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Incredibly Baffled - Help deciding

B

Buck47

n00b
Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
6
Guys - I'm at a loss here. I've been looking for a GPU for my new rig and keep changing my mind. I've read reviews, threads, searched, and RE-searched.

I want the best value, and there seems to be a lot of value these days.

I have the following components:

3770K
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro
16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Samsung 830 128GB (OS)
WD Black 1TB (Games)
Seagate Barracuda 3TB (Storage)
SeaSonic X750
Corsair H80

Budget - $300-$400 (maybe a little more)

I've always been an EVGA fan, but it seems that their lifetime warranty expired with the 600 series cards.

I like the Sapphire 7950 OC and the Asus GTX 670 Direct CU 2 both for non reference PCBs and coolers.

Also looking for a 27-28" monitor.

Help!
 
go ATI this round theyr faster if you overclock if you dont then go Nvidia simple as that
 
dinlee23 said:
go ATI this round theyr faster if you overclock if you dont then go Nvidia simple as that
Click to expand...

Still depends on the game. Also PhysX compatibility is also a consideration increasing game play quality in some games. Also if you use Cuda or Stream applications you must consider that too.
 
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I'm assuming your interest in non-reference pcb's and coolers means you want to overclock. I'll also assume that your 27" monitor is a 2560x1600.

If you want to excercise the little bit more, I'd get a 7970. Otherwise the 670 is a very safe choice.
 
If you are going to overclock, get an AMD 7950 or 7970.

If you are going to leave it stock. I would go Nvidia. and if you go Nvidia, just get a reference stock card since Nvidia told all AIB members there would be no overclocking allowed past the 1.175v.
 
mrtheshaggy said:
I'm assuming your interest in non-reference pcb's and coolers means you want to overclock. I'll also assume that your 27" monitor is a 2560x1600.

If you want to excercise the little bit more, I'd get a 7970. Otherwise the 670 is a very safe choice.
Click to expand...

Yes I plan on vid OC - and 2560x1600. I apologize for not being more specific.
 
Buck47 said:
Yes I plan on vid OC - and 2560x1600. I apologize for not being more specific.
Click to expand...

Then is sounds like you should go the 7950/7970 route.

Stay away from Nvidia if you plan to overclock
 
I'm really happy with my 7950 at same resolution.

I've seen a few around $280 here and there (much cheaper than when I paid $450 for it when it came out)
 
DASHlT said:
Then is sounds like you should go the 7950/7970 route.

Stay away from Nvidia if you plan to overclock
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Seconded. AMD's 79xx cards really shine at higher resolutions and the 79xx series' insane overclocking headroom adds a lot of value.
For reference, here's the latest GPU comparison from TPU: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7870_PCS_Plus_Vortex_II/27.html
Watch the shift from 1080p to 1600p, some AMD cards gain up to another 10% point advantage over the competition.
 
Great - thanks guys! Which 7950 would you choose? Brand and model.

What about a 7970? Brand and model. I want to cap it at $400.

And - monitor?
 
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Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition with HD 7970 PCB. comes with 8 pin and 6 pin power connectors. manufacturer code 11196-10-40G. costs 325 bucks

http://www.provantage.com/sapphire-technology-11196-10-40g~7SAPP06U.htm

Sapphire HD 7950 Boost . 850 mhz core clock and 925 Mhz core boost speeds. comes with sleeping dogs game. fantastic game. i have finished playing the game and really enjoyed it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

personally i would pick the HD 7950 boost because of the game.
 
I would recommend the MSI TFIII. It comes with a 6+8pin config with a 7970 PCB. It also has a very high ASIC on the GPU.

I got one of those for my girlfriend, and I hit 1100mhz on the GPU and 1575 on the memory. Volts on the GPU was at 1125.

Very impressive card
 
Eh with tall the glitches, hitches, black screens of death, HDMI port issues and god driver issues, I have no idea why people keep buying the 7xxx series.

I miss my old 7850, but not enough to go with a 7950 again....

The 6xx cards may not to clock, but man the support and stability is worth the hit in performance, depending on the game.
 
Sodapopjones said:
Eh with tall the glitches, hitches, black screens of death, HDMI port issues and god driver issues, I have no idea why people keep buying the 7xxx series.

I miss my old 7850, but not enough to go with a 7950 again....

The 6xx cards may not to clock, but man the support and stability is worth the hit in performance, depending on the game.
Click to expand...

Accually I think the AMD drivers have improved 10 fold since they stopped doing monthly updates.

If anything Nvidia has dropped the ball on drivers lately with the Vsync bug with the 600 series, and STILL waiting for a proper Guild Wars 2 driver.

both companies suck when it comes to drivers.

Would like to add my 5870 works GREAT with HDMI out to my NEC tv
 
DASHlT said:
Accually I think the AMD drivers have improved 10 fold since they stopped doing monthly updates.

If anything Nvidia has dropped the ball on drivers lately with the Vsync bug with the 600 series, and STILL waiting for a proper Guild Wars 2 driver.

both companies suck when it comes to drivers.

Would like to add my 5870 works GREAT with HDMI out to my NEC tv
Click to expand...

You're not running a 7xxx, totally different story when it comes to problems.

I swear more people bitch about the 7xxx series than probably any card that's out.

