Radeon HD 6970 cross vs nvidia 670

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viktorsg

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So im looking to upgrade my computer and the only thing lacking in my comp atm is my graphic card im currently running a radeon HD 6970 and was wondering if i should upgrade to crossfire or a single nvidia 670 atm the price is not a matter for me since it will run up into the same cause i need to get a new power supply incase i go cross but to the question what will i get most power out of 6970 cross or a single 670
 

redeemer

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6970 are still expensive almost the same price as a 7950. My advice is to sell your 6970, I managed to get $220 for mine. Pick up a 670 because its much better, always buy new tech thats the rule I go by.
 
How are your Ghz edition and 7970 crossfire scaling articles relevant to this discussion?

Would you rather I kept valuable information from one of the most respected websites a secret? How would that help the OP to make a decision? It's not like this is the first time anyone has mentioned that AMD has problems with Crossfire support. In fact, as you know, it's a very well known issue. I could pull from any number of similar articles from various websites, and you can too. It's an issue that someone should be aware of, particularly in a Crossfire vs. single card question.

You're bordering on inappropriate with personal attacks and angry, irrelevant posts, so let's try to keep things relevant, open, and honest. If you have something saying Crossfire drivers are great, then post that. It's not our job to make the decision for the OP, or to make personal attacks in the process, just present the facts from the experts and back it up with links.
 

redeemer

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His original post were about 6970 and 670, you bring up links that show only one side and more high-end cards like the 7970 and gtx 680. It is well known on this forum that you are biased against AMD gpus, you view this as an attack because it is the truth.

You posted an article about the GTX 680 SLI from march I do not know why, so I posted an article on the GHz edition since 12.7 drivers were used and the review is up to date.

why not just answer his question 670 or crossfire 6970??
 
How did I not answer the question? I think I gave the best answer, particularly with actual usable information. As usual, I backed it up with links.



Basically, my very valid point is, if you think Crossfire is better than a single card, then be prepared to deal with issues related to drivers and gaming that feels less smooth.

Quote:
"Unfortunately, these driver issues concerning CrossFireX is not something new, and have hit gamers hard in 2011. Last year, we saw many games launched, many of those were AAA titles, and there were issues with CrossFireX support not being available at launch. In fact, sometimes it took AMD a month or more before CrossFireX was working."

"We have to just sit here with our heads in our hands and wonder why AMD is seemingly trying its best to piss off its customers that spend the most on its retail products; the CrossFireX gamer. We have seen more than a few AMD video card owners openly express that AMD’s lacking driver support is pushing them to not consider an AMD GPU for their next buy. And honestly, it is hard to hold that decision against them."
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/01/17/amd_crossfirex_drivers_opportunity_lost/

Quote:
"We've generally been disappointed in CrossFireX support this generation, and we know our readers have too. It prompted us early on to write an editorial on the issue because we know our readers and enthusiast gamers out there are having these same issues and are quite frustrated with it. This is yet one more issue to throw into the bucket, and the bucket is getting rather full. We hope this issue gets fixed soon, but we are not surprised to see people jumping ship to NVIDIA because of AMD driver issues. More and more these topics are posted in our forums, and we can't blame them. NVIDIA clearly has a leg up on SLI and NV Surround support. Combine that with the smoothness and fluidity difference between SLI and CrossFireX, it makes selling CrossFireX or Tri-Fire plus Eyefinity a hard sell."
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/04/25/geforce_gtx_680_3way_sli_radeon_7970_trifire_review/9

Quote:
"We have to comment on our CrossFire issues in this article and of course point out that these are NOT XFX's fault. Instead, we seem to have found a fault with the AMD drivers and its QA program."
http://pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/XFX-Radeon-HD-7970-3GB-Black-Edition-and-CrossFire-Results/Analysis-and-Concl

Quote:
"AMD will need to place a strong focus on drivers as last 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 too long fix. When you drop 60 EUR on game you want to be able to play it on release day, period."
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-7950-crossfire-review-2-and-3way/19



I didn't even get into the microstuttering issue, but I should because that's a likely source of the lack of smoothness in gameplay.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-5.html

Quote:
"In this particular title, SLI doesn't scale as well as CrossFire, resulting in a lower average frame rate than two Radeon HD 6870s in CrossFire. The Radeons, however, suffer from visible micro-stuttering, while the slower GeForces subjectively seem to be faster due to the reduction of the phenomenon."

amd-crossfire-nvidia-sli,W-I-300546-3.png


Quote:
"To us it seems like SLI is "more playable" at lower framerates than CrossFireX is."

