AMD radeon 7870 vs gtx 660 (non ti)

[feras]

Hello,
I am building a gaming rig for upcoming games and im stuck at the GPU
ethier this card:
Asus NVIDIA gtx 660 (non ti) 2gb DC2.
Or:
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7870 OC.
i heard that the 7870 is better but have some sort of a crach like a black screen.
wich one should i get for gaming? need answear
ASAP!

 

[ASHISH65]

With latest driver hd 7970 beats gtx 660.but if you want features like physicx,adaptive vsync then go for gtx 660.In real world performance they both are same.get whichever you want as both will maxout any games.My choice would be nvidia gtx 660.

 

[DelightfulDucklings]

The 7870 OC will in general dominate the gtx 660 (non ti) so unless you want physX, which in my opinion isn't a big deal, go with the 7870 OC and you will be happy

 

[Sandouby_96]

actually without any overclocking the 660 is the better choice its slightly cheaper offers some new features and draw less power but some people say that 7870 has a high headroom for overclocking also the 660 could be overclocked but it's a limited one when comparing it to 7870 to sum up if u r not looking forward to overclocking the card then i think u should go for the 660 ,however both cards will give u very good FPS in most of the games so u won't even think about the overclocking.
From my little experience from testing both i could guarantee u there will be no difference when running at stock speed 😉

 

[DelightfulDucklings]

actually without any overclocking the 660 is the better choice its slightly cheaper offers some new features and draw less power but some people say that 7870 has a high headroom for overclocking also the 660 could be overclocked but it's a limited one when comparing it to 7870 to sum up if u r not looking forward to overclocking the card then i think u should go for the 660 ,however both cards will give u very good FPS in most of the games so u won't even think about the overclocking.
From my little experience from testing both i could guarantee u there will be no difference when running at stock speed 😉

Yes but he is comparing the overclocked 7870 to a stock 660 so I would therefore think the 7870 would be the better choice. I think he'll be happy with either though, they are pretty similar

 

[hytecgowthaman]

http://www.hwcompare.com/13302/geforce-gtx-660-vs-radeon-hd-7870/
---
http://www.hwcompare.com/12204/radeon-hd-6990-vs-radeon-hd-7870/

 

[hytecgowthaman]

http://www.hwcompare.com/13320/geforce-gtx-660-vs-radeon-hd-6990/

 

[bigshootr8]

The normal gtx660 is not really slated to go against the 7870. The 7870 is kind of off on its own. You have the gtx660 which is out does the 7850, and then you have the 660Ti which can go against the 7950 which really I believe was slated to go against the 7870 but isn't so its own its own. Which judging by the prices of the 660Ti it would seem more appropriate to maybe invest in that.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=114,113,82&sort=a5

 

[sam_p_lay]

Those hwcompare.com links get shot down every time you post them because they're not measuring real-world performance. They even admit it themselves:

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Is that your site or something? And why the 6990 comparison?

OP - vote here for GTX660. As people have said, performance is pretty much identical but the GTX660 has better energy efficiency, PhysX and adaptive v-sync (for far better framerates with v-sync when you're below 60). Tested across a load of games here:

http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page12.html

They conclude 7870 averages 5% faster (which represents the difference between 30fps and 31.5fps) BUT that's with AMD having the advantage of their new drivers, while nVidia cards were tested on older drivers. So actually less than 5%.

 

[bigshootr8]

Agreed you look at that benchmark timing its back in November one month prior to Nvidia's newest 310.90 WHQL driver.

And Sam does it seem logical to skip the 7870 given the price and the cards around it it feels like you would either get the 660Ti or make the jump for a 7950 or 670 based on pricing.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Agreed you look at that benchmark timing its back in November one month prior to Nvidia's newest 310.90 WHQL driver.

And Sam does it seem logical to skip the 7870 given the price and the cards around it it feels like you would either get the 660Ti or make the jump for a 7950 or 670 based on pricing.

Haha well I'd always be inclined to say that! ;-) Certainly if budget has some flexbility, I think GTX670 is the best thing you could buy. That's what I'd buy if I was buying now, but I'm gonna wait a few months for the new models 🙂

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea I really hope nvidia puts out a strong showing I really dislike the hostility I normally hear from those who are always cheering for AMD product both are viable I just really dislike it. There is a lot of bias on both ends but man a lot more I feel lately from the AMD side.

 

[hytecgowthaman]

Those hwcompare.com links get shot down every time you post them because they're not measuring real-world performance. They even admit it themselves:

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Is that your site or something? And why the 6990 comparison?

