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What's the best card out of the 7970 and 680 factoring in mature drivers?

555BUK said:
Cat 12.11's even up performance, but at the same price I still think the 680 has the edge (mostly due to cooler, quieter and more efficient running).
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Yeah, this is another important factor I suppose. From what I've heard the Nvidia 6-series cards are highly power efficient and that the 7970 is a bit power hungry when overclocked.

Also, just to let you all know, I really have 1440p in mind, so this is at higher resolutions we're talking about. I'm thinking the extra vram will be useful at 1440p?
 
I have 2*2GB cards playing 5760*1080 and have not run out of VRAM in any of the games I play. GPU grunt is the biggest factor at this resoloution.
 
kissenger said:
Also, just to let you all know, I really have 1440p in mind, so this is at higher resolutions we're talking about. I'm thinking the extra vram will be useful at 1440p?
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No.

You'll be lowering in game settings (due to low FPS from not having enough GPU power) before you get anything close to the 2GB VRAM limit.

In a 2-way SLI set-up it's possible... in the future that you'll hit the VRAM wall before the GPU power wall. But definitely not with 1 card.

It's not reason alone to buy a 7970 over a 680 but obviously weigh it all up together.
 
To be honest it all boils down to physx and games you prefer. Some games play better on nvidia, some on amd. If I was you I'd look at 10 games you like and see what card performs best in the chosen games.

I just bought a 670. Yea I could have got a 7950 and saved £40 quid but the games I mainly play work well with nvidia o make good use of physx (namely planet side 2).

Screw benchmarks, its all about the games
 
Rusty0611 said:
No.

You'll be lowering in game settings (due to low FPS from not having enough GPU power) before you get anything close to the 2GB VRAM limit.

In a 2-way SLI set-up it's possible... in the future that you'll hit the VRAM wall before the GPU power wall. But definitely not with 1 card.
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That's not really true though is it ? On a modded skyrim at 1080p I use over 2gb of ram and there is a thread on this forum stating the games running over 2gb of vram. Also we have even the release day reviews of the 680 and 7970 which show the higher the resolution the further the 7970 pulls ahead of the 680.

Price (esp custom coolers, game bundles) and performance (with 12.11 esp) goes to the 7970 at the resolution the op is gaming at. Literally the only reason to spend more on a worse (according to what I've just stated) card would be if you need physx (ie religiously play borderlands 2) or want the nvidia driver set and if that's the case you already know your going green.
 
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Nutella33 said:
That's not really true though is it ? On a modded skyrim at 1080p I use over 2gb of ram and there is a thread on this forum stating the games running over 2gb of vram. Also we have even the release day reviews of the 680 and 7970 which show the higher the resolution the further the 7970 pulls ahead of the 680.

Price (esp custom coolers, game bundles) and performance (with 12.11 esp) goes to the 7970 at the resolution the op is gaming at. Literally the only reason to spend more on a worse (according to what I've just stated) card would be if you need physx (ie religiously play borderlands 2) or want the nvidia driver set and if that's the case you already know your going green.
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You pick out Skyrim and add tons of mods to it and then say it uses more than 2GB of VRAM. I don't argue with this fact and nobody is saying that the 680 is a wiser buy than the 7970. The point is apart from 1 game that is modded to the max, 2GB cards will not use more than the 2GB that is available. I have extensively tested this at 5760*1080 and have not found a single game that goes over the 2GB that is available.

It bores me to read time and time again that 1440P will be too much for a 670/80. I have proven it is.
 
There's also a fantastic mod for crysis 2 that uses lots of vram, but the textures are out of this world :eek:
I'm using about 2.4gb at 1080p, would be interested if you guys with 3 monitors could run it. I will link it when I can get a minute, my 2 year olds hogging my laptop :mad:
 
Nutella33 said:
That's not really true though is it ? On a modded skyrim at 1080p I use over 2gb of ram and there is a thread on this forum stating the games running over 2gb of vram. Also we have even the release day reviews of the 680 and 7970 which show the higher the resolution the further the 7970 pulls ahead of the 680.
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You're wrong on every count other than the fact that Skyrim can use more than 2GB of VRAM at 1920*1080.

Yes it can but you need to heavily mod it beyond what most users would mod. I ran a fair chunk of mods at 1080p and it was OK.

Also you fail to comprehend that cards with more VRAM cache extra textures anyway. BF3 is an example with it apparently needing 2.4GB on 2560*1440 on a 3GB 580 whereas it only need 1.7-1.8GB on a 2GB 670.

p.s. the release day reviews showed the 680 faster as well. That point was so wrong I had to respond to it!

I think you should brush up on your own knowledge before questioning mine! :)
 
Whats the best 7970 to go for now then? price versus performance as they seem to be £60 apart with not that much difference..
 
If you mod Bethseda titles(not just Skyrim), want the yummy games package and you are open to switching vendors-get a 7950.

If you want PhysX-get a 670WF or keep your 570 for PhysX:eek:;):D.

I fail to see the difference a 7970 has over the 7950 without BM(having used both), then save your cash-a great oc'ing 7950=average 7970 oc, I imagine it will be the same for the 67/80.

If you simply must have a 680-get the 7970 Matrix, I doubt much is going to be faster tbh if you want out and out sheer brute force.;)


@psychodil,

MaLDoHD is stunning, used it on my playthrough.
 
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Demons UK said:
Whats the best 7970 to go for now then? price versus performance as they seem to be £60 apart with not that much difference..
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The most sensible solution is to get a 7950. You won't even be making a performance sacrifice because they're so close in performance.

Rossi~ said:
Right this minute it's the ASUS Matrix Platinum @ £394.99 inc VAT
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Wat :confused:

You could get 2x 7950s that would absolutely blow that away for £40.

If you sold the free games, you could get them for the same price. Utter madness.
 
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spoffle said:
The most sensible solution is to get a 7950. You won't even be making a performance sacrifice because they're so close in performance.



Wat :confused:

You could get 2x 7950s that would absolutely blow that away for £40.

If you sold the free games, you could get them for the same price. Utter madness.
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I'm not denying the performance side but he asked a specific question, i answered it.

Whats the best 7970 to go for now then? price versus performance as they seem to be £60 apart with not that much difference
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Also, some people may not:
a) Have the space
b) The power
c) The heat
d) Want crossfire driver issues
e) Want 2 cards instead of 1 glorious card
 
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