EVGA GTX 660 2GB DDR5 or XFX's 7870 2GB DDR 5?

[chrisafp07]

Hey guys, I'm going for more performance in Farcry3, GTA 4, GW2, WoW, and other higher end games in the future. My current system specs are as follows.

AMD Phenom II 965 BE oc@ 3.8ghz (CM Hyper EVO)
Gigabyte 760g 78LMT-S2P Mobo
8gb Kingston Hyper Blu running at 1600mhz
XFX 7750 1gb DDR5 900mhz
Thermaltake TR2 600w psu

Basically I figure my next upgrade should be GPU and I've heard good things about the 660 (except that it runs hotter) for the price, 70$ cheaper than XFX or other variants of the AMD 7870. What would fellow gamers recommend, overall factoring in price, performance and cooling? My buget is between $150-maybe $250 or so.

Thanks guys!

 

[ndslite]

you should go with a 7870. Milies ahead of the 660 with the new drivers. I have one myself. If you want go with XFX, but Gigabyte's or MSI's Twin Frozr is cheaper and same if not better cooling.

 

[chrisafp07]

Another random question but pertaining to upgrading, should I go for a new CPU before GPU considering my 7750 has really been AMAZING for what I expected? From what reading I've done even an i5 2500k would be a nice upgrade, even though my 965 BE is doing fine oc'd right now very stable it seems at 3.8ghz w/o touching voltage. I've also considered an FX-8320 BE as well, just bc of 8 cores and future games.

 

[TheAterix]

I would say go with the 2500k if you want great overclocking performance as it is a fantastic chip for £160 and will quite easily beat the 8350 hands downyou may also want to consider the big brother to the 2500k and have a look at the 3570k and save up and combine it with your 7770 and you will see fantastic performance! You should maybe save up and either crossfire it or wait for 8000 series or nvidias 700 range and buy the best card you can afford like the 8870 or whatever its going to be called of have a look at the 650 ti or 660

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i certainly would not upgrade to an fx cpu, you wont even notice the frame rate gains, if any. you could go the i5, but since you have a pretty decent cpu, i would just wait till the next gen intel cpu's to upgrade. the 7870 and gtx660 are pretty much on par if you read a more detailed review like this one: http://techreport.com/review/23527/review-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-graphics-card/11 the 660 actually takes a slight lead in delivering smooth playability. The gtx660 does not run hot, mine hasn't even been able to reach 60c yet. They are tricky to overclock though, depending on the model you get, which was something i didnt realise, due to power limit. but this can be fixed with the KGB BIOS mod to increase power limit and get it performing like a 660Ti. But even at stock the gtx660 plays anything maxed out at 1080p.

 

[austing]

Hey guys, I'm going for more performance in Farcry3, GTA 4, GW2, WoW, and other higher end games in the future. My current system specs are as follows.

AMD Phenom II 965 BE oc@ 3.8ghz (CM Hyper EVO)
Gigabyte 760g 78LMT-S2P Mobo
8gb Kingston Hyper Blu running at 1600mhz
XFX 7750 1gb DDR5 900mhz
Thermaltake TR2 600w psu

Basically I figure my next upgrade should be GPU and I've heard good things about the 660 (except that it runs hotter) for the price, 70$ cheaper than XFX or other variants of the AMD 7870. What would fellow gamers recommend, overall factoring in price, performance and cooling? My buget is between $150-maybe $250 or so.

Thanks guys!

I was where you where once and I grabbed teh ASUS GTX660 and never looked back, it is the most quiet thing ever, and I reached the highest OC possible easily and the card keeps below 65c very well. I can never hear the fan and its an excellent preformer.

 

[bigshootr8]

+1 to crowe I agree that 660 does run pretty much on par with a 7870 and having a card that runs smooth is important.
Also aterix I haven't seen many suggest the 2500k on the forums +1 to you sir I run one and its amazing. The price difference however in the states in minimal between the 2 the only thing that really thing that it boils down to is the cost of the motherboards z68 is quite a bit cheaper now days then a z77 board so sometimes its cheaper to go with a z68 board and a 2500k for that. I do agree though that his current cpu is good enough for now and will more then likely want a facelift come the next series of CPU's from Intel. A FX chip for any one wanting to play for primarily gaming purposes is a bad idea Intel provides the superior solution.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I was where you where once and I grabbed teh ASUS GTX660 and never looked back, it is the most quiet thing ever, and I reached the highest OC possible easily and the card keeps below 65c very well. I can never hear the fan and its an excellent preformer.

have you had any problem with power limit when overclocking, i couldnt oc my gigabyte card much at all without a bios mod? you should check your fps and msi afterburner because even though you think your overclocking, the card can ramp back your clocks and the overclock can actually result in lower fps because of power restrictions. But i hear the asus cards have a different bios, but you can get more out of it with KGB (kelper golden bios).

 

[rocknrollz]

I to recommend you get the 660. Currently I have one in my build and have been very happy with it, plays BF3 pure smooth on High. While playing card never goes above 50 degrees (Not yet anyway).

 

[chrisafp07]

Ok, so for now I'll just wait, my games all run in high or ultra settings with good frames. I'll wait for next gen Intel processor's and just save until then, my gpu has definitely made me an XFX customer, solid value in this card considering the price and expectations.

I'll probably head for the MSI Twin Frozr 7870 2gb ddr5, Amazon has them for just over $200, I've heard good things about this card. Any feedback considering I do want to go with the AMD, seeing from other replies that itll be an easier overclock?

 

[bigshootr8]

Not a bad way to go either. You'll get a more major upgrade then anyway. Probably a 700 series or 8000 series card from AMD/NVIDIA and a haswell chip which will be amazingly energy efficient (require less wattage) and a small performance increase over ivy.

 

[chrisafp07]

Not a bad way to go either. You'll get a more major upgrade then anyway. Probably a 700 series or 8000 series card from AMD/NVIDIA and a haswell chip which will be amazingly energy efficient (require less wattage) and a small performance increase over ivy.

True, maybe just wait altogether and save for 8000 series and next gen Intel, i might need a new mobo then but mobos arent the real expense, I'm sure I could find an affordable Gigabyte.

 

[bigshootr8]

You can get affordable motherboards with any company really asrock has solid boards for cheaper then other board manufactures as well. I would say around the release of haswell you will see both series of cards come out so you will have quite the choice of upgrades when both come out.

 

[chrisafp07]

Best answer selected by Chrisafp07.

 

[chrisafp07]

I'll check out asrock boards too

 

[bigshootr8]

yea most certainly although keep in mind that with every series of cpu's/boards the quality can change and you may find boards more or less desirable but generally speaking ASROCK lately has been making amazing boards.

Companies to look at just be sure you do your homework with them and you know from others experiences and reviews that if its worth your time.
Asrock, ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Hey guys, I'm going for more performance in Farcry3, GTA 4, GW2, WoW, and other higher end games in the future. My current system specs are as follows.

AMD Phenom II 965 BE oc@ 3.8ghz (CM Hyper EVO)
Gigabyte 760g 78LMT-S2P Mobo
8gb Kingston Hyper Blu running at 1600mhz
XFX 7750 1gb DDR5 900mhz
Thermaltake TR2 600w psu

Basically I figure my next upgrade should be GPU and I've heard good things about the 660 (except that it runs hotter) for the price, 70$ cheaper than XFX or other variants of the AMD 7870. What would fellow gamers recommend, overall factoring in price, performance and cooling? My buget is between $150-maybe $250 or so.

Thanks guys!

i just noticed your psu, some thermaltake TR2 psu's are notoriously poor.