New graphics card: GTX 760 vs GTX 770 vs HD 7970

[bees928]

I have to upgrade my vid card: HD4850. I do some gaming (L4D and some older games, and Battlefield 3 as well). Win 7x64bit, 16GB, i7920. Have a 2 monitor system for work, not gaming. Going to 3 monitors for work, but gaming on 1 monitor, what should I get? Is GTX 760 enough?

 

[H4X3R]

This is a tough decision. Since you are not primarily using it for gaming, i would need to know whhat kind of work will be done on that machine. The problem with the gtx 760 and gtx 770 is that although they have 4GB versions, the memory-bus (192bits) on them cannot handle the 4GB properly. The 7970 ghz edition performs just a little worse than the 770 but has a 384bit memory bus that can handle the 3GB it has effectively, so for more monitors, more GB is very important. If you are doing video editing or some sort of rendering, the 770 will be a little faster as well, but again it won't be able to handle the 4GB properly, so in the end, i really need to know the exact kind of work you will be doing on the machine.

 

[bees928]

Thanks. I will be doing mostly text editing and Web browsing, file indexing (large database) but no video work at this time as I work as an analyst and need to have several monitors open at the same time. I need to have rapid refreshes on my monitors as one of them is hanging now (at least I think its the monitor that is hanging, not the CPU), plus I am starting to get some distortions on one monitor. I have two 24 inch Dell Ultras with > 1 billion colors, and thinking of getting another - the most recent high quality 24" monitor, so need quick refreshes.

 

[H4X3R]

In that case, i would direct you to the 3GB 7970 ghz edition since the only benefits you get from the 770 are related to specific programs like Adobe. To buy from the US, use the link below. If you are in another country, please tell me and i will try to find the best, cheapest and most reliable source to get the graphics card.
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-PCI-Express-Crossfire-Graphics-GV-R797TO-3GD/dp/B008WAMV3Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378323065&sr=8-1&keywords=7970+ghz+edition
And actually, you save about $100 over the 770 which won't change your experience. Also, you get 4 FREE GAMES if you buy this card.
I hope this was helpful.

 

[bees928]

Dear H4X3R, Many thanks for your suggestions. I am in Canada, so if you can suggest a good option for purchase, many thanks. Canada Computers has some deals on HD7970: http://www.canadacomputers.com/specials.php?category=Computer+Components - you have to scroll down to see the deals. Two follow-on questions - how easy is it to connect several monitors to the HD7970? Do I need to buy dongles, etc. or are all of the connections I need there on the card and all I need are the cables? Also, as there are many 7970 options, should I go for a higher GPU clock rate or a higher memory clock rate or a card with the best cooling solution? What power supply would I need (I have 650 Watts I believe). I have older ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 MoBo, i7 920, Intel 240 SSD, 2x 500Gb 7200 HDs in Raid 0, 16 Gb. Many thanks.

Here are some urls for 7970 at Canada Computers:

http://goo.gl/9JgFIh

http://goo.gl/HJG92d

http://goo.gl/IOxUIt

 

[H4X3R]

Thanks for the quick reply bees,
I have found the cheapest one (on amazon again) and i suggest you get a 7970 from GIGABYTE because they have a very good colling rep. with their 3x windfore.
http://www.amazon.ca/Gigabyte-PCi-Express-Crossfire-Graphics-GV-R797TO-3GD/dp/B008WAMV3Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378324142&sr=8-1&keywords=7970+ghz+edition

Regarding the screens, this GPU has 2 Mini Display ports, 1 HDMI and 1 DVI port. I am assuming that 1 of your old screens has a DVI cable included, the 2nd i assume has a HDMI connection and for the monitor that you are going to buy now, i suggest you have a monitor with a monitor that supports Mini Display Port. There are many adapters included with the Graphics Card, so you don't have to worry about that .
As for 650 watts, that should be just enough although you cannot upgrade further. But regarding the power supply, it has to have one 8pin and one 6pin power connectors for the Graphics Card.
The reason why this card is more expensive than the cards that you showed me is that this card is the "ghz edition", which means that it has better performance and i cannot find this card on canada computers.

 

[bees928]

Many thanks for this analysis H4X3R and for your recommendations. I am now looking at the HD7970 you proposed although its a bit over my budget. I presume the other and cheaper HD 7970 cards would still do the job, albeit they would be a bit slower? Thanks again.

 

[H4X3R]

Good to hear from you bess,
If it is a little above your budget, consider getting the normal version (which you can still overclock as gigabyte provides the best GPU cooling). The normal version comes in at $319,99 from ncix. I hope you found what you came here for, and please select a "Best Answer" to help other people with the same problem .
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=67547&vpn=GV-R797OC-3GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1190

 

[bees928]

I have a PCIe 2.0 MoBo, the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 - (LGA 1366 CPU)... will the HD 7970 work on this and what hit will I take performance wise? Should I upgrade my MoBo and CPU to 1150 or 2011?

 

[bees928]

Thanks byogamingpc, but I would prefer an i7 4770k or an i7 3930 for the heavy duty database indexing and multitasking I do. The Mobo does look interesting. WIll see if I need to upgrade with the HD7970. Cheers!

