"Never Settle" or GTX 680?

[chawliethefair]

So I just found out about AMD's "Never Settle" deal with the 7000s series of cards. It's freaking AWESOME!

I have been thinking about getting the SC signature GTX 680 for quite a while now, but with the release of the "Never Settle" deal i'm totally on the fence on which to get.

Unfortunately for my stupid timing, I already have preordered Hitman, just bought sleeping dogs in a steam sale, and got MOHWF for $30. The only game in the bundle I don't have is Far cry 3, but it does look very good.


So my question is, based on the performance of these two cards and the AMD deal, which should I get: XFX 3GB Black 7970, or the SC Signature GTX 680.

Which card is more future proof?

 

[amdfangirl]

If you like I'm sure you could buy the AMD card and sell the bundled games.

 

[bystander]

I guess it comes down to features, since the games are not a factor anymore.

AMD has better OpenGL, DirectCompute
Nvidia has CUDA

AMD has MLAA 2.0
Nvidia has FXAA (FXAA is superior to MLAA 1.0, I don't know about 2.0 as I haven't tried it or seen a comparison article)

Nvidia has PhysX - very few games use GPU accelerated PhysX, so if you aren't sure you need this, then it probably doesn't matter.

AMD has HD3D if you have a 3D monitor.
Nvidia has 3D Vision (2) which is easier to use, and generally better supported. The revised (2) version is not nearly as dark as HD3D is.

Nvidia also has adaptive v-sync. I don't find this useful with 120hz monitors, but many with 60hz monitors find this very handy.

Nvidia also has TXAA, which I have not seen in a game yet, though there is 1 out there, I just haven't used it yet, so this is likely pretty low on priority.

If you find any of those features important to you, then you likely can pick a card that way, otherwise the AMD 7970 is likely a better deal.