GTX 670 or 7950

Z

ZeRo_1

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Jul 21, 2004
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I'm not interested in fan boy arguments. Just objective recommendations based upon the following needs:

- 1920x1080 game play with smooth performance and at least 4xAA (BF3, Planetside 2, Far Cry 3, Etc)
- Support for HDMI hookup to 50" DLP 2nd Display (movies, anime)
- Blower style cooler (I have a Silverstone Raven2 case with positive case pressure. Really want a card that exhausts heat out of the case)

These are the most important factors to me. I do like to get the best bang for my buck and I typically only upgrade my graphics cards every 2-3 years. I'm upgrading from an MSI 6950 that was flashed to 6970 until I started to experience frequent system lock ups. I intend to get it replaced under warranty, but have no back up and figured this was a good excuse to get a current gen card. I was originally leaning towards the 670 since I haven't run an nVidia card since the 6800gt lol. Thought it might be time to spend my cash on team green and give PhysX a whirl. With the driver improvements on the 7xxx cards i'm sorely tempted to just go with a 7950, but I can't find a solid card with the cooling solution I'm looking for.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Other system specs are as follows
i7 2600k @ 4.5ghz
8 GB RAM
850W Corsair PSU
3x WD 500GB Enterprise HDD in Raid 0
 
what kind of replies are you expecting here that have not been discussed over and over in the tons of other threads asking the same question?
 
455olds said:
There was a thread about this and I think the majority thought the 7950 was a better overall value.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1716690&highlight=670+7950
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there have been plenty of threads about this. but yeah at this point in time the 7950 looks to be the better deal especially if it comes with the game bundle.


and all hes has to do is look on newegg to see this card that has a decent cooler that exhausts heat out the back. in fact this is probably the 7950 I would go with but I personally prefer to use nvidia at the moment. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161420
 
cannondale is spot on. the reference coolers are pretty much shite for exhausting air out the back. the his iceq cooler is the users best bet.
 
rennyf77 said:
cannondale is spot on. the reference coolers are pretty much shite for exhausting air out the back. the his iceq cooler is the users best bet.
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Thank you for pointing this card out! I completely missed it. I do realize that there has been much discussion about these cards and I appreciate the replies that were focused on the criteria I listed. Seems I could have just asked for recommendations on blower cooler 7950's ;).

I've never used an HIS product, and there only seems to be a few reviews on Newegg. Unless any [H]'ers have a good reason to avoid this card, I believe I have my choice!
 
Id prefer the GTX670. Its a better performer and you dont have to put up with AMD drivers. But the 7950's are going for around $290 right now while the GTX670's are up around $360. If that $70 is a big chunk out of your hobby budget then get the 7950 cause its still a great card and will perform very well at 1920x1080. If you can cough up the extra $70 without having to skip any meals, then go for the GTX670.
 
Both are good cards, but the AMD presents a better value. Overclocks extremely well for most cards, cheaper, game bundle (I think that's still going on), and has better performance in many games.
 
unless you want CUDA, get the 7950.

@mcleod: the 670 is actually not a better performer, its actually a worst performer but yeah NVIDIA drivers are known to be better.
 
r3awak3n said:
unless you want CUDA, get the 7950.

@mcleod: the 670 is actually not a better performer, its actually a worst performer but yeah NVIDIA drivers are known to be better.
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out of the box, a stock 670 is faster than a stock 7950.
 
In some instances the 7950 can be faster than the GTX670 with good overclocking but I dont like to consider overclocking because its all about your luck with the silicone lottery. My 5870 wont overclock hardly at all. It was so bad that I just left it at stock speeds. My old 4850 though would overclock like crazy! So I think its better to consider just "out-of-the-box" performance when deciding.
 
MacLeod said:
In some instances the 7950 can be faster than the GTX670 with good overclocking but I dont like to consider overclocking because its all about your luck with the silicone lottery. My 5870 wont overclock hardly at all. It was so bad that I just left it at stock speeds. My old 4850 though would overclock like crazy! So I think its better to consider just "out-of-the-box" performance when deciding.
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overclocking should always be factored in because some cards are known to have plenty of overclocking headroom such as the 7850 or 7950. a 7950 at its typical overclock speeds will easily beat a typical overclocked 670. even the worst overclocking 7950 will match or beat the best overclocking 670.
 
Unless thats a guarantee, and its not, I dont like to consider it.
 
