GTX 580 brand, and the 7970

[fustrun]

Hey guys!

I'm planning an upgrade for my graphics card, i'm currently aiming for a GTX 580 and to be more specific this card http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/43487-gigabyte-gtx-580-super-overclock-review.html (GTX 580 Gigabyte Super Overclock edition).

So i'm wondering what are your takes on manufacturers of the GTX 580 ? because as far as i know this is the fastest GTX 580 card (with no user made overclock) out on the market.

I have an alternative which is the HD7970 but since i was sticking to Nvidia for the past 10 years it's hard to switch to ATI, now i know that it's faster then the GTX 580 but will i actually feel a diffrence is it worth switching to ATI?
What are your thoughts ?

 

[willard]

7970 is overpriced right now. Unless you just have to have the best of the best, I don't think it's worth it.

As far as that particular GTX 580, I can't really help. Sorry.

 

[tallpaul02]

I'd have to agree with bigmack70 with the caveat that whether you choose to go with AMD or Nvidia, you should wait out the 6 weeks until Kepler launches on April 12th as it will push both the prices of AMD's 7xxx cards and Nvidia's GTX5xx cards down (possibly by a good amount on the high end of the series) or you might just get a TON more bang for your buck buying the GTX6xx card in the same price range.

 

[geofelt]

Hey guys!

I'm planning an upgrade for my graphics card, i'm currently aiming for a GTX 580 and to be more specific this card http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/43487-gigabyte-gtx-580-super-overclock-review.html (GTX 580 Gigabyte Super Overclock edition).

So i'm wondering what are your takes on manufacturers of the GTX 580 ? because as far as i know this is the fastest GTX 580 card (with no user made overclock) out on the market.

I have an alternative which is the HD7970 but since i was sticking to Nvidia for the past 10 years it's hard to switch to ATI, now i know that it's faster then the GTX 580 but will i actually feel a diffrence is it worth switching to ATI?
What are your thoughts ?

As far as I know, the EVGA GTX580 classified is the highest clocked card around.
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-CLASSIFIED-Dual-DualLink-Graphics-03G-P3-1595-AR/dp/B006MBP6FK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1330387442&sr=8-11

EVGA is a good nvidia supplier, the the classified has even more headroom if you want to push it more.


That said, I think I would wait a month or two for kepler. Nvidia must be busting their buns to get out their competitor to the 7970.

 

[AidanJC]

Hey guys!

I'm planning an upgrade for my graphics card, i'm currently aiming for a GTX 580 and to be more specific this card http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/43487-gigabyte-gtx-580-super-overclock-review.html (GTX 580 Gigabyte Super Overclock edition).

So i'm wondering what are your takes on manufacturers of the GTX 580 ? because as far as i know this is the fastest GTX 580 card (with no user made overclock) out on the market.

I have an alternative which is the HD7970 but since i was sticking to Nvidia for the past 10 years it's hard to switch to ATI, now i know that it's faster then the GTX 580 but will i actually feel a diffrence is it worth switching to ATI?
What are your thoughts ?

I currently have that exact card and it is an amazing GPU. The Overclocking headroom is quite impressive, i was able to bump it up to 935MHz on the core until i started seeing a few errors within games. If you're in the market for a new card, i would definitely wait until Kepler is released to see the power increase or so that the prices of the GTX580 are driven down a little.

 

[unksol]

7970 is overpriced right now. Unless you just have to have the best of the best, I don't think it's worth it.

As far as that particular GTX 580, I can't really help. Sorry.

wait what? you wanna run that by me again? the fastest single GPU which outperforms his choice and is CHEAPER is OVERPRICED?!?!

 

[fustrun]

Ok guys first i live in russia and we don't have ebay here and EVGA cards are not imported here.
Now you say i should wait for kepler to see a price drop on the GTX 580? or you guys actualy mean to save up for a kepler ? because i'm pretty sure it would cost sky-high.
So if the waiting is only to get the GTX580 cheaper i would rather just buy it now.
And even if the 7970 is abit overpriced atm it's not a big deal i'm just wondering how much of a change i'm gonna feel between the too because i don't like the idea of switching to ATI unless its really worth it.
And i wanted to buy the 580 and SLI it in the future so is buying a pair of 560i is really a good way to go ?
Basically i wouldn't want to wait with the purchase, unless i can get a gtx 6xx card but i guess the prices would be crazy when it will be released so i would have to wait past april to buy it, btw no one has mentioned the GTX590 . . i see it's not a popular card.

