Hardware

[CaptnCruel]

I warn you... this is my first post.

So I currently Own a GTX 560Ti reference card from nvidia. My current setup is quite old with 4GB DDR2 RAM, a quad core 2.66GHZ intel, some intel motherboard, with a default fan that doesn't actually clamp on all the way, and I'm looking to upgrade all of it.

So I already ordered: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K, G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM, ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, 600W Corsair power supply, and an Antec case.

So I want top performance graphics at the best price possible. I do prefer NVDIA for its physx, TXAA, adaptive V sync, great drivers and excellent web site. Also I'm told games run better on NVIDIA cards so I'm having a hard time deciding. All this aside, I do not like the overall price of NVIDIA Cards. Also I fear AMD is going out of business with a stock price of $2 a share but, that might not matter.

So should I buy:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121659

OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008

OR

Stay with the GTX 560Ti and just see what the upgrades should be like.


I chose the NVIDIA 670 with 4GB of VRAM because I'm irritated with how limited I feel when playing games like Max Payne 3 that can easily use 2GB of VRAM. My GTX 560Ti is always using 80-95% of its VRAM no matter what game I play at the moment.

Again I want the best card with the best performance but I'd like to save money if possible. I like to play games on very high settings and like to also install High res texture packs occasionally as well.

 

[darth pravus]

The asus 670 is absolutely amazing.

I went from a 560ti twin frozr to the dcuII 670 and the difference is massive both in level of noise, cooling and GPU horsepower.

It well worth the upgrade in my eyes.

 

[CaptnCruel]

The asus 670 is absolutely amazing.

I went from a 560ti twin frozr to the dcuII 670 and the difference is massive both in level of noise, cooling and GPU horsepower.

It well worth the upgrade in my eyes.

Thanks. I was mainly thinking of going with the 670 but wanted to know if the $90 difference was worth it. Both cards come with 2 games I want so either card has games that I want. I guess NVIDIA's technologies are worth $90 to me.

 

[darth pravus]

Physx is a big one for me in games I play. I also prefer SLI to crossfire so I'm just thinking ahead.

Enjoy your new card.

 

[ttcboy]

Refer to here for the general guideline http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html.

According to the hierarchy chart at the last page, HD 7970 is 1 tier above nVidia 670.

I used to stick to nVidia till my last rig and switched to ATI on the latest and I dun regret my decision but to each is their own.

 

[darth pravus]

They come out about the same when oc'ed.

Some games favour nvidia and some favour AMD.

The 670 performs as well as an OC'ed 680 when oc'ed itself making them about the same tier.

Although I don't think the 4gb version is worth it.

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

Get that 7970 3GB and OC it high and you'll get performance even better than stock GTX 680. You must OC it near the Ghz edition.

 

[darth pravus]

Get that 7970 3GB and OC it high and you'll get performance even better than stock GTX 680. You must OC it near the Ghz edition.

There is little point comparing oc to stock.

An oc'ed 7970 and 680 perform on average about the same and the 670 can reach about the same performance so the 670 2gb version makes the most sense for the least money.

He also wants the Nvidia features.

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

There is little point comparing oc to stock.

An oc'ed 7970 and 680 perform on average about the same and the 670 can reach about the same performance so the 670 2gb version makes the most sense for the least money.

He also wants the Nvidia features.

If you can then get the best out there. 7970 defeats 670.
Why would you take risk and OC your 670 so high, if anything happens then your card will go waste.

7970 Ghz is just a Factory overclocked card. You can OC 7970 yourself and make its performance much like Ghz Edition

 

[darth pravus]

Admittedly they do very well in battlefield now and you can't up your voltage on a 670 without a hack so there isn't any danger really.

The ghz is OC'ed compared to a stock 680 though making it invalid to be honest.

They trade blows. I'm not knocking AMD but the performance is pretty much the same and the OP gets the features he want's.

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

Well if he likes TXAA and Adaptive V-sync, then get GTX 670.
If he doesn't really care about features then get 7970.

Now its upto him.

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

GTX 670 will already give a awesome performance at 1080p. So getting it will be worth it.
After all, getting a High-end card is only for the performance at High Graphics it gives.
So, TXAA and Adaptive-sync are for that only. Get that GTX 670.

 

[Sunius]

Stay with GTX 560 Ti until you get the CPU and see how your performance is. If you're not happy, you can always upgrade. If you're happy - congratulations, you just saved $400.

I am personally still happy with my GTX 560 Ti - coupled with i5-2500k @ 4.3 GHz I am able to max out or near max out every single new game. VRAM isn't really a problem, I haven't seen my GPU usage drop due to VRAM being capped out.

If you do decide to upgrade, I'd go for GTX 670. Those extra features like TXAA and Adaptive VSync are extremely useful. I personally love the second one - it totally eliminates screen tearing and stuttering when a game is running around 60 fps.

 

[bc5]

+1 to Sunius (especially re adaptive v-sync) and to DarthPravus, especially on comparing overclocked Radeons to stock GeForces. It was good advice to see how you go with your current card first, and I'd just add that we're only a few months away from the GTX700 series, so might be worth waiting. I'd absolutely love a GTX670 now, but don't want to regret it in a few months when I see what the GTX770 can do.

EDIT: Also agree about the memory quantity being overkill. Somebody was posting the other day about how some games are designed to utilise most of the RAM, even when not needed. I don't understand what they were talking about exactly, thought maybe it was being used as some kind of cache, but that would improve performance, which isn't reflected in benchmarks of 4GB cards. Still, 2GB should last a good while