So my GTX670s are going back.

[cygone]

I purchased 2 GTX670 (EVGA Standard Clocks) - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-915mhz-boost-980mhz-cores-1344-2x-dl-dvi-dp-hd they they just WONT overclock (+80 on Core and +60 on Mem) so I have got an RMA set up for them.

Question is, what to replace them with ?

2*GTX670
I could go for EVGA FTW Cards - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-ftw-signature-ii-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6208mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-cores-1344-dp-dvi-hdm being that these are binned chips they chances are I would be able to OC these a little more as well.

2xHD7970
Going over to the Red side (not been here in about 6years), I would be looking at http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7970-ghz-dd-edition-ghost-thermal-hydrocell-6000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1050mhz-2048-co

Or what about

3xHD7950
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7950-double-d-black-ghost-hcell-5500mhz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-hdmi-mini-dp

Power, airflow, space, PCIe Lanes are not a problem for any of the above.

Advantage of the trifire is the removal of any microstutter, however whats is CCC like these days? nVidia drivers still better than AMD ones?

Would a 3xGTX660ti be viable?

And no I'm not looking to spend GTX680 money.

Please discuss.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

What about a 7990...i just bought one....stunning...

All the best Brett

 

[anubis44]

I purchased 2 GTX670 (EVGA Standard Clocks) - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6008mhz-gddr5-gpu-915mhz-boost-980mhz-cores-1344-2x-dl-dvi-dp-hd they they just WONT overclock (+80 on Core and +60 on Mem) so I have got an RMA set up for them.

Question is, what to replace them with ?

2*GTX670
I could go for EVGA FTW Cards - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-ftw-signature-ii-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6208mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-cores-1344-dp-dvi-hdm being that these are binned chips they chances are I would be able to OC these a little more as well.

2xHD7970
Going over to the Red side (not been here in about 6years), I would be looking at http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7970-ghz-dd-edition-ghost-thermal-hydrocell-6000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1050mhz-2048-co

Or what about

3xHD7950
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7950-double-d-black-ghost-hcell-5500mhz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-hdmi-mini-dp

Power, airflow, space, PCIe Lanes are not a problem for any of the above.

Advantage of the trifire is the removal of any microstutter, however whats is CCC like these days? nVidia drivers still better than AMD ones?

Would a 3xGTX660ti be viable?

And no I'm not looking to spend GTX680 money.

Please discuss.

Just a suggestion that you consider the Gigabyte Windforce 7970 or 7950 cards. They have excellent, nearly silent cooling and they overclock well. On top of that, they tend be near the lower end of the price spectrum for their respective ranges. As far as drivers go, AMD's drivers are every bit as good at this point as nVidia's for general stability. The latest 12.11 drivers have also brought huge performance improvements in games across the board. Also, I found (since I use a 3 monitor setup) that AMD's 3 monitor driver works better than nVidia's. I had a GTX670 myself, and it was a pain in the ass to get all 3 monitors to provide a picture. Had to edit a bunch of settings to get it to work, and every time there was a driver update, and I had to go through the whole procedure all over again. With AMD Catalyst, 3 monitor setup for eyefinity is a 5 minute operation and you're up and running.

Finally, most AMD 7950/7970 cards have a dual bios. There are lots of forums with info on people who have flashed their cards with a better/faster clocked bios, which reduces or eliminates the need for overclocking software. You can still use overclocking software, even on a bios-flashed card, it's just that you can overclock a card by flashing if you'd rather not be running yet another program in the background that could crash. With dual-bios switch, you can always switch back to the other, stock bios if your card doesn't like a bios you've tried on the second setting. Finally, the 7950s all come with 3GB of memory for the same price or less than the GTX660Ti's with only 2GB.

Just more examples of more bang for your buck with AMD.

Good luck.

 

[djangoringo]

Two 670 evga FTW will be better, they got the 680 gtx pcb, they have a good oc from factory and they overclock well beyond that.
But i don't think they'll accept the rma based on the possibility of oc of your two current cards.