I'm really not as concerned about a few frames/sec difference between the two, though I do always overclock :D. I've been able to find some good reviews on the HIS Iceq Boost 7950, and since it is a full $100 cheaper than the EVGA 670 FTW card I was looking at, I'll be spending my cash on the 7950 this round. Thanks again for the intelligent and courteous replies that specifically addressed my original post.
 
Yeah... this is a very easy Q. Lemme put it this way:

7950: faster at max OC and cheaper.

670: better software support and more efficient, but also more expensive.

Personally, I'd get the 670 over the 7950 but once both are OC'ed, 7950 is a faster card period.
 
MacLeod said:
Unless thats a guarantee, and its not, I dont like to consider it.
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AGAIN the worst overclocking 7950 will still beat the best overclocking 670. this is an enthusiast forum so overclocking is most certainly a consideration for nearly any person here buying those type cards.
 
cannondale06 said:
AGAIN the worst overclocking 7950 will still beat the best overclocking 670. this is an enthusiast forum so overclocking is most certainly a consideration for nearly any person here buying those type cards.
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^ This.

>AMD driverz SUCK you fuckers are all fuckin ignorant and dumb!

>Not correct anymore at this time and date, especially with the recent announcement from AMD that the drivers were suited for the OLD cards that were built upon the 5D shader logic and that the GCN architecture 7000 series cards are about to get better performance.

Get a 7950. Make it Twin-Frozr as well.
 
Man some of you guys are really ignorant.

A gtx670 will blow away a 7950 in BF3 performance. You will get roughly 30 more fps with a 670 in BF3.

A 670 will even perform better then a 7970 in BF3 also!
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1039532397 said:
Man some of you guys are really ignorant.

A gtx670 will blow away a 7950 in BF3 performance. You will get roughly 30 more fps with a 670 in BF3.

A 670 will even perform better then a 7970 in BF3 also!
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sarcasm or flat out stupidity?
 
:rolleyes:

1336900308caz2bnkppi34l.gif
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1039532397 said:
Man some of you guys are really ignorant.

A gtx670 will blow away a 7950 in BF3 performance. You will get roughly 30 more fps with a 670 in BF3.

A 670 will even perform better then a 7970 in BF3 also!
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As someone who has owned both within the last month, this is just flat wrong. I have no idea where you got information from.

The 670 is a nice card, I really like the cooling and the physical size of the card compared to my 7970. That being said my msi 670 PE overclocked was not nearly as fast as my current 7970 overclocked. Certain games, especially BF3 and Crysis 2. FarCry3 had considerably higher minimum FPS than the 670.

I tested the two on the same test setup, as most reviewers do, and their was a pretty big difference.

Alas, back to topic. An overlcocked 7950 will perform at or better than an OC 670, and it is much cheaper. The only caveat about the 7950 is it's physical size -- it measures roughly 11+" long,will it fit your case?
 
I'm talking strictly in BF3 MP only!

I purchased both of these cards at Fry's and ran my own tests in BF3 64man servers on a fresh install...

R7950 TF 3GD5/OC: http://www.frys.com/product/7153722?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
N670 PE2GD5/OC: http://www.frys.com/product/7333484?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

The 670 flat out over performed the 7950 in BF3 MP. The difference was big enough to me that it justified spending the extra money on the 670.

With the setup I have in my sig I get 120fps average and rarley drop below 100fps in BF3. That's with SMAA, Ultra Terrain and Textures, Medium Shadows and everything else low or disabled.

*up to 30fps difference I should have said in my OP. It's hard to be re create the same scenario in the servers. But SP benching is irrelevent to me, it'a all about MP results..
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1039532629 said:
I'm talking strictly in BF3 MP only!
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Yeah, because you're def. buying the card to play one, single game 7/24... aimirite? :D
 
johnnydoe said:
Yeah, because you're def. buying the card to play one, single game 7/24... aimirite? :D
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That's correct. All I do is play BF3, about 3hrs a day and usually take 1st place every game. For me having the best performance for the dollar in the current game I'm playing is the most important factor when looking at doing a hardware upgrade. I'm not a casual gamer that dibble dabbles in variaty of different games and is mediocre in each one. I don't waste time with single player garbage and if I do play another interesting release like FC3, it's only a quick run through and I'm done with it and right back to BF3. My squad/friends find one game and stick with it for a long time.

