5870 to 660ti

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js1974

Weaksauce
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Jun 17, 2012
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I've been in the debate for a while on getting a new Video card and I was going to stick with AMD and move to the 7900 series cards but a friend of mine bought a new Computer that came with a 660ti however he is a big spender and had to have a 680.

I got the card for $200 so I found it hard to pass up. But will I see much of a performance upgrade going this route? I figured for $200 I can resell it if I'm not impressed but would kind of like to hear opinions from people.
 
It's a nice upgrade, especially for $200. You can sell the 5870 for $150-160 on ebay.
 
js1974 said:
By a nice upgrade does that mean it will most likely out perform the 5870 reasonably?
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have you looked at any reviews? a gtx660 ti will probably be about 50% faster than a 5870 but even more in games with tessellation.

of course that depends on the rest of your system and resolution which you did not mention.
 
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js1974 said:
By a nice upgrade does that mean it will most likely out perform the 5870 reasonably?
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The 660ti will be faster, however driver optimizations increased the 5870 performance substantially since it's heyday. So to compare a 5870 with recent drivers review sites do not have (ie: anandtech) compare the 660ti to a +/- 6950 depending on your overclock. My 1ghz 5870 is closer to 6970 speeds.

So the 660ti will still be faster, especially for tessalation, but less of a spread than expected. I was looking to upgrade also, but decided to wait another gen.
 
it's more than worth it, especially for the $200 you paid for it.

the 660ti is much more capable in dx11 games. the 5870 was no slouch, but if you were encountering any slowdowns, the 660ti will solve all of that easily.
 
Hulks_Smashed said:
it's more than worth it, especially for the $200 you paid for it.

the 660ti is much more capable in dx11 games. the 5870 was no slouch, but if you were encountering any slowdowns, the 660ti will solve all of that easily.
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the rest of his system could be sub par for all we know.
 
Just made this upgrade myself. Got the MSI OC version. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive along with Borderlands 2. Will let you know how much of a difference it is. My system is getting real old though, Q9550 @ 3.8GHz.. felt fast once... hehe
 
With the 660ti not only will you get higher fps than the 5870, but it will handle things like tessellation a lot better. Going from my GTX480 to the GTX660 TI my games feel a lot smoother even when the 660TI hits lower frames.
 
The 660ti is a great card, it's running the same processor as the 680 it ust has less CUDA cores and narrower memory bandwidth.

660ti has a PCI-E 3.0 interface, twice as much memory (reference card), DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL4.3, operated at 38W less power. All advantages are better than the 5870 you're running. also as posted above, you can ebay your 5870 at almost the full cost of the 660ti. When drivers maturemore, you'll probably see better performance as well.
 
hdgamer said:
With the 660ti not only will you get higher fps than the 5870, but it will handle things like tessellation a lot better. Going from my GTX480 to the GTX660 TI my games feel a lot smoother even when the 660TI hits lower frames.
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This is exactly why I got it. And as a bonus I would like to enjoy the non realistic particle physics in Borderlands 2. First time back with nvidia since Geforce 4400 Ti, getting real excited about the mentioned low FPS smoothness. The HD5870 is great, but not exactly smooth.
 
nakedhand said:
This is exactly why I got it. And as a bonus I would like to enjoy the non realistic particle physics in Borderlands 2. First time back with nvidia since Geforce 4400 Ti, getting real excited about the mentioned low FPS smoothness. The HD5870 is great, but not exactly smooth.
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That's literally a steal of a price, good going man!
 
lol, how is the gtx660 ti smoother at low framerates than any other card? I think some of you are just reaching for excuses to justify getting one. and before you say anything I used a gtx670 for a month and it was not any smoother at low framerates than any other card I have tested.
 
hdgamer said:
Ignore cannondale06, he's only happy if you buy a graphics card from AMD. :rolleyes:
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nice try but I personally prefer Nvidia cards although I will recommend AMD cards to others if I feel its a good option for them. you are just seeing what you want to see and at this point some of what you are claiming is just silly.
 
