7970 vs 480 SLI

[ALXAndy]

The noise really isn't that bad. Honestly, I sincerely mean that.

The 480 is a noisy card. However, if we follow the laws of sound from a scientific standpoint then we can see that adding a second card hardly makes anything noisier.

As an example right, let's say you have a 18" subwoofer capable of putting out 138db @ 20hz. If you add another one you add about 5db tops.

That law makes perfect sense to me, as running two cards with the fans on 75% is no louder than my 7970 was at the same fan speed. The reason would be simple, the 7970's fan was twice the size of the 480 fans.

I did shoot a video so I will see about uploading that later But any one who already owns a 480 simply needs to set their fan to 75% in Afterburner and make their minds up that way. I haven't seen either card go over 83c with the fans at 75%.

Any way, more benchmarks. I ran Crysis @ maximum in DX10 with 4XFSAA. The 480 had a minimum frame rate of 29 FPS and the 7970 was over 40. However, the FPS were low when the benchmark first loaded as the camera goes toward the ground but as soon as that was done the game maintained an average of 75 FPS which is higher than the 73 FPS I got from my 7970. I will hand that round to the 7970 though as Min FPS is the most important, even though within about four seconds the 480 SLI was putting out higher frames.

Onto Metro. Everything on as high as it will go, 4XFSAA or MSAA or whatever it is called.

7970 @ 1125mhz. Noting that Physx is switched off in both sets of benchmarks to make it fair.

480 SLI stock.

480 SLI @ 800mhz

Another round to the 480s.

 

[Rusty0611]

I can keep my 680 under 65c with the fan blowing at 60%. I'd say that is bordering on the acceptability of noisiness.

I have my headphones on though so it's not a prob for me personally.

 

[ALXAndy]

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.

Yeah probably. Sadly though in the grand scheme of things the UK is merely a boil on the backside of the USA. It's there that counts, and there that a product will be made or broken.

Hopefully Nvidia can get themselves out of this funk they are in and get some cards to the retailers. Maybe then drop the prices and start being a bit more fair about things.

I think as usual their success will be decided by their mid ranged card. Some sort of 660ti perhaps?

I can keep my 680 under 65c with the fan blowing at 60%. I'd say that is bordering on the acceptability of noisiness.

I have my headphones on though so it's not a prob for me personally.

Absolutely. I deliberately set my profile to 75% @ 80c. Once it hits 90c they will hit 100% to simply save the GPUs from damage. But thankfully it's never gone that far.

Any high performance GPU is noisy. Especially if you don't let it get to temps that could damage it.

 

[wolvers]

Try those 480s in a game that maxes out the VRAM, like BF3 proper ultra or modded and maxed out Skyrim, and then see how they compare to a 7970.

Great set up for most gaming scenarios at the mo, but won't last long so not a good alternative to buy now.

 

[ALXAndy]

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.

Do me a favour and stop inventing things out of thin air. It doesn't wash with me and I find it incredibly annoying.

I am not recommending anything in this thread. Why the hell is it that whenever I go out of my way to do something interesting with my time it gets misconstrued and I get rubbish accusations thrown at me?

I mean FFS last time I posted a thread to show how much vram BF3 uses I get accused of doing it to bash on the bloody 680.

I see you have finally accepted that vram is an important factor, though. Yes, 1.5gb is cutting it close. But then you already know my thoughts on that because I pointed out earlier that this will literally be the last GPU purchase/trade I ever make. So as long as it covers what is out there now I don't care.

But yes, of course it could be a limiting factor in six months time when BF4 or whatever they decide to call it comes out.

So going back to the whole point of the thread. I am not recommending anything. I am simply putting up some comparisons between a 7970 and GTX 480 SLI because you know? I can. It really is as simple as that.

Try those 480s in a game that maxes out the VRAM, like BF3 proper ultra or modded and maxed out Skyrim, and then see how they compare to a 7970.

Great set up for most gaming scenarios at the mo, but won't last long so not a good alternative to buy now.

BF3 uses around 1.5gb vram in most scenarios. I would not be able to make it use more than that as I don't play multiplayer. I spent most of last night playing it though and it was superb.

If I did test Skyrim I would not test it with third party mods in. Quite simply as they are making the engine it is based on do things it was not designed to. I could quite easily bloat up my Fallout 3 install and then demonstrate the 7970 hitting 2FPS as I saw it do when I played it last.

Skyrim's engine may be newer that Fallout 3's, but the bottom line is if you push it to do something it wasn't designed to do it will come at a price.

 

[ALXAndy]

BF3 Benchmarks in. Sadly it's 480 SLI only.

2 minute benchmark runs with everything on ultra and 4XFSAA or MSAA whatever they call it. Both 480s at 800mhz, top card hit 86c.

