7970 vs 660ti

[pyr0_m4n]

Ok. I need an argument settled. I've been wanting to upgrade my graphics card. I currently have a 660ti. When I play Far cry 3 on ultra with all settings maxed out, I average 30fps. I'm playing at 1024x768 resolution. I want to upgrade to a 7970.

More info:
Battlefield 3: 70fps average on ultra 1024x768 with 660ti
Battlefield 3: 57.7fps average on ultra 2560x1600 with 7970

Am I missing something, or is this not as big an upgrade as I thought. Does resolution have that big of a hit?

 

[unksol]

My PC can't figure out what my monitors native resolution is. It may have something to do with the fact I'm using a TV. It defaults to 1024x768 since 1080i is the max it can display. It can't do full 1080p.

this is probably why you can't see a difference. Some early "HD" TVs could only "handle" HD content but weren't actually HD resolution. TVs dont do as well as monitors either. Do you know the make/model? We can find out what it's actually doing

 

[pyr0_m4n]

this is probably why you can't see a difference. Some early "HD" TVs could only "handle" HD content but weren't actually HD resolution. TVs dont do as well as monitors either. Do you know the make/model? A can find out what it's actually doing

Toshiba 32hlc56. It's also worth noting I'm going through a VGA port. There is an HDMI port, but there's a whole separate issue with that right now so I'd rather not get into that.

 

[Kiowa789]

The OP was asking about the 660Ti vs 7970. If you read it in context you can tell he's actually saying

No[.the] Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition is faster than[the] GTX680 in most benchmarks[so it's much faster than the 660Ti]

He really just missed a period and it reads the wrong way if you take the first sentence on it's own.

Yes I know, the answer is really the 7970, what angers me is that he stated that overall the 680 wins over the 7970 Ghz, which is simply not true.
The fact that he brought up another Nvidia card, which isn't the one involved, he brought up an unrelated card, and says otherwise on the performance of the card we are supposed to me talking about in the first place, the 7970 Ghz is a clear winner of the 680, and this is to the Op

I'd say grab a 7970, good card, better than a 660 ti, and a really good bang for your buck card as well, Resolution does play a major role in Graphics card performance, but I'm not going to lecture about it because others already have in this thread.
I hope you make the choice you want to, if not, well there's always next time.

 

[pyr0_m4n]

Wait, wait. Are you saying you're running 1024x768 ON PURPOSE, even though your monitor can do higher!!???

I take that back. It wasn't running in true 1080p. I had it at 1280x1024, but that resolution only works while in a game. If I'm at the desktop, it shows up weird.

 

[unksol]

Yes I know, the answer is really the 7970, what angers me is that he stated that overall the 680 wins over the 7970 Ghz, which is simply not true.
The fact that he brought up another Nvidia card, which isn't the one involved, he brought up an unrelated card, and says otherwise on the performance of the card we are supposed to me talking about in the first place, the 7970 Ghz is a clear winner of the 680, and this is to the Op

My point was he was actually saying the 7970 beats the 680. He just types fast and left out a period so the no looks like it goes with the sentence when that's not what he was saying. Easy to misunderstand. But this is off topic.

 

[pyr0_m4n]

1280x1024. If I can display that, shouldn't I be able to display 1080P?

 

[unksol]

Toshiba 32hlc56. It's also worth noting I'm going through a VGA port. There is an HDMI port, but there's a whole separate issue with that right now so I'd rather not get into that.

Native resolution is 1366 x 768. So is you run 1920x1080 you won't see an improvement. It might actually look worse. You can set that res. But the pixels aren't physically there to display it properly. If your up close it will also look really pixelated.

I think what would improve your experience thr most is a decent 1080p monitor. The 660Ti can run BF3 at that res already. Then evaluate if you need a.better GPU. Maybe borrow a friends if you want to try it out?

 

[unksol]

These are two of the cheaper ones that seem to do alright

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009420

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009442

 

[rmpumper]

No Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition is faster than GTX680 in most benchmarks especially GPGPU related applications. The problems u faces is due to being using such a low resolution like 1024 x 768 . How do u play games on that low resolution?? For playing games at 1024 x 768 u don't need a dedicated GPU, your 3570k's Intel IGP is perfectly sufficient. Its really strange

lol.

And 7970 GHz is even better at higher resolutions.
Nice try, nvidia troll.

 

[unksol]

lol.

And 7970 GHz is even better at higher resolutions.
Nice try, nvidia troll.