I do agree that GW2 needs a better driver, but its not like AMD that freaking glitches all the time in Sleeping Dogs and has terrible pop in issues lol.

Both companies have issues, but I have yet to have my pc black screen of death, or drop video like both my 7xxx cards.
 
Sodapopjones said:
You're not running a 7xxx, totally different story when it comes to problems.

I swear more people bitch about the 7xxx series than probably any card that's out.

I do agree that GW2 needs a better driver, but its not like AMD that freaking glitches all the time in Sleeping Dogs and has terrible pop in issues lol.

Both companies have issues, but I have yet to have my pc black screen of death, or drop video like both my 7xxx cards.
Click to expand...

Accually I bought a 7950 for my Girlfriend, Have had 0 issues, thats running display port.

GW2, Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, MOP. And 0 Issues so far. The card is massivly overclocked.

Like I said both companies suck when it comes to drivers. So when picking a card you choose either Brand loyalty, Price/Performance, Or if you want to overclock or not.

Also The EVGA 670's have had known issues with Black screens, and Red line problems.
 
DASHlT said:
Accually I bought a 7950 for my Girlfriend, Have had 0 issues, thats running display port.

GW2, Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, MOP. And 0 Issues so far. The card is massivly overclocked.

Like I said both companies suck when it comes to drivers. So when picking a card you choose either Brand loyalty, Price/Performance, Or if you want to overclock or not.

Also The EVGA 670's have had known issues with Black screens, and Red line problems.
Click to expand...

The thing with the EVGA deal is its that card, not the entire lineup lol. But yeah, they both have problems.
 
DASHlT said:
Not if he is going to overclock. Nvidia has put limits on Voltages for all 600 series cards.

So if you overclock, stay away from Nvidia cards.
Click to expand...

Seemed to overclock just fine for me, voltage restrictions or not.
 
DJ Big T said:
Seemed to overclock just fine for me, voltage restrictions or not.
Click to expand...

Well the cards come overclocked with GPU Boost :). Cant go over the 1.175v limit, which Boost hits when automatically gaming.

That isnt good for someone who really wants to overclock, or even use Water cooling.
 
DASHlT said:
Well the cards come overclocked with GPU Boost :). Cant go over the 1.175v limit, which Boost hits when automatically gaming.

That isnt good for someone who really wants to overclock, or even use Water cooling.
Click to expand...

Actually, this is where I get to correct you lol, the 680 PCB on the Windforce 3 and 670 FTW can be flashed to run 1.21mv, besides 1300 core is roughly 1200 core on a 7950.
 
Sodapopjones said:
Actually, this is where I get to correct you lol, the 680 PCB on the Windforce 3 and 670 FTW can be flashed to run 1.21mv, besides 1300 core is roughly 1200 core on a 7950.
Click to expand...

O totally, but it voids the Warrenty.
 
DASHlT said:
Not if he is going to overclock. Nvidia has put limits on Voltages for all 600 series cards.

So if you overclock, stay away from Nvidia cards.
Click to expand...

I don't know why people are saying this. Nothing has changed with the cards - none of the reference cards, or the aftermarket cards except the Classified and Lightning, could ever be overvolted. So this isn't like some new thing that just happened. The cards overclock just as well now as they did 6 months ago. Sure it would be nice if they enabled voltage control, but it's not like they took away something we already had.
 
Forceman said:
I don't know why people are saying this. Nothing has changed with the cards - none of the reference cards, or the aftermarket cards except the Classified and Lightning, could ever be overvolted. So this isn't like some new thing that just happened. The cards overclock just as well now as they did 6 months ago. Sure it would be nice if they enabled voltage control, but it's not like they took away something we already had.
Click to expand...

But the thing is, you can go higher with more volts, problem is Nvidia wont allow that. Specially if you want to watercool your cards.

And with rumors of 600 cards degrading quicker with higher clocks. I would stear clear of the 600 series until 700 comes out.
 
DASHlT said:
But the thing is, you can go higher with more volts, problem is Nvidia wont allow that. Specially if you want to watercool your cards.

And with rumors of 600 cards degrading quicker with higher clocks. I would stear clear of the 600 series until 700 comes out.
Click to expand...

Sure you can go higher with more volts, that's obvious - but Nvidia isn't taking overclocking away from anyone because the cards still overclock the same as they did the day they came out. I'm not happy about voltage control either, but you are acting like Nvidia is stopping people from overclocking at all.
 
Forceman said:
Sure you can go higher with more volts, that's obvious - but Nvidia isn't taking overclocking away from anyone because the cards still overclock the same as they did the day they came out. I'm not happy about voltage control either, but you are acting like Nvidia is stopping people from overclocking at all.
Click to expand...

Because with GK104, its been rumored they have been having degrading problems since May. Hopefully this gets fixed with the new GK110.


http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/graphi...e_GTX_600_Due_to_Performance_Degradation.html

Like to add, Then Nvidia added this program: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/graphi...Partners_to_Validate_Own_Product_Designs.html
 
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Thanks for all the info guys. It appears the 7950/7970 OC a bit better and would support 2560x1440 at max settings in most games. Again - budget is $300-$400US. In terms of value, I'm leaning toward ATI this time. Alas...still undecided.
 
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