"The result of SLI feeling smoother than CrossFireX is that in real-world gameplay, we can get away with a bit lower FPS with SLI, whereas with CFX we have to aim a little higher for it to feel smooth. We do know that SLI performs some kind of driver algorithm to help smooth SLI framerates, and this could be why it feels so much better. Whatever the reason, to us, SLI feels smoother than CrossFireX."
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/03/28/nvidia_kepler_geforce_gtx_680_sli_video_card_review/9
 

redeemer

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I wouldnt say so I have both setup my GTX 680 SLI has more dips in performance dips than my 7970's is heavy graphical situations. In BF3 i was getting terrible tearing and stuttering with the GTX's up until the last driver update. Now both setup are very smooth, and to be honest I have never had any problems with Crossfire. Now we can throw around link benches and reviews all day but that would accomplish much. Do you own either the 7970 or 680?
 
Again, how are your multi-monitor benchmarks relevant? I'm not sure what you're trying to prove. If you have a problem with reviews posted in HardOCP and Tom's Hardware, you should discuss it with their editors. It seems like you should know when to quit and actually discuss why you feel a single GTX 670 is better than 6970's in Crossfire.

Most people would mention:
- less heat
- less noise
- less power consumption
- better game compatibility
- fewer driver issues
- less hassles overall
Even if the 6970's in Crossfire were faster, it's questionable if they would be "better".
 

redeemer

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What did I recommend? Right the GTX 670, you posted links" GTX 680 SLI" Crossfire Poor and Buggy" you even posted Tri 7970 vs triple GTX 680 . You mean you want to discuss why the GTX 670 is better than the 6970. I have already stated why in my first post. The TS came here for an answer and you gave him link with many pages, which he could have easily googled for. Other than that I agree with every single point of why the GTX 670 is better. Now you say mulit monitor based benchmarks are irrelvant on this topic, and you are right. However you always post relative resolution based benchmarks graphs in most of your posts which is irrelvant as well
 
Okay, moving on now.

Viktor, you got your answers. Add in the fact that you would also have to get a new PSU, as you wrote, that pretty much takes away any price advantage of going with the second 6970. Good luck, and be sure the first game you fire up on your new Nvidia card has lots of PhysX effects, so you can see what you've been missing.
 

we_san

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anyone provided 7970 benchmark using other than 12.7 or later while many reviewer already updated their chart is considered fanboy who lives in the past and talk nothing but history.
 

El Tigre

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It's a tough call since the HD 6970's are still a bit pricey, but I think that may be your best bet as you already have one.

Getting the GTX 670 would mean selling your current HD 6970 and still paying extra for the GTX 670.

HD 6970 Pros and Cons

Pros
-Faster being CF
-latest driver shows improvement across the board.
-You already have one, would be cheaper to get a second one for CF
-Would outperform a single GTX 670 in most situations

Cons
-CF would generate more heat
-Micro Stuttering can hit you here and there
-It would drink more juice from your PSU
-Not all games scale well in CF
-Get Nvidia fanboys riled up, lol


GTX 670 Pros and Cons

Pros
-Drinks less juice, only as much as a GTX 560 Ti
-Outperforms a single HD 6970
-Has PhysX
-Has Adaptive VSYNC, TSAA, and such
-More games tend to favor Nvidia GPU's
-Outperforms even a single HD 7970 in most games.
-EVGA GTX 670 FTW beats even a reference GTX 680 out the box
-Would leave future path open for SLI that would outperform CF HD 6970

Cons
-Would cost more money than buying second HD 6970
-Raw OpenCL performance substandard compared to even older Firmi and certainly AMD's latest
-It would not perform as well as a CF HD 6970 in most situations
-Get AMD fanboys riled up, lol


If you decide to go the Nvidia route, this is the best deal IMO.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787
 

Wow, so I guess you just blew in from outer space, called yourself out as a fanboy, and didn't even bother to see what the links are about. Hint: they have nothing to do with the benchmarks of your precious AMD video cards.
 

we_san

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^ Hey, using benchmarks from outdated driver while you can EASILY find ones with LATEST driver and even the they have nothing to do with OP requirement is a fanboy (I am trying to be polite and civilized here so don't push me to use other word).
 

You have missed the entire point of what has been said, and have just come in with a hostile condescending attitude hurling insults that are not welcome. Please unflag this post and go away.
 

we_san

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I just want to show you how you missed from the first of your post.
OP ask 6970cf or 670 and you showed him
1) 7970 (not even close to 6970)
and then you showed him
2) 6870 (yea, maybe same generation but a little bit different arch, but still not 6970)

I just continue your missdirection but particularly about 7970 since you brought it up the first time.
 
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