Operation Swordbreaker

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
10512, 120000, 68, 127, 87.600

Operation Guillotine

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
13249, 120000, 78, 145, 110.408

Comrades

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
12703, 120000, 73, 176, 105.858

Thunder Run (The tank level)

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
10494, 120000, 54, 122, 87.450

 

[dazzerd]

Try those 480s in a game that maxes out the VRAM, like BF3 proper ultra or modded and maxed out Skyrim, and then see how they compare to a 7970.

Great set up for most gaming scenarios at the mo, but won't last long so not a good alternative to buy now.

I had a heavily modded skyrim when on a 7970 and it maxed out ram, there is a pic somewhere on the pc games thread. Same mods on 480 sli and 480 sli performs much better. Albeit both ran 60fps with vsync locked. Goes to show that in some instances some games will use whetever ram is available while not necessarily needing it.

 

[IvanDobskey]

Hmm, I think i'd rather keep the 7970 than swap for 2x480's to be honest. I love my 480, but I think 2 of them would be a little too hot, noisy and power hungry for my liking. Plus the 7970 is new tech and the drivers are still maturing. I'd have stuck with it. Ok, so now you have Nvidia drivers, but SLI to worry about instead.

 

[wolvers]

BF3 uses around 1.5gb vram in most scenarios. I would not be able to make it use more than that as I don't play multiplayer.

If I did test Skyrim I would not test it with third party mods in.

Then it's all fine for you.

Except if you are playing Skyrim without 3rd party mods then it's not all fine for you.......... you're missing out big time!

Skyrim's engine may be newer that Fallout 3's, but the bottom line is if you push it to do something it wasn't designed to do it will come at a price.

The engine was designed for mods, that's why they're there IMO.

I had a heavily modded skyrim when on a 7970 and it maxed out ram, there is a pic somewhere on the pc games thread. Same mods on 480 sli and 480 sli performs much better. Albeit both ran 60fps with vsync locked. Goes to show that in some instances some games will use whetever ram is available while not necessarily needing it.

Sorry m8, I don't believe it performs much better unless you have compromised on the settings somewhere. If you max out the VRAM, and the game (any game) wants more, performance suffers greatly. You can't run proper Ultra shadows in Skyrim on a 480 for that reason, the same as running proper Ultra BF3 settings (without tweaking it) in the MP on a 480 isn't a nice experience.

 

[ALXAndy]

I don't like Skyrim, so I'm not really missing out on anything

Not into the spells and magic theme of the game, more into Fallout.

 

[Troezar]

SNIP

So going back to the whole point of the thread. I am not recommending anything. I am simply putting up some comparisons between a 7970 and GTX 480 SLI because you know? I can. It really is as simple as that.

I have to say as a neutral it does come across a bit as "I had this" (didn't like it) "now I have this" (and look it is better). Naturally people will jump in to defend the first one if they think it is a better option.

Personally I like to see people put up results but as with everything internet I reserve judgement until I test it out myself

 

[ALXAndy]

I have to say as a neutral it does come across a bit as "I had this" (didn't like it) "now I have this" (and look it is better). Naturally people will jump in to defend the first one if they think it is a better option.

Personally I like to see people put up results but as with everything internet I reserve judgement until I test it out myself

You won't find any one more neutral than I.

If I don't like something you will be the first to know, whether I own it or not. Not seen many people sit down and **** off their own cards but I did just that for three months with my 7970.

If I wasn't neutral I would not have posted the results of the Crysis benchmark, where for minimums the 7970 peed all over the 480s in SLI.

As I test more games I will post the results.

 

[Locky]

You won't find any one more neutral than I.

If I don't like something you will be the first to know, whether I own it or not. Not seen many people sit down and **** off their own cards but I did just that for three months with my 7970.

If I wasn't neutral I would not have posted the results of the Crysis benchmark, where for minimums the 7970 peed all over the 480s in SLI.

As I test more games I will post the results.

I agree, if something is ****, if I own it or not I will tell you it's ****

 

[Secret_Window]

ALXAndy you've changed your tune.

I remember you were constantly defending everything AMD put into the 7xxx series release when they first came out. And now you are slating AMD saying how awful they for price and drivers; the complete opposite of what you were saying before.

I'm not trying to stir anything, just that I find it bizarre how you can go from one extreme to another.

I personally wouldn't even consider a GTX 480 these days, simply based on heat and noise alone, but that's because I'm picky about heat and noise and would definitely not be able to put up with them regardless of performance. If the 480 SLI makes you happy then great. While slightly annoying at first (getting them running right), my 7950 crossfire has been pretty amazing for me so far coming from a GTX 570.

 

[ALXAndy]

ALXAndy you've changed your tune.

