Help choosing a graphics card

[Dominik Zapasnik]

Hi Guys !

I posted a thread relating to help me build a computer rig dedicated to programming, graphics, compiling, multitasking, video, etc. This will not be a gaming rig... very very little gaming will be done with it. With that said, I got all my parts ready and these are the following:

Processor: i7-3930k
Processor Cooler: H100
Mobo: Asus P9X79 Deluxe or the Asus Sabertooth X79
Harddrive: 2 TB WD Caviar Black
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB
Case: CM Storm Stryker
Optical Drive: Asus BW-1281ST
PSU - 1050 Corsair HX

The only thing I need is a graphics card. Most of the people here helped by say go with the GTX 670, 680 or the AMD 7970, 7870. I don't really know which one to choose. Please help me with this issue. Thanks !!!

 

[ASHISH65]

well hd 7970 would be best gpu for all type of your work.

 

[armageddon007]

the gtx 680 and the 7970 have so much in common...
Both are over the top excellent present gen gaming gpu's with a huge value for money and enormous power.....(especially if you game at 1080p single monitor)

The hd 7970 is a bit better when technically compared to the 680..but the recent issues in the driver support of amd has caused wideapread letdowns....

The lattest version of the amd catalyst is probably seeming to be glitch free and better support for newest of games have been added.....

So with the newest introduction of buttery smooth amd drivers, the 7970 seems to be the winner...go for it....

Btw 7970 has unmatched price vs performance ratio and beats the 680 by a little margin....so dont think....buy...

 

[zoenphlux]

7870 w/ tahiti LE core. Most reviews place this card right on top of a 7950. It has a tahiti core like the 7900 series. You can pick up one now on newegg for 210 after shipping and rebate. Try getting a 7950 for that. Plus they come with Tomb raider and Bio shock inf. Sell the keys and get back another 30-35 a piece while they are new.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131487

My .02$

 

[zoenphlux]

I apologize, I didn't notice you were not gaming until i read back over it. Go Nvidia. Cuda cores are being more and more applied to rendering in programs. Photoshop, dvd ripping/converting software, etc. Nvidia is pushing Cuda cores big time for parallel processing, and companies are including it constantly with new software. For what you will be doing Nvidia would get you the most for the money out of the card.

 

[Dominik Zapasnik]

I apologize, I didn't notice you were not gaming until i read back over it. Go Nvidia. Cuda cores are being more and more applied to rendering in programs. Photoshop, dvd ripping/converting software, etc. Nvidia is pushing Cuda cores big time for parallel processing, and companies are including it constantly with new software. For what you will be doing Nvidia would get you the most for the money out of the card.

But which one ?? Which nvidia card ?

 

[zoenphlux]

Well, that depends on your budget. But since you are not gaming, i think a 660ti would be the best for the money. A 670 and 660TI have the same amount of cuda cores(1344). The main difference is the memory bandwidth, which is a feature that you will not see much, if any, gain from. From a computational standpoint a 680 has the most cuda cores(1536), however it is another 200-300$ over the 660ti.

Of course if your budget allows go for the Titan(if you can find one)! 2688 cuda cores! From the reading i've done it doesn't seem SLI will add processing power unless the program is designed to use multiple GPUs. So buying two 660 TI's might be a waste..in case you were thinking that. However this may change.

For the money 660Ti. For the most power on one card within a reasonable price 680. The 670 from a GPGPU point of view isn't worth the extra money.

 

[zoenphlux]

I have been researching this a bit more for myself, and it seems vendors are jumping on with AMD as well. For Photoshop CS6 for instance AMD will be a better fit(They are supporting OpenCL). SO, I suggest you look into which programs you will be using and find out the OpenCL support (which AMD is ahead on in performance in general) and CUDA support (Nvidia only). Overall AMD is cheaper. It also comes with a couple free games usually that you can sell and offset the cost even more. I would get a 7970 if you find the programs you use are OPEN CL enhanced.

I think it would be good for someone experienced with Open CL/ CUDA processing to chime in here.

 

[arcticle]

Personally, I would go with NVIDIA for a non-gaming video card. I would say a GTX 670 will be a SOLID addition to your build for years to come. A 660TI is okay, but it has some memory related handicaps.

Here are a few benchmarks comparing the 670 and 680: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

As you can see, they both perform VERY similarly. Personally, I do NOT think the 680 is worth the additional $100, but you can decide this for yourself.

 

[Dominik Zapasnik]

Personally, I would go with NVIDIA for a non-gaming video card. I would say a GTX 670 will be a SOLID addition to your build for years to come. A 660TI is okay, but it has some memory related handicaps.

Here are a few benchmarks comparing the 670 and 680: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/598?vs=555

As you can see, they both perform VERY similarly. Personally, I do NOT think the 680 is worth the additional $100, but you can decide this for yourself.

I saw the benchmarks.. but you are talking about stock vs stock. But some of the GTX 680's are modified.. and their speed can reach till 1176 and above. With the GTX 670.. there is smaller MHz speed and with modified versions it can go till 1058 and a little above so there is 100 MHz difference which I think can make a slight difference plus more CUDA cores on the GTX 680.

I decided to go with the EVGA GTX 680 But... I have no idea what is the difference between these three models:

- EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified
- EVGA GeForce GTX 680 SC Signature 2
- EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Superclocked

The only difference that I see is in the speed of MHz... and VRAM. But other than that there is no big difference between them. Which one should I choose ?

 

[zoenphlux]

If you are going for the best, look at this.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/618?vs=555

the 7970 Ghz edition blows the 680 away even in computational benches.

 

[Dominik Zapasnik]

" If you are going for the best, look at this.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/618?vs=555

the 7970 Ghz edition blows the 680 away even in computational benches. "

Well.... I see your point I read an article where it told me that the GTX 600 series had ceomputing power switched off... and they were horrible as AMD ripped the GTX 600 apart.. now getting back to gaming ... the AMD 7970 ghz edition is a little behind. But I see that AMD tries to balance computing power / gaming as Nvidia only wants to take the crown and make their cards super fast so that they will beat AMD.
Along with all of this said, computing power helps in graphics and other stuff, correct ?