GTX 770 4gb vs GTX 780 3gb?

[snapple232]

Since bitcoin miners bought every AMD card on the planet apparently, I've narrowed down my search for a GPU upgrade to these two cards:

Gigabyte GTX 770 4GB - $390
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-4GB-WINDFORCE-Graphics-GV-N770OC-4GD/dp/B00CU9GOAO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

EVGA GTX 780 3GB - $500
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClocked-Dual-Link-Graphics-03G-P4-2783-KR/dp/B00CTY84KI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1386470614&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx+780


My current system is a i7-930, 6GB ram, Radeon HD 5870. Basically, I'm looking for a card that will allow me to play the latest games on a single 1080p monitor at ultra settings for the next 2 years (I'm waiting for the successor to Haswell-E to build a brand new system). So I have some questions:

1) I like playing modded games like Skyrim and probably GTA V when that hits PC; is the 770's 4GB of vram an advantage in that respect over the 780's 3GB?

2) Is the 780 overkill for my stated purpose?

3) The 770 has a 256-bit memory interface while the 780 has a 384-bit. Does that matter at all?

4) Which card should I go with?

 

[NormH]

the 770 is a great card. the 780 will do better but the 770 will max all current games and keep good fps. save the money.

 

[snapple232]

the 770 is a great card. the 780 will do better but the 770 will max all current games and keep good fps. save the money.

Will that be true for the latest games for the next 2 years (at 1080p) though?

 

[huilun02]

I don't think any game has ever hit 3gb of vram usage, unless you force it with a crap ton of texture mods or do supersampling.

You're better off with the 780 if you want some future proofing, although the 770 will probably be more than enough for GTA V. Skyrim? you can max it with a $200 card. The 780's higher memory interface will come in handy when playing at very high resolutions.

 

[Christopher Shaffer]

Since bitcoin miners bought every AMD card on the planet apparently, I've narrowed down my search for a GPU upgrade to these two cards:

Gigabyte GTX 770 4GB - $390
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GDDR5-4GB-WINDFORCE-Graphics-GV-N770OC-4GD/dp/B00CU9GOAO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

EVGA GTX 780 3GB - $500
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperClocked-Dual-Link-Graphics-03G-P4-2783-KR/dp/B00CTY84KI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1386470614&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx+780


My current system is a i7-930, 6GB ram, Radeon HD 5870. Basically, I'm looking for a card that will allow me to play the latest games on a single 1080p monitor at ultra settings for the next 2 years (I'm waiting for the successor to Haswell-E to build a brand new system). So I have some questions:

1) I like playing modded games like Skyrim and probably GTA V when that hits PC; is the 770's 4GB of vram an advantage in that respect over the 780's 3GB?

2) Is the 780 overkill for my stated purpose?

3) The 770 has a 256-bit memory interface while the 780 has a 384-bit. Does that matter at all?

4) Which card should I go with?

You'll probably have a hard time buying a card that will guarantee Ultra in every game for the next two years, but I have a Gigabyte 770 4GB OC and I play BF4 at ultra w/MSAA x2, medium AA post and HBAO and I hold a steady 75FPS (75hz OCd monitor) at 1080p, so I can attest to this card having solid performance. I have maxed out Skyrim and overall I think this is a great card. In fact, I'll be adding a second once I purchased a 120Hz 3D monitor and running SLI.

The 780 is a great card but not worth the extra $$, especially with less VRAM. To put this in perspective, I get around 10FPS more than the benchmarks I've seen with the 2GB version of my card, and BF4 uses about 3.6GB of VRAM, and around 4GB of system memory.

Now if the 780Ti is doable for you, I'd suggest this in a 4GB version.

 

[NormH]

not with that cpu a 780 or more will be bottlenecked its pointless

 

[Christopher Shaffer]

not with that cpu a 780 or more will be bottlenecked its pointless

A bottleneck will depend entirely on the game or program and its own CPU utitlization. There are certainly some games that would max this CPU and never take full advantage of the 780, however the same could be said of any high-end modern card with a given CPU.

It's simply not accurate to make a blanket statement that any game would result in a bottleneck by the CPU.

That said, I feel you should definitely upgrade your CPU, and as such, your motherboard to support this card. Definitely consider the advantages of PCI 3.0 x16. Some people say there's no real advantages with current cards. Those same people usually have a board that doesn't have it, ignore benchmarks and have an older CPU.

So, if you upgrade the GPU, plan on a CPU and MB upgrade soon thereafter to really get the most out of the system.

 

[coozie7]

The GTX780 has plenty of grunt in reserve so for a long term ownership it's the better option, particularly since you like to use lots of graphic mods.
If you don't use much AA the 2Gb 770 is going to be good enough for a couple of years with ease if you stay on a single 1080 screen and is a less expensive option.
Either will be a BIG upgrade from the current HD5870
Doubt very much if any game is going to need 4Gb, at least for the foreseeable future.
If you've not done so already, look into overclocking the current CPU, doing so to my i5 750 has made a considerable difference.
Nice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130942

 

[Christopher Shaffer]

The GTX780 has plenty of grunt in reserve so for a long term ownership it's the better option, particularly since you like to use lots of graphic mods.
If you don't use much AA the 2Gb 770 is going to be good enough for a couple of years with ease if you stay on a single 1080 screen and is a less expensive option.
Either will be a BIG upgrade from the current HD5870
Doubt very much if any game is going to need 4Gb, at least for the foreseeable future.
If you've not done so already, look into overclocking the current CPU, doing so to my i5 750 has made a considerable difference.
Nice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130942

I mostly agree except about the 4GB need. Again, BF4 uses about 3.6GB of my available VRAM.

In addition, most newer cards have at least 3GB. If you want to SLI and plan for the future, you're better off buying a card that's likely to be around for a while. Cards over 2GB fit that qualification, and are quickly becoming the norm.

 

[NormH]

nooo...... im the norm

 

[Christopher Shaffer]

nooo...... im the norm

Nice. I see what you did there. Lol.