Another "which card" thread

[getdamafiaonyou]

Ok, so I decided to take the flaming for asking a which card should I get question. Some background, I've searched, read, searched, read, and cant really find anyone with a similar situation, or a definitive answer. So heres my situation. I've got a 660ti sc, that's going on ebay. I'd like to get 1 card now, and sli it in a month, my use will be 3 monitor surround, all 120hz. However, after I get the 1 card I plan on getting 1 3d monitor and playing around with 3d. I want to be able to do this, or surround, on ultra with all games currently avil (even crisis 3). Don't care if it will with 1 card, but needs to be capable with sli/crossfire. I'm leaning NVidia simply because of 3d, and AMD seems to be lacking greatly in this category. Im torn between 670ftw 4gb/2gb, then if I should just do 2gb should I do 680, and am I wrong about AMD lacking? thanks and feel free to flame me for asking

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I would go with a 670, or a 7970. The 7970 is better than a 670 to begin with. Also, amd tends to be better in 3 monitors. I am not sure how well amd 3d works, and I am having a bit of trouble finding info on it. The 7970 is generally better though.

 

[getdamafiaonyou]

Yeah, I'm starting to lean 7970, just because I think I'll use 3d for like a week, then say screw it and enjoy 3 monitors more.

 

[DarkSable]

Amd's 3d is not good at all, and for three monitor 3d surround you want, at a bare minimum, two 4GB 670s. (Just to save you some money, for 3d surround, only one of the monitors has to have the projector - the other two can be normal 120Hz monitors.)

The 680 is a bad pick, but you seriously want 4GB of VRAM.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

With a 7970's higher bus and generally higher amount of ram, you will get better performance with a 7970. You could always get a 4gb card, but those are usually very expensive.

 

[getdamafiaonyou]

Well I'm starting to shy away from 3d, mostly price vs enjoyment. I've never liked the idea very much (currently own nothing 3d) and when ive tested it at best buy ( i know not a fair comparison) it's always hurt my eyes. Idk, i just feel like i'd end up dumping money into something I would almost never use.

 

[bigcyco1]

Amd's 3d is not good at all, and for three monitor 3d surround you want, at a bare minimum, two 4GB 670s. (Just to save you some money, for 3d surround, only one of the monitors has to have the projector - the other two can be normal 120Hz monitors.)

The 680 is a bad pick, but you seriously want 4GB of VRAM.

+1

 

[lunyone]

I would go with the 7970, but I'm not all that familiar with the whole "3D" thing, since it's just a fad as far as I'm concerned. I've linked an article below for your perusal:

"The biggest attraction of HD3D is AMD's commitment to making it an open platform that supports many different standards. Unlike Nvidia's approach, where you're tied to Nvidia 3D Vision-certified hardware, HD3D's open ecosystem should allow for a more diverse choice."

I know it's marketing stuff, but here is the link to the article in question.

I'm sure there are more articles out there, but thought that I'd at least list one of them. You can google "AMD 3d vision" and find lots of info, if you haven't already done that.

I personally would just go with the best 3 monitor GPU that you can afford (within reason). I think the 7970 is a good buy, but the 670 is a good choice too. I tend to favor the best performance for the least amount of $ and that generally gravitates towards the 7970.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Well I'm starting to shy away from 3d, mostly price vs enjoyment. I've never liked the idea very much (currently own nothing 3d) and when ive tested it at best buy ( i know not a fair comparison) it's always hurt my eyes. Idk, i just feel like i'd end up dumping money into something I would almost never use.

Well, if 3d is out of the question, 7970 is definitely the best option.

 

[bigcyco1]

AMD has been having problems with frame latency. They have tried to address the issue in recent driver updates. It's worth it to check out these articles:Either way i am not trying to sway you to go NV i am just stating some concerns i would have it's up to you to decide the 7970 is still a solid choice anyway good luck!
http://techreport.com/review/24218/a-driver-update-to-reduce-radeon-frame-times/5
http://techreport.com/news/24136/driver-software-to-be-tweaked-to-reduce-radeon-frame-latencies-in-series-of-updates
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited

 

[getdamafiaonyou]

3 monitor support is more important to me than 3d, and i'm sure more 3d support will be added in the following year, I saw a comparison that said yes, nvidia is better for 3d, but only just, its just more of a PITA to setup AMD's. I think I'll go for a 7970 GHZ tmro. Thanks all.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

About the latency thing, if you look at the titan reviews, the 7970 actually had lower latency than a 680. It is just one review though, but it is the most modern one I can think of.

 

[getdamafiaonyou]

Well based off of everyone's rec's and doing some research I pulled the trigger on a sapphire 7970, worst case scenario I throw it up on ebay after a couple of weeks and take a 50-100 buck loss. Best case I like it more than I would any nvidia option.

 

[bigcyco1]

Good luck let us know how you like it enjoy!

 

[getdamafiaonyou]

Allright so I got the card and got it all setup with fresh windows on a ssd. Only got to play the first 5 min of crysis 3 because I had to leave for the weekend (torture!) So now im debating. Should I get a second 7970 for crossfire or just save the money and crossfirex a 7950? The reason being I will probably only be using eyefinity for multiplayer bf3 and school work (which requires no graphical power). If I play single plaer I prefer top eyecandy. But only 1 monitor.

 

[lunyone]

Well try out the 7970 for a bit and see if you like what you have. If you don't like it than the 7950's Xfire'd might be the way to go, but I personally would hang on to the 7970 and then later down the road upgrade the GPU to the latest and greatest that you can afford, only if you want to add more GPU power though.

 

[getdamafiaonyou]

Well try out the 7970 for a bit and see if you like what you have. If you don't like it than the 7950's Xfire'd might be the way to go, but I personally would hang on to the 7970 and then later down the road upgrade the GPU to the latest and greatest that you can afford, only if you want to add more GPU power though.

I wouldntget rid of the 7970. Rather wondering for my need should I add a second 7970 or a 7950 to save money.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I would go with a 2nd 7970 if you cfx. I don't know how well it works to crossfire different cards, as most people don't do that.