Xfx 7950 and 660 ti

[hihiip201]

I just exchanged my 660 ti with 50 dollar for a xfx 7950 hoping to get a little better performance in gaming. This decision is based on the advice of the sales guy and the benchmarks online.


But I cannot believe how much my fps is dropped from using 7950 instead of 660 ti. I was getting 30-40 fps in smoke with 660 ti. and with the 7950, 30-40 fps seems to be the "normal" fps.


I don't understand this, I installed the drivers and everything properly, how is this happening?

 

[hihiip201]

Also, is it correc that 7950 is a mid range because of the "50"?

 

[Novuake]

Also, is it correc that 7950 is a mid range because of the "50"?

As BigMac said. The second number (9) determines the range. The first(7) determines the generation and the third(5) determines the tier inside the range.

So 7(latest generation GCN card), 9(top range), 5(entry top range).

 

[hihiip201]

All I know is that 1100 MHz+ overclocks are standard for the 7950 and should boost your performance significantly above what a stock 660ti offers. 7950 is high end. It's the second number in the #### scheme that tells you what tier. HD 79xx is high end, HD 78xx is midrange, HD 77xx is mainstream/low end

Thanks! (and to Novuake!)

I will report tonight once I have get my windows 7 upgraded to ultimate (a privilege from my school) so I can actually use my 16 GB ( now im only using 4GB).

AND THEN, I will have a clean windows from which I will install the AMD driver.

So I can just go to AMD and download the 12.11 beta catalyst if I have a clean windows reinstall right? or do I have to clean before install if i run my motherboard dvd.

 

[Novuake]

Thanks! (and to Novuake!)

I will report tonight once I have get my windows 7 upgraded to ultimate (a privilege from my school) so I can actually use my 16 GB ( now im only using 4GB).

AND THEN, I will have a clean windows from which I will install the AMD driver.

So I can just go to AMD and download the 12.11 beta catalyst if I have a clean windows reinstall right? or do I have to clean before install if i run my motherboard dvd.

Install your Mobo drivers first. Then install AMD drivers. No need for a cleanup as there will be no previous driver interference.

 

[hihiip201]

so for a fresh installed windows. is it better to get catalyst with net 4?

 

[hihiip201]

Alrite guys, I have just installed 64 bit windows and amd driver and everything. now im going through the painful10 hours battlefield download + update on origin before I can play again, as soon as Im done downloading i will run fraps and mp to see if there are any improve in performance!

 

[Novuake]

Alrite guys, I have just installed 64 bit windows and amd driver and everything. now im going through the painful10 hours battlefield download + update on origin before I can play again, as soon as Im done downloading i will run fraps and mp to see if there are any improve in performance!

You do realize you could have just copied the whole game before the fresh install, then installing the game and pasting it into the game folder and the update would have been almost nonexistent.

LOL tricks of the trade I guess...

 

[hihiip201]

You do realize you could have just copied the whole game before the fresh install, then installing the game and pasting it into the game folder and the update would have been almost nonexistent.

LOL tricks of the trade I guess...

lol I know but i ve never been comfortable with doing that for some reason.

BTW I just read the TP post, and cmon 660ti clearly outclassed the 7950 in 3dmark score. Gosh that makes me feel bad.

 

[Guest]

BTW I just read the TP post, and cmon 660ti clearly outclassed the 7950 in 3dmark score. Gosh that makes me feel bad.

don't feel bad, synthetic benchmarks rarely equate to real world gaming performance.

 

[hihiip201]

don't feel bad, synthetic benchmarks rarely equate to real world gaming performance.

But given the gtx 660 ti is if anything similar to 7950, 50 dollar differences is just....stupid.

I gave up my Xmas discount for 7950 lol!

 

[Novuake]

But given the gtx 660 ti is if anything similar to 7950, 50 dollar differences is just....stupid.

I gave up my Xmas discount for 7950 lol!

I much prefer the HD7950, mine is running at 1150MHz, that is beyond a doubt MUCH better than the GTX660ti. Even consider what TR has reported about latency.

Also thanks to more RAM the HD7950 will have a longer lifespan.
AND thanks to a larger memory bus it has better ability to handle AA. I love me some AA...

 

[Novuake]

Obviously a 660ti/7950 swap is stupid either way if it costs you a dime... you shouldn't listen to salesmen.

Yeah but it depends. LOL for an added 50 bucks I would not.

 

[hihiip201]

lol that guy sucks! should have stuck with my precious boxing week 660 ti!!!!


So okay, I keep hearing OC 7950 is better than 660 ti stock, but what about OC both? OC 7950 or OC 660 ti?

 

[Novuake]

lol that guy sucks! should have stuck with my precious boxing week 660 ti!!!!


So okay, I keep hearing OC 7950 is better than 660 ti stock, but what about OC both? OC 7950 or OC 660 ti?

Kepler(the newest Nvidia architecture) is a horrible OCer.

They can not reach near the same degree of OC as the equivalent AMD card. You could physically push it that far but thank to their own form of "turbo" the cards throttle themselves down as soon as you apply strain. This means a HUGE OC is pointless as you would be giving the card more voltage thus reducing lifespan but not gaining any performance.

So a properly OCd HD7950 is superior by quite a sizable margin to a properly OCd GTX660ti.

BUT the HD7950 still suffers from those damnable latency issues as TR reported.

Shame really, hoping this is fixed soon.

 

[hihiip201]

Kepler(the newest Nvidia architecture) is a horrible OCer.

They can not reach near the same degree of OC as the equivalent AMD card. You could physically push it that far but thank to their own form of "turbo" the cards throttle themselves down as soon as you apply strain. This means a HUGE OC is pointless as you would be giving the card more voltage thus reducing lifespan but not gaining any performance.

