670 vs 7970

[darkcam17]

For my new gaming pc im wondering if I should go with the
1. Normal GTX 670
2. The GTX 670 DirectCUii http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121638
3. The amd 7970

 

[nekulturny]

NCIX USA site ($454 with free shipping, but backordered.. worth the wait though):
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=71741&vpn=GTX670-DC2T-2GD5&manufacture=Others

*There's a reason it's backordered. It's a great card. I suspect it would be a 1 to 3-week wait.

This is the only one I can find for sale via Google, Newegg is out of stock
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-GTX-670-DC2T-2GD5-GTX670-DC2T-2GD5/dp/B0081IFO3G

I'm sorry, but at that price, I'd get a Sapphire 7970 GHZ ED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6025/radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition-review-catching-up-to-gtx-680/18

 

[darkcam17]

This is the only one I can find for sale via Google, Newegg is out of stock
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-GTX-670-DC2T-2GD5-GTX670-DC2T-2GD5/dp/B0081IFO3G

I'm sorry, but at that price, I'd get a Sapphire 7970 GHZ ED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6025/radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition-review-catching-up-to-gtx-680/18

Is the 7970 ghz better or the 670 dc2t???? Anyone have a good benchmark or something

 

[nekulturny]

I don't have a bench of that exact 670 model against the GHZ edition 7970 but I can pretty much guarantee you the 7970 is going to outperform it. Nvidia video cards just don't typically have the overclocking potential AMD cards do.

 

[darkcam17]

I don't have a bench of that exact 670 model against the GHZ edition 7970 but I can pretty much guarantee you the 7970 is going to outperform it. Nvidia video cards just don't typically have the overclocking potential AMD cards do.

What is I wont be overclocking at all?

 

[nekulturny]

The Gigahertz Edition is factory overclocked. You don't have to overclock it (but you can), its already done to the card. It could be pushed further, but I wouldn't.

 

[darkcam17]

The Gigahertz Edition is factory overclocked. You don't have to overclock it (but you can), its already done to the card. It could be pushed further, but I wouldn't.

I read that it takes up alot of space do you know if it would fit in this build with the case and mobo
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/dQzH

 

[farsuka]

The 670 is better price/performance like everybody's said, it's really up to you
It also runs cooler and uses less power

 

[nekulturny]

The Corsair 500R is a very well made case and you should have no trouble fitting the card in it. Corsair just plain doesn't do crappy computer cases.

It should fit just fine on the motherboard too.

 

[nekulturny]

The 670 is better price/performance like everybody's said, it's really up to you
It also runs cooler and uses less power

Yea, the reference card is better price/performance. But hell, that Asus Top thing people were pushing on him in this thread costs the same as the new 7970 GE lol. Screw that. Same price? Get the better product.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637 $399.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127685 $409.99 (Before $25.00 Mail-In Rebate Card) FREE SHIPPING
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423 $399.99 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

 

[azeem40]

The DC2 is the best out of all the options in the OP's list. It is definitely worth the 1/4th quieter noise and the cooler.

 

[darkcam17]

The DC2 is the best out of all the options in the OP's list. It is definitely worth the 1/4th quieter noise and the cooler.

But does the dc2 preform better then the 7970 ghz

 

[azeem40]

Not enough to warrant spending $300 more.

 

[darkcam17]

Not enough to warrant spending $300 more.

Its only 50 more

 

[azeem40]

The only GHz Edition I see is the toxic. Still no. The GTX 670 is only marginally slower.

 

[redeemer]

Listen if you only want to game at 1080p and cant be bothered with overclocking than grab yourself a 670, a 7970 is very high end card for ultra settings with higher resolutions. I consider the 7950 the best perf/ratio right now though. Note there is no such thing as a stock comparison against AMD vs Nvidia this round, Kepler has autoboost up to 1200 mhz OC.

 

[photonboy]

Some points:
- The Asus 670 DCII TOP is basically identical to a stock 680, and IMO the best value

- I'm pretty sure the new GHz edition of the HD7970 applies a method identical to GPU BOOST so there's very little overclocking headroom (it would likely also drastically raise the noise level)

- I doubt that the GHz HD7970 would be as quiet as the Asus 670 DCII TOP

- Kepler (i.e. 670, 680 for desktop) has new anti-aliasing methods that AMD's cards do NOT have and these are being supported in upcoming games (TXAA and FXAA I think).

