So, 7970 or 680?

[Vid Nikolic]

Hey guys, I will buy new PC now, or January/February next year, depends on if I will have time for games now or not.
But, I was wondering, what card to get? I will be building high end pc, and I will just buy 1 card now, and when it starts to get old, I will buy another and do SLI/ CrossFire. I am, and will be, playing on single 26inch tv, 1920x1080, so 1080p max resolution. I am interested just in gaming performance since that would it be its only use, not even a little video editing or whatnot.
Noise is not a problem, I don't even care, as long as performance is better.
Keep in mind that in my country, difference between nvidia and its amd counterparts is like 100-120 euros or so, thats little bit more in US dollars, but you get my point.
I keep hearing that performance difference is not worth it and that 7970 OC-s better, but 680gtx might be better on single monitor, whereas 7970 rocks multi-monitor setup

Options are:
Nvidia:
VGA GeForce GTX680 MSI 2GB/DDR5,/DVI/HDMI/DP/256bit/N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Twin-Frozr-2GD5-OC-.html

VGA GeForce GTX680 Asus 2GB/DDR5,/DVI/HDMI/DP/256bit/GTX680-DC2-2GD5
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/GTX680DC22GD5/

VGA GeForce GTX680 Gigabyte OC 2GB/DDR5,/DVI/HDMI/Fan/256bit/GV-N680OC-2GD
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4178#ov

MSI nVidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256bit - N680GTX Lightning
http://eu.msi.com/product/vga/N680GTX-Lightning.html#?div=Overview

Amd/ati:
VGA AMD Radeon 7970 Gigabyte OC 3GB/DDR5,/DVI/HDMI/2xDP/384bit/GV-R797TO-3GD
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4290#ov

VGA AMD Radeon 7970 Sapphire 3GB/DDR5,/HDMI/DVI/DP/384bit/11197-11-40G
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1515&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

ASUS Radeon HD7970 3GB GDDR5 - HD7970-DC2-3GD5
http://www.asus.rs/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7970DC23GD5/#overview

MSI Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384bit - R7970-2PMD3GD5/OC
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7970-2PMD3GD5-OC.html

MSI Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384bit - R7970 Lightning
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7970-Lightning.html

 

[mute20]

Purely for value the 7970 is a amazing card. it is recommended that you get it on the toms graphics card chart at the price http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-6.html

 

[djangoringo]

For me the 680 gtx is still the best card and the MSI nVidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256bit - N680GTX Lightning the best 680 gtx.

 

[killerhurtalot]

you might as well as wait until january/february...

the Ati 8 series will be out by then and the gpu prices would be completely different. (probably at least 10% cheaper)

the 7970 ghz edition is the fastest card.(and it's cheaper than the 680)
There is no reason to buy a gtx 680 or regular 7970 since the 670 performs pretty much the same but cheaper.

 

[Vid Nikolic]

you might as well as wait until january/february...

the Ati 8 series will be out by then and the gpu prices would be completely different. (probably at least 10% cheaper)

the 7970 ghz edition is the fastest card.(and it's cheaper than the 680)
There is no reason to buy a gtx 680 or regular 7970 since the 670 performs pretty much the same but cheaper.

Well, I am not in a hurry, as I said, I will not buy it if I don't even have time to play, and that will most likely be a case, since my college takes a lot of my time in this period, and I am ok playing my xbox that time that I have free.
Is that official about ati 8 series? I am asking since I would consider buying flagship of that next generation if its so close to release date?

 

[killerhurtalot]

Well, I am not in a hurry, as I said, I will not buy it if I don't even have time to play, and that will most likely be a case, since my college takes a lot of my time in this period, and I am ok playing my xbox that time that I have free.
Is that official about ati 8 series? I am asking since I would consider buying flagship of that next generation if its so close to release date?

Their roadmap says 2013 launch. Bit I would assume it's in January or very early February since their launch window has traditionally been the last 2 months of the year.

and by 10% cheaper, i mean current gen graphics cards lol.

AMD's going to release their new top end graphics card around $600...

One thing I hate about AMD is their drivers are usually ***. It's taken this god damn long (took the around 8-9 months) to release decent drivers for their GPU...