 

[cygone]

Two 670 evga FTW will be better, they got the 680 gtx pcb, they have a good oc from factory and they overclock well beyond that.
But i don't think they'll accept the rma based on the possibility of oc of your two current cards.

The RMA has already been accepted (Here in the UK, we have what is called the 'Distance Sellers Regulation' it means you can return a product you have purchased online for ANY reason you want or for no reason at all and the reseller has to adbide by it - and cover the shipping costs)

 

[bigcyco1]

Basically this is the main reason i never buy reference cards.I personally think straight garbage! From best to worst from techpowerup

Asus 670 TOP - 10.0 rating (only card ever to get a 10.0)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html

Gigabyte Windforce SC 670 - 9.8 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_670_Windforce/33.html

MSI Twin Frozr IV 670 - 9.7 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_670_Power_Edition/33.html

Palit Jetsteram 670 - 9.7 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_670_Jet_Stream/33.html

Zotac AMP 670 - 9.6 rating
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_670_Amp_Edition/33.html

They didn't do the EVGA so.....

http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-geforce-gtx-670-sc-review/23
EVGA SC Boost Clock is 1046 outta the box....stable at 1200 Mhz
EVGA SC gets 3DMark Score of 8691 outta the box and 9443 OC'd
Idle temp is 29C / load temp is 78C
Noise is 37 dBA Idle / 43 dBA under load

http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-geforce-gtx-670-directcu-ii-top-review/23
Asus TOP Boost Clock is 1137 outta the box .... stable at 1280 Mhz
Asus gets 3DMark Score of 9340 outta the box and 9839 OC'd
Idle temp is 30C / load temp is 72C
Noise is 37 dBA Idle / 38 dBA under load

That makes the Asus 7% faster outta the box than the EVGA SC, 6C cooler and almost 1/4 as loud under load (every 3 dBA is a doubling of sound level). The FTW is slightly faster than the SC, leaving the Asus model w/ just a 5% performance advantage

 

[cygone]

Just a suggestion that you consider the Gigabyte Windforce 7970 or 7950 cards. They have excellent, nearly silent cooling and they overclock well. On top of that, they tend be near the lower end of the price spectrum for their respective ranges. As far as drivers go, AMD's drivers are every bit as good at this point as nVidia's for general stability. The latest 12.11 drivers have also brought huge performance improvements in games across the board. Also, I found (since I use a 3 monitor setup) that AMD's 3 monitor driver works better than nVidia's. I had a GTX670 myself, and it was a pain in the ass to get all 3 monitors to provide a picture. Had to edit a bunch of settings to get it to work, and every time there was a driver update, and I had to go through the whole procedure all over again. With AMD Catalyst, 3 monitor setup for eyefinity is a 5 minute operation and you're up and running.

Finally, most AMD 7950/7970 cards have a dual bios. There are lots of forums with info on people who have flashed their cards with a better/faster clocked bios, which reduces or eliminates the need for overclocking software. You can still use overclocking software, even on a bios-flashed card, it's just that you can overclock a card by flashing if you'd rather not be running yet another program in the background that could crash. With dual-bios switch, you can always switch back to the other, stock bios if your card doesn't like a bios you've tried on the second setting. Finally, the 7950s all come with 3GB of memory for the same price or less than the GTX660Ti's with only 2GB.

Just more examples of more bang for your buck with AMD.

Good luck.

I'm also running Surround / Eyefinity (3x1680x1050) and with the nVidia drivers when swithing between SLI / Surround / All Displays / Single I kept getting monitor out of range signals which meant a boot to safe mode and the removal of the drivers.

Windforce are good cards but they dont diserpate all the heat via the backplate so I have discounted them. Oh I know ATI are better value for same performance but i've been with Green so long I am hesitant to switch.

 

[cygone]

Hi

What about a 7990...i just bought one....stunning...

All the best Brett

For the same reason 580 and 590 are out of the question, though money is not really an issue, i'm not spending +20% for +5% performance.

