970 is far superior to the 670, if only for the extra 1GB of ram. you can crank up the AA settings on a texture heavy game like Skyrim (with HD textures and other graphics mods), and a 670 or 680 can be forced to crash after it runs out of VRAM space. it's not worth it buying the 4GB version of the 670 simply because with the extra cost, a 7970 will destroy it in "bang for the buck"

EDIT: I however do AGREE with hellfire, overclockability is not the issue here. the issue is extra VRAM space being very handy for high resolutions

 

[hellfire24]

for 3 monitor the 7970 is far superior to the 670, if only for the extra 1GB of ram. you can crank up the AA settings on a texture heavy game like Skyrim (with HD textures and other graphics mods), and a 670 or 680 can be forced to crash after it runs out of VRAM space. it's not worth it buying the 4GB version of the 670 simply because with the extra cost, a 7970 will destroy it in "bang for the buck"

EDIT: I however do AGREE with hellfire, overclockability is not the issue here. the issue is extra VRAM space being very handy for high resolutions

need some benchmarks showing a good boost with extra vram on 5760x1080 resolution and also a link to the review where 670/80 crashes due to LACK OF VRAM
and how does a 7970 *destroys* a 670 in bang for buck?

 

[mrwil]

idk if this count as a benchmark http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1488/pg11/powercolor-pcs-hd7970-vs-gainward-gtx-680-phantom-review-star-wars-the-old-republic.html

 

[hellfire24]

^yes it is a good find,same thing happens with skyrim but here the case is BF3.

it's the asus dcii top version which is cheaper than a reference 7970 and also beats a 680 with some overclocking-

According to ASUS, the retail price of the GTX 670 DC II TOP will be $419.

Faster than GeForce GTX 680
Whisper quiet in both idle and load
Very power efficient
Excellent memory overclocking potential
Software voltage control
Up to four active displays now, makes surround possible with one card
Support for PCI-Express 3.0 and DirectX 11.1
Support for CUDA and PhysX

source-
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html

 

[vmem]

need some benchmarks showing a good boost with extra vram on 5760x1080 resolution and also a link to the review where 670/80 crashes due to LACK OF VRAM
and how does a 7970 *destroys* a 670 in bang for buck?

ok. I had to look for 7970 ghz edition reviews so that the they would be using 12.7 drivers, which made a huge difference. how let's look at BF3, a game that we know the 670/680 excels at:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/9.html
ignoring the 7970 ghz performance and just look at the regular 7970. you see that it is absolutely pummeled at lower resolutions, but rises to be on par with the 680 at triple monitor resolutions. this is generally thought to be due to the extra VRAM (can't find concrete proof of this atm, and I do apologize).

as for claims of crashing, this is only a phenomenon I've seen around forums, some of whom have done extensive trouble shooting and are led to believe the crashes are due to insufficient VRAM. I will admit that this claim is poorly backed up, and you and the OP are free to believe whichever you choose. I'm just trying to throw that information out there

also, I will state that it is my belief that we will be headed toward more VRAM usage in the coming years. while I will wholeheartedly recommend the 670 to anyone looking for single monitor action (even at 1600p), I cannot recommend a 670 for someone looking to get at least 2-3 years out of it at 3 monitors... I think it is risky to believe that 2GB of VRAM will hold up at that resolution for that long

 

[hellfire24]

ok. I had to look for 7970 ghz edition reviews so that the they would be using 12.7 drivers, which made a huge difference. how let's look at BF3, a game that we know the 670/680 excels at:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/9.html
ignoring the 7970 ghz performance and just look at the regular 7970. you see that it is absolutely pummeled at lower resolutions, but rises to be on par with the 680 at triple monitor resolutions. this is generally thought to be due to the extra VRAM (can't find concrete proof of this atm, and I do apologize).

as for claims of crashing, this is only a phenomenon I've seen around forums, some of whom have done extensive trouble shooting and are led to believe the crashes are due to insufficient VRAM. I will admit that this claim is poorly backed up, and you and the OP are free to believe whichever you choose. I'm just trying to throw that information out there

amd has *killed* the overclocking potential of a reference 7970 by making it the "gigahertz edition crap".a 670 has more overclocking potential as you can see in the techpowerup review i posted.it also beats the 680.
but on 5760x1080 resolution it's clear that both the cards struggle hard and the game is choppy.so 670 SLi is cheaper,cooler,faster after some overclocking and a more *future proof*solutions(we all know nvidia driver support>amd driver support).

 

[hellfire24]

also, I will state that it is my belief that we will be headed toward more VRAM usage in the coming years. while I will wholeheartedly recommend the 670 to anyone looking for single monitor action (even at 1600p), I cannot recommend a 670 for someone looking to get at least 2-3 years out of it at 3 monitors... I think it is risky to believe that 2GB of VRAM will hold up at that resolution for that long

but can you guarantee me that extra 1GB will keep up well with the 3 monitor setup in next 3 years?
for me it's NO and that's for sure.

