AMD 7870 vs Nvidia 660

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shadowedge

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I am going to upgrade my GPU, an Ati 5770.

I see on Newegg that the Nvidia 660 and AMD 7870 are the same price and both have free shipping.


On Tomshardware, the review for the 660 (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297.html) puts it equal to or just under the 7870 for most games.

That said the AnandTech benchmark (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=660) also seems to rank them as more or less comparable in most games too but some games do seem to run signifigantly better on the 660 though.

The game I am looking forward to the most is Aliens Colonial Marines and it runs on the Unreal 3 Engine if that helps.

Which one is better for $220? Thanks! Also can a 650watt power supply run them?
 

hammereditor

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Are you talking about the ASUS GTX 660 and the HIS IceQ 7870 GHz edition?
I'm in the exact same situation as you. The blower-style cooler on the HIS card will blow less hot air around the case and exhaust it out the back.
I heard somebody saying on this forum that the Kepler architecture depends less on a powerful CPU than the AMD Pitcairn architecture. I am getting an AMD FX-6300 CPU so I will choose the ASUS card.
Since the cards are closely matched, I'll look at the cooling perf.
 

A Bad Day

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If you're going to use Physx, I don't think the GTX 660 can handle high graphic load and Physx at the same time (assuming Nivida's GPUs can multitask).

I would suggest just clocking the CPU higher. More consistent increase in FPS compared to using Physx anyways.
 

hammereditor

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The HIS will not fit. The card is 12.1" long and my case's expansion-slot-to-drive-bay measurement is 10.6", which is 0.4" more than needed for the ASUS GTX 660, so that's my final pick.
 

linkgx1

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That depends......

The feature sets for both provide different things. Nvidia seems to have more or less "features". Nvidia 3D Vision and Project Shield. AMD loves to include games and stuff for a cheaper price. Frame rates are somewhat negligble at certain points because 4 or 5 frames shoudln't make the largest difference.
 

yummerzzz

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A HD 7870 is definitely the better choice.
The OC potential puts miles ahead of even the GTX 660 Ti which is the closest Nvidia competitor. If you had a bad PSU (which assuming you don't, 650W is MORE than enough for a HD 7870), as in, 400W, then I would recommend the GTX 660.

But since this is not the case - Get the HD 7870 - it'll be a lot better.
 

yummerzzz

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I'm referring to a stock GTX 660 Ti:p
I think you're basing your information on the old drivers (Pre-Never settle).

A GTX 660 Ti's gimped Memory Bus will hold it back. Also this isn't about a GTX 660 Ti vs a HD 7870, it's about a GXT 660 NON-Ti vs a HD 7870.
 

ashharun

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if they have same price, grab 7870. I asking this question one week ago. I finally took 660 , but thats because their price difference like $25. 660 is not so bad actually, but 7870 will be better.
 
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