 

[bigcyco1]

I would say that if your a hardcore overclock type.I think your better off going AMD.

 

[mcnumpty23]

though you have discounted the gigabyte windforce

just in case any one else reading this thread is considering one

just got the 7970 windforce

and though its a great card and runs at 1000mhz

gigabyte have locked overvolting on the new revision cards without saying anything about it

nothing i tried even flashing other bios on it will allow overvolting

it wont overclock past 1025mhz at all--earlier revisions could hit 1200mhz-1300mhz

though memory overclocking is still fine that goes to 1600mhz no problem

 

[cygone]

Just for my clarity

HD7970 - £319
GTX670 - £312
HD7950 - £245
GTX660ti - £242

 

[bigcyco1]

I would not even consider 660 ti the 670 or 7970 is the way to go just my two cents lol.

 

[djangoringo]

Get the 670 gtx, the crossfire setups get more micro-stuttering and less smoothness than the SLI setups.
Also drivers support is for multi gpus is better with nvidia.
It's the question of what 670 gtx to get, two 670 ftw 2GB are the best option(the signature 2 doesn't have the 680 gtx pcb)

This one : http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-ftw-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6208mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-boost-1084mhz-cores-1344-dp-dl-dvi

 

[larkspur]

The RMA has already been accepted (Here in the UK, we have what is called the 'Distance Sellers Regulation' it means you can return a product you have purchased online for ANY reason you want or for no reason at all and the reseller has to adbide by it - and cover the shipping costs)

And you guys wonder why things are so much more expensive in the UK...

 

[sam_p_lay]

Where are you getting your prices? I'm pretty sure I've seen better prices on all four. Maybe there's one or two here you don't know:

scan.co.uk
aria.co.uk
dabs.com
ebuyer.com
novatech.co.uk

Also +1 to djangoringo and bigcyco1 on the GTX670

 

[bigcyco1]

If i was in your shoes the choice would be 670 as to which one.Simple, GTX 670 DirectCU II was born TOP, a video card generous in every respect. I would be all over that Asus TOP for its high factory overclock, cool temps, and really, really quiet fans,heavily modified PCB, with an efficient VRM design to produce low temperatures, improved voltage regulation circuitry, much better Chil controller , specially binned chip and voltage control and monitoring support that you won't find on most other non-reference cards.The card a straight beast!If you prefer to spend less i would go for The MSI GeForce GTX 670 has everything we love in a video card - a great price, blazing performance, and it runs cool and quiet. MSI even encourages further overclocking and overvolting with its included software.MSI's GTX 670 Power Edition uses the famous Twin Frozr IV cooler from the MSI Lightning and comes with a large clock speed boost out of the box, making its default clock speed even higher than GTX 680 stock clocks. That is pretty much the definition of Kick Ass. Both = http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDwQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDjj7jW6ny2M&ei=aNbYUJ3NIeaGjALIpoG4Cg&usg=AFQjCNEgw9oe6jfdjpP8a5vry5uFksFbTA&sig2=iZWXlJC-1yjLoYT_Uia7KA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.cGE&cad=rja my cards slap the reference 680 around i s*** you not.

 

[quilciri]

And you guys wonder why things are so much more expensive in the UK...

Yeah, here in the states the individual consumer only has to put up with a little corporate rape from time to time.

On the bright side, I heard rape is safe sex. Todd Akin 2016!

 

[ikaz]

If I was in your shoes I would go with 2xHD7970 though first I would look at the performace chart to see what games you plan on buying and see if they favor one GPU other another. IF you plan on using any application that can use direct compute then AMD hands down for this generation.

On a side note while over clocking is never garrenteed you really should have no problems with any AMD card getting matching the 1gighertz edition and if you get a 7970 with over clock it tends to preform better than than a 680 and you can always return the card (I know kinda a pain) for a full refund if you don't like it.

 

[Novuake]

For the same reason 580 and 590 are out of the question, though money is not really an issue, i'm not spending +20% for +5% performance.