cannondale06 said:
nice try but I personally prefer Nvidia cards although I occasionally will recommend AMD cards to others if I feel its a good option. you are just seeing what you want to see and at this point some of what you are claiming is just silly.
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Ok well, I own 2 GTX480's and a GTX 660 TI. If you want to come over I can show you the performance on both on two different set ups. You will see what I'm talking about. The GTX 480's stutter like crap especially when playing TSW both in sli and single at 1080P while my 660TI gets the same frames (30-40) at 1600P and is smooth with no stutters. Hmmmm I wonder why. Same can be said for Battlefield 3 and a few other demanding games. But looks like you see what you want to see to and your claims are just silly to me too. :rolleyes:
 
hdgamer said:
Ok well, I own 2 GTX480's and a GTX 660 TI. If you want to come over I can show you the performance on both on two different set ups. You will see what I'm talking about. The GTX 480's stutter like crap especially when playing TSW both in sli and single at 1080P while my 660TI gets the same frames (30-40) at 1600P and is smooth with no stutters. Hmmmm I wonder why. Same can be said for Battlefield 3 and a few other demanding games. But looks like you see what you want to see to and your claims are just silly to me too. :rolleyes:
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well not only did I play games, I also benched many games using actual gameplay for direct comparisons with my gtx570. in all the hours I spent testing and playing NOT once did the gtx670 feel smoother at lower framerates than the gtx570. 30 fps felt just the same as it did on any other card.
 
cannondale06 said:
well not only did I play games, I also benched many games using actual gameplay for direct comparisons with my gtx570. in all the hours I spent testing and playing NOT once did the gtx670 feel smoother at lower framerates than the gtx570. 30 fps felt just the same as it did on any other card.
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That's where this article gets interesting. Good FPS does not mean smooth.

Comparing sli'd 480's to a single 660ti though very well could be a different experience if there's microstutter on the sli rig.
 
atomik77 said:
That's where this article gets interesting. Good FPS does not mean smooth.

Comparing sli'd 480's to a single 660ti though very well could be a different experience if there's microstutter on the sli rig.
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yes I very well know that fps is not the only indicator and have read that article too. he said he upgraded from a gtx480 to a gtx660ti and never mentioned SLI.


hdgamer said:
With the 660ti not only will you get higher fps than the 5870, but it will handle things like tessellation a lot better. Going from my GTX480 to the GTX660 TI my games feel a lot smoother even when the 660TI hits lower frames.
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cannondale06 said:
yes I very well know that fps is not the only indicator and have read that article too. he said he upgraded from a gtx480 to a gtx660ti and never mentioned SLI.
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I have 2 GTX 480's and two computers as well as a GTX 660 TI and a HD 4870. Had three of the HD 4870's and a 4870X2. The HD4870's were the worst at suttering at low frames. The GTX 480's were much better, but still had it. Either in SLI or single at 1080 P and 1600 P. The GTX 660 Ti I do not notice it. So there!!!! :rolleyes:
 
BTW you could not play Battlefield on a HD 4870 at 1080 p even with settings turned down because of the stutter. Pulling 40-50 frames is like seeing 20-25 frames. It's horrible.
 
I ran the PLA Benchmark based on Unreal Engine 3:
DX11, tessellation on, MSAA and no physics @ 1080p

HD5870 36.4 FPS
GTX660Ti 64.2 FPS

Nice improvement. Noticing greater fluidity in Max Payne 3 multi player, probably just the increased FPS. Have not really studied the feel of the low FPS. Feels nice though and there is definitely less stuttering.
 
im telling people you have to be realistic with your expectations. Don't really think your going to see much of a difference between the 660-670 on a single 1080p monitor setup. Only if your counting the frames in fraps or doing benchmarks. If someone blind tested you and say play this and play that... your most likely not going to be able to tell a difference...As an average gamer. If you want mind blowing graphics get a 680-690. Unless your pushing your resolution to 3x1080p or higher 2560x1440-1600p then you won't know a difference.

