Anoher 7950 v 670 decision-making thread.. help please

[freddy1765]

I ordered a Gigabyte 7950 last night, but this nagging voice in the back of my head keeps trying to convince me to get a 670 instead. Most threads I've read on the subject turn into an AMD v nVidia total war, which is truly irrelevant for me.

I paid 2200 of my native currency for the Gigabyte 7950, which is a pretty good deal compared with the other prices listed. I can get a 670 from Gigabyte (1058 MHz) at a 25% premium over the 7950, an Asus (980 MHz) for 30% more and an eVGA FTW Sig2 (1006 MHz) at a price inbetween the GB and the Asus.

I don't mind paying more for the 670 as long is I'm convinced it's worth the extra $ in terms of gaming performance, temps and noise. My primary concern about the nVidia offering is the 2GB VRAM and relatively narrow memory bandwidth; could this become a limiting factor when playing modern/future games at 1080, even in a couple of years?

I hear people saying the 7950 is a genius over clocker, and of course the OC performance of either card is what interests me - so does one surpass the other? (Given mild voltage tampering, stock cooling solution).

Lastly, I've read the 670 uses less power, especially when over clocked, and since I'm running a 550W PSU with a total of 408W on the 12v rail, it is somewhat of a concern, albeit a small one.

In conclusion I should say I've never owned an nVidia card before, and do feel a slight curiosity with regard to their performance compared to AMD cards, so if all other factors turn out to be non-issues, that curiosity alone is enough for me to favor the 670 in this instance.

I really hope to resolve the issue today so I can cancel my order before it ships tomorrow morning.

 

[cookybiscuit]

I personally wouldn't bother, the 7950 is capable of massive 40-50% overclocks (provided you get a lucky on the silicone lottery), with a 670 you'll be lucky to get higher than 15% of the base clock, I was only able to get to 1250Mhz on my Asus 670 before any higher produced temperatures hotter than I'd like. A good 7950 should end up slightly faster than an OC'd 670. I wouldn't worry about VRAM for now unless you use multiple screens, heavy titles like BF3 and Crysis 3 both use about 1.3GB max, only game I've seen max out 2GB is Skyrim with a million mods.

The 670 does use less power, but you'll be fine on that PSU with either. One clear benefit is that something like the Asus 670 will run quieter no matter what, I can still hear my hard drives over it even once its under load, only 7950 I've had was the HIS IceQ, it was the loudest part of the system but still relatively quiet.

 

[freddy1765]

1250 MHz sounds like a very high core clock on the 670, or am i wrong?
If the two cards are really that close in performance I might go 670 just for the hell of it. My current 7850 is a bit of a dud, so I won't rely on my luck in the silicon lottery..
Do you have any preferences regarding nVidia brands? I like the eVGA Sig2 since it pushes air out at the back of the case, and I've got an intake fan on the side, which will feed it cool air.

 

[toyftw]

I ordered a Gigabyte 7950 last night, but this nagging voice in the back of my head keeps trying to convince me to get a 670 instead. Most threads I've read on the subject turn into an AMD v nVidia total war, which is truly irrelevant for me.

I paid 2200 of my native currency for the Gigabyte 7950, which is a pretty good deal compared with the other prices listed. I can get a 670 from Gigabyte (1058 MHz) at a 25% premium over the 7950, an Asus (980 MHz) for 30% more and an eVGA FTW Sig2 (1006 MHz) at a price inbetween the GB and the Asus.

I don't mind paying more for the 670 as long is I'm convinced it's worth the extra $ in terms of gaming performance, temps and noise. My primary concern about the nVidia offering is the 2GB VRAM and relatively narrow memory bandwidth; could this become a limiting factor when playing modern/future games at 1080, even in a couple of years?

I hear people saying the 7950 is a genius over clocker, and of course the OC performance of either card is what interests me - so does one surpass the other? (Given mild voltage tampering, stock cooling solution).

Lastly, I've read the 670 uses less power, especially when over clocked, and since I'm running a 550W PSU with a total of 408W on the 12v rail, it is somewhat of a concern, albeit a small one.

In conclusion I should say I've never owned an nVidia card before, and do feel a slight curiosity with regard to their performance compared to AMD cards, so if all other factors turn out to be non-issues, that curiosity alone is enough for me to favor the 670 in this instance.

I really hope to resolve the issue today so I can cancel my order before it ships tomorrow morning.

Have to agree with cooky, why pay 25% more when you can OC the 7950 that much
more than the 670.

Tom

 

[cookybiscuit]

1250 MHz sounds like a very high core clock on the 670, or am i wrong?
If the two cards are really that close in performance I might go 670 just for the hell of it. My current 7850 is a bit of a dud, so I won't rely on my luck in the silicon lottery..
Do you have any preferences regarding nVidia brands? I like the eVGA Sig2 since it pushes air out at the back of the case, and I've got an intake fan on the side, which will feed it cool air.

I think 1250 is a little higher than average for an OC at stock voltage, not sure. I'm only with Nvidia for the 3D, in my opinion the AMD cards are better value for money, considering the fact that you can get a top end 7950 for the price of a reference 670.

 

[redeemer]

Well if you know what to do then the 7950 can give you monsterous performance.

 

[freddy1765]

Alright, it seems the 7950 is the way to go!
Think I should stop worrying and just let it be. It should be possible to return it if something isn't right anyway.
Thanks a lot for feedback, hopefully there will be no regrets