7970 or 770?

Gregster · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:31

I agree with Bru. The 770 is considerably faster than the 7970GE in the games you have listed and whilst some argue "But the 7970 can overclock to 1200Mhz+", this is only for consideration if the OP wants to be running OC software all the time (which frankly I CBA to do and I would guess a few are like me).

As for the memory bus, the speed the 770 is clocked at, I can't see this being a limiting factor at normal resolutions and would like to see some evidence of the 770 struggling with its memory bandwith before being swayed otherwise.

Other factors are the game bundle that comes with the 7970 and if you are into overclocking, the 7950 performs roughly 5% of the 7970 for considerably less.

spoffle · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:33

this is only for consideration if the OP wants to be running OC software all the time (which frankly I CBA to do and I would guess a few are like me

What a bizarre thing to say, it takes seconds to set up an overclocked profile in your program of choice, or even through CCC that you can have invoked upon launching a 3D application.

Rusty0611 · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:35

Don't think the memory bus really limits at all at 1920x1080.

OC 680 vs OC 7970 were always within a whisker of each other. 12.11 moved it from the 680 being faster overall to the 7970 being faster overall but it was still remarkably close... to clarify talking overclocked vs overclocked on an average decent clock at around 1250 MHz on both or thereabouts.

5960xNvidiaGamer · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:37

Save some money and get a 670 4gb. They are cheaper now and max everything out. The 700 series is a joke. Very little increase in performance, pointless upgrade for me. And will do the job and save you money.

spoffle · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:39

Rusty0611 said:
Don't think the memory bus really limits at all at 1920x1080.

OC 680 vs OC 7970 were always within a whisker of each other. 12.11 moved it from the 680 being faster overall to the 7970 being faster overall but it was still remarkably close... to clarify talking overclocked vs overclocked on an average decent clock at around 1250 MHz on both or thereabouts.

Not particularly, but it will be a factor that will limit its lifespan a lot compared to other cards.

Gregster · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:44

spoffle said:
What a bizarre thing to say, it takes seconds to set up an overclocked profile in your program of choice, or even through CCC that you can have invoked upon launching a 3D application.

Good for you that you like to set up profiles

Evga_Gamer said:
Save some money and get a 670 4gb. They are cheaper now and max everything out. The 700 series is a joke. Very little increase in performance, pointless upgrade for me. And will do the job and save you money.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £359.99
2 x MSI Geforce GTX 770 Gaming Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99 (£671.98)
Total : £1,043.96 (includes shipping : £10.00).

I have to disagree with "Max everything out" sorry. The extra 2GB is only worth it if you Tri-SLI them.

spoffle · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:46

Gregster said:
Good for you that you like to set up profiles

jonneymendoza · 3 Jun 2013 at 19:53

get a 770. faster and can overclock faster too

LtMatt · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:00

Gregster said:
I agree with Bru. The 770 is considerably faster than the 7970GE in the games you have listed.

I don't call 1 fps at 1080p considerably faster. No way a voltage locked 770 will be keeping up with a voltage unlocked 7970. Not unless that 770 is a golden clocker and judging by the way my 7970 took care of Rusty's golden clocking 680 id still say its a long shot. The gap gets even closer at 1440p as well.

As much as i hate to say it, the anand 7970 results are very low and lower than what i saw myself. This will please you though Greg, the techpowerup you have linked previously seem to be on the ball this time.

As we all know review sites and results will vary but the 770 is not a huge deal faster and the 7970 will eat up that difference with overclocking no problem.

bru · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:01

Why does this happen all the time.

The opening poster asked which card would be best for him for the games he wants to play out of the 7970 and the 770, in this case the games he wants to play all favour the 770, so why do we have these arguments in every thread. If the 7970 was clearly the better card for the opening poster then I would suggest that card but for the opening poster it isn't the better card. It doesn't matter if you over clock both cards or not for the games he wants to play the 770 is faster.

LtMatt · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:05

bru said:
Why does this happen all the time.

The opening poster asked which card would be best for him for the games he wants to play out of the 7970 and the 770, in this case the games he wants to play all favour the 770, so why do we have these arguments in every thread. If the 7970 was clearly the better card for the opening poster then I would suggest that card but for the opening poster it isn't the better card. It doesn't matter if you over clock both cards or not for the games he wants to play the 770 is faster.