 

[vmem]

but can you guarantee me that extra 1GB will keep up well with the 3 monitor setup in next 3 years?
for me it's NO and that's for sure.

no I cannot. but I think we can both agree that the extra 1GB certainly makes it safer. meanwhile, only EVGA makes a 4GB 670 and it costs $480 with a so-so cooler, which is what I meant by a 7970 destroys a 4GB 670 in value.

here's the way I think about it, the 580 came out only a year ago and was certainly a well made card. it came with 1.5GB of memory. which I would certainly be feeling not very comfortable about running 5060x1080 over the next year or two (especially with new consoles and thus new console ports on the horizon). the OP specifically asked for a recommendation keeping in mind that he'll be running this set up for at least 2-3 years. so yeah, I stand by my recommendation of the 7970, I don't think I'll convince you otherwise, but I've given the OP my recommendation and that's what I came here to do

and you say "NO" to using 3GB in 3 years with such certainty... I wish I had a time machine like you and knew about the future for sure...

 

[mrwil]

Best answer selected by mrwil.

 

[hellfire24]

no I cannot. but I think we can both agree that the extra 1GB certainly makes it safer. meanwhile, only EVGA makes a 4GB 670 and it costs $480 with a so-so cooler, which is what I meant by a 7970 destroys a 4GB 670 in value.

here's the way I think about it, the 580 came out only a year ago and was certainly a well made card. it came with 1.5GB of memory. which I would certainly be feeling not very comfortable about running 5060x1080 over the next year or two (especially with new consoles and thus new console ports on the horizon). the OP specifically asked for a recommendation keeping in mind that he'll be running this set up for at least 2-3 years. so yeah, I stand by my recommendation of the 7970, I don't think I'll convince you otherwise, but I've given the OP my recommendation and that's what I came here to do

and you say "NO" to using 3GB in 3 years with such certainty... I wish I had a time machine like you and knew about the future for sure...

you tell me how 1GB will make it safer? a 1gb 5870 is better than a 2gb 5670.it's clear as water.
me and my brother thought the same a few months ago,we thought that 580 3GB will perform better in future but unfortunately i was wrong,a 1.5GB 580 with higher clock rates will beat a slower 580.
i wish you knew that nothing is futureproof in computers,technology changes so fast that it's almost impossible to keep yourself up to date or mark anything as *futureproof*.when i got $600 580 3GB,i thought we are future proof but now a $400 card beats the hell out of it.

 

[hellfire24]

getting best answer selected doesn't means you proved your point cause you were wrong.once again ladies an gentlemen,i witnessed one of the worst *best answer selection* in the history of toms.
good luck to OP.
have a good time.

 

[vmem]

you tell me how 1GB will make it safer? a 1gb 5870 is better than a 2gb 5670.it's clear as water.
me and my brother thought the same a few months ago,we thought that 580 3GB will perform better in future but unfortunately i was wrong,a 1.5GB 580 with higher clock rates will beat a slower 580.
i wish you knew that nothing is futureproof in computers,technology changes so fast that it's almost impossible to keep yourself up to date or mark anything as *futureproof*.when i got $600 580 3GB,i thought we are future proof but now a $400 card beats the hell out of it.

I understand that there's no such thing as future proofing, at least not if you're looking to stay at the top. however there is playable and unplayable, and when you absolutely hit the memory limit of that 1.5gb 580, a game will be unplayable. however, your 3GB 580 may still be able to run it.

 

[hellfire24]

I understand that there's no such thing as future proofing, at least not if you're looking to stay at the top. however there is playable and unplayable, and when you absolutely hit the memory limit of that 1.5gb 580, a game will be unplayable. however, your 3GB 580 may still be able to run it.

no it's not!

 

[vmem]

getting best answer selected doesn't means you proved your point cause you were wrong.once again ladies an gentlemen,i witnessed one of the worst *best answer selection* in the history of toms.
good luck to OP.
have a good time.

I agree completely, though I do appreciate the OP's gesture. I don't want to argue with you about someone else's opinions as that is completely pointless. and as I'm sure you can agree with me, a person's opinion does not make me, nor yourself, factually correct.

 

[vmem]

no it's not!

well then that's a shame, I'm sorry you feel you wasted your $600. I think we once again prove my point that the 4GB 670 is worthless.

additionally, you do realize that a reference 7970 can be had for $410 and for around $450 you can get one with a decent cooler right? the price difference is almost negligible, and with such a small price difference, I do believe it's worth it to "ATTEMPT" get a card that'll run your favorite game next year

 

[hellfire24]

I agree completely, though I do appreciate the OP's gesture. I don't want to argue with you about someone else's opinions as that is completely pointless. and as I'm sure you can agree with me, a person's opinion does not make me, nor yourself, factually correct.

yes i do,i just feel bad when someone makes a wrong decision.
no fights,just a sharing of opinions and thoughts.
the thread is *solved* i hope mods do their job.

 

[Guest]

^ yeah!
c'mon "DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH!" thread aint closed yet, lets see whay ou got . .i got $$$ vmem can't handle it

[dxalex:2]

 

[vmem]

yes i do,i just feel bad when someone makes a wrong decision.
no fights,just a sharing of opinions and thoughts.
the thread is *solved* i hope mods do their job.

fair enough, have a good night