Joint Operations in 2004-2006, logged 2000hrs, played nothing else during this time. 2k4-9800pro / 2k6-6800GT
COD2 - rifles only in 2006-2007 and logged 1100hrs, played nothing else during this time. 7800gtx SLI
COD4 - played that competitve from 2007-2010 and logged 1500hrs, played nothing else during this time. 2k7-8800GT / 2k9-gtx260
BC2 - played that from 2010-2011 and logged 1000hrs, played nothing else during this time. 5870
BF3 - played from 2011 - Current (400hrs) and plan to stay on this game till 2014 when something new comes out. 2k11-gtx580 / 2k13-gtx670

When BF4 or BC3 or whatever they call it comes out, I'll revaulate my hardware if it's not able to average around 120fps and then take a trip down to fry's buy a few video cards mobo and cpu's, run my own multiplayer benchmarks and see if it's worth upgrading or not.

Each new major title that came out I did a hardware upgrade that gave me the most performance for that specific game. I played no other games, but that. Alot of squads do this and stick with the biggest most popular game title that's out there and play it very competitively till the next one comes out, usually every 1.5 years.
 
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wow, didn't expect this thread to regress so quickly. hey op, i've owned better than a dozen his cards (and a few of them iceq models) since 2006 for my personal builds. i've never had to send one in for rma so i can't speak to the customer service aspect. try ignoring the commenters who clearly have some kind of agenda. don't get the msi twin frozr. it runs cool but does so by dumping all of that heat into your case. the gtx670 is also a great card, and the cheapest are usually the reference cooled units, which actually do a good job at exhausting heat out of your case, but is a good deal more expensive than the 7950. you will have to decide whether nvidia features like cuda, physx, and generally better driver support is worth the premium. as a builder who buys and currently owns cards from both camps, i don't have a significant preference but at the gtx670 price, you might as well buy a 7970.
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1039532695 said:
COD4 - played that competitve from 2007-2010 and logged 1500hrs, played nothing else during this time.
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Sad. You registered 1500 hours in such shitty shit game that's made for console kids...

most people buy their cards for their performance over a VARIETY of games. Only a few buy their cards for just their performance over ONE game.

And like you, I'm not a weekend warrior either. I play Painkiller MP, QuakeWorld/Cube/Q3 and Adrenaline Gamer occasionaly.

I don't play a game 3 hours a day though. I barely play 3 hours a WEEK...
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1039532629 said:
I'm talking strictly in BF3 MP only!

I purchased both of these cards at Fry's and ran my own tests in BF3 64man servers on a fresh install...

R7950 TF 3GD5/OC: http://www.frys.com/product/7153722?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
N670 PE2GD5/OC: http://www.frys.com/product/7333484?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

The 670 flat out over performed the 7950 in BF3 MP. The difference was big enough to me that it justified spending the extra money on the 670.

With the setup I have in my sig I get 120fps average and rarley drop below 100fps in BF3. That's with SMAA, Ultra Terrain and Textures, Medium Shadows and everything else low or disabled.

*up to 30fps difference I should have said in my OP. It's hard to be re create the same scenario in the servers. But SP benching is irrelevent to me, it'a all about MP results..
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I mostly was referring to your 670 > 7970 comment. I had drastically different results between the two cards @1080p /1440p @ ALL maxed settings. The 7970 was hands down the better card.

As for the 7950, when overclocked should run close enough to a 670 overclocked in BF3 to make the argument them about other factors such as price,size,cooling, etc.

Personally I would go for the 7950, If you are even thinking of a 670 then you really are moving into a different price point altogether therefore,IMHO, then the 670 is trumped by a 7970 --in that price range of course.

Their are other factors such as Physx, adapative sync, etc., to consider as well and weigh how much those mean to you vs the competitors performance/price ratio.
 
Get the Geforce Gtx 670 you cant go wrong there.i like the 7950 and all but the 670 will age better than the 7950.
 
johnnydoe said:
Sad. You registered 1500 hours in such shitty shit game that's made for console kids...

most people buy their cards for their performance over a VARIETY of games. Only a few buy their cards for just their performance over ONE game.

And like you, I'm not a weekend warrior either. I play Painkiller MP, QuakeWorld/Cube/Q3 and Adrenaline Gamer occasionaly.

I don't play a game 3 hours a day though. I barely play 3 hours a WEEK...
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Cod 4 was a great game.
 
