Need help choosing a new GPU

[explodatron]

I'm having trouble deciding which card I should get. I mainly game, I do a tiny bit of game recording every now and then. First and foremost, this GPU is for gaming. From here on out I'm going to follow the format outlined in one of the stickies.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:
Within the next 2-3 weeks

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:
Gaming. What I'm playing right now: Witcher 2 (Wish I could use ubersampling), Crysis 2, Battlefield 3, Max Payne 3, Assassin's Creed 1/2/Revelations.
Games I'd like to enjoy at max settings in the future: Borderlands 2, Dishonored, Sleeping Dogs, Assassin's Creed III, Metro: Last Light.

BUDGET RANGE:
$400-$500

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:
I have two HiS IceQ X Radeon 6950 2GB cards in crossfire. My PSU is a Corsair HX850.

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
CPU: i5 2500k @ 4.4GHz | G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
newegg.com, amazon.com. I live in Washington.

PARTS PREFERENCES:
I'd prefer Nvidia this time around. I am really tired of AMD's driver issues.

OVERCLOCKING:
Yes on overclocking, maybe on SLI. I haven't really enjoyed my time with crossfire, and would prefer just a single card.

MONITOR RESOLUTION:
1920x1080. No plans on adding more monitors any time soon (I play on a 40 inch TV.)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Right now I have no trouble running most games at 60 FPS and everything on max. Crossfire is just such a huge pain in the butt sometimes, not to mention the heat coming out of my case is down right ridiculous. Had I properly researched into the dealings of crossfire beforehand, I would not have bought two cards.

Price isn't the biggest problem, as I plan to sell both 6950s to offset the new card price.

Any input would be very appreciated.

 

[drums101]

well there are only two cards in your price range from nvidia....the gtx 670 and gtx 680....of those two I would go with the 670 save yourself 100 bucks and you are only getting a card that is like 5% slower or so....you can easily oc it to 680 levels....now if you were to go AMD there really isnt much out there to compete with that besides the 7970....and that I feel is priced a little high for the performance I would go with the 670 out of those two

 

[explodatron]

What kind, if any, of performance difference will I get between this:
Galaxy 67NPH6DV5ZJX GeForce GTX 670 2GB
and
EVGA 04G-P4-2673-KR GeForce GTX 670 Superclocked+ w/Backplate 4GB

 

[quilciri]

With the catalyst 12.7 beta drivers, the 7970 generally outperforms the 670; they're both ~$400.

However, which games you play should be the largest factor in picking between those two cards. Look at the benchmarks for each card for the games you listed. Use that to determine which card is best for you. Most benchmarks were done before the 12.7 drivers, however, so you can safely award any ties in the older benches to amd.

 

[drums101]

the EVGA core clock is a little higher but nothing too major that you couldn't do yourself...the only way you will see a diff between the two cards is multi-monitor gaming...if you were running 3 1080pp monitors in surround the extra 2gb of vram on the evga one would come in handy....but that's arguable...so unless you run that setup its not really worth the $60 bucks for the EVGA card

 

[explodatron]

So the 7970 is sounding like the better choice. When overclocked it beats an overclocked 680? And it's for sure going to be cooler and quieter than running two 6950s. All for $80 less than a 680 too.

Does that sound correct? I popped hydrocodone (vicodin) and a muscle relaxer about an hour ago for an injury, and I'm a little.. discombobulated right now.

 

[drums101]

haha damn man you got a good doctor lol...injury must be pretty crappy sorry to hear that....I got my threads mixed up and I thought you said you preferred nvidia...but if it doesnt matter the 7970 is a good card too. I am an nvidia fan so I would go with the 670 but they are both great cards

 

[explodatron]

haha damn man you got a good doctor lol...injury must be pretty crappy sorry to hear that....I got my threads mixed up and I thought you said you preferred nvidia...but if it doesnt matter the 7970 is a good card too. I am an nvidia fan so I would go with the 670 but they are both great cards

Well the last nvidia card I had was the 8800GT and I loved that card a lot. The drivers were great, the configuration software had a ton of features.

AMD has been really late with drivers for games recently. And I seem to always be running into issues with games that are AMD specific, where the nvidia users don't have those problems.

Now I'm trying to decide between Galaxy 67NPH6DV6KXZ GeForce GTX 670 GC 2GB and VisionTek 900491 Radeon HD 7970 3GB (670 has a $20 mail in rebate)

I kind of want more than 2GB to future proof the card. How realistic is this? By the time games may be pushing 2GB this 3GB card might just be outdated?

It's hard for me to compare how well the cards will perform because of how AMD and Nvidia handle stream processors.

I hear the 600 series cards are very low power consumption and low heat compared to the 7000 series which still run very hot.

What is really annoying is that most of the benchmarks I can find for the 7970 are only using multi monitor resolutions, which doesn't apply to me.

I'm wondering if the performance of a 7970 at 1920x1080 is going to be about the same as a 670.

 

[drums101]

the thing with the vram is that the extra 1gb of ram that the 7907 has doesnt really have too much of a performance impact unless you are doing multi monitor high res gaming since you said that doesnt apply to you then I think you will be better off with a 670.....everyone is going to have their own opinions but I am biased towards nvidia.

 

[explodatron]

Best answer selected by explodatron.

 

[explodatron]

Thanks I ended up getting a 670 today for 399.