- Tim Sweeney specifically states that the UNREAL 4 engine is significantly more tweaked at this stage for KEPLER (partially due to the anti-aliasing hardware which a driver can't fix for he HD7970 and this could make a 20% difference in frame rates).

There are several other reasons to go with the KEPLER architecture. PhysX isn't a huge deal to some but GPU PHYSX isn't even an option with AMD.

NVidia driver support is better IMO.

BENCHMARKS:
As for simply raw benchmarks, which aren't the entire picture, you can substitute the GTX670 DCUII TOP for a stock GTX680 and compare it to the GHz 7970.

Then, average five games you play and compare the GTX680 to the GHz 7970.

Finally, factor in PRICE and NOISE.

 

[photonboy]

Would I be missing out on alot by not getting the top version? Ive been looking and cant find the top version in stock anywhere

My advice would be to get the TOP version of the Asus 670 DirectCU II from NCIX and wait or it to be delivered. It's winning awards on its quality of build, performance and low noise. That's also why it's temporarily out of stock.

The TOP version of the Asus 670 DCUII is completely identical to the non-TOP version of the same model except:
a) the GPU is pulled from the bin of GPU's that tested slightly lower in maximum performance
b) the card is not clocked quite as high (because the GPU tested slightly poorer)

You can go to the Asus site and find the percentage difference in performance that would be. Probably not even 5%. Still, I think it's a $10 difference.

Your choice.

 

[nekulturny]

The Nvidia fanboyism is strong with these ones.

Whip out every old wives tail and speculation you can!

-People always say that the AMD has "Bad driver support" yet everytime I challenge them to prove that their driver support is any worse than Nvidia, I am left with the sound of crickets chirping.

-Price.. The Asus 670 DCII Top thing is MORE EXPENSIVE the Sapphire GE Edition

- Noise. Lets just assume the 670 is quieter, lets not actually offer proof of it.


Why wait 1 to 3 weeks for the inferior product? The Sapphire 7970 GE is available today, costs a couple bucks less and is superior. Don't get me wrong, I don't care which one the OP buys, but good lord people.

you can substitute the GTX670 DCUII TOP for a stock GTX680 and compare it to the GHz 7970.

And it still loses to the 7970 GE and no GE for that matter lol.

 

[photonboy]

*UPDATE*

The "TOP" version is actually much better. The frequency is 16% higher than the non-TOP version.

So that is up to 16% better performance for about 2.5% more money.

**Darn, now the PRICE seems to have jumped for it and its gone out of stock and may not be restocked? Not sure what's going on there...

Sorry.

 

[photonboy]

The Nvidia fanboyism is strong with these ones.

Whip out every old wives tail and speculation you can!

-People always say that the AMD has "Bad driver support" yet everytime I challenge them to prove that their driver support is any worse than Nvidia, I am left with the sound of crickets chirping.

-Price.. The Asus 670 DCII Top thing is MORE EXPENSIVE the Sapphire GE Edition

- Noise. Lets just assume the 670 is quieter, lets not actually offer proof of it.


Why wait 1 to 3 weeks for the inferior product? The Sapphire 7970 GE is available today, costs a couple bucks less and is superior. Don't get me wrong, I don't care which one the OP buys, but good lord people.

you can substitute the GTX670 DCUII TOP for a stock GTX680 and compare it to the GHz 7970.

And it still loses to the 7970 GE and no GE for that matter lol.

Some response:
1) I've generally been comparing the HD7970 using benchmarks like the following that show the Asus DCU2 TOP scoring higher:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/9.html

2) I've been looking for benchmarks for the new Sapphire HD7970 GHz card (3GB model is about $450, 6GB is overkill except Crossfire and is $700).

I can't find any benchmarks but I think it probable that this card would, on average, slightly exceed the GTX670 DCU2 TOP.

3) NOISE: I can easily provide a link to NOISE under LOAD:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/27.html

What I can't do is compare it to the new Sapphire Vapor-X HD7970 GHz card because I can't find a good review/benchmark.

4) I do actually believe the Sapphire Tech Vapor-X HD7970 GHz card is likely to be a very good card. In fact, my last card was a Sapphire Tech Vapor-X HD5870 OC and it was really quiet. Loved it.

