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GTX Titan or Xfire 7950s?

banjoted

banjoted

banjoted

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Am finding this a really tough decision. Am aware of all the advantages of Titan - single card, quieter, future SLI potential. At the same time I know I'd get similar performance from Xfire HD 7950s for far, far less money (I'm currently running a single 7950).

This is where you lot might be able to help. I play on a single 1080p screen. I'm currently running an FX-6300 CPU on a Gigabyte DS3 but am going to upgrade my mobo to an Extreme 4 and the CPU to an i5-3750k.

Basically I want to be able to run everything at a smooth 60FPS on max settings. And I'd also like a machine that's going to see me through the next console gen, as much as possible at least.

Taking all that into account, what is the better of my two GPU options?
 
This isn't going to end well mate. Hope you're prepare to read some bickering :D.

I think you need to decide firstly what you're comfortable spending. If you're comfortable spending £900 on a single GPU then, to be honest, I would get that as it will be the better all round option. It also gives you the option later down the line to get another Titan if you want to.

The 7950s will be faster and far, far better value for money but there are quirks you have to deal with on multi GPU set up's. For me they're not anywhere near deal breaking (7950 CF owner) but they may be for you.
 
Can you elaborate on the issues you've encountered? I'm not averse to be a bit of tinkering but obviously I don't want a complete nightmare.

And what about this stuff about microstuttering I've read about? Opinion seems split between "OMG it's the end of the world" all the way to "it's not even noticeable"?
 
I'm just curious - does it have to be a constant 60fps to be 'smooth'? Isn't the game play at your res with one 7950 adequately smooth?

I would wait until the new cpu is in before buying a second 7950 / other card. Then once you have the new cpu, I would overclock your current card and see how it fares. I'm not up with AMD cpu's, but iirc you'll get more out of your 7950 with the 3570k.
 
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banjoted said:
Can you elaborate on the issues you've encountered? I'm not averse to be a bit of tinkering but obviously I don't want a complete nightmare.

And what about this stuff about microstuttering I've read about? Opinion seems split between "OMG it's the end of the world" all the way to "it's not even noticeable"?
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Overclocking with non-matching cards can be a bit of a pain but can be worked around.

Stability while overclocked can vary quite wildly across different driver sets.

Very minor issues with perceived "smoothness" on 60 Hz screens (OK for me on 120 Hz)

Other than that I'm very happy with my 7950 CF set up. I used 680 SLI for a while as well so have experience with both.

It is worth saying that others have more issues with smoothness than me but it's unclear whether some of this is end user side or a true driver problem. I have a minor problem with it in a couple of games but it can be fixed via RadeonPro. :)
 
banjoted said:
Taking all that into account, what is the better of my two GPU options?
Click to expand...

Keep your single 7950 and wait until they truly struggle, using 7950 CrossFire myself but only due to running 120Hz FS 3D, if I wasn't using 3D, one oc'd would be plenty@1080p in todays games.

Every title out there can be played at 60fps with settings to suit and a Titan may not be able to keep 60fps solid with max settings all accross the board either.

Dual cards take perseverance and patience at times to keep them running well and Titan is unrealistically priced for the gains it brings@1080p IMHO, but it's you're money your choice in whether it's worth it or not.

There are possible new cards due in 2-3 months time from Nvidia and won't be that far off of Titan so it would be wise to wait.
 
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No one in their right mind is going to tell you to buy a card that costs 4 times as much for less performance.
 
I went from xfire 7950's to a single Titan. While the Titan gets lower numbers in benchmarks it gives a smoother experience in games. I did also notice that when I went from dual 7950's to a single card (as one had to be RMA'd) the hit in what I was seeing onscreen was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting.

Recent tests have shown that while xfire setups give huge numbers, many of those frames never make it to screen. http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...ils-Capture-based-Graphics-Performance-Test-3
 
layte said:
Recent tests have shown that while xfire setups give huge numbers, many of those frames never make it to screen. http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...ils-Capture-based-Graphics-Performance-Test-3
Click to expand...

If you take a look about, all gpus single and dual or more are all dropping frames, althouh AMD have a larger issue to sort out than Nvidia.

It all depends whether an individual's pockets are deep enough or/and cba with playing about with tools that can rectify the issues at less than half the price of Titan.:)
 
If you want to spend Titan type money and get the same performance as 2 x HD 7950s, bag yourself a GTX 690. To use it feels like a single card, runs faster than a Titan and does not suffer from the problems reported with xfire. The icing on the cake is in real life it looks even better than a Titan (that takes some doing).

The downside is it is expensive, but will breeze through any game @1080p
 
I've discounted the 690 as if I do change cards I'd rather go for Titan due to easier SLI in the future - SLi'ing a GTX 690 would have me effectively running four cards!

I guess the question comes down to whether I want to fork out hundreds more for a potential future benefit or spend far less, with the added issue of possible Xfire-related complications. It's very hard to gauge the real life extent of Xfire issues. Some say it's fine, others make it out to be a big deal.
 
Normally the ones making the most noise about are the ones who aren't currently using it.

While I do love a good abstract analysis unless I can see or perceive a problem I don't really care what's going on behind the scenes. I don't see any major problems with my 7950s but that's not to say that problems aren't there at all for others. They are and they can be a major pain in the backside to sort if you're afflicted. Ask Rossi on here, he swapped his 7970s to a 690 because of it after weeks of trying to sort it out.

Having used both top spec AMD and nVidia cards in this generation I'm about as neutral as you can get and a single card is a better option overall... I'm not sure you're going to get £400 extra out of a Titan.

You can always try CF and if it's that bad, DSR your second card. That seems sensible to me.
 
I used to run Crossfire a few gens back, when it worked it was well great.. Just need to be prepared for the time when it can be a right pain in the butt, this also goes for Nvidia.

Here is another issue, Titans are so bloody expensive and your HD7950's in xfire would come very close to it if not beat it at times for a lot less. Comes down to a balancing act really..
On one had xfire is cheaper and would give you a possible performance boost on the other it can be a pain in the butt.
For the Titan its very expensive,and its performance can be matched for a lot less depending on what is most important to you. But more hassle free gaming through.

If it was me, I would SLI my current GTX670 F.T.W with another one for £320 be prepared for it to be a pain in the butt at times but pocket the difference and invest in something else.

As rusty0611 said you could always DSR if you can not get on with it.

Titan is a huge amount of money to drop on something that you might replace in 6 months to be honest.
 
If you are only thinking of buying 1, then Titan is a lot of money for not a massive benefit
I would only recommend a Titan to someone thinking of going multi-screen and wanting to buy 2-3 of them, just like I would only recommend a 4GB 670/680 to someone thinking of buying 3-4 cards

I'm sure that crossfire will get fixed in the next 3-4 months just as AMD say it will, it's only taken them a year and a half to admit there is a problem so what is a few more months between vendor and customer :D
 
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