Was it a good buy? (HD7970)

[Zenuts]

Hello again guys!

I was looking into buying the GTX 770 4GB (probably from Gigabyte) for about 450 bucks. Then there was a sale on Newegg and I ended up buying a HD7970 GE (the 3GB Vapor-X edition) for about 350 bucks.

It hasn't arrived yet, since I'm not from the US and the package is still on it's way, so I haven't really tested it yet.

The question is: Was it a good thing? I'm thinking if the GTX 770 4GB was worth the extra 100 bucks or not (I COULD have bought it, but ended up going for the lower price, as I saw they were almost equal on benchmarks).

I'm asking that 'cause lately, some friends (who are not fanboys in anyway I think) are saying I should've gone for the GTX 770...

FYI, I'll use it with a Core i5-4670K (which I got instead of i5-3770K because of US$80 discount on a motherboard)

Thanks!

 

[ihog]

I think that was a good buy. $350 for a 7970 GE is great, and it is pretty on-par with the 770. My Dual-X 7970 ($330) is treating me very nicely. I've got it running at 1200 core/1650 mem @ 1.2V as of now (I can push it further, just don't need to at the moment.)

 

[smeezekitty]

A 7970GHZ is only alittle behind the 770 so I would say it is definitely worth the price.

 

[Zenuts]

Good. I was kinda worried about PhysX, but as I see, it's only a gimmick to sell more boards from nVidia.

And anyway, maybe (if I miss it in any game), I'll buy myself a GT 640 to use as a PhysX card with the hack =P.

Thanks guys!

 

[17seconds]

Funny, until I got to your last post, my response was going to be "as long as you don't play any PhysX games, then you'll have no regrets". It still holds true though, the old hybrid PhysX hack doesn't work any more and even then the logic of turning around and spending $100 on a PhysX card pretty much destroys the logic in your purchase.

Any way you look at it, you're out of the PhysX club, so adjust your expectations accordingly. That's whether you subscribe to the AMD fanboy's "PhysX is a gimmick" schtick, or if you believe more like HardOCP that it is immersive technology that impacts every scene:

"It is a shame for AMD users that they will miss out on such great technology."
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/05/29/metro_last_light_video_card_performance_iq_review/9

 

[Zenuts]

Funny, until I got to your last post, my response was going to be "as long as you don't play any PhysX games, then you'll have no regrets". It still holds true though, the old hybrid PhysX hack doesn't work any more and even then the logic of turning around and spending $100 on a PhysX card pretty much destroys the logic in your purchase.

Any way you look at it, you're out of the PhysX club, so adjust your expectations accordingly. That's whether you subscribe to the AMD fanboy's "PhysX is a gimmick" schtick, or if you believe more like HardOCP that it is immersive technology that impacts every scene:

"It is a shame for AMD users that they will miss out on such great technology."
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/05/29/metro_last_light_video_card_performance_iq_review/9

Although I really think PhysX adds up a notch on graphics, I still think of it more as a gimmick than a merit from nVidia because of the way they treat the technology (cannot be used on CPUs, even if they could handle the load, etc) and it kinda bums me down this kind of attitude from a company that has high quality components (i know, this kind of attitude it's not exclusive from nVidia, but still...).

Either way, I don't usually play games with PhysX (except for Borderlands 2), and I kinda know what I'll be missing on games that has PhysX and yes, sometimes I feel like i should've got the GTX 770 to be able to play those games on their fullest.

On the "Spending another $100 on a PhysX card pretty much destroys the logic in your purchase", I kinda disagree. It will draw more power (of course), but in return, both cards will be dedicated to do what they do best. Sorry if I'm ignorant on PhysX subject, but a HD7970 + a GTS 450 should perform better than a single card (GTX 770 in this case), as would a GTX 770 + GTS 450 vs GTX 770 configuration, no?

Edit: Got some numbers on nVidia boards mixed up.

 

[smeezekitty]

Although I really think PhysX adds up a notch on graphics, I still think of it more as a gimmick than a merit from nVidia because of the way they treat the technology (cannot be used on CPUs, even if they could handle the load, etc) and it kinda bums me down this kind of attitude from a company that has high quality components (i know, this kind of attitude it's not exclusive from nVidia, but still...).

It is a gimmick for sure. It does actually work on CPUs but runs like garbage.
The biggest reason I prefer AMD is because of NVidia's trick of disabling hybrid physx in their drivers.

Plus, from what I have seen, it just adds clutter to the screen more then anything.

Either way, I don't usually play games with PhysX (except for Borderlands 2), and I kinda know what I'll be missing on games that has PhysX and yes, sometimes I feel like i should've got the GTX 770 to be able to play those games on their fullest.

It really isn't worth it.
Nice to have? Maybe
But it shouldn't be a big factor for choosing a brand.

17seconds is well known for being heavily NVidia BIASed

I will admit I am a bit of an AMD FB but will recommend NVidia cards when appropriate.

 

[17seconds]

You are correct, in PhysX games, performance with a dedicated PhysX card is better than a single card provided you fulfill the following two conditions:

1) You can get it to work. Hybrid PhysX has not been supported in any drivers for over the past two years, but there have been reports of some users getting it to work with current games.
http://physxinfo.com/wiki/Hybrid_PhysX
http://www.overclock.net/t/1307142/borderlands-2-with-hybrid-physx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VMjYcNrzZ4

2) You pair your high-end primary GPU with a sufficiently powerful dedicated PhysX card. There is some question as to what makes a good PhysX card, but with the current top-end cards, you need an even higher level card to pair with them. A GTS 450 will probably not be enough, and you may need to go as high as a GTX 650.
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/23737-bench-marking-physx-with-gtx780-with-a-gts450-dedicated-physx-card/
http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/12706-dedicated-physx-card/

 

[Zenuts]

Thanks a lot, both of you! I'll probably not try my luck with Hybrid PhysX anyway. I'll live without that tech (but knowing what i'll be missing) and will try to be happy with what I have xD.