 

[H4X3R]

Hi bees,
sorry i was away. I can help you with the processor.
Sometime later this month (or perhaps the next) the Ivy Bridge-E CPUs will be released.
These include i7-4820k, i7-4930k and i7-4960X.
Since you may be a little limited on your budget, i suggest the 4820k, which has better rendering speeds and better overall performace than the i7-4770k, while being $7 cheaper. Take note that this CPU uses the LGA 2011 socket, and the motherboard are a little expensive, but they will go down in price once it gets released. If you cannot wait, i'd suggest you get the 4770k, but the 4820k, being a little cheaper while giving better performance for your needs, is certainly something i would wait for

 

[spentshells]

This is a tough decision. Since you are not primarily using it for gaming, i would need to know whhat kind of work will be done on that machine. The problem with the gtx 760 and gtx 770 is that although they have 4GB versions, the memory-bus (192bits) on them cannot handle the 4GB properly. The 7970 ghz edition performs just a little worse than the 770 but has a 384bit memory bus that can handle the 3GB it has effectively, so for more monitors, more GB is very important. If you are doing video editing or some sort of rendering, the 770 will be a little faster as well, but again it won't be able to handle the 4GB properly, so in the end, i really need to know the exact kind of work you will be doing on the machine.

ignore this he doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

1 monitor gaming can be handled by a single 760 the 7970 can be found for 300 which is almost 100 dollars cheaper and is about on par with the 770.

 

[H4X3R]

ignore this he doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

1 monitor gaming can be handled by a single 760 the 7970 can be found for 300 which is almost 100 dollars cheaper and is about on par with the 770.

Don't listen to him, the 760 is a worse than the 7970 as it only has 2GB with a low memory bus which WILL affect your 3 screen experience, with 1 screen, the 760 MIGHT be a better choice. And again, i have to say that the memory bus on the 760 and 770 CANNOT support the 4GB version properly.

 

[spentshells]

ignore this he doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.

1 monitor gaming can be handled by a single 760 the 7970 can be found for 300 which is almost 100 dollars cheaper and is about on par with the 770.

Don't listen to him, the 760 is a worse than the 7970 as it only has 2GB with a low memory bus which WILL affect your 3 screen experience, with 1 screen, the 760 MIGHT be a better choice. And again, i have to say that the memory bus on the 760 and 770 CANNOT support the 4GB version properly.

You said

"The problem with the gtx 760 and gtx 770 is that although they have 4GB versions, the memory-bus (192bits) on them cannot handle the 4GB properly. "

This is completely incorrect, not only that but the card you recommended is about 50 dollars overpriced.

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

 

[H4X3R]

You said

"The problem with the gtx 760 and gtx 770 is that although they have 4GB versions, the memory-bus (192bits) on them cannot handle the 4GB properly. "

This is completely incorrect, not only that but the card you recommended is about 50 dollars overpriced.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Firstly, how is it incorrect, and secondly, you just put a link to card that is more expensive than the one i put up for the same Graphics Card....

 

[bees928]

I have followed H4X3R's advice and purchased the 7970 from NCIX. I agree that it makes sense for the multi-monitor set up. On the CPU, I am thinking of upgrading my whole rig, including the CPU and MoBo and am prepared to pay for performance on that score as I need it for multitasking, database work and indexing, plus having many Chrome tabs open at the same time... I need some horsepower... do you have the specs and estimated prices on these new cards? I presume that the 4930 will be in the same price ball park as the 3930? Any urls I can go to? Thanks to all of you for your advice and suggestions.

 

[H4X3R]

Hey there bees,
I have some information regarding the ivy bridge-e platform (i7-4930k,etc). In the link below, check out the second picture. If you are limited on a budget, the i7-4820k will be able to outperform the i7-4770k in most aspects, while being cheaper.
http://www.techoftomorrow.com/2013/pc/intel-ivy-bridge-e-i7-4960x-cpu-review-benchmarks/2/

 

[bees928]

Hey H4X3R, Thanks for the advice again. Any idea of the performance difference between the i7-4820k and the i7-4930k or is it still too early for benchmarks? The 4820 seems to be a fairly powerful processor on its own.

 

[spentshells]

You said

"The problem with the gtx 760 and gtx 770 is that although they have 4GB versions, the memory-bus (192bits) on them cannot handle the 4GB properly. "

This is completely incorrect, not only that but the card you recommended is about 50 dollars overpriced.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Firstly, how is it incorrect, and secondly, you just put a link to card that is more expensive than the one i put up for the same Graphics Card....

bus speed is 256 not 192 for both cards

if it were the 660 or 660 ti with the the 192 bit mem interface the ram is fast enough that it can all be addressed correctly
If it were gddr3 you would have been right but high end cards havent used gddr3 in years

you only get 3 free games with the 7970 not 4 as suggested

there are at least 3 GHZ edition 7970s on the canada computers website you just don't know what your saying.

as the OP will only been gaming on 1 screen 2GB of ram is plenty

so 4 pieces of incorrect advice in one thread and Im already tired of looking for more
but being right isn't what my concern is just giving educated advice as apposed to whatever you feel like saying

a la derrr 7970 ftw cause it's got more gighurts

also I never suggested the 760 was better than the 7970 you just don't really seem to be savy to what you are talking about, perhaps read up and everything will be fine.

Cheers ff

 

[bees928]

Hello Spentshells, Thanks for your advice. What do you mean by: "a la derrr 7970 ftw cause it's got more gighurts"? Also, what is best if I want a multi screen experience, and not for gaming specifically? I presume the HD7970 is still the best bet?

 

[spentshells]

Hello Spentshells, Thanks for your advice. What do you mean by: "a la derrr 7970 ftw cause it's got more gighurts"? Also, what is best if I want a multi screen experience, and not for gaming specifically? I presume the HD7970 is still the best bet?

lol no worries you still got the right card!!

 

[bees928]

Hello Spentshells, Thanks for your advice. What do you mean by: "a la derrr 7970 ftw cause it's got more gighurts"? Also, what is best if I want a multi screen experience, and not for gaming specifically? I presume the HD7970 is still the best bet?

lol no worries you still got the right card!!

Many thanks!