Help me decide: GTX670 2GB vs HD7950 3GB

C

::cRim::

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
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Hey guys,

I'm looking to build a new PC and need some help deciding between these 2 cards. I'm gaming at 2560x1600. Right now I'm looking at...

1. Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB w/ free Borderlands 2 @ $359
2. Sapphire HD7950 DualX 3GB w/ free Sleeping Dogs @ $329

What's the better deal? I think the 7950 might have a $20 MIR. Is 3GB vs 2GB a significant difference for gaming at 2560x1600?

Thanks.
 
Do you plain to play modded games with tons of AA etc? if yes, 7950 hands down.
 
This: from HardOCP GTX 670 review.

"The GeForce GTX 670 is a bundle of performance wrapped up in a small, light, and quiet package. The GeForce GTX 670 is able to provide a better gameplay experience than the HD Radeon 7950 with both being at the same basic ~$399 pricing level and similar power profiles.



The GeForce GTX 670 also proves to be an upgrade from NVIDIA's last generation fastest single-GPU card, the GeForce GTX 580. "

Hard compared the two cards head to head at 2560 x 1600.:D

I have a system with GTX 670 in SLi and one with HD 7970s in CF. They are very close in performance at 5760 x 1200 landscape. I notice the 7970s are about 10%-15% faster than the 670s at the exact same settings, both systems provide excellent real world gaming experiences.
 
magoo said:
This: from HardOCP GTX 670 review.

"The GeForce GTX 670 is a bundle of performance wrapped up in a small, light, and quiet package. The GeForce GTX 670 is able to provide a better gameplay experience than the HD Radeon 7950 with both being at the same basic ~$399 pricing level and similar power profiles.



The GeForce GTX 670 also proves to be an upgrade from NVIDIA's last generation fastest single-GPU card, the GeForce GTX 580. "

Hard compared the two cards head to head at 2560 x 1600.:D
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5 months ago?
 
psyside said:
5 months ago?
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your point? The GPUs havent changed, except for some cheap overclocking.

The 7950 is ancient by that standard.

I believe the review was written in May, which was 3 months ago.
 
magoo said:
your point? The GPUs havent changed, except for some cheap overclocking.

The 7950 is ancient by that standard.
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exactly.

You are now comparing overclocked models of various shape and size.

I was referencing the original review, apples to apples, you have oranges and banannas, not the same.

But honestly, the guy didn't want some kind of argument here. I'm not going there with you. YMMV is all this will amount to,

Either card will do just fine, I can attest to that personally.;)
 
to be fair, AMD's "GHz editions" are now their "new reference" models in some sense lol and AMD improved quite a bit on their HD7000's with the newer drivers.
 
Thanks guys I appreciate all the replies. So it's basically a coin flip for single GPU at this res?

I just wanna know if I should dish out the extra $30 for the GTX 670 and my only real concern was if the 2GB VRAM was gonna be an issue at the res I play.

Thanks again.
 
magoo said:
exactly.

You are now comparing overclocked models of various shape and size.

I was referencing the original review, apples to apples, you have oranges and banannas, not the same.

But honestly, the guy didn't want some kind of argument here. I'm not going there with you. YMMV is all this will amount to,

Either card will do just fine, I can attest to that personally.;)
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But the gpus did change, i'm not arguing, i'm just saying that 670 does not beat 7950 any longer, not with new drivers, and higher resolutions + oc which will be part of every [H] 670/7950 owner.

Sorry but 7950 is just so better value...
 
::cRim:: said:
Thanks guys I appreciate all the replies. So it's basically a coin flip for single GPU at this res?

I just wanna know if I should dish out the extra $30 for the GTX 670 and my only real concern was if the 2GB VRAM was gonna be an issue at the res I play.

Thanks again.
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Either card is fine. 2GB is not going to be an issue, and the performance is pretty close, so it really comes down to which card/game/company you prefer.

psyside said:
But the gpus did change, i'm not arguing, i'm just saying that 670 does not beat 7950 any longer, not with new drivers, and higher resolutions + oc which will be part of every [H] 670/7950 owner.
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You have any reviews that show the 7950 with the clock boost beating a 670? This Techpowerup review of the 950 Mhz 7950 Vapor-X card (not sure if it is the same one the OP listed) is from last week, and it still shows the 670 more than 10% ahead.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_7950_Vapor-X/28.html
 
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Forceman said:
Either card is fine. 2GB is not going to be an issue, and the performance is pretty close, so it really comes down to which card/game/company you prefer.



