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GTX 660 or Radeon 7870?

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Hey guys! :hello: 

The last graphics card I bought was in 2005 and came with my current pc which I bought to play Everquest 2. It was an AMD, and when I would start EQ2 the game would quickly crash, and I was unable to resolve the problem by updating drivers. I then replaced it with an Nvidia, and the game worked fine. I've been leery of AMD card ever since, but I'm willing to give them a try again.

I'm slowly building a new pc for mmorpg gaming, and have been researching graphics cards in the $200 - $250 price range. There are two cards that seem to be good choices, the Nvidia Geforce GTX and the AMD Radeon 7870. They perform about the same according to benchmarks, with one or the other slightly ahead depending on the game.

I read an article recently comparing two similar cards, the GTX 660ti and the Radeon 7950, which concluded that the Nvidia was superior due to latency issues with the 7950.

My question is this: is it safe to assume that this would apply to the two cards I'm considering as well?

Are there any other considerations I should keep in mind?

Many thanks as always!

More about : gtx 660 radeon 7870

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Graphics card Authority

The 7870 being slightly more expensive also provides better framerates. The GTX 660 settles somewhere between the 7850 and the 7870. If your building your rig for strictly MMORPG's then whatever's cheaper is the best bet.

You say your price range is $200 - $250. The majority of GTX 660 Ti's are just another $15-$20 and would provide a lot of performance and very good bang for the buck.

Edit: Gigabyte Windforce 2 GTX 660 Ti 2gb $265 + Free Shipping

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Graphics card Master

dcointin said:
They perform about the same according to benchmarks, with one or the other slightly ahead depending on the game.

I read an article recently comparing two similar cards, the GTX 660ti and the Radeon 7950, which concluded that the Nvidia was superior due to latency issues with the 7950.

My question is this: is it safe to assume that this would apply to the two cards I'm considering as well?


The 7870 is a bit faster but also a bit more expensive usually. It would be my choice.

It's not safe to assume that the latency issues would be the same between the 660 and 7870, because that article is really the only one of its kind that has been done recently. It's just not enough data - not nearly enough - to draw generalized conclusions. Also, AMD has stated that the latency issues will be fixed in an upcoming driver update. I wouldn't let the article sway you too much either way.

Ultimately it comes down to the price you can find the cards at, what games you want to play, and if you want to overclock or not.
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7870 seems to do better by a slim margin. However, I'm looking at a 44 dollar difference between the cheapest 7870 vs. cheapest 660 on pcpartpicker.com. So slightly better, 44 dollars cheaper...yeah. Stick with the 7870. I've never had an issue with Radeons since I bought the very first one(radeon 64)..

Thank you for the replies!

I should have added that I was looking at a dual fan configuration, and Evga if I went with Nvidia, and XFX if I went with AMD (based on brand research and warranty).

The prices are (from Amazon and NewEgg:

660: $240
7870: $250
660ti: $310





Graphics card Authority

dcointin said:
Thank you for the replies!

I should have added that I was looking at a dual fan configuration, and Evga if I went with Nvidia, and XFX if I went with AMD (based on brand research and warranty).

The prices are (from Amazon and NewEgg:

660: $240
7870: $250
660ti: $310


I linked you a dual fan GTX 660 Ti on Amazon for $265
Graphics card Authority

BigMack70 said:
It's not safe to assume that the latency issues would be the same between the 660 and 7870, because that article is really the only one of its kind that has been done recently. It's just not enough data - not nearly enough - to draw generalized conclusions. Also, AMD has stated that the latency issues will be fixed in an upcoming driver update. I wouldn't let the article sway you too much either way.


AMD said the same thing back in 2011 when Tech Report first approached them about it. How much longer is it going to take? They do need to test more cards, but they re-ran all these tests and confirmed the results. And considering the fact that the same GPU was delivering inconsistent performance in previous reviews (on older drivers) and is now silky smooth consistent would suggest a driver-based fix. If that's the case, it seems very unlikely the fix would target one GPU specifically rather than all Keplers (or at least mid/high-end Keplers).
Graphics card Authority

And yeah, Gigabyte are a solid choice, though I'd definitely take the EVGA. Gigabyte are known for being prone to coil whine. I've never owned a Gigabyte graphics card, so couldn't say first hand. I do have a Gigabyte mobo though and that gets coil whine.
Graphics card Master

I never said their data was invalid or not worth taking note of, but it's just not nearly enough data to draw generalized conclusions from - especially when those generalizations are then applied to other cards.

The 660 and the 7870 are different chips than the 7950 and 660ti; it's possible that the results would be the same, but it's equally possible that they would not be the same. There just isn't enough info in that article to make sweeping generalizations one way or another.
Graphics card Master

If you're sensitive to stuttering, it would mean that <#> fps on the GTX 660 would feel more smooth than the same <#> fps on the HD 7870. In other words, you would need higher fps on the 7870 than on the 660 to perceive gameplay as being smooth.

How much so? No way to really know, I don't think. My guess is that it would just negate the performance lead the 7870 has on the 660.
Graphics card Authority

I know one of the regulars on here actually sold his 7870 because of stutter and switched to the GTX660 Ti instead, really happy with his new card. It does vary a lot by game and by the particular part of the game too (Tech Report also has articles that examine that specifically - variations within games in frame latency).

As for the generalisations, I do agree that Tech Report needs to get on with more testing (other tech media sites are going to start this testing, but probably won't bother re-reviewing existing hardware so we'll see it when new serieses launch). What I said about a driver-based fix though is a good argument for it being more likely (not guaranteed, but definitely more likely) to apply to all Kepler cards than one specific model in the range. GTX660 Ti performance on older drivers was no more stable/consistent than that of the Radeons, so I'm not sure what else could have changed the situation other than drivers?
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