7970 vs 480 SLI

ALXAndy · 19 Apr 2012 at 23:01

GTA767 said:
these score are loosy vintage my 2 480 gpu score is 40k

I'm sure they are. But then you are probably running a highly overclocked CPU.

That would be why when I posted the initial post I pointed this out.

ALXAndy said:
I will note, you must at all times remember that scores put out here will differ to those in reviews and benchmarks running newer hardware. The results are perfectly applicable given that both card/s have been ran in the same machine.

But of course, every one read that.

Any way, more benchmarks, this time Heaven rev 3.0.

7970 1125mhz 1100mv.

Quite amazing really for a single GPU, but then we know that the 7970 loves Heaven

GTX 480 SLI @ stock.

And at 800mhz.

So they are faster, though by a very small amount. I would think they have some headroom left in the tank for overclocking though, so I may push on a bit and see what I can get

Gregster · 19 Apr 2012 at 23:49

Good to see ya back bud. Good thread also

Davedree · 20 Apr 2012 at 00:27

ALXAndy said:
I'm sure they are. But then you are probably running a highly overclocked CPU.

That would be why when I posted the initial post I pointed this out.

But of course, every one read that.

Any way, more benchmarks, this time Heaven rev 3.0.

7970 1125mhz 1100mv.

Quite amazing really for a single GPU, but then we know that the 7970 loves Heaven

GTX 480 SLI @ stock.

And at 800mhz.

So they are faster, though by a very small amount. I would think they have some headroom left in the tank for overclocking though, so I may push on a bit and see what I can get

Is it too late to have benched them with 4x aa and tesselation at normal?

ALXAndy · 20 Apr 2012 at 00:43

Davedree said:
Is it too late to have benched them with 4x aa and tesselation at normal?

Yeah.

I did the 7970 Heaven bench for the Heaven 3 thread. Time I ran it again the 7970 was out.

It's packed and set for collection now.

tommybhoy · 20 Apr 2012 at 01:37

Good to see you back andybhoy!

ALXAndy · 20 Apr 2012 at 02:22

Cheers old bean

gurusan · 20 Apr 2012 at 04:47

What does your PC sound like running 480 SLI though :/
Personally I'd rather have 7850 or 7870 CF. Interesting benchmarks though.

bhavv · 20 Apr 2012 at 07:33

Id rather have a single GTX 680 or 7970 than have two GTX 480s, there's a massive difference between the two for performance : watt efficiency.

480 SLI isn't much cheaper, and you only have 1.5 Gb Vram, GTX 680s have been available for £375 each since launch. 7970s were just available here for £359 for a custom cooled version.

It really seems to me that you only defend and recommend whatever graphics cards you currently have installed in your system.

Locky · 20 Apr 2012 at 08:10

My 480 sli system would did destroy a single 7970, but I knew that already. I will be adding another 7970 for tri fire this weekend

. I agree the driver are very poor, I'm seeing issues in game, but zero core and slrep mode doesn't work, unless I'm on cat 12.2, anything after that the second card is locked into 3d mode. I did get my cards cheap though.

ilovetechno · 20 Apr 2012 at 08:26

GTA767 said:
these score are loosy vintage my 2 480 gpu score is 40k

This.

And im running same cpu i7 950 @stock

straxusii · 20 Apr 2012 at 08:40

ALXAndy said:
Fact is that since the day it came out there has been and still is no stock in the USA.

That would be why AMD haven't dropped the price of the 7970 over there, then.

Doesn't exactly fill you with dreams that the 680 is selling well here does it? if the USA sold out in one day and there are still loads for sale in the UK ages later they can't be selling very well.

I suspect that is down to there being more stock available in the UK per person wanting to buy Andy. Gibbo has said on many occasions the 680 is massively outselling the 7970, at launch and after. Stock in the UK hasn't been great either, OCUK has managed to just about keep stock. Most other etailers haven't.

And of course the other major factor is that in the US the cards are on sale for far closer to the Nvidia RRP than in the UK.

Rusty0611 · 20 Apr 2012 at 09:12

Agree with straxusii. Although OcUK isn't representative of the whole market it gives you a good indication.

tommybhoy · 20 Apr 2012 at 09:34

bhavv said:
GTX 680s have been available for £375 each since launch. 7970s were just available here for £359 for a custom cooled version.

The 7970 has consistently been cheaper by a considerable amount than the 680 since it launched in the UK, regardless where you shop, if you could find the 680 in stock for said price, you would find a 7970 cheaper.

Before you hit me with the 680 propaganda, if I was buying a gpu now and they were priced the same, it would be a 680 for me!

As it is, it's not cheaper and doesn't look likely any time soon due to lack of availability worldwide.

bhavv said:
It really seems to me that you only defend and recommend whatever graphics cards you currently have installed in your system.

1GB 560 SLI ring a bell for BF3?

If you look back over andy's posts, you will notice he pulls no punches with any gpu he's owned, gives credit on the good, slaughters the bad bits:

SLI 295's, 470, 6970, 7970, they have all been given a hard time on the bits that have let him down and commended for their strong points.

One of the few posters here in OcUK that can put the boot in to what's in his rigs.

tommybhoy · 20 Apr 2012 at 09:39

straxusii said:
I suspect that is down to there being more stock available in the UK per person wanting to buy Andy. Gibbo has said on many occasions the 680 is massively outselling the 7970, at launch and after.

People aren't willing to pay that kind of money for an AMD card though as it's not deemed worthy of the price tag.

Some slaughtered the 7970 pricing day in day out, yet instantly bought the similar performing 680 on launch.