You have any reviews that show the 7950 with the clock boost beating a 670? This Techpowerup review of the 950 Mhz 7950 Vapor-X card (which is the one the OP listed) is from last week, and it still shows the 670 more than 10% ahead.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_7950_Vapor-X/28.html
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this is the way i feel about it, some games the 7950 will be better while the 670 will be better in others. The major difference is that the 7950s are currently the better value.
 
psyside said:
Yes, look few pots above.
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Max overclock tests are interesting, but overclocks are so uncertain they don't really make good purchasing decisions. Out of the box the 670 is faster, but the 7950 is a better value.
 
psyside said:
Yes, look few pots above.
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These are still overclocked cards, but good try.

The harder point is that you can get a GTX670 from Evga with the GTX680 board and quiet blower (FTW)- you'll be hard pressed to find a blower on an HD7950, and it would be louder. Blowers win in a case with proper (positive) airflow.
 
::cRim:: said:
I just wanna know if I should dish out the extra $30 for the GTX 670.
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For me the extra $30 was worth it just for Physx, Borderlands 2 uses it and I still have Arkham City and Mafia II in my backlog I'll eventually get to someday. It's not a deal maker by far, but if I'm going to splurgon an enthusiast card, I don't want to feel like I'm missing out on any of that sweet eye candy, no matter how trivial some might downplay it.
 
Ticker305 said:
For me the extra $30 was worth it just for Physx, Borderlands 2 uses it and I still have Arkham City and Mafia II in my backlog I'll eventually get to someday. It's not a deal maker by far, but if I'm going to splurgon an enthusiast card, I don't want to feel like I'm missing out on any of that sweet eye candy, no matter how trivial some might downplay it.
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PhysX IS trivial; actually, it's downright silly. Political concerns aside it is cool, but it is also just candy, when it could be so much more. For example: PhysX runs great on AMD hardware too.
 
If you are going to send in the rebate, then get the 7950 and save yourself $50 ($30 price diff plus $20 rebate). Just make sure to overclock your card a bit to make sure your performance matches up to the 670.
 
Ok thanks all. I think I'm gonna go with the 7950 for the value, save my money, and use it towards other parts. :D

That 670 is still one hell of a card. It was a tough choice.

Thanks again guys.
 
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psyside said:
But the gpus did change, i'm not arguing, i'm just saying that 670 does not beat 7950 any longer, not with new drivers, and higher resolutions + oc which will be part of every [H] 670/7950 owner.

Sorry but 7950 is just so better value...
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Which begs the question, why are you still using a 680 if you're such an advocate of AMD? Its baffling.
 
Blkout said:
Which begs the question, why are you still using a 680 if you're such an advocate of AMD? Its baffling.
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He probly bought it when AMD still had pie in the sky pricing on the 79xx line.
 
Kueller said:
He probly bought it when AMD still had pie in the sky pricing on the 79xx line.
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Nope, I thought he had an Asus 7970 DCII or at least was sersiously considering it until he found about the lack of voltage adjustment on that card. Its not as if the 680 was ever cheap, the 670 was the bargain card.
 
yes the sapphire 7950 is the better value because when both are oc'ed the 7950 performs better and the 7950 is cheaper sooo yeah you should go 7950
 
IdiotInCharge said:
These are still overclocked cards, but good try.

The harder point is that you can get a GTX670 from Evga with the GTX680 board and quiet blower (FTW)- you'll be hard pressed to find a blower on an HD7950, and it would be louder. Blowers win in a case with proper (positive) airflow.
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I never said they are not overclocked, all the time i'm talking about oc cards compassion. This is [H] all users here oc their cards, so you get the idea.

