Yet another "Help me choose my GPU" thread

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smoats

smoats

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So I'm stuck between these cards

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130782


On one of these screens (I'm kind of stuck on these too):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236261

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236307

I'll probably wind up overclocking eventually

CPU: i5 3570k

PSU: OCZ 550w
 
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G

i understand that. the recommendation on sellers and manufacturers pages are general - they do not know what quality of PSU the user has.

your OCZ ZT 550 has 45 amps on the 12 volt rail for 540 watts. that is what the cpu and graphics card will use and will be more than enough to power them including any overclocking.

now if you look at the ZS series of the 550 that has 38 amps on the 12 volt rail for 456 watts. probably enough but that might be cutting it close.

its not the wattage of the PSU but how many amps that are on the 12 volt rail that is important - so...
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Bromeh

Bromeh

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Ok so first of all, the GTX 670 has a best performance/value so i would recommend it. Secondly, if you plan on overclocking i really recommend you the DirectCuII from Asus IT'S A COOLING MONSTER !!! I was able to push my 660Ti to 1306MHz, it's just awesome (+225 for gpu and +450 for memory).

This one looks okay : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637

If you don't want to pay 400$, here's one that's good : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125438

Just don't take the one's with the blower type cooler, they are damn crappy.

Take this screen for sure : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236307


- The Brownie
 
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smoats

smoats

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Thanks for the replies. It is for a gaming machine (I can't believe I forgot to mention that...).

I'm still stuck between between the 7970 and GTX 670. I'll mostly be playing games like Skyrim though I am somewhat interested in the Crysis series.

If it makes any difference my case is a CM 690 II Advanced and it'll be maxed out on fans (two 200mm fans on top, one in front and one in back), I've also got a Hyper 212 Plus for the CPU.

 
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whyso

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Passmark-fail with heavy bias toward Nvidia.

680 does not beat a 690 like passmark says it does.

Please use recent reviews when posting benchmarks. the 7970 is ahead of the 670.
 
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G

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games like skyrim?
skyrim_1920_1200.gif

is WOW like skyrim?
wow_1920_1200.gif


not sure exactly how much of a change the crytek engine is for crysis 3 but this may help:
crysis2_1920_1200.gif


so i do not get accused of cherry picking though i am trying to find what games YOU are playing

in hitman absolution and sleeping dogs the 7970 has a clear advantage
hitman_1920_1200.gif

sleepingdogs_1920_1200.gif



but other than those both card are very close and any overclocking is rather moot since both give great frame rates and gaming IQ.

oh yeah a link is always nice . .
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_670_FTW_Signature_2/9.html
Jan 24th 2013
 
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Bromeh

Bromeh

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I don't know how passmark did it but i think they've only compared one graphic card (in the 690) vs the 680 and the 680 happens to be better than a half 690 ...

I didn't know the review was that old.

I'm going to change my answer after seeing some posts, reviews, videos ...


If you have a monitor with a higher resolution than 1920x1080 and you are a fan of Crysis, Metro 2033 and those kind of games that are not "Meant to be played on nvidia" take the 7970. If you have a monitor with 1920x1080 or lower resolution and like Skyrim and Battlefield 3, go for the 670.


- The Brownie
 
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darkspartenwarrior

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GTX670s are voltage locked meaning your overclocks will be terrible.

After 13.2 and even 12.1 the 7970 beats the GTX670 and the 7970GHz stomps any card nvidia has to offer short of the GTX690.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Those were on 12.1 drivers, now at 13.2 the difference is even bigger with 13.2

Also the 7970 384-bit bus means much better AA/AF and high res.

Overall I'd reccomend a 7970GHz edition like a Vapor-X or Windforce like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125439

The 7970GHz is about on the level of a GTX590 and when overclocked is even better.
 
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Bromeh

Bromeh

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Many Nvidia cards are voltage locked but it dosen't make them so worst. I am able to get 1.3GHz on my 660Ti


- The Brownie
 
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G

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why yes there are. and there are also several ways and tuts to help mod and reflash the BIOS on many others:
GTX 600 Series Unlocked Voltage Bios' downloads and tools.

if people "claim" to be an enthusiasts than that means they are willing to reasonably throw caution to the wind and tweak those settings!


- skate tough or go home -
 
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smoats

smoats

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One thing I guess I should ask is; is 550 watts enough or do I need another power supply? I saw that the 7970 Ghz edition needs at least 600 watts so if I get that I'll need another PSU.
 
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oh?
Measured power consumption
System in IDLE = 180W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 379W
Difference (GPU load) = 199W
Add average IDLE wattage ~10W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 209 Watts
Here is Guru3D's power supply recommendation:

Radeon HD 7970 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 550 Watt power supply unit.
Radeon HD 7970 Crossfire - On your average system the cards require you to have a 750 Watt power supply unit as minimum.
Click to expand...
though *what* 550 watt PSU do you have?
 
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smoats

smoats

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I have an OCZ OCZ-ZT550W ZT Series ATX Modular Power Supply - 550W, 80 Plus Bronze, 140mm Fan, Active PFC.
 
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nice. the ZT series is the only good one OCZ puts out, you're fine for ANY single graphics card. it has two 6+2 pin PCI power connections and with 45 amps on the 12 volt rail, enough to power the 300 watts for those.

and if you add the 75 watts supplied by the motherboard's PCI 16x slot that is 375 watts for the graphics card. . .
 
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G

Guest

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i understand that. the recommendation on sellers and manufacturers pages are general - they do not know what quality of PSU the user has.

your OCZ ZT 550 has 45 amps on the 12 volt rail for 540 watts. that is what the cpu and graphics card will use and will be more than enough to power them including any overclocking.

now if you look at the ZS series of the 550 that has 38 amps on the 12 volt rail for 456 watts. probably enough but that might be cutting it close.

its not the wattage of the PSU but how many amps that are on the 12 volt rail that is important - so generally speaking a 600 watt PSU should have enough amps wheres a 550 could be questionable.
 
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