OP - vote here for GTX660. As people have said, performance is pretty much identical but the GTX660 has better energy efficiency, PhysX and adaptive v-sync (for far better framerates with v-sync when you're below 60). Tested across a load of games here:

http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page12.html

They conclude 7870 averages 5% faster (which represents the difference between 30fps and 31.5fps) BUT that's with AMD having the advantage of their new drivers, while nVidia cards were tested on older drivers. So actually less than 5%.

Hay cool man the 6990 is faster then other 2 cards so I'm put that link .
the forms is for good advice from anyone registered from tomshardware . u said just vote for Nvidia no way from me (I think u r a Nvidia fan or Nvidia dealer to convince all customers) .
hwcompare is like tomshardware to help peoples to buy good cards.
hwcompare said in all pages about comparisons it's not real world performance ,so no need to said again from u r side ok be cool man.

 

[hytecgowthaman]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

 

[bigshootr8]

As that may be probably also guzzles down a ton of power as well. Almost 500 watts just off the card out of the wall think on that for a second

Power Consumption Results: The AMD Radeon HD 6990 is pulling 499 Watts at the wall. At first glance that seems excessive. If we compare it to what the pair of AMD Radeon HD 6970's is pulling, it will make us feel a little better. Under full load with Furmark 1.8.2 the of AMD Radeon HD 6990 draws nearly 100 Watt's less than the pair of AMD Radeon 6970's and the pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580's in SLI. Idle numbers for the AMD Radeon HD 6990 and the pair of AMD 6970's in CrossfireX are both sitting pretty at 132 Watts at the wall which is only 21 Watts more than a single AMD Radeon HD 6970.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1566/13/

 

[sam_p_lay]

I'm certainly not saying don't post comparison links, just try to stick to useful comparison links. Tech Spot for example did a huge roundup a couple of months back when Catalyst 12.11 was released. That's a useful link. And I am an nVidia fan, though I wouldn't say fanboy. My posts are always backed up by links and reasoned arguments. Also, I'm using a 1GB Radeon 4870 at the moment.

 

[sam_p_lay]

And +1 bigshootr - 6990 is nasty :-D Brute force performance, but you may aswell leave a vacuum cleaner on next to your desk. I had a 5970 and it really put me off those dual-GPU monster cards.

 

[bigshootr8]

or more like a vacuum right next to the holes in your wallet while you look at the power bill of such a card ha The newer cards have better tech within them to support the newer games horsepower aside from previous generations. Also, when you are comparing the price for a 7870 you can get a 660Ti for around the same ballpark.

 

[sam_p_lay]

or more like a vacuum right next to the holes in your wallet while you look at the power bill of such a card ha The newer cards have better tech within them to support the newer games horsepower aside from previous generations. Also, when you are comparing the price for a 7870 you can get a 660Ti for around the same ballpark.

LOL! Well-said! When I first saw the price of the 5970 I was blown away, but that and the 6990 were a bargain compared to the GTX690. I managed to justify the purchase to myself in that it was comparable to two 5850s in Crossfire, and only slightly more than double the price. That was a really, really stupid decision. But we live and learn I guess 🙂

 

[bigshootr8]

live and learn man! agreed +1

 

[akshayghai29785]

kindly confirm the price in which you are getting a Gtx 660 or HD 7870.

Also a new 7870 LE is available in the market which 7950 with 256 bit & $ 20 extra from 7870

 

[jdw_swb]

As of January 17, 2013, Tom's Hardware recommends the 7870 as a better buy for the price over the 660 (non-ti).

Best PCIe Card: $185 To $280

 

[bigshootr8]

Over the 660 (Non-TI) yes. Which would lead me to perhaps look at the LE version of the 7870 as its a gimped version of the 7950.

 

[sam_p_lay]

I was gonna point that out before actually - Tom's value roundups are based on US dollar prices. In other countries, their recommendations are likely irrelevant. I'm in the sunny Southeast of England and Tom's actually do a UK-specific edition (kind of) with GBP prices.

But their prices are totally wrong. They seem to get all their prices from Amazon, so have been saying for months for example that the GTX670 is 310 when it's actually been available at 270. And that's actually a UK edition of the roundup! So for countries like India for example who don't even have that, it's really no use. You can't make value-based recommendations without knowing the actual prices.

 

[bigshootr8]

Right its not a very overly in depth look at pricing all over I agree. Pcpartpicker does a great job of that.