The 7970's look as if they are selling now after the price drop along with the game bundle.

psychodil · 20 Apr 2012 at 10:09

I cant resist this question. How are you managing with only 1.5 gb vram andy? :-)

Stanners · 20 Apr 2012 at 11:22

tommybhoy said:
People aren't willing to pay that kind of money for an AMD card though as it's not deemed worthy of the price tag.

Some slaughtered the 7970 pricing day in day out, yet instantly bought the similar performing 680 on launch.

The 7970's look as if they are selling now after the price drop along with the game bundle.

Have you a link to show the sales or is it your opinion ?

I ask as I am interested to see how the sales are going for both sides.

tommybhoy · 20 Apr 2012 at 12:03

It's my opinion Stanners.

Gibbo posted on a thread on how(before OcUK was sold) most of OcUK's competitors were given heavy discounts for pushing Nvidia cards while OcUK didn't push any brands.

Whether OcUK still has the same policy or not since the buyout, well only Gibbo can comment.

AMD were crucified for daring to price their first to market and faster card along side the 3GB 580 Nvidia's highest priced card at the time.

There wasn't much noise(in comparison) made at all about Nvidia not dropping the price of said 580 at the time, they just left it there knowing it would trickle sell to the hardcore diehards and it being eol.

AMD users weren't happy as it went against previous pricing strategies, but there was a serious shortage of cores which in turn made the price of the working cores rocket upwards compared to what AMD used to pay for 6 series and below.

You only have to look at the early 79** threads and see who slaughtered the AMD pricing(on a day to day basis) to then buy the very similar performing 680.

Some on the forums here are pure hypocrites(others out and out fanboism) for all the shouting they made regarding pricing, then purchasing Nvidia's same performing card at the same price.

When I queried(what I thought to be one of the worst offenders

, I won't mention any names

) about why he bought a 680 after saying he'd put the boot into Nvidia as well if they priced the 680 alongside the 7970, it fell on deaf ears time and time again, I'm still awaiting an answer but I know that he just loves Nvidia which again there is nothing wrong with that but when you add in all the shouting he done it just stinks imho.

Some even forgot how to oc over night, they are soooo lucky Nvidia added 680 hot clocks or they would have been up **** creek!
:rolleyes:

I put up a thread about [H]'s oc review and it's not surprisingly short on discussion:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18390154

I'm not saying anyone's wrong to buy a 680 in the slightest, I don't have a problem with what anyone decides to throw in their rigs, it's their choice/money and it's a fantastic card as well, it's just not as good any more due to AMD's price cuts.

Stanners · 20 Apr 2012 at 12:28

tommybhoy said:
It's my opinion Stanners.

Gibbo posted on a thread on how(before OcUK was sold) most of OcUK's competitors were given heavy discounts for pushing Nvidia cards while OcUK didn't push any brands.

Whether OcUK still has the same policy or not since the buyout, well only Gibbo can comment.

AMD were crucified for daring to price their first to market and faster card along side the 3GB 580 Nvidia's highest priced card at the time.

There wasn't much noise(in comparison) made at all about Nvidia not dropping the price of said 580 at the time, they just left it there knowing it would trickle sell to the hardcore diehards and it being eol.

AMD users weren't happy as it went against previous pricing strategies, but there was a serious shortage of cores which in turn made the price of the working cores rocket upwards compared to what AMD used to pay for 6 series and below.

You only have to look at the early 79** threads and see who slaughtered the AMD pricing(on a day to day basis) to then buy the very similar performing 680.

Some on the forums here are pure hypocrites(others out and out fanboism) for all the shouting they made regarding pricing, then purchasing Nvidia's same performing card at the same price.

Some even forgot how to oc over night, they are soooo lucky Nvidia added 680 hot clocks or they would have been up **** creek!

When I queried(what I thought to be one of the worst offenders, I won't mention any names) about why he bought a 680 after saying he'd put the boot into Nvidia as well if they priced the 680 alongside the 7970, it fell on deaf ears time and time again, I'm still awaiting an answer but I know that he just loves Nvidia which again there is nothing wrong with that but when you add in all the shouting he done it just stinks imho.

I'm not saying anyone's wrong to buy a 680 in the slightest, I don't have a problem with what anyone decides to throw in their rigs, it's their choice/money and it's a fantastic card as well, it's just not as good any more due to AMD's price cuts.

Fair enough

To be honest the saving is not enough to swing me personally to the 7970, I do have a 680 as I seem to prefer Nvidia(Not sure why) but that would not stop me having an ATI card as I have had both the 5850 and 6950 which were brilliant cards for the money.

I think at the end of the day if you had no preference as to which team then at the moment the 7970 would be for you as it is cheaper for nearly the same performance out of the box(@1080p).

dazzerd · 20 Apr 2012 at 12:41

I did the same Andy sold my 7970 and went back to sli 480, performance tends to be much better in the games I play.

King Damager · 20 Apr 2012 at 12:47

I'd only advise running 480 SLI if you're going to WC, then again from what I've heard the 7970 is also awful for noise.

I run a single 480, and even that is as noisy as a hairdrier when above about 50% fan speed.

Also, the heat it produces is a challenge to say the least. I've made it well publicised that I'm probably looking to upgrade to a 580 or an aftermarket cooling solution on my 480. Not because of any performance issues, but purely because living with it on a day to day basis is a right pain in the butt....

If not for the fact that I'm at uni, and therefore my rig is moved around quite a bit, I'd have just WC'd the 480 (hell I even have an EK block for it...), but due to mobility issues I'm just waiting until I have a bit more money/580's full in price.

If I had that money to spend right now, I'd probably buy a 680 as from what I've heard they're whisper quiet and have similar performance to the 7970. I know you have to pay a premium right now, but having lived with a card that is so loud for so long, right now all I care about is noise.

kd