7970/50 vs 670/80 at 5760x1200

[RobHu]

So I've just bought two extra monitors and am now trying to work out which card(s) to power them with!

At the moment I have a 580 gtx and my ideal solution would probably have been to buy another of these, however they seem hard to get hold of/very overpriced so I've decided to just upgrade it instead.

I'm looking to start out with a single card now and buy a second in a few months if needed (a lot of my gaming will still be single screen/relatively low demand games so I might not even need the second card?).

I'm leaning toward this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-108-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

...which is pretty much at the top of my budget. Would it be worth stretching to a 680? From what I've read the 7970 seems to have the edge at the moment at higher resolutions (though I guess this is very game/current driver dependant?) as well as having more vram.

Finally, how do the 7950/670 compare to the above? Obviously getting either of these would increase the chance of needing to buy a second somewhere down the line.

Thanks !

 

[illuz]

7950/70 CF definitely! Plenty of threads about this.

 

[arc@css]

At that res, I'd say 7950cf without a doubt.

 

[Rusty0611]

Hi there,

My own comparisons while overclocked:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18455827

If you have the time have a read through my opening 3-4 posts as this where the info is

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Rusty0611]

Finally, how do the 7950/670 compare to the above? Obviously getting either of these would increase the chance of needing to buy a second somewhere down the line.

Thanks !

Only 5% slower which really doesn't equate to much FPS (1-2 depending on the game) especially at triple screen resolution.

So I'd recommend saving your money and looking at a 7950/670 as they are a fair bit cheaper.

 

[RobHu]

Thanks for that Rusty, I think I'll go with the 7950, and then pick up a second in the new year.

Are there any in particular which are known to OC well?

 

[Rusty0611]

You could get two of these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

Which is ideal for a crossfire set up as the cards exhaust out the back.

Overclocking potential comes down to the silicon lottery I'm afraid. Cross your fingers and hope for the best.

I'd expect that all 7950s will reach 1100/1500 (my 24/7 clock speeds) which will be a bit faster than a GHz edition 7970.

The "best" 7950 is the MSI Twin Frozr III V2s as they're on the 7970 PCB and overclock really nicely. Unfortunately, there's a dodgy batch of these still floating around so I'd avoid.

 

[RobHu]

Done.

Bought the first intending to leave it at 1 card for now as I said...Then thought sod it and bought another

Thanks for the help!

 

[Addicted]

Everybody says to get a 7950 and then clock it so it's faster than a Ghz edition 7970.

What they fail to forget is that 7970's also overclock very well, and will gain you even further than a 7950 ever will.

 

[bru]

Everybody says to get a 7950 and then clock it so it's faster than a Ghz edition 7970.

What they fail to forget is that 7970's also overclock very well, and will gain you even further than a 7950 ever will.

The reason people suggest the 7950 is because it is £100 cheaper than 7970 GHz edition cards, thats coming on for 30% cheaper which is a massive saving.

 

[ICDP]

Everybody says to get a 7950 and then clock it so it's faster than a Ghz edition 7970.

What they fail to forget is that 7970's also overclock very well, and will gain you even further than a 7950 ever will.

The headroom on a 7970 is lower than a 7950. Both will go to similar clocks of around 1150 or 1200 MHz core. Of course mileage may vary and you do play the overclocking lottery, some may go higher and some lower but this seems to be an average. Given similar max OC potential a 7970 may keep a 10% lead in performance against a 7950. 10% for almost ~25% price premium is not worth it to many people.

This of course has always been the case when comparing top tier to second tier single GPU solutions.

Note: For clarity's sake I am not differentiating between the 7970 and 7970 GE which are for all intents and purposes the same card.

 

[spoffle]

Everybody says to get a 7950 and then clock it so it's faster than a Ghz edition 7970.

What they fail to forget is that 7970's also overclock very well, and will gain you even further than a 7950 ever will.

Ultimately a 7950 and a 7970 will clock to similar levels, they use the same GPUs.

 

[Rusty0611]

Everybody says to get a 7950 and then clock it so it's faster than a Ghz edition 7970.

What they fail to forget is that 7970's also overclock very well, and will gain you even further than a 7950 ever will.

I think that kind of goes without saying??????



And only 5% faster on a normal 7970. A Lightning may reach 7-10% faster.