Ok. Last time I'll try. He was clearly saying

"No. 7970 is better than the 680."

Read the question. Read his answer. He just missed the period. He was agreeing with all of us. This does not address the OPs issue so lets drop the friendly fire lol

OPs question
" In the case of BF3, using the 660ti and 7970 at the same resolution, there was a 20fps difference with the 660ti ahead. Is that right?"

His answer
"No. The 7970 is even faster than the 680"

 

[babernet_1]

Two problems. One, you are using a vga cable and not the HDMI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Graphics_Array

As you can see vga gives a crappy high resolution. You need to go with the HDMI.

Second, the 7970 is only a moderate step up from a 660ti. I'd recommend simply getting a second 660ti. Much cheaper than the 7970 and it will give you a good 50% above a 7970, in fact, dual 660ti's will max out a 1920X1080 display in anything.

 

[unksol]

Two problems. One, you are using a vga cable and not the HDMI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Graphics_Array

As you can see vga gives a crappy high resolution. You need to go with the HDMI.

Second, the 7970 is only a moderate step up from a 660ti. I'd recommend simply getting a second 660ti. Much cheaper than the 7970 and it will give you a good 50% above a 7970, in fact, dual 660ti's will max out a 1920X1080 display in anything.

VGA is fine at 1080p. It's not AS good but it's not BAD. But he's not at a high res. We also don't know if he has.an SLI board. And the GPU is not the issue. He's getting 70FPS.

The experience/quality problem here is that he is using an old 32 inch 1366x768 TV that he though.could do 1080p but it just didn't look any better. Also probably a poor refresh rate,.and not running it at it's native res.

His GPU is plenty for his TV. If he wants a better.experience then he needs a new monitor, which the 660Ti can already handle. After that he can worry about FPS but honestly I don't think he'd.be worried.about it with how much better a proper monitor would look.

 

[babernet_1]

VGA is fine at 1080p. It's not AS good but it's not BAD. But he's not at a high res. We also don't know if he has.an SLI board. And the GPU is not the issue. He's getting 70FPS.

The experience/quality problem here is that he is using an old 32 inch 1366x768 TV that he though.could do 1080p but it just didn't look any better. Also probably a poor refresh rate,.and not running it at it's native res.

His GPU is plenty for his TV. If he wants a better.experience then he needs a new monitor, which the 660Ti can already handle. After that he can worry about FPS but honestly I don't think he'd.be worried.about it with how much better a proper monitor would look.

By some odd coincidence, I just replaced a vga cable on a large monitor in 1920 X 1080 resolution with a DVI cable. Though the resolution was unchanged, the colors were better and the picture was sharper. There is a difference. Though, of course, he needs a monitor. I'd recommend a 1920 by 1200, the extra vertical size is really nice, am enjoying it now.

 

[unksol]

By some odd coincidence, I just replaced a vga cable on a large monitor in 1920 X 1080 resolution with a DVI cable. Though the resolution was unchanged, the colors were better and the picture was sharper. There is a difference. Though, of course, he needs a monitor. I'd recommend a 1920 by 1200, the extra vertical size is really nice, am enjoying it now.

The digital signal definitely helps with sharpness. I kinda wonder if the color settings might have been different between the inputs but maybe it helps with that too. love my 1920x1200 (3 years old)but unfortunately they are very expensive now (stupid "HD" TVs)

 

[Memnarchon]

Second, the 7970 is only a moderate step up from a 660ti. I'd recommend simply getting a second 660ti. Much cheaper than the 7970 and it will give you a good 50% above a 7970, in fact, dual 660ti's will max out a 1920X1080 display in anything.

+1

This should be the 1st answer of this post.
7970 is faster than 660ti, but the difference is not much to justify the money you will spend in order to get one.
Getting a second 660ti is probably, by far the best option.
Although I would say 660ti is a very good GPU from this generation and a real upgrade (without diminishing returns) it would be from maxwell.

 

[eyeage]

+1

This should be the 1st answer of this post.
7970 is faster than 660ti, but the difference is not much to justify the money you will spend in order to get one.
Getting a second 660ti is probably, by far the best option.
Although I would say 660ti is a very good GPU from this generation and a real upgrade (without diminishing returns) it would be from maxwell.

While I believe I was the first to suggest a second 660ti as an upgrade instead of the 7970, someone else pointed out that it might not be an option. Another thing to consider here, is OP can probably sell his 660ti to make up for some of the cost of the 7970, should he not be able to SLI (PSU/MOBO limitations), or lack of desire to SLI due to the issues inherent to it.