 

[Rockdpm]

Bigmack is right, Right now is the...worst time to buy a video card, as its unclear what NVIDIA's next most popular card is gonna be and perform and for biggest inerest (Cost). I think if you were to get one now, the GTX 580, then if you seriously are gonna SLI later, another GTX 580. but if you can't SLI, get a GTX 560 ti and SLI that, because a GTX 560 ti, is probably what?, about 250 in russia? get two of those and its around 500?, so you get 75% performance overhead a GTX 580. comparing it to a GTX 580 sli setup your about 25 to 30 percent from the performance comparison. all in all. ALso depends on the rest of your gaming setup. you don't wanna bottle neck your computer either

 

[fustrun]

You want to tell me that the next nvidia gtx 6xx card can be priced around the same price of the gtx 580 ?
I'm not "locked" on the GTX 580 and i guess i could SLI a pair of them later but of course i wouldn't know when because it's alot of money as it is.
About the 560i the best one i have in a place near me is the 'GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560Ti" which i guess i could buy 2, and the price is 300$ a piece.
What 560's would you recommend for a SLI setup?
And my rig:
Asus SABERTOOTH P67 motherboard
I7 Sandybridge 2600 3.4ghz
16gb Corsair Vengance
750wat corsair powersupply
Raven RV-01 case
GTS 250 1gb

And about the 7970 they are available, they actualy got it about a week ago, so i could go for the 7970 if thats a better option then the 560ti x2 or the GTX 580.
I'm just worried if i wait i would have to spend the money on something else so i want to waste it with no turning back

Man i never thought it would be so difficult . . open the catalog -> sort by price -> buy the card that costs the most

 

[fustrun]

And about the recommindations for the 560 ti's no EVGA or PNY we don't have them in russia, we have Asus, Gigabyte, Zotac, MSI and Palit i think thats it though im not sure.

 

[fustrun]

First of all big thanks to all you guys for the help !
Ok i understood about the GTX580, if everyone keeps saying it's a bad idea then it propably is

7950 is about 500$
7970 is about 628$

So what do you think ?

 

[fustrun]

Oh and one another small thing, i thought about buying a 3d monitor for gaming in the future and i know 3d vision is nvidia's patent and i haven't seen anything similar by AMD what is their take on 3d gaming ?

 

[geofelt]

Ok guys first i live in russia and we don't have ebay here and EVGA cards are not imported here.
Now you say i should wait for kepler to see a price drop on the GTX 580? or you guys actualy mean to save up for a kepler ? because i'm pretty sure it would cost sky-high.
So if the waiting is only to get the GTX580 cheaper i would rather just buy it now.
And even if the 7970 is abit overpriced atm it's not a big deal i'm just wondering how much of a change i'm gonna feel between the too because i don't like the idea of switching to ATI unless its really worth it.
And i wanted to buy the 580 and SLI it in the future so is buying a pair of 560i is really a good way to go ?
Basically i wouldn't want to wait with the purchase, unless i can get a gtx 6xx card but i guess the prices would be crazy when it will be released so i would have to wait past april to buy it, btw no one has mentioned the GTX590 . . i see it's not a popular card.

Too bad you can't get EVGA or some other brands.

The graphics card market is very competitive at every price point. Only when there is no competition, like the 7970 situation can vendors charge more.
When kepler launches, I do not think GTX580 prices will have any steep decline. If kepler is similar to 7970 performance, you can expect more competitive pricing.
If it is demonastably superior, then you can expect it to be priced accordingly.

In the end, buy today, what you need today, and you will get a fair deal. Your rig can drive any graphics configuration to it's max.
The question is, just how good do you need to be? If you are a professional gamer, or have no budget, that is one thing.
But, If you are gaming on a single monitor of 1920 or less, then a GTX580 is about as good as it gets. A 7970 is probably overkill for a single monitor anyway.

If you are looking at triple monitor gaming, that is another thing, and cf/sli will come into play.

The GTX590 was expensive for Nvidia to produce, and it is priced accordingly. In effect is is sli GTX570 on a single card. Still overkill for a single monitor.

Buy the best card you feel comfortable paying for. Don't chase ultimate overclocks. While you can measure differences with synthetic benchmarks, I don't think you can actually feel the differences while playing.