Just buy something new, overclock it and enjoy the show!!!
 
jojoenglish85 said:
im telling people you have to be realistic with your expectations. Don't really think your going to see much of a difference between the 660-670 on a single 1080p monitor setup. Only if your counting the frames in fraps or doing benchmarks. If someone blind tested you and say play this and play that... your most likely not going to be able to tell a difference...As an average gamer. If you want mind blowing graphics get a 680-690. Unless your pushing your resolution to 3x1080p or higher 2560x1440-1600p then you won't know a difference.

Just buy something new, overclock it and enjoy the show!!!
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yes because the 680 will offer mind blowing graphics that the 670 cant do? the clock for clock gap between a 670 and 680 is on average about 3-4% and some 670s can oc better than some 680s too.
 
cannondale06 said:
yes because the 680 will offer mind blowing graphics that the 670 cant do? the clock for clock gap between a 670 and 680 is on average about 3-4% and some 670s can oc better than some 680s too.
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Like i said big boi, lets be realistic and figure out why Nvidia or AMD "creates" better video cards then the other. They make them, to make money. They didn't make a single 670 card that can out beat every 680 that could ever be released. They make them "overclockable" well unfortunately OCing your video cards voids warranty. So from a business stand point, every card is built in succession for a reason.

Whats the point if they could make the 670 GOD? Just make a single card for the entire series and make people pay for it right? Nope, its to cater to a cetain budget class. They make something that could possibly perform at the next card's level by overclocking it. But the performance is not garuanteed for any amount of time. So buy your 670 and OC it to the max, while another dude has a 680 and laughs.

Its the same with every card. If you love what you got, then love it till it dies, then upgrade and buy anotherone.

By the way i just sealed the Deal on 1 Galaxy 660Ti and 1 Overlord 2560 x 1440p Monitor. Ill grab the other 660Ti in a month or so. :D
 
Joseph F said:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/511?vs=647
I don't know what drivers the 5870 was running, but even with the latest drivers from AMD; the GTX 660Ti will be a big upgrade from it.
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It is a huge step. I was not running the latest drivers. But it was stable and I had no issues. I doubt a slightly newer driver will make much difference performance wise that late into the life span of the GPU. It´s a Sapphire card running at stock btw.
 
Just grabbed my galaxy 660Ti 3G card waiting for it and my computer to show up in Germany. I hate PCSing to another country lol Have to wait for your toys to arrive a month later. :D
 
jojoenglish85 said:
Just grabbed my galaxy 660Ti 3G card waiting for it and my computer to show up in Germany. I hate PCSing to another country lol Have to wait for your toys to arrive a month later. :D
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funny, I ordered stuff all the time in germany and got my stuff in 1 to 2 weeks. Another funny thing was the video cards took longer then my case to arrive!
 
Hi all. First time post'er but I figured if people are doing the googling work to figure out if they should upgrade from a Ati HD5870 to a nvidia GTX660ti... Like I was and found this thread helpful.

I've done exactly this upgrade on a core i7 920 (stock 2.66Ghz).

I've seen roughly 80%-100% increase depending on the age of the game.

I bought the MSI power edition OC (see ncix techtips youtube videos) and basically just swapped out the HD5870 and threw in the MSI 660Ti 2Gb.

3dMark11 score comparison making no other changes or overclocks to the system is linked below. And yes I know it's a synthetic score, and subject to favoritism to a particular card manufacturer... but the results are typical of what I've been reading in other webpage reviews.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/4542316/3dm11/4538345

More interestingly however is the performance gain, with a stock i7 920. I thought it would bottleneck, but it doesn't appear to have done so.

Very happy with the upgrade. And something else for the ATI 5870 users, don't worry about losing your triple screen desktop or eyefinity setup... I just unplugged and plugged back in the 3 monitors (including the DP-DVI adaptor) and it just redetected and set up exactly where the ATI left off.. no issues with triple screen.

Very happy. Hope this helps other googling this dilema and ended up here reading this thread.

Ramjet

System:
i7 920 (stock 2.66GHz)
Asus P6T-Deluxe V2
6Gb DDR3 Kingston XMP something or other...
HD5870 -> Nvidia MSI 660Ti Power Edition = 80%-100% more FPS
 
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