I remember you were constantly defending everything AMD put into the 7xxx series release when they first came out. And now you are slating AMD saying how awful they for price and drivers; the complete opposite of what you were saying before.

I'm not trying to stir anything, just that I find it bizarre how you can go from one extreme to another.

I personally wouldn't even consider a GTX 480 these days, simply based on heat and noise alone, but that's because I'm picky about heat and noise and would definitely not be able to put up with them regardless of performance. If the 480 SLI makes you happy then great. While slightly annoying at first (getting them running right), my 7950 crossfire has been pretty amazing for me so far coming from a GTX 570.

Then you haven't read the forums enough.

I berated my 7970 from the moment it arrived.

 

[Random Guy]

Would love to go from my 480 SLI to something less power-hungry, but nothing to date has tempted me...

 

[ALXAndy]

Would love to go from my 480 SLI to something less power-hungry, but nothing to date has tempted me...

Well, I actually completed BF3 today. It was nice not having any issues for once. Could be down to updates, but yeah, actually quite enjoyed it

The ending was actually quite good too.

 

[dazzerd]

Sorry m8, I don't believe it performs much better unless you have compromised on the settings somewhere. If you max out the VRAM, and the game (any game) wants more, performance suffers greatly. You can't run proper Ultra shadows in Skyrim on a 480 for that reason, the same as running proper Ultra BF3 settings (without tweaking it) in the MP on a 480 isn't a nice experience.

Well if you mean shadow resolution set at 8192 then I couldn't run that particularly well on the 7970 either without it turning into a slide show at times. Shadow res was at 4096 on both systems, same ini, same mods, in fact there was quality ambient occlusion set on sli too which is not natively available via the amd drivers.

As above both systems provided a perfect experience with vync on, turn it off and 480 pulled ahead by a fair margin. I had no issues with the 7970 I just preferred my sli set up for the games I play, heat and noise and power is no issue for me. In retrospect it was a stupid idea buying the 7970 as I new it wouldn't outperform the sli set up, just as much as it would be a stupid idea upgrading too a 680.

 

[Rannoch]

Good to see you back andybhoy!

Isthere a few bhoy's here them

 

[bhavv]

I am not recommending anything in this thread. Why the hell is it that whenever I go out of my way to do something interesting with my time it gets misconstrued and I get rubbish accusations thrown at me?

.....

I see you have finally accepted that vram is an important factor, though. Yes, 1.5gb is cutting it close.

If you have no personal preference or bias either way then what made you feel the need to make this thread? You ask in the opening line of your OP 'Both cost right around the same, so what is the fastest?'. Regardless of whatever opinions you personally have, you are posting information in a biased way to make it appear that your new GTX 480 SLI setup is better than your previous 7970 setup.

I genuinely have no idea how a neutral non biased person could post in the manner that you always do.

And regarding the Vram point, I didnt state that Vram is as important as you over rate it to be, but first you stated that a GTX 680 is not worth the cost because it only has 2 Gb Vram, yet you feel justified with two 1.5 Gb GTX 480s in SLI regardless of whether you traded for them or bought them brand new, or if they are the last GPUs you will ever buy. The cost between the two setups is still hardly anything to dismiss the GTX 680 at its current price on your reason of its amount of Vram, while you have no issue with running a setup which costs around the same with less vram.

There is clearly a strong bias and hypocrisy in your statements where you simply feel justified to defend whatever components are in your own PC, while dismissing anything else for the same shortcomings that your setup has.

Anyone else could have currently just purchased the VTX 7970 for a lower cost than two GTX 480s. Just a week ago you were singing praise about your 7970 and saying 'its as good as a GTX 680'. Now your 7970 was no longer as good SLI GTX 480s, simply because you swapped it for them.

You clearly only post to defend whatever hardware you personally own. There is no neutrality in your position, and almost everything you write is full of bias and hypocrisy.

Now for anyone buying a brand new graphics setup, I have no idea how you could recommend buying SLI GTX 480s instead of a single GTX 680 or 7970. You may not be purposefully trying to do this, but anyone reading this thread could easily get that impression. The GTX 480 is obsolete tech, excessively power hungry and loud and hot (for just about everyone else that has used them), plus buying a single 7970 or GTX 680 right now still gives the buyer the opportunity to add a second later on.

Between the 7970 / GTX 680 and SLI GTX 480, it matters little which setup is faster when the difference is so negligible. It is clearly preferable from an unbiased opinion to buy a single 7970 or GTX 480 right now rather than buying a pair of GTX 480s and wasting money on obsolete technology that is two generations old.

At current prices:

SLI GTX 480 - £360
7970 - £370.

Regardless of any kind of brand or personal preference, I wouldnt even consider buying the 480s instead of the 7970, and couldnt advise anyone else to do so for a new graphics card(s) purchase either.