New system. Have questions.

[haneefisbeast]

Hey guys, here is my new pc build I'm ordering soon, I have some questions as to, will there be any bottlenecking issues? What I mean is, will the cpu harness the power of the video card, therefore not making it as awesome as it's supposed to be? Will the video card fit in my case? Is my PSU enough?

Case: Thermaltake Commander Mid-Tower Gaming Case
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.40 GHz
MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H Intel Z77 Chipset
RAM: 8GB 1600MHz Corsair XMS
Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 7970
Power Supply Upgrade: * 650 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 80 Plus Power Supply
HDD: 500 gig

 

[dalmvern]

No bottlenecking at all, everything will fit, plenty of power. You have a solid build there with all good parts. Any reason you arent adding a SSD for at least your OS?

 

[haneefisbeast]

Ehh, too expensive. XD I'm not the richest of them all. Also, would it be ok if I downgraded to either of these 2 power supplies and save some money? Corsair CX430 V2 80 Plus Certified Power Supply 430 Watts, Corsair CX500 V2 80 Plus Certified Power Supply 500 Watts.

 

[dalmvern]

Ehh, too expensive. XD I'm not the richest of them all.

Ha! You are getting a 7970, whats another $80-$120 onto your system for faster windows load-up times?

Only reason im suggesting is that once you get windows installed and everything loaded onto your HDD, if you do decide you want a SSD down the line, you are going to have to reinstall everything. Just a suggestion, either way you have a solid build there.

 

[dansgas1000]

Don't get a 7970. Get a GTX 670 instead or GTX 680.

 

[azeem40]

Since a 7970 is only $50 more and due to catalyst 12.7, it is quite a bit better than the GTX 670.

 

[dalmvern]

Also, would it be ok if I downgraded to either of these 2 power supplies and save some money? Corsair CX430 V2 80 Plus Certified Power Supply 430 Watts, Corsair CX500 V2 80 Plus Certified Power Supply 500 Watts.

You know, with a 7970, I dont think I would go below a 550W PSU, power draw for the 7970 peaks at 355W ( http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/8 ) then you have to factor in your CPU and periperals, and I wouldnt use that Corsair, its a "500W" power supply that only provides 32A to the 12V rail... The Corsair Enthusiast series is what you want.

 

[azeem40]

Yeah, that is barely 400W.

 

[haneefisbeast]

Haha, ok, I guess I'll stick with the 650 Watt Power Supply. I was wondering, whats better, the Nvidia Geforce GTX 670 2gb or this 7970 I'm planning on getting?

 

[nevertell]

Well, if he does end up buying an SSD down the line, it is stupid to point out that he will have to reinstall everything. He would just have to clear C:/ of enough bullcrap to have the partition be filled to roughly about 50-60% of the SSD and then just clone it onto the SSD. Then, fix the bootloader with a windows install DVD and voila, you've got the same setup on a different drive.

 

[azeem40]

7970 is better.

 

[dalmvern]

inb4 fanboys.

Really its a wash between the two. ATI has been improving their cards' performance with tweaks to their drivers, I think there was an update recently that gave the 7970 a slight edge over the 670 in some games, but really its six on one hand and half a dozen on the other.

 

[azeem40]

The 7970 always had an edge against the 670 in games. The new drivers widened that gap.

 

[haneefisbeast]

Haha, ok. I was just wondering because the 670 2 gb is about 20 dollars cheaper and uses less power, I think. Anyone else know?

 

[azeem40]

It is cheaper, but IMO, the extra $20 is worth it.

 

[dalmvern]

The 7970 always had an edge against the 670 in games. The new drivers widened that gap.

The 7970 has not always been better, check these benches from when the 670/680 came out. http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/05/14/geforce_680_670_vs_radeon_7970_7950_gaming_perf/4

I agree that with the new drivers, the 7970 is better FOR NOW, but for all intents and purposes, the cards have very similar performance.

 

[azeem40]

I believe it was the 7970 which was only a few % from the GTX 680..
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/03/22/nvidia_kepler_gpu_geforce_gtx_680_video_card_review/

 

[dalmvern]

The link I provided was from May 14, 2012. The charts clearly show that the 7970 has lower performance than both 670 and 680, both stock clock and overclocked.

Look im not going to get in a pissing contest, its always like this, one outperforms the other, the other one improves the drivers, back and forth. Go with whichever company you prefer or whichever is on sale or whichever has better cooling. You will be happy with either of those cards for a long time.