In your opinion Bru. Fact is the OP asked for opinions and that's what we're giving. Considering the OP has fitted An Accelero to his previous gpu i think its safe to say he wants to overclock. Only one card will win when you start overclocking. You do that math.

bru · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:07

One thing we really need to know and yet again all of us have completely forgotten to ask is......

Opening poster do you intend to overclock your graphics card?

As this answer could have bearing on what card is best for you.

bru · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:10

Wasn't aware that the Op had fitted an aftermarket cooler to his previous card as there is no mention of this in this thread at all.

Possibly makes my above question a moot point

LtMatt · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:13

bru said:
One thing we really need to know and yet again all of us have completely forgotten to ask is......

Opening poster do you intend to overclock your graphics card?

As this answer could have bearing on what card is best for you.

bru said:
Wasn't aware that the Op had fitted an aftermarket cooler to his previous card as there is no mention of this in this thread at all.

Possibly makes my above question a moot point

Step aside young Bru. OP is a member of the accelero club.

LT and AMD have secured this one. Take your voltage locked filth and leave the thread in shame.

se_vietboi · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:27

7970 is a no brainer if you OC IMO. I don't see how its a big fuss and deal since a program like Afterburner can launch on Windows start-up, minimized and apply the OC automatically.

That being said, if OP doesn't want to OC than a 770 is the best route for his needs?

LtMatt · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:30

se_vietboi said:
7970 is a no brainer if you OC IMO. I don't see how its a big fuss and deal since a program like Afterburner can launch on Windows start-up, minimized and apply the OC automatically.

That being said, if OP doesn't want to OC than a 770 is the best route for his needs?

I'd agree with all of that. Knowing the OP though he likes a good fiddle, as do the best of us. Its what keeps things interesting.

Gregster · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:31

LtMatt said:
I don't call 1 fps at 1080p considerably faster. No way a voltage locked 770 will be keeping up with a voltage unlocked 7970. Not unless that 770 is a golden clocker and judging by the way my 7970 took care of Rusty's golden clocking 680 id still say its a long shot. The gap gets even closer at 1440p as well.

As much as i hate to say it, the anand 7970 results are very low and lower than what i saw myself. This will please you though Greg, the techpowerup you have linked previously seem to be on the ball this time.

As we all know review sites and results will vary but the 770 is not a huge deal faster and the 7970 will eat up that difference with overclocking no problem.

I am not a fan of paid reviewers at all Matt (as you know). I was just going by the bench results that Bru linked and using them as reference. I am sure overclocked Vs overclocked, the 7970 would get the advantage back but this is why I would be inclined to look at a 7950, as the clock for clock comparisons I have seen make the 5% gains in fps just seem a bit meh!

LtMatt · 3 Jun 2013 at 20:37

Gregster said:
I am not a fan of paid reviewers at all Matt (as you know). I was just going by the bench results that Bru linked and using them as reference. I am sure overclocked Vs overclocked, the 7970 would get the advantage back but this is why I would be inclined to look at a 7950, as the clock for clock comparisons I have seen make the 5% gains in fps just seem a bit meh!

I hear you on that and i appreciate that its all down to the luck of the lottery but my 2 7950's aren't fit to tie the shoe laces of my 7970.

I still think providing you're not buying on a tight budget (which the op isn't) 7970 is a better buy for performance than a 7950. However i do agree that there's not a huge difference between them

EDIT

I'm impressed with the 770 pricing though, I'd like to think AMD will react to that and lower their prices slightly.

5960xNvidiaGamer · 3 Jun 2013 at 21:17

Gregster said:
Good for you that you like to set up profiles

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £359.99
2 x MSI Geforce GTX 770 Gaming Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £335.99 (£671.98)
Total : £1,043.96 (includes shipping : £10.00).

I have to disagree with "Max everything out" sorry. The extra 2GB is only worth it if you Tri-SLI them.

I max out everything on my 670 4gb on my monitor at 1920 x 1080. Wasnt talking about more than 1 monitor mate. And if you look around you will find the 670 for 250. Overclockers isnt the only place.

bru · 3 Jun 2013 at 21:21

Evga_Gamer said:
And if you look around you will find the 670 for 250. Overclockers isnt the only place.

Your quite right it isn't, but it is actually against this forums rules to mention, hint or talk about competitors and their pricing. Which so often is broken by many people on here.