Small Form Factor Gaming Graphics Card

[cachcoco]

Hey hey. I have a mini itx build i5-3350p, Samsung 500g SSD, 8 gigs of G.Skill Sniper 1866, a Seasonic 650 fully modular powersupply, and all in a Lian Li pc-q08b (cards up to 300m).

My conundrum is that I want to play GW2 and WoW on ultra settings as well as be satisfied with Crysis 3/ Bioshock Infinite performance (I'd also like to branch out on new games).

Everything I've read says to go with 7970 but I've also read articles suggesting that the 670 FTW handles WoW and eye candy better. 680 is a huge question as the 670FTW is supposed to be equal to a reference 680 for less money.

My budget is around $450 (could probably push the wife to open the strings a bit further since we just bought a $600 vacuum; lol)

What would you suggest and why would you suggest it over a competing card?

Many thanks for your time and guidance!

 

[stickmansam]

7970 IMO as you get crysis 3 and can OC to 7970 ghz and past it
Yes the 670 vs 7970 is faster in wow but not really noticeable
The 7970 should handle eye candy better in most games though crysis 3 is currently tanking on the AMD cards though nvidia is tanking on tomb raider

 

[vrumor]

Best bang for the buck of the higher end cards is the 7970 hands down. RIght now you can pick one up for $380 with Crysis 3 and Bioshock free. Outperforms either 670 or 680 and for $100 less than a 680 and about on par with the 670 price wise. Im sure there will be arguments going both ways, but I think with the free games and price point of the 7970 its tough to beat it. I got a ~30% OC on my 7970, and its stable. Like I said before, tough to beat. 670 and 680 are very nice cards as well, if price being equal, any of them are great, but at $380, the 7970 rocks.

 

[geofelt]

I have a Q08R which I am planning to use on a build when haswell launches, so I have done a fair amount of research on this.
I have a EVGA GTX680 I am currently using in a larger case and am planning on using it in the new build.
I am not at all concerned about heat with the card because the EVGA direct exhaust cooler sends the heat directly out the back of the case. The 140mm intake fan is strong enough to provide sufficient intake air.

The part I have not yet resolved is how much cpu cooling I will need. A simple downdraft cooler is what I hope for.
You have to be careful about what will fit the ITX motherboard since socket placement may impact some graphics cards.
If push comes to shove, I will use an all in one cooler and locate the radiator as an exhaust in the top 120mm hole.

As to your GTX670 or 7970 question, you will be pleased with the performance of either. Aside from benchmarks, you will be hard pressed to prefer one over the other.
I would pick a unit with direct exhaust like the GTX670 FTW. And, yes, the price premium for the GTX680 is probably not worth it. On the other hand, if you have the cash, why not. A stronger card will not need a high oc to perform as well, and will run cooler and quieter.
Another emerging issue is that of response time consistence or stuttering. Here is an early article on that:
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited

 

[stickmansam]

Another emerging issue is that of response time consistence or stuttering. Here is an early article on that:
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited

Issue has been fixed/being fixed though i think AMD should have caught on to it earlier
http://techreport.com/review/24218/a-driver-update-to-reduce-radeon-frame-times

I agree that exhaust types are better in such small form factors

 

[cachcoco]

7970 is the way i'm going.

Thank you, Stickmansam and everyone else who replied!

Be well! XD