 

[Memnarchon]

While I believe I was the first to suggest a second 660ti as an upgrade instead of the 7970, someone else pointed out that it might not be an option. Another thing to consider here, is OP can probably sell his 660ti to make up for some of the cost of the 7970, should he not be able to SLI (PSU/MOBO limitations), or lack of desire to SLI due to the issues inherent to it.

Well your post was around in the middle of this conversation and not the 1st 😛.
Also even if he sell his 660ti (lets say the new has a price of $280 at least, he could sell it for $200) he also needs an other $185 in order to reach the cheapest 7970 at the moment we speak at newegg. An other $185 for 21-32% performance (depends on nonGE to GE).

It is not worthy to do such a small upgrade for so much money.

 

[spp85]

The OP was asking about the 660Ti vs 7970. If you read it in context you can tell he's actually saying

No[.the] Radeon HD 7970 Ghz edition is faster than[the] GTX680 in most benchmarks[so it's much faster than the 660Ti]

He really just missed a period and it reads the wrong way if you take the first sentence on it's own.

You are right, thanks for pointing out to public and I made the corrections there 😍

 

[spp85]

Ok. Last time I'll try. He was clearly saying

"No. 7970 is better than the 680."

Read the question. Read his answer. He just missed the period. He was agreeing with all of us. This does not address the OPs issue so lets drop the friendly fire lol

OPs question
" In the case of BF3, using the 660ti and 7970 at the same resolution, there was a 20fps difference with the 660ti ahead. Is that right?"

His answer
"No. The 7970 is even faster than the 680"

You are right, thanks for pointing out to public and I made the corrections there 😍

 

[pyr0_m4n]

Well your post was around in the middle of this conversation and not the 1st 😛.
Also even if he sell his 660ti (lets say the new has a price of $280 at least, he could sell it for $200) he also needs an other $185 in order to reach the cheapest 7970 at the moment we speak at newegg. An other $185 for 21-32% performance (depends on nonGE to GE).
http://tpucdn.com/reviews/VTX3D/Radeon_HD_7870_XT_Black/images/perfrel_1920.gif

It is not worthy to do such a small upgrade for so much money.

My 660ti is $300 new. Even if I got $200 for it, that brings the price down from $420 to $220. The 7970 comes with crysis 3 and bioshock infinite (two games I was planning to get.) Thats another $120 credit. In actuality, I would be paying about $100 for this card.

 

[redeemer]

Ridiculous the 7970>all 600 series cards!

 

[nitrium]

You are right, thanks for pointing out to public and I made the corrections there 😍

I hope you learned the valuable lesson of using punctuation. The entire meaning of your post was lost, just by the omission of a simple period. Sure writing phone txt style is super fast, but if you don't want to confuse your readers, proper sentence structure is highly useful.

 

[unksol]

I hope you learned the valuable lesson of using punctuation. The entire meaning of your post was lost, just by the omission of a simple period. Sure writing phone txt style is super fast, but if you don't want to confuse your readers, proper sentence structure is highly useful.

Context is still key. Anyone who read the question and answer would know exactly what he meant.... And phones and auto correct don't play nice. It's a forum. It happens

 

[unksol]

My 660ti is $300 new. Even if I got $200 for it, that brings the price down from $420 to $220. The 7970 comes with crysis 3 and bioshock infinite (two games I was planning to get.) Thats another $120 credit. In actuality, I would be paying about $100 for this card.

you can get 7970s cheaper than that. And if you want those games you can definitely find the value. But again. I would not until you upgrade your monitor. The 660Ti can.drive 1080p and I really think you'd love the improvement. The FPS improvement of a 7970 won't even be noticeable with your current TV

 

[Memnarchon]

My 660ti is $300 new. Even if I got $200 for it, that brings the price down from $420 to $220. The 7970 comes with crysis 3 and bioshock infinite (two games I was planning to get.) Thats another $120 credit. In actuality, I would be paying about $100 for this card.

Although it seems nice, I would never recommend such upgrade. The 7870XT and the 660TI are the last GPUs you can buy before starting to pay a lot of money for a little boost.
On the other hand such an upgrade wouldn't hurt anyone since you will pay only $100 (ofc this depends on your wallet).

What I am trying to say is that if you don't have problem paying $100 for a 21-31% upgrade go for it. If you think that $100 is too much, then don't.