So a properly OCd HD7950 is superior by quite a sizable margin to a properly OCd GTX660ti.

BUT the HD7950 still suffers from those damnable latency issues as TR reported.

Shame really, hoping this is fixed soon.

I see. What are the latency issues? sorry Im new to this bizzle, but is the latency a driver problem or the card's problem?

 

[Novuake]

I see. What are the latency issues? sorry Im new to this bizzle, but is the latency a driver problem or the card's problem?

Mostly driver related. GCN(AMD latest architecture) is still very new and in my opinion AMD did not have near the resources of what NVidia has to properly have research how their new architecture behaves.

AMD has made an official statement that they will be actively working on this latency issue in upcoming driver releases.

So you are wondering if this can be fixed AFTER your card purchase. YES it can. When? I do not know.
Soon I hope. Take the time to read the 4 TR reports me and BigMac posted IN FULL if you are interested and would like to learn more.

It seems like you are an upcoming PC tech enthusiast...

 

[Novuake]

Everyone is all hot and bothered about this article:
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited

See also the resulting fallout here:
http://techreport.com/news/24136/driver-software-to-be-tweaked-to-reduce-radeon-frame-latencies-in-series-of-updates

IMO the whole thing's been blown out of proportion on both sides.

Agreed. Its a groundbreaking testing method but the real world impact is not as big as TR originally claimed. But they have said as much.

This is a rallying cry for Nvidia fanboys and AMD fanboys have been outrages, which is rediculous. The fact is this issue exists and that people should be aware of it BUT not blow it out of proportion. Its relevant but not all out law in determining which card is better.

Effectively its the useless driver debate all over again. If AMD had not made a statement in reply and vowed to work on it I would have said screw them then. Then i would have leaned towards a NVidia recommendation every time between these 2 cards.

EDIT : That's IF another site had confirmed, although I have witnessed the latency myself.

 

[hihiip201]

Mostly driver related. GCN(AMD latest architecture) is still very new and in my opinion AMD did not have near the resources of what NVidia has to properly have research how their new architecture behaves.

AMD has made an official statement that they will be actively working on this latency issue in upcoming driver releases.

So you are wondering if this can be fixed AFTER your card purchase. YES it can. When? I do not know.
Soon I hope. Take the time to read the 4 TR reports me and BigMac posted IN FULL if you are interested and would like to learn more.

It seems like you are an upcoming PC tech enthusiast...

Haha let's hope. I just want to make sure whatever i buy is worth the buck. Guess you never learn unless you make mistakes.

I was told by the sales guy that the AMD technologies are better at handling textures? what determines that? Is it the memory bandwidth of the card or the memory clock?

 

[Novuake]

Haha let's hope. I just want to make sure whatever i buy is worth the buck. Guess you never learn unless you make mistakes.

I was told by the sales guy that the AMD technologies are better at handling textures? what determines that? Is it the memory bandwidth of the card or the memory clock?

Not AMD in general but between the HD7950 and GTX660ti, the AMD is better at texture smoothing. Also known as AA or anti-aliasing. This technology is what helps the edges of a 3D image to look smoother and more natural instead of jagged and pixelated as games from the past.

This is mostly determined by the memory bus (HD7950 is 356-bit and GTX660ti is 192-bit), but its not that simple. That just gives you an idea.

 

[hihiip201]

One side note question.

with both the 660 ti, 7950, 32 bit and 64 bit windows, I have this problem where after loading something or opening a website/folder, my mouse would stutter a bit. Not often, but it happens, at first I thought was the ram, but now i have 16 GB all usable and it is still happening, anyone knows wuts the deal?

one of these "lag" just happened as i was completing my installation of a software, and I heard "bzzzzz" for half a second along with it.

 

[hihiip201]

OK REPORT:

After using the latest driver, i just ran a course with tank on caspian boarder maxed out 1920 1080 and got a avg 65.23 fps, min of 33 fps. which is alrite. wasn't getting as much from 660 ti anyway.

but one thing I would like to know, does the 7950 handle explosion better or 660 ti? one thing I "feel" like is the 660 ti doesn't have big drop frame during regular explosion, it seems to handle it pretty well and won't have big drop frame unless massive smoke is in front of you.

but I "feel" like there are more drop frames with the 7950 more regularly, even tho the "big" drop frames are kind of the same with 660 ti.


Is that expected? Or should the 7950 actually handle explosion better since it has higher memory bandwidth ?

 

[hihiip201]

Another reason why I shouldn't have gotten stupid 7950 : HEAT

660 ti : 69 C at full load (forget about voltage)
7950 79 C at full load. (1.081 V) (without OC or anythin)


and it is fricking loud too!
how am I expected to OC when full load stock is already this hot?


go figure, thought in time I'd see a better side of this card, but I just keep digging more and more ugliness of this witch, I want a divorce!

 

[hihiip201]

You could always trade it in for a 660ti :lol:

Is your card a reference 7950?

is a xfx radeon 7950 double d. not sure if it is reference tho

 

[hihiip201]

You could always trade it in for a 660ti :lol:

Is your card a reference 7950?

and like i said i bought this in canada, and i took off yesterday so there's no going back.


originally i was just going to exchange for another 660ti with my old 660 ti to make sure i get the newest stuff before taking off, then got talked into switching to 7950 for 50 bucks becuz it was on sale.... lol (well at least i get 10 more dollar rebate from this then 660 ti)

 

[hihiip201]

I just reached a 17 fps in a gameplay of seine crossing. (no surprise, i got 19 before with 660 ti in caspian) massive smoke and explosion + aiming inside tank is still something these two cards can't handle in bf3. I have NO idea how benchmarks come up with the conclusion with min 34 fps. that's just not possible.