5) when I was comparing prices the HD7970's were the same as the 670 DCU2 TOP from Asus at roughly the same quality level. That seems to have changed with the 670 DCU2's of stock.

Long story short...

I think the Sapphire Tech Vapor-X HD7970 GHz (3GB) edition or whatever the correct name is, is likely to be a very, very good card. I doubt you can go wrong. I just can't do a complete head-to-head until I find a good benchmark and review.

 

[photonboy]

HD7970 comparison:
My calculations indicate that the new GHz edition from Sapphire Tech with max 1050MHz GPU clock should average about 10% faster than a reference HD7970.

For those interested, this may be the card to beat:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1679&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

AMD doesn't currently have Adaptive VSYNC which is a cool new feature, but that can and likely will be added to their drivers. NVidia just added it all the way back to the 88xx series. My guess is they're working on them now at AMD and will support the HD5000 series and forward.

(Wow! I think I just provided proof of better NVidia driver support. Peace out y'all... )

 

[nekulturny]

I think the Sapphire Tech Vapor-X HD7970 GHz (3GB) edition or whatever the correct name is, is likely to be a very, very good card. I doubt you can go wrong. I just can't do a complete head-to-head until I find a good benchmark and review.

In my opinion based on history of released products, Sapphire doesn't really get stuff wrong in terms of making quality video cards.

Yes the Asus Top thing seems really quiet comparatively.

AMD doesn't currently have Adaptive VSYNC which is a cool new feature, but that can and likely will be added to their drivers. NVidia just added it all the way back to the 88xx series. My guess is they're working on them now at AMD and will support the HD5000 series and forward.

(Wow! I think I just provided proof of better NVidia driver support. Peace out y'all... )

AMD never will. If they have anything, They'll have something that does the same thing and called something else. Its not lack of drivers support its that Adaptive VSYNC is proprietary to Nvidia, like PhysX. Many bloody lawsuits would ensue for using proprietary features without compensation and/or permission.

I know I'm keeping my answer condensed, I could break everything down in terms of features, but like I said, I don't really care which one the OP buys lol. As such I really don't want to bean count every last detail of the cards.

 

[photonboy]

I think the Sapphire Tech Vapor-X HD7970 GHz (3GB) edition or whatever the correct name is, is likely to be a very, very good card. I doubt you can go wrong. I just can't do a complete head-to-head until I find a good benchmark and review.

In my opinion based on history of released products, Sapphire doesn't really get stuff wrong in terms of making quality video cards.

Yes the Asus Top thing seems really quiet comparatively.

AMD doesn't currently have Adaptive VSYNC which is a cool new feature, but that can and likely will be added to their drivers. NVidia just added it all the way back to the 88xx series. My guess is they're working on them now at AMD and will support the HD5000 series and forward.

(Wow! I think I just provided proof of better NVidia driver support. Peace out y'all... )

AMD never will. If they have anything, They'll have something that does the same thing and called something else. Its not lack of drivers support its that Adaptive VSYNC is proprietary to Nvidia, like PhysX. Many bloody lawsuits would ensue for using proprietary features without compensation and/or permission.

I know I'm keeping my answer condensed, I could break everything down in terms of features, but like I said, I don't really care which one the OP buys lol. As such I really don't want to bean count every last detail of the cards.

Actually the new GPU Boost feature in Kepler is pretty much identical to the Power Tune feature in the new GHz edition HD7970's.

Adaptive VSYNC is a critical thing, but there's conceptually little to it. AMD will definitely come out with an identical feature. The feature simply turns VSYNC off it the frame rate drops below the synch rate (i.e. 60FPS/60Hz) and turns it on again once the FPS is high enough to synch to the monitor.

 

[Strobe21]

" but 79 reviews is a pretty good sampling"

Reviews from a consumer websites (aka not a professional reviewing website) should be take with a grain of salt and not as an accurate "sampling" whatsoever. I mean think about it, your not randomly "sampling" 79 people with that product. What your are getting is people quick to whine, and possibly too dumb to read instructions or compatibility with their own system.

The more accurate comparison of this kind of sampling would be to go to prison and survey the prisoners to ask them what they think about current criminal laws. Its just not an accurate representation of the general population.