7870 ghz vs. 7950 vs. 670

[Happs]

First thing's first, here's what I have so far (well, the PSU is actually the x750, but it isn't listed on pcpartpicker at the moment):

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/spTv

For the motherboard, I'm basically waiting until either the Gigabyte UD3H or the Asrock Extreme 4 drops down a little bit.

So, of course, that leaves me with the GPU, which I'm having a hard time deciding on. I originally planned on buying the 670 FTW, but with the current 7870/7950 prices, I'm having a hard time believing that it's worth $100-150+ more as far as performance/future proofing goes...

So, here I am, essentially begging for unbiased opinions and/or advice at this point, heh... which is the best buy, is the 7950 really worth the extra $$$ over the 7870 ghz (same for the 7950 to the 670), and which specific (brand/model) card would you recommend? Help me quit second guessing so I can start building, please!

Also, figured I'd link a few of each that I've been looking at, but by all means, I'm not set on any of this particular group:

670:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162107

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

7950:

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003

7870:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125418

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202010



Thanks.

 

[Tom Burnqest]

I'm leaning to believe that this frame latency stuff is being used by NV fanboys

Exactly what I am seeing. It's a dirty trick just like nvidias sleazy marketing.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Exactly what I am seeing. It's a dirty trick just like nvidias sleazy marketing.

Haha sleazy? There's a fanboy comment if ever I heard one. Every time I update my Catalyst drivers I get served a load of ads during installation. Whatever advertising/marketing nVidia is doing that you think is 'sleazy', I can't see it being any worse than ads during driver install. Let's try and stick to the facts.

 

[Tom Burnqest]

+1 to Bystander. Regina, with regards to RAM, I think 3GB is maybe excessive. It never hurts to have a bit more, but the typical argument there is that by the time games need 3GB video RAM, today's GPUs will be so outdated and obsolete that they won't get the job done anyway. I think RAM is important for future-proofing, which is why I'd never recommend 1GB cards, but I think 2GB will be ample for as long as today's GPU's can get the job done.

The idea with the 3gb Vram buffer is to give you the option to upgrade to better higher resolutions and muti monitors. not to mention Skyrim modded will use much more than 2gb Vram at 1080.

 

[technoholic]

Thanks for seeing my point sam. These issues are vague and not settled 100%. However, if the issue is proven by well established testing methods, i'd wish a clarification from AMD's side or better a quick fix if it is at software side (at the first article link i gave, both sides insist that this is mostly the fault of game engines, and it seems to me like that). At last, this affects gaming experience of millions of people and i really wish that this is at software side which is easier to fix. And finally @ OP Get the 670 if you have enough capital or 7950 if not

 

[bigcyco1]

Maybe the answer lies it agreeing how much weight to assign to each factor of the video card? How much to value raw performance in what games/benchmarks, vs. power consumption, vs. quality of the cooler and its noise, etc.

If you don't care about noise and are fine with a cheaply made cooler, your "best" card will be different than someone who cares about those factors and is not so impressed with max benchmarks.

Also need to agree on what set of benchmarks to use, whether you include PhysX or Bitcoin mining, etc.

In other words, this is futile and may as well ask to settle once and for all what is the best ice cream flavor, color, car, and supermodel.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Well +1 to Technoholic there Really it's unfortunate that it's taken the tech media industry so long to realise the flaws of frames/second benchmarking, but better late than never! At least with future hardware generations there should be less ambiguous data to draw conclusions from.

 

[Tom Burnqest]

Thanks for seeing my point sam. These issues are vague and not settled 100%. However, if the issue is proven by well established testing methods, i'd wish a clarification from AMD's side or better a quick fix if it is at software side (at the first article link i gave, both sides insist that this is mostly the fault of game engines, and it seems to me like that). At last, this affects gaming experience of millions of people and i really wish that this is at software side which is easier to fix. And finally @ OP Get the 670 if you have enough capital or 7950 if not

One game does not mean a broken card as well nvidia has performance issues in other games as indicated by the same site you are trying to claim as the holy grail of truth.tit for tat.

 

[technoholic]

One game does not mean a broken card as well nvidia has performance issues in other games as indicated by the same site you are trying to claim as the holy grail of truth.tit for tat.

THAT is the site at which these "frame time" issue of AMD cards are discussed and there is NO other site that does these frame time tests on single cards, at least not in so much detail. If anything, they claim that AMD cards have these issues not Nvidia lol. I'm trying to make a healthy conversation here and question the issue unbiasedly.

 

[Isaiah4110]

@OP,before this thread becomes a "amd vs nvidia" fight,let me tell you something-
both the 7950 and GTX 670 are powerful enough to max out those games at your native resolution with silky smooth frame rates.
My advice is to pick one of the cards, stop stressing on it, enjoy it!

+1

 

[bigcyco1]

I'd jump on it since your worried about future proofing that is as close to future proof your going to get lol. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162118

 

[Tom Burnqest]

THAT is the site at which these "frame time" issue of AMD cards are discussed and there is NO other site that does these frame time tests on single cards, at least not in so much detail. If anything, they claim that AMD cards have these issues not Nvidia lol. I'm trying to make a healthy conversation here and question the issue unbiasedly.

Both nvidia and AMD has these same issues on a per game basis just as performance favorability is on a per game basis.

 

[stickmansam]

Both nvidia and AMD has these same issues on a per game basis just as performance favorability is on a per game basis.

I wonder if playing the most biased games for each brand would make a differenece e.g. AC3 for nvidia reduce latency but increase latency spikes for AMD and in Dirt Showdown, AMD will no longer have the issue and we will see it in nvidia?

 

[bystander]

Thanks for seeing my point sam. These issues are vague and not settled 100%. However, if the issue is proven by well established testing methods, i'd wish a clarification from AMD's side or better a quick fix if it is at software side (at the first article link i gave, both sides insist that this is mostly the fault of game engines, and it seems to me like that). At last, this affects gaming experience of millions of people and i really wish that this is at software side which is easier to fix. And finally @ OP Get the 670 if you have enough capital or 7950 if not

It would be great if more sites started testing frame rate at the frame per frame level, rather than just FPS. So far, techreport are the only ones really doing it. Hardocp is also a bit unique, in that they test games side by side with the best possible settings for the best experience for each card, rather than just using the same settings. They give you a better idea what the end game experience is, rather than some generic number.

I also agree with the idea that I think most people would be happy with either card choice, but there are some who are more sensitive to latency and/or inconsistent frame rates. I actually experience nausea due to latency, but I don't notice microstutter much, on the other hand, I see a few people who don't have the latency issues, yet are very unhappy with microstutter on mid ranged AMD cards. Everyone is different.