Help me decide: GTX670 2GB vs HD7950 3GB

For 2560x1600, the 7950 would be the way to go (and do overclock the snot out of it). I've had an overall better experience with AMD's hardware at higher resolutions, and I think you get better performance/price with the 7950.
 
lbj. said:
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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I'm not talking now, I was talking to the person I quoted when he purchased his 680, they were about the same price as a 7970 at that time.
 
To bring up an old thread but i am in the same situation 7950 or 670 for a SG08 miniITX build with an i7 3770k...

are the "boost" versions worth the extra money?

i only have a 24' dell 1080 monitor, plan on a 2nd eventually and maybe a 3rd one day, but both cards are between $300 to $400 pending on brand and such

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref...s=7950&ie=UTF8&qid=1357779259&rnid=5462158011

is XFX still a good player in the game or MSI...
 
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7950 is better card, and with overclock alot better.

Best 7950's,

Windforce, Sapphire 950, TFIII and Asus DCv2.
 
if you want cuda then the 670 is the answer.
Also better drivers but I guess performance/money, the 7950.
 
7950 > gtx 670

Should be cheaper, overclocks better.

The 670 isnt bad either as long as you can get it cheap
 
Tell you what, even the 680 is getting beat from the 7950 if you get decent overclocker.

Especially in demanding games, where i see like 8 fps vs GTX680 which is around 20% in Crysis/Crysis Warhead/Metro 2033.
 
also phisx is nvida territory.
I have had ati cards and never had a problem. Reason I went for the 670 is because I absolutely need CUDA (adobe CS6 and Nuke in the future) and because I got a galaxy OC card for less than $300 after rebates and selling the 2 games it came with it. Otherwise I would probably have that 7950.
 
is the MSI card a good buy, or has MSI gone down hill in quality, couple reviews gave it a solid score... and at $319.99 it is one of the cheaper 7950's...


http://www.amazon.com/MSI-R7950-TWI...c&ie=UTF8&qid=1357789354&sr=1-1&keywords=7950

513wNOm%2BVwL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
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stock for stock a HD 7950 OC/ HD 7950 boost would match GTX 670. but with overclocking the HD 7950 would win in most games. HD 7950 at 1100 mhz matches HD 7970 Ghz. with voltage overclocking 1150 mhz is easily achievable.

Sapphire HD 7950 boost - 310 with shipping (290 after rebate)
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

Gigabyte HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) - 291
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=GA-795WF3G

comes with the game bundle. its a fantastic deal. pick the card you like.
 
but wouldnt the 670 if OCed is very close to the 7950.

The conclusion is, they are comparable cards but the 670 is more expensive, therefore worst value. The dilema is, do you want to pay $40 more for better drivers or not
 
r3awak3n said:
but wouldnt the 670 if OCed is very close to the 7950.

The conclusion is, they are comparable cards but the 670 is more expensive, therefore worst value. The dilema is, do you want to pay $40 more for better drivers or not
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No, like i said i owned GTX680, oc@1 270/6700 and now i got 7950 oc@ 1150/6800...in demanding games it destroy the bandwidth limited 680...not only its faster its more fluid, 670 cant even come close.
 
psyside said:
No, like i said i owned GTX680, oc@1 270/6700 and now i got 7950 oc@ 1150/6800...in demanding games it destroy the bandwidth limited 680...not only its faster its more fluid, 670 cant even come close.
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More fluid you mean more fps?
 
IdiotInCharge said:
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.
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I have to disagree here about the physx stuff, I've seen ATI 6950 drop from 70fps to 15fps using physx when there are lots of particles on the screen in borderlands 2. The GTX 670 won't do that. Physx affects are not silly, they definitely add to the gaming experience in the games that allow it. That being said, the AMD GPU is a better value for the money. My 7850 is OC'd to 1050 Mhz and it doesn't touch even 50 degrees. It also runs BF3, Witcher 2 like a champ and only cost about $200 and came with Far Cry 3 (meh), can't beat that value!!! I also think the AMD GPU's handle dual monitor support better.

There really isn't a way around the ATI-physx without hybriding, the process is offloaded to the CPU sequentially and is not able to use use the full power of the CPU and bogs everytime with many particles or water affects. I get it alot using the x18 shotgun in BL2, enough that I turned it off.
 
I was in the same boat and was leaning towards the gtx 670 at first but with the new drivers the 7950 is what im looking at right now.
 
raghu78 said:
stock for stock a HD 7950 OC/ HD 7950 boost would match GTX 670. but with overclocking the HD 7950 would win in most games. HD 7950 at 1100 mhz matches HD 7970 Ghz. with voltage overclocking 1150 mhz is easily achievable.

Sapphire HD 7950 boost - 310 with shipping (290 after rebate)
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

Gigabyte HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) - 291
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=GA-795WF3G

comes with the game bundle. its a fantastic deal. pick the card you like.
Click to expand...

never heard of that site, is it reliable? prefer to use Amazon since i am set up for them, but the price at $300 is tempting
 
MrGuvernment said:
never heard of that site, is it reliable? prefer to use Amazon since i am set up for them, but the price at $300 is tempting
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superbiiz is a reliable site.no worries. don't miss out on the game bundle. i have played farcry 3, hitman absolution and sleeping dogs. all of them are nice games.

if you want to go with amazon jump on the Gigabyte HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) . excellent windforce3x cooler. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Mini-Displayport-PCI-Express-Graphic-GV-R795WF3-3GD/dp/B007581QHG/

do not buy a reference HD 7950 card. the cooler is not good.
 
