The Burning Question: 7970 or GTX 670

[Beefcake4000]

Finally got the bucks for a new card.

Should I get a GTX 670 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423)

or...

a 7970 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413)

My budget is ~$450 (Newegg taxes CA btw.) The cards I linked to are pretty similar (both made by Gigabyte and have the same style fans), with the 7970 being a bit more expensive. I don't mind paying an extra $20 or so for the 7970 if it's really worth it. I definitely do want the card to have custom fans on it, because the stock fans are usually crummy and noisy.

Right now I play at 1600x900 but I plan to upgrade to 1080p in the future, plus I want this card to last me a while, I don't have $450 to throw around every year.

Something really important: Right now I'm slowly trying to upgrade my old PC. It's a PC from Hp with a mini-ATX motherboard. It doesn't have PCI 3.0 (or even 2.0, not sure), but I will eventually upgrade all of this, piece by piece. So far I only have my PSU upgrade to this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036

I'm using this card mostly for gaming. Here are just some of the games I mainly play (I know it's overkill for some of them):
Grand Theft Auto IV and V (when it comes out)
Counter-Strike: Source & Global Offensive
Team Fortress 2
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Diablo III
Minecraft (with custom texture packs)
MS Flight Simulator X (with scenery add-ons)

I also do minor Photoshop and C4D work, and major 3D Level design for the Source engine (CS:S and TF2) but so far my little 5450 has been able to pull it off.

 

[crisan_tiberiu]

7970, even if the gtx 670 its a very good card.

 

[Beefcake4000]

Care to elaborate on that? I don't need the absolute best card (well there isn't one.) When comparing products one must take into consideration that the products have strengths and weaknesses in different areas and that the consumer has specific uses for the product. I don't need the fastest card, I just need the card that's the best for what I will use it for. E.g. I could buy a GTX 690, but I will never use it to it's full potential.

 

[Smeg45]

The 7970 has more memory, a bigger memory bus, can OC very well, and will last longer than the 670. It simply has more grunt.

 

[crisan_tiberiu]

dont take it personaly but if you bothered to make an tom's account to post here then a simple google could have solved your "could you elaborate on that". The 7970 is the top card from AMD and it costs 20$more then the GTX 670. Nvidia however has the gtx 680 as the best card (and its the best single gpu graphic card on the market). Benchmark wise in AMD titles the 7970 beats the gtx 670 but in nvidia titles the 670 has a small lead.
But @ 1600 x 900 a GTX 660ti will run every game @ ultra and even if you upgrade to 1080p you wont fel any difference (only visual )

 

[sarinaide]

HD 7970 Ghz Edition Faster than both the 670 and 680 in DX 11 rendering, 3% slower in tessellation rendering but overclock headroom that no Kepler can match. Of now the 7970GE is the fastest single GPU out, but you may want to wait on AMD revisions to the 7950 and 7870 where you will likely see big performance jumps.

 

[aramisathei]

For your needs, either card should work just fine--particularly at 1600 x 900.

I actually use the 7970 Gigabyte card you linked and I have to say that I love it.

Had a few issues with the drivers at first (most new cards for AMD and Nvidia have those though), but after 12.3 it's been a wonderful performer running four monitors at 1920x1080.

Haven't had a single issue running Skyrim on max settings, and that's without overclocking, which the card also does very well.

Only point I would mention is that if you want to run more than two monitors, look into getting display port active adaptors; they don't come with the card and I didn't know anything about them until I tried to hook up a third monitor.

 

[Kamen_BG]

Ill try to make a pros and cons for you.

GTX 670 Pros:
Uses less power
CUDA
Nvidia 3D surround

HD 7970 OC Pros
Better at computing
Superior performance at high resolutions
Huge overclocking headroom
Sound over HDMI

So as you see the HD 7970 is just the better card.

 

[selayan]

Right now you can get an HIS Iceq X2 7970 for $393..cheaper than a 670 if you are looking at other 670 models that are stock.

 

[supersonic977]

the question would been more confusing if u compare 7970 with 680 but ur question's answer is very simple "Get the 7970 GE is very fast!!"

 

[selayan]

What is the difference between Ge and non Ge? I am about to buy that HIS 7970 IceQ model but was also just about to bite the bullet and go for Saphire vapor X 7970 Ghz.

Is it really a big difference, just more overclocked? People can flash the Ghz bios I hear.

 

[ojas]

There's another (longer) thread with something very, very similar.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/367442-33-help-choose-7970#t2765232

 

[deathengine]

Right now the 6 series cards are selling with a free copy of borderlands 2. Plus it supports physx. So those are 2 more reasons to lean towards the 670.
But bottom line the 7970 is more powerful.

 

[selayan]

-edit- Didn't see about that HIS IceQ deal - that's definitely the way to go right now, it's a very nice card. Just do a bit of overclocking yourself
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161412

One other thing to consider is that if you want Borderlands 2, it comes free with most Nvidia cards right now - if you are planning on getting that game anyways, the 670 is a nice deal.

I am going to get this card here. I was originally going for the 670 FTW but didn't want to pay over $400 for it. If that was the case I would just spend a little more and try something else.

But that is one heck of a deal, $394 shipped for a aftermarket cooler and I believe it comes clocked at 1050mHz even though newegg says 950 or 925.

 

[envy14tpe]

Everyone is trying to answer the question but no on seems to understand.

The "burning" he is talking about is when he pees.

 

[selayan]

I'll look more into it at the HIS website. I know they came out with the Turbo models too but I can't let this deal go then I will just wait longer without a card lol. Plus it would be my first Amd card..wish me luck.

 

[selayan]

Thanks! My monitor is DVI I believe I never used VGA so it should be fine. As for the 6x8 pin connection, I have a bunch of 6 pin connectors on my corsair 750w Enthusiast PSU. I also noticed that some of my 6 pin PCIE power cables have 2 extra connectors on the side.

I can probably plug in the 6 pin and then also put in the other 2 plugs in the GPU's 8 pin connector?

 

[JamesSneed]

I am going to get this card here. I was originally going for the 670 FTW but didn't want to pay over $400 for it. If that was the case I would just spend a little more and try something else.

But that is one heck of a deal, $394 shipped for a aftermarket cooler and I believe it comes clocked at 1050mHz even though newegg says 950 or 925.

It comes stock at 925 MHz. http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-691.shtml

Not trying to deter you just didn't want you to think its factory overclocked.

 

[selayan]

It comes stock at 925 MHz. http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-691.shtml

Not trying to deter you just didn't want you to think its factory overclocked.

Well some one review on the site said stock was at 1050 and so did another in Newegg. Oh well not a big deal actually. I don't feel like spending $460 for the Ghz Vapor X. I feel much more comfy with this price.

 

[selayan]

Well I'm ordering the NZXT Phantom 410 as this card is ginormous and it will not fit in my Roswill Challenger. Good thing for the labor day sale.. 20% off select cases

 

[Beefcake4000]

Best answer selected by Beefcake4000.