Blkout said:
Which begs the question, why are you still using a 680 if you're such an advocate of AMD? Its baffling.
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I'm a realist, and dont like fanboy stuff, i bought 680 because it was the only available (fully custom) card where i live, and i'm not some guy who will say that 7970 is not better with hardcore game mods and extreme settings - IQ SGSSAA and similar AA mods, or 2560x1600.

I love my 680 btw, but i'm always real when it comes to which is better, no matter what i own etc. For me, 680 and 7970 are neck to neck generally with 7970 taking the cake in situations like above.
 
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Because, I'm at very same dillema - plus a 660 Ti in equation for a 1080p...though I'll be switching to 120hz display soon. How is power draw / heat / noise of those OCed versions of 7950 compared to something like stock 670 evga?
And the other question is, I think that 670 has some TXAA antialisaing mode, that can be used by game devs in incoming games. How would txaa compare to the AA modes in 7950?

Also, as I read Anand and [H] tests, the 660 Ti aint slouch either.

The prices, as for today in Polish shops is like that, the 660 Ti Evga SC version is cheaper about $30 from the Sapphire 7950, which is then cheaper bout $100 from 670. So I wonder, if money is a question, is it worth to pay $130 more for 670, as none of those cards will really pull the true 120 FPS, and differences in FPS are minimal.
 
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::cRim:: said:
Ok thanks all. I think I'm gonna go with the 7950 for the value, save my money, and use it towards other parts. :D

That 670 is still one hell of a card. It was a tough choice.

Thanks again guys.
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should have asked about drivers before pulling the plug.

nvidia just released new drivers for games that havent been released yet like Borderlands 2,Darksiders 2, Dishonored, End of Nations, F1 2012, Guild Wars 2, Max Payne 3, Orcs Must Die! 2, PlanetSide 2, Sleeping Dogs, The Secret World, The Walking Dead, Torchlight II, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

good luck with your 7950, good hardware, but driver support is lagging.
 
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This bechmark came out today: http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-geforce-gtx-660-directcu-ii-top-review/18

Even 660 the non Ti version beats 7950 in BF3 at 1080p, the game that i consider that only counts today, because it was build from ground up to run on pc hardware, i never cared for console port benchmarks.


so where are you people here getting all the negative 670 benchmarks from?

should i say? i rather not.
 
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can't believe how high the gtx580 is in that chart. Looks like it still holds its own
 
7950 is simply better, both in absolute performance and in value. How people can still be getting this confused boggles the mind.
 
psyside said:
I never said they are not overclocked, all the time i'm talking about oc cards compassion. This is [H] all users here oc their cards, so you get the idea.



I'm a realist, and dont like fanboy stuff, i bought 680 because it was the only available (fully custom) card where i live, and i'm not some guy who will say that 7970 is not better with hardcore game mods and extreme settings - IQ SGSSAA and similar AA mods, or 2560x1600.

I love my 680 btw, but i'm always real when it comes to which is better, no matter what i own etc. For me, 680 and 7970 are neck to neck generally with 7970 taking the cake in situations like above.
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Not an Asus fanboy huh? Yea right.

The 7970 isn't really any better though, that's simply your opinion. I just wondered why you preach AMD when you have an Nvidia card and both were in the same price range.
 
Blkout said:
Not an Asus fanboy huh? Yea right.

The 7970 isn't really any better though, that's simply your opinion. I just wondered why you preach AMD when you have an Nvidia card and both were in the same price range.
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Not Asus fanboy, HQ build hardware and fully custom cards fanboy, if i could get Lightning i would pick over DCII.

And i never said its better, they are generally neck to neck, with 7970 taking the cake on extreme settings. And i preach AMD because 7950 is better/equal to 670 on 2560x1600 with oc and much cheaper like i said. Owning 680 does not make me Nvidia fanboy, i like both companies.
 
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Blkout said:
Not an Asus fanboy huh? Yea right.

The 7970 isn't really any better though, that's simply your opinion. I just wondered why you preach AMD when you have an Nvidia card and both were in the same price range.
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They're not really in the "same" price range, 670s are still around 350 at cheapest before mir and 7950s are at around 300 before mir and 280ish after now.

So that's at least a good $50+ difference and more depending on the cards/sales.
 
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