Dilemma: GTX 770 or GTX 780? (( Single Monitor 1920x1080))

[Jolly_Dodger]

((If this seems way too 'wall of texty' I apologize and will remedy it if asked.))

Let's get the necessary information out of the way first.

Basically, I'm looking to play at 50-60fps with minimal drops, Won't be overclocking above what afterburner is capable of,, want to run with as high graphical settings as possible, but have no qualms toning down settings like ambient occlusion and AA, and run with an Ivy bridge-i7 3770k (Not overclocked).

I mainly play Warcraft, laughably low specs, so let's not use that as the benchmark for the card.

Rather, Games like a heavily modified Skyrim (All the realism mods and that jazz) BF4, TF2, SWTOR, City of Heroes (It's coming back.), Far Cry 4, and most likely, the upcoming GTA 5 PC port (assuming it's actually optimized, as opposed to it's predecessor.)

My main concern is that, If I get the 780, that the difference in performance is going to be so marginal for my resolution settings that i'd rather not pay the extra $200, or if it's actually worth it. Most of the benchmarks I see for the cards are regarding above my resolution, so i'm just banging my head against the wall, trying to get my money's worth here.

Once again, I have no qualms reducing settings, to an extent (AA and ambient occlusion i can generally turn off without a damn to be given, but i'd like the textures and draw distance to remain intact.)

(I never plan to go above 1920x1080 single monitor, if i get two monitors, it's just to browse while i'm playing an MMO)


Specs (No overclocks):
Asus Sabertooth Z77
Ivy Bridge i7-3770k (3.5ghz)
4 year old 560ti (2gb)
Ripjaw 16gb ram
650w PSU (I have a mint 750w in the basement once an upgrade is decided upon)

System info:
Windows 7: 64 bit
Homebuilt PC: No adware.
Two terabytes of space.

EDIT: Another slightly related question, but why are some of these models more expensive than others if they have similar specs, and are the same chip? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=evga+gtx+770&N=-1&isNodeId=1

 

[volcanoscout]

For 1920x1080p, you're not going to see $200 worth of difference. I've got SLI 770 which is overkill (playing at same resolution). When I play with one card, I notice the difference for about 10 sec into any particular game. I'm going to give one of them to my nephew for his new build.

 

[smog0]

for 1080p the $200 extra would only buy you futureproof since right now you wouldn't notice any difference

 

[game junky]

That question is more challenging than you might think - a 770 2GB is cable of running those games, but not at 50+ FPS on High settings. The one that really is going to ruin your dreams of running on the cheap is Far Cry 4 (needs a lot of GPU muscle) and Skyrim w/ mods (needs a disturbing amount of video memory). You'll get the video memory you need for Skyrim by going with an overclocked 770 4GB model, but it will struggle to get the added texture effects to clean up BF and Far Cry. You'll get the muscle you need from a 780 to run Far Cry & BF on Ultra at a high frame rate, but you will struggle with running Skyrim w/ mods without hiccups because of the 3GB of video memory (sounds ridiculous but check forums). If you really like the extra bells and whistles with mods on Skyrim, then you're going to want to go with the 6GB 780. I have a 770 4GB in my rig and I am more than happy with my performance on Skyrim (sans mods) and BF4 (Ultra w/ no AA/MB) - not quite at 50+ FPS @1080p on some of the large multiplayer maps but it still looks pretty clean to me (running on a 55" LED TV) but it comes down to how important those things are to you.

Nvidia's Maxwell series is on the horizon though we don't have a definitive release date so if you can live with what you have and wait patiently, you can either pickup an 870/880 when they launch or pickup a 700 series card for a lot less. Just my two cents worth...I went with the 770, you might decide you want to splurge

 

[Jolly_Dodger]

Which model for either one would you get? I'm looking at EVGA and Asus in particular, but they both have multiple versions of the chipset.

 

[volcanoscout]

I think these two are probably your best picks for 2GB models: http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/asus-video-card-gtx770dc2oc2gd5%2Cevga-video-card-02gp42776kr/

The EVGA comes with a higher factory overclock, but based on reviews the Asus runs cooler and quieter and has more overclocking headroom.

I own two of these and they've been great: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn770oc2gd.

 

[Jolly_Dodger]

Hm. I might get the EVGA then. I hear they have some amazing customer support, which should remedy any issues (If any) I might run into.

 

[volcanoscout]

Hm. I might get the EVGA then. I hear they have some amazing customer support, which should remedy any issues (If any) I might run into.

I've heard the same. Judging from the tech reviews and the customer reviews, it's a pretty outstanding card. That's what I was going to get but got a big discount at Micro Center for the GBs.