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think i am going ith the gigabyte! but it says a 500w PSU.. how much is the real power draw for one of these babies.. going to tie it in with a 3770k and 16G of ram in a SG08
 
MrGuvernment said:
think i am going ith the gigabyte! but it says a 500w PSU.. how much is the real power draw for one of these babies.. going to tie it in with a 3770k and 16G of ram in a SG08
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339W with a 3930K @ stock according to this review. Obviously going to be less with your setup however. What PSU are you going to try and use? If you have any plan on overclocking I wouldn't skimp out and go with a low wattage PSU.

This review has with that 7950 OC to 1200MHz+ shows it pulling about another 50W under load also verse stock.
 
Ive had good luck with both but in past experience, ive had more issues with nvidia. Both heat and power draw wise. Its hard to find a graphics card these days that's both powerful and energy efficient and the issue with the energy hungry cards is its turned into heat. All in all, Ive had less heat issues with Radeon cards.
 
The HD 7950 with a very achievable 1150 - 1175 overclock is faster than an similarly clocked GTX 680 for average FPS.

Hitman Absolution
1920x1080
All settings at max in game, 4x MSAA. Control panel left at app control for all cards in all benchmarks. The 7950 is getting much higher average FPS but the minimums are quite a bit lower, though not noticeable in actual gameplay.

7950 at 1175/1550
HMA_1_zps5a2cdc52.jpg


GTX 680 a 1202 core + 554 VRAM
HMA_2_zps8c65ddcd.jpg



Far Cry 3
2560x1600
All settings at max/ultra in game, 2x MSAA. The 7950 is slightly ahead on average FPS but again the GTX 680 gave better minimums, though in gameplay these minimums are not noticeable. Truth be told, neither card is exactly getting stellar FPS at these settings.

7950 at 1175/1550
FC3_1_zpsdd2113eb.jpg


GTX 680 a 1202 core + 554 VRAM
FC3_2_zps436d7c50.jpg



Some Heaven 3.0 results.
7950 at 1175/1550
Heaven7950_zpsebd81046.jpg


GTX 680 a 1202 core + 554 VRAM
HeavenGTX680_zpsa52f3cad.jpg


7970 at 1200/1550
Heaven7970_zps1b6e5c35.jpg


GTX 680 a 1320 core + 554 VRAM
HeavenGTX6801320_zpsceea4ddd.jpg


A few important points to take from these results.
  • To get similar FPS a GTX 680 needs a lot of overclock on the VRAM and a similar core overclock compared to a HD 7950.
  • The GTX 680 has much less FPS variance than a 7950 and delivers a smoother experience as a result IMHO. Though it must be remembered that the 7950 is around 60% cheaper.
  • The 7950 at 1175/1550 is faster than a stock GTX 680 and can even keep up with an overclocked GTX 680.
  • Even though the FPS spikes were not perceptible I hope the new AMD drivers help eliminate the FPS spikes on the 7950. I understand this is pure speculation re the driver updates.
  • This comparison is using an overclocked GTX 680 compared to an overclocked 7950, the GTX 670 would be slower again, though not by much.
  • Not all 7950s will get 1175 on the core, though I would say 1100 - 1150 is average.
  • These points all show why the 7950 is turning out to be the price/perf king this round.
 
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If anyone wants the raw csv files for use with FRAFs let me know and I can provide them.
 
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I really wanted a GTX 670 but at $274 for a 7950 versus $360 for a 670 and such close performance it just didn't make sense to spend the extra money to me.
 
tons of good info!

i would be using the included 650w bronze PSU in the Silverstone SG08 case.
 
raghu78 said:
if you want to go with amazon jump on the Gigabyte HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) . excellent windforce3x cooler. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Mini-Displayport-PCI-Express-Graphic-GV-R795WF3-3GD/dp/B007581QHG/

do not buy a reference HD 7950 card. the cooler is not good.
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OKAY! i jumped on it, i owned it and i bought it!

for $299 i couldnt say no, not worried about any game packages, none of them interest me!

one step closed to my build!

Thank you all for the help and info!
 
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Having the exhaust blow out the case was worth the extra cash for me. I don't like hot air in my rig. I went with a evga 670 FTW and have a rock steady overclock of 1106 / 6708. Plays BF3 at 2560x1600 on high settings at a consistent 60fps on 48/64 player servers. I plan to go SLI in another month or so.
 
good to know, i am not a "recent" gamers gamer, really, i have stuck to old games lately, but that could be because of my limited GPU right now... 8800GT 512Mb card :(

having other projects like my house to work on, i wanted this build to last me at least min 1 year as often after about 5-6 months i sell my rigs to friends as Costa Rica you cant buy anything useful.
 
good to know, i am not a "recent" gamers gamer, really, i have stuck to old games lately, but that could be because of my limited GPU right now... 8800GT 512Mb card :(

having other projects like my house to work on, i wanted this build to last me at least min 1 year as often after about 5-6 months i sell my rigs to friends as Costa Rica you cant buy anything useful.
 
Right now the 7950 is the best bang for the buck IMO

I had a 670 and trade it for a 7970 the performance is noticeable in high resolutions
 
What kind of resolution? My 670 is rock solid but now you all have me thinking about returning it for 7950 CFX.
 
After the bad experiences I've had with AMD's drivers , even though the 7950 is a better value (when overclocked) I still choose to stick with Nvidia. Props to AMD for finding there proper performance sweet spot finally but the stability issues I've had with AMD drivers just puts me off them almost completely.

I still have my 6970 and all those bad experiences. However if I were to recommend someone a card based on the price , its pretty hard to ignore the 7950's edge when you add in the $100 price difference.
 
I went with the 7950, personally never had driver issues with ATI cards *knock on wood*

i will say though, this card run hot! at least what i am used to on cards, my case is toasty cause it doesnt exhaust out the back.

When i get my SG08 going to have to make sure i make a vent in the top area of the case.
 
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