 

[fustrun]

Ok found a AMD Radeon HD 7950 Sapphire 3072Mb for 527$
The GTX 580 is about 550$
But it has some really nice stats -
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Gigabyte-GeForce-GTX-580-15GB-Super-Overclock-Last-Hurrah-Fermi
It runs on 855mhz and people overclocked it to above 90mhz . .
And what about the 3d issue (scroll up if you haven;t seen it)
but if you would have to spend all the 650$ your choice would be the 7970? (no waiting on nvidia's new card) or dual 560's ?

 

[fustrun]

I just want a card that will last me for a few years, as my GTS 250 did for some time . . and i allways want to keep my options open such as gaming in 3d and adding more monitors.
I have 650$ and i have no problem spending them.
I'm just looking for my best choice

 

[17seconds]

You will be very happy with a Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC. They are fast, silent, and will allow you to max out any and all games now and into the future.

If you are having a tough time deciding, all I have to say is the problem with drivers and AMD cards is real. If you have been running with Nvidia for a while then you know that the drivers are always solid, dependable, and easy to use.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/01/17/amd_crossfirex_drivers_opportunity_lost/

 

[geofelt]

lolwut?

The 7950 costs less than the GTX 580, performs better than the GTX 580 (at stock!), has more overclocking potential then the 580, uses less power, etc...

I think what you meant to say is "the HD 7950 is about as good as it gets"

No, I meant today, the 7970 is about as good as it gets, from a performance point of view. (barring the possible exception of the dual gpu GTX590 and 6990).
How good the value is a different issue. For those with the funds, you can't buy a better single gpu card today.
Reports from users who actually own the card are very high on it, at least from a fps performance point of view. They say it handles everything they can throw at it when using a single monitor. That's great
There are the usual doa's which I would expect from a new product. Best to buy from a source that gives you good support.

In the US, 7970 is $550-$600.
7950 $450-$500
GTX580 $450-$500
It seems that since the GTX580 and 7950 are close in performance, the market should value them equally, and that appears to be so.

 

[fustrun]

Thank you all guys for the feedback and info!
Being an Nvida loyalist for 10 years makes it hard to switch to ATI but when ultimatly when the competition is better, it won't make me stick to something familiar if it performes worst.
Anyway if i'm going for an ITA i have to know what is their take on 3D gaming ?
Because i know Nvidia has 3D Vision with shutter glasses technology so what's AMD's solution for this ?

 

[17seconds]

Nvidia has a better 3D Vision 2 system as it certifies all the hardware and supplies the software itself. AMD has a more fragmented system that relies upon 3rd party software and does not certify hardware vendors. More games support Nvidia 3D Vision properly, but both systems have their positives and negatives.

Quote:
"Inconsistent game compatibility is still a potential issue. In our experience, Nvidia is far and away the winner on that front, but judging by the frame time spikes we measured and the need to tweak settings in Deus Ex, even the best solution on the market isn't perfect. AMD, meanwhile, suffers from a fragmented hardware ecosystem and patchy support for even major titles. Battlefield 3 still has visual bugs with the latest driver release, and Arkham City lacks proper support of any kind right now. More worryingly, we encountered a rendering bug in Portal 2, a game that's been out for over nine months and really ought to work without issues at this point."
http://techreport.com/articles.x/22350
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tridef-stereoscopic-3d-gaming,3019.html

 

[bystander]

I have used both HD3D and 3d vision. I can't see a lot of difference as I do have SLI. In all the games I play in 3D, both games support it with about the same performance on a single card. I however have SLI, which makes Nvidia 3D vision perform better, until I use Virtual mode, which case HD3D does very good on a single card. That said, AMD has finally released crossfire support for HD3D, so it seems pretty even now with Nvidia being quicker to support games, and HD3D having more performance with 3d virtual mode (but has slight halo effect in virtual mode).

In the last few months, AMD has made great strides to catch up.

 

[fustrun]

But which glasses do you use ? Nvidia's shutter glass or regular 3d glasses like you would get in an Imax theater ?
And waht about passive 3d monitors ?
BTW i think i'm gonna go with the ASUS 7970 . . my main wory is the 3D because so far i heared nothing but positive feedback on this card.

 

[azeem40]

Why are we talking about 3D vision? OP mentioned nothing about a 120Hz monitor.

wait what? you wanna run that by me again? the fastest single GPU which outperforms his choice and is CHEAPER is OVERPRICED?!?!

Since when is the 7970 cheaper?

 

[azeem40]

I agree with him too in that the 7970 isn't overpriced; I was just wondering how it was cheaper.

 

[bystander]

I believe he was thinking about the 7950.

 

[fustrun]

So can anyone answer the 3D answer ?