 

[Vid Nikolic]

Their roadmap says 2013 launch. Bit I would assume it's in January or very early February since their launch window has traditionally been the last 2 months of the year.

and by 10% cheaper, i mean current gen graphics cards lol.

AMD's going to release their new top end graphics card around $600...

One thing I hate about AMD is their drivers are usually ***. It's taken this god damn long (took the around 8-9 months) to release decent drivers for their GPU...

Haha, I know you meant that current prices will drop.
But you misunderstand me, I also meant that since I will wait surely I will save up some more money in 2-3 months to come (or not, depending on money spent on the new years eve ), but I will have enough to change my planed builds gpu to next gen one and fit my budget.
Thank you for your answers. Drivers will not be that much problem, as long as they work, and in 6-9 months I get a free update when they get it right. :lol:

 

[JJ1217]

Their roadmap says 2013 launch. Bit I would assume it's in January or very early February since their launch window has traditionally been the last 2 months of the year.

and by 10% cheaper, i mean current gen graphics cards lol.

AMD's going to release their new top end graphics card around $600...

One thing I hate about AMD is their drivers are usually ***. It's taken this god damn long (took the around 8-9 months) to release decent drivers for their GPU...

I wouldn't say 8-9 months. 12.6-12.7 were a blessing, and 12.11 is moreso. The issue isn't with the actual drivers most of the time (People ALWAYS exaggerate this), I believe the issue is with very slow driver releases, meaning people really just feel that drivers are crap because they don't release em fast enough. About now, Nvidia and AMD are about equal in drivers, its really only used as a reason to not buy an AMD card if they can't think of anything else.

 

[Vid Nikolic]

I wouldn't say 8-9 months. 12.6-12.7 were a blessing, and 12.11 is moreso. The issue isn't with the actual drivers most of the time (People ALWAYS exaggerate this), I believe the issue is with very slow driver releases, meaning people really just feel that drivers are crap because they don't release em fast enough. About now, Nvidia and AMD are about equal in drivers, its really only used as a reason to not buy an AMD card if they can't think of anything else.

Haha, thanks for the different perspective on that.
But I am more interested in what he said about new cards releasing soon, at start of the next year.
And, from what I saw, and what toms hardware chart recommends, 7970ghz edition is a better choice than nvidia 680gtx... Granted that it might be based on that its cheaper, and I have money for both, I just don't need to spend it if I'm going to get like 4 frames difference on same resolution and best settings.

 

[lostgamer_03]

Haha, thanks for the different perspective on that.
But I am more interested in what he said about new cards releasing soon, at start of the next year.
And, from what I saw, and what toms hardware chart recommends, 7970ghz edition is a better choice than nvidia 680gtx... Granted that it might be based on that its cheaper, and I have money for both, I just don't need to spend it if I'm going to get like 4 frames difference on same resolution and best settings.

If we're talking Money then the GTX 680 will be cheaper on the longshot, the new kepler architecture has best watt/performance. So the Radeon 7970 will use most watt, which Means a higher electricity bill.

But I wouldn't even recommend any of those! AMD 8000 series, which already are mentiond, is the way to go. It will be out soon. The 7970 got released this year the 9th og January, and the codename from the next series are already spotted in the drivers. I expect to see it in 1-3 months. And hey man, have a great new years eve, GPUs shouldn't affect anything, get some great booze and firework!

Good luck!

 

[JJ1217]

Haha, thanks for the different perspective on that.
But I am more interested in what he said about new cards releasing soon, at start of the next year.
And, from what I saw, and what toms hardware chart recommends, 7970ghz edition is a better choice than nvidia 680gtx... Granted that it might be based on that its cheaper, and I have money for both, I just don't need to spend it if I'm going to get like 4 frames difference on same resolution and best settings.

Yep, AMD new cards should come out at the end of this year, but they'll be horribly overpriced because nothing else could be compared to them. That is why you should always pretty much wait until the 2013 release of Nvidia, to show some competition. I personally am considering to grab a 780 over an 8970, for the sole fact that recent AMD layoffs have made me wary of purchasing from them again.