Which to choose for upgrading: 670, 680 or 7970.

[gelon]

Hi everyone
I want to upgrade to a new graphics card. I have had the current one for about 3 years so I am a bit lost regarding the new cards.
-I want to buy a card that will last a bit (I dont want to have to change it in a year).
-I dont mind if it is ATI or NVIDIA but although I currently have an ATI card, I have been having problems (freezing) that I think are driver related so I think I might prefer an NVIDIA.
- I am currently leaning to something between an 670,680 or 6970. I think that 670 might be the more sensible choice cause from various reviews I see that there is small performance difference with 680.

So, my questions are:
-Do you have any suggestions?
-Should I care for more than 2GB cards?
-Are those cards an overkill?
-Is there any particular reason I should choose one brand over another (Palit, Gainward etc) if the cards are identical in specs and extras?
-Finally something that is very important to me: I currently connect my PC to my TV through HDMI and to my monitor by DVI. My card has an embedded sound chip so it sends both sound+image to the TV. When I change from TV<->monitor (using WIN+P) the system automatically detects if it should send sound from the graphics card to the tv or from the mobo to the speakers. Is this now the case for all new cards? I would hate to buy a GTX670 and find out it is problematic in that aspect. (Since this is a very particular question, I hope someone knows the answer)

Some extra info:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:
next 2-3 weeks
USAGE:
Gaming (FPS like upcomig Crysis 3 etc)
CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4870x2
PSU: Hiper Type RII 880W
OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9550 @2.83Ghz
Memory: 8Gb DDR2 (PC2 6400)
Mobo: Asus P5Q deluxe
Case: PC-A71
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
I live in Greece, so i use eshop.gr, plaisio.gr and any other european site that sends to Greece
OVERCLOCKING:
Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE:
Maybe but probably not
MONITOR RESOLUTION:
1920x1200
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
At a point I am thinking of buying 3 monitors but for now I am staying with 1

 

[iceclock]

the 670 is great and best bang for bucks, overclocks nicely and can get similar performance to the 680 with 80$ less to spend on it.

also if ur not anti-amd id suggest the 7950 as it overclocks well and is cheaper and can rival a 680

so overall the best bang for bucks here is the 7950.

or 7970 if u can afford it.

 

[neon neophyte]

7970>670>680

if you are dead set on nvidia, i suggest the 670. after overclocking both the 670 and the 680 they perform pretty much even because the 670 overclocks better. it is also 100 dollars cheaper.

i think the 7970 is better than both of them but if you have your heart set on nvidia then i suggest a 670

 

[gelon]

@iceclock
@neon

The only reason I seem to prefer Nvidia is because I have this freezes (from when I bought the card, it is not something recent). I am afraid that getting an ATI again might lead to the same problem and i will feel very stupid

 

[iceclock]

well with any manufacturer u can get bad cards, they pump out cards in the thounsands+, so yeah doesnt matter if its ati or nvidia. both can land u a bunk card.

thats why u have warranties so when that happens u can replace it without problems.

 

[iceclock]

yes, but he can overclock it to close the bottleneck issue as well.

670 is nice but cost more.

so it depends of how much u willing to spend. its either 670 or 7950 my top picks.

 

[gelon]

You have a dual-GPU AMD card right now and dual-GPU cards/setups ALWAYS come with more problems than single-GPU ones. It's just how things work.

Both AMD and Nvidia have been very good about single-GPU driver support this round.

That said, I wouldn't make a purchase that's going to leave you wondering in the back of your mind if it's going to crap out from drivers in a year or so. If you think you'll be worried about it, just go with the 670.

Bear in mind that your CPU will bottleneck you in some games.

Obviously, both you and iceclock are right. But people keep telling me that Nvidia is better in general. I guess this is a bit of an urban legend then?

Also, why would CPU be a bottleneck? It is not that old. Are some type of games more CPU intensive?

 

[ASHISH65]

Yes it will bottleneck in cpu intensive game with gtx 670 or hd 7970.

 

[iceclock]

might be a bottleneck, but will run well still until he upgrades his mobo+cpu+ram.

 

[neon neophyte]

not only is that a dual gpu card, but its really getting on in years.

im surprised the fans are still working.

 

[iceclock]

youd be surprise how long cards can run 😀

 

[redeemer]

Actually the best bang for the buck card in the 7950 and not the 670! Honestly 7950,670,7970 are all capable cards with only synthetic benchmarks able to spot the differences, I suggest you buys which ever one is the cheapest.

 

[iceclock]

+1 to redeemer yar.

 

[gelon]

So, just to be clear, it is not possible that my specific PC setup could conflict with ATI cards? Because if that is the case, I would go for the 7970...

 

[iceclock]

not that i can think of any logical reason why it would.

 

[gelon]

OK, thanx a lot for all your responses.
After those, I felt a bit more informed and looked a few more reviews under a different perspective. I think you convinced me that it is worth trying an ATI card again. I now feel almost positive that i am going for the 7970 although I understand that 7950 is more power/$.

Additionally, I feel ATI it is more probable that it will fulfill my particular need (in comparison with an nvidia card) that i mention at my original post:

-Finally something that is very important to me: I currently connect my PC to my TV through HDMI and to my monitor by DVI. My card has an embedded sound chip so it sends both sound+image to the TV. When I change from TV<->monitor (using WIN+P) the system automatically detects if it should send sound from the graphics card to the tv or from the mobo to the speakers. Is this now the case for all new cards? I would hate to buy a GTX670 and find out it is problematic in that aspect. (Since this is a very particular question, I hope someone knows the answer)[/i]

So, to nitpick a little more, I find the sapphire 7970 vaporx to be very appealing. ASUS is a close 2nd, but it has 3 models which is a bit confusing (HD7970-DC2T-3GD5, HD7970-DC2-3GD5,HD7970-3GD5) and on top of that I see many posts that warn against the TOP version of the ASUS cards

Can anyone clarify? Any additional suggestions? Do any of you have (or have not) a 7970 that they would recommend?

 

[iceclock]

the vapor-x is one of the best design for cooling in my opinion.

Vapor Chamber Technology is based on the same principles as heatpipe technology. A liquid coolant is vaporised at a hot surface, the resulting vapor is condensed at a cold surface then the liquid is returned to the hot surface. The recirculation process is controlled by a wick system...

quite interesting.

id go with the vapor-x mang

 

[gelon]

7970 VaporX it is then. Just ordered it
(i tried to get the 7950 which is much better value for money but couldnt resist)

Thanks everyone for your support and suggestions

 

[iceclock]

alright,. anytime gelon

ive owned a vapor-x 4890 and the thing screamed 😛

 

[gelon]

alright,. anytime gelon

ive owned a vapor-x 4890 and the thing screamed 😛

And the time is now, iceclock
Last piece to finish the puzzle: Any good overclocking guides (or is it too easy)?

 

[neon neophyte]

it's pretty darn easy, as you do it through software. just read up on limits and what to expect.

 

[iceclock]

theres people in the overclocking part of toms hardware forum that can help u more than me and theres many guides also.