The previous gen dogmas for duel cards are not the case with current gen, the HD7990 actually does perform twice as well one HD7970 and the same on Nvidia side...

 

[cygone]

Where are you getting your prices? I'm pretty sure I've seen better prices on all four. Maybe there's one or two here you don't know:

scan.co.uk
aria.co.uk
dabs.com
ebuyer.com
novatech.co.uk

Also +1 to djangoringo and bigcyco1 on the GTX670

I use Scan and Ebuyer, but this purchase MUST be made with scan.

 

[cygone]

If i was in your shoes the choice would be 670 as to which one.Simple, GTX 670 DirectCU II was born TOP, a video card generous in every respect. I would be all over that Asus TOP for its high factory overclock, cool temps, and really, really quiet fans,heavily modified PCB, with an efficient VRM design to produce low temperatures, improved voltage regulation circuitry, much better Chil controller , specially binned chip and voltage control and monitoring support that you won't find on most other non-reference cards.The card a straight beast!If you prefer to spend less i would go for The MSI GeForce GTX 670 has everything we love in a video card - a great price, blazing performance, and it runs cool and quiet. MSI even encourages further overclocking and overvolting with its included software.MSI's GTX 670 Power Edition uses the famous Twin Frozr IV cooler from the MSI Lightning and comes with a large clock speed boost out of the box, making its default clock speed even higher than GTX 680 stock clocks. That is pretty much the definition of Kick Ass. Both = http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDwQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDjj7jW6ny2M&ei=aNbYUJ3NIeaGjALIpoG4Cg&usg=AFQjCNEgw9oe6jfdjpP8a5vry5uFksFbTA&sig2=iZWXlJC-1yjLoYT_Uia7KA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.cGE&cad=rja my cards slap the reference 680 around i s*** you not.

Asus DCUII is not even an option. A. I dont want (and CAN NOT use - PCIe slots are slots 2,3,4,5,6,7 but only 1.3.5 are x16electircal (2,4,6 are 8x)) a 3 slot card and B. It does not exhaust all its air out of the rear backplate.

 

[cygone]

Yuck XFX cards 12month Warranty, thats NOT going to happen, EVGA 3 Years, thats more like it.

If its 670, its going to be
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-evga-gtx-670-ftw-signature-ii-28nm-pcie-30-(x16)-6208mhz-gddr5-gpu-1006mhz-cores-1344-dp-dvi-hdm

It its 7970, its going to be
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-gigabyte-radeon-hd-7970-6000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1100mhz-2048-cores-dl-dvi-i-hdmi-2x-mdp-plus-free

Really not liking the fact that you need to *** around with HDMI / Active DP adapters for 3 screen eyefinity on 7970 and lack of warranty &/or external venting is limiting my choice to a very few select cards (none of which I would actually purchase if i actually had OPTIONS (GRRR SCAN.co.uk!!!!!)).

Given that ATi drivers are not as good as the nVidia ones and I play quite a few games based on a version of CryEngine looks like Green team are going to get yet more purchases from me.

Oh and the 7970s are £30 PER card more expensive (I might just buy 3 and be done with it), so an extra £100 for the privaledge of mucky drivers!

Yeah so i've basically just talked myself out of a Red purcahse, EVGA Sig2 Cards here I come. Umm 2 or 3?? umm maybe 4?

 

[bigcyco1]

Asus DCUII is not even an option. A. I dont want a 3 slot card and B. It does not exhaust all its air out of the rear backplate.

Well then go for the MSI 670 PE or EVA 670 FTW!

 

[cygone]

Well then go for the MSI 670 PE or EVA 670 FTW!

Again thats not venting air OUTSIDE the case via teh rear back plate.

Why do so many people purcahse GPUs that dump heat BACK IN to the case?

 

[Brett928S2]

Asus DCUII is not even an option. A. I dont want a 3 slot card and B. It does not exhaust all its air out of the rear backplate.

Hi

A = Correct

B= Wrong, it does (and I own one)

All the best Brett