Geforcepat said:
Get the Geforce Gtx 670 you cant go wrong there.i like the 7950 and all but the 670 will age better than the 7950.
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:rolleyes:

You hardcore nVidia fanBOISE seriously need to put up with the "AMD drivers suck balls, get nVidia. TWIMTBP!" shit.

Once OC'ed, 7950 is a better card than the 670, and happens to be cheaper as well.

Hell, if you snag the Twin-Frozr, you can get to have a 7970 PCB'ed card FULL of TOP quality, the absolute best VOLTERRA VRM with Cooper Bussman chokes.

The TF3 7950 shits all over all 670's except for the Gigabyte WindForce 3. Even the Giga 670 OC can barely keep up with a max OC'ed TF3 7950.

Oh and...

r3awak3n said:
Cod 4 was a great game.
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COD4 was an insult to my brain and a total and absolute POS.

United Offense was the last good COD.
 
johnnydoe said:
Sad. You registered 1500 hours in such shitty shit game that's made for console kids...
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Dang, what a comment lol. Def not for kids, I played with a group of guys from the age of 18-40 years old. Very mature gaming community once you get into it. COD4 was the last good release of the COD's, after that is when it went to shit. COD4 was a great shooter, you could really build as a player and pull off some amazing quick scopes and snap shots. It had great hit detection, great directional sound and was awesome fun when you played 8v8 competitive game play and srims. The mindless nade spam 48 person servers were for noobs, that's prob what turned you away from it. If you have good relexes COD4 was the game for you... You prob just never put the time in to get good or have slow refexes and got owned then rage quit. Here's what it looks like when your good...
http://youtu.be/GLJWqRIjPHo?t=1m28s

naticus said:
I mostly was referring to your 670 > 7970 comment. I had drastically different results between the two cards @1080p /1440p @ ALL maxed settings. The 7970 was hands down the better card.
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Yes you could be correct about the 7970, I didn't purchase that card and run any benches on it, I only tested the 7950. I was just going off of what others have said about it's performance 1st hand on the BF3 forums and what fiLthy-nM(currently ranked #1 rated BF3 player in the world) has said... When we are both in the same spot on the same location in the same server with the same settings I was getting more 25 more fps then him, but I'm using a 2600k @ 5ghz and he is on a i7-920 @ 3.51ghz so it must have been his CPU that made the difference in FPS.
 
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cannondale06 said:
lol what does that even mean?
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Hahahaha..... I know right?

We not talking wine here. Graphics cards typically don't become better over time (driver improvements notwithstanding).

I think my thread has officially been hijacked. I love the recommendations for cards with the non-blower coolers. Reading comprehension seems to be in short supply recently :rolleyes:
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1039532836 said:
Dang, what a comment lol. Def not for kids, I played with a group of guys from the age of 18-40 years old. Very mature gaming community once you get into it. COD4 was the last good release of the COD's, after that is when it went to shit. COD4 was a great shooter, you could really build as a player and pull off some amazing quick scopes and snap shots. It had great hit detection, great directional sound and was awesome fun when you played 8v8 competitive game play and srims. The mindless nade spam 48 person servers were for noobs, that's prob what turned you away from it. If you have good relexes COD4 was the game for you... You prob just never put the time in to get good or have slow refexes and got owned then rage quit. Here's what it looks like when your good...
http://youtu.be/GLJWqRIjPHo?t=1m28s.
Click to expand...

COD4 was a console game made for console kids. It was ported to PC, and they then REHASHED the same shit over and over again every single year...

United Offense was the last release of the "good COD's". The "good COD's" include COD 1, 2, United Offense and you can stop there. COD 4 was built on a shitty, watered down Q3 engine and sucked ass. The single player campaign was horrible, so was the entire game itself when rounded up.

And I don't have good reflexes? Right, which should be why I play fuckin Painkiller MP, QuakeWorld and Adrenalie Gamer...

do you even have any idea what AG is?

oh and lol at that vid. Fuck that shit. If you were THAT good, you'd be watching THIS video instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw8ufsXHLw8
 
ZeRo_1 said:
I love the recommendations for cards with the non-blower coolers. Reading comprehension seems to be in short supply recently :rolleyes:
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It's not like the 7950 pumps a shit ton of heat into your case, all you need is a SINGLE 120mm fan to dissipate it's heat.
 
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