680 or 7950

[chris-82]

my friend is looking to upgrade his gpu (6850) he has been offered a 680 lightining second hand or he could get a 7950 brand new with games for about £20 cheaper less profit he could make from the games.

we both only care about the performance and if that performance makes it worth buying over the other is the 680 worth buying secondhand over the 7950? what realistic performance difference would he see between the two cards bearing in mind the new drivers for amd? (no linking,referencing to old benches)

or would he be better getting a new card with fulll warranty and games?

any help would be much appreciated

 

[LtMatt]

This is my personal view, though i may be slightly biased.

7950 advantages

Brand new not second hand
Warranty
1gb extra vram
Wider bit bus
Gaming evolved
Voltage control
Excellent overclock ability (assuming you don't get a stinker)
Free games



680 advantages

Faster out of the box performance
Physx
Good cooler

A 7950 clocked at 1100/1500 is about as fast or slightly faster than a 7970ghz edition card. A 7970ghz edition card is about 8-12% faster than a 680 on average.

 

[teppic]

I wouldn't get a 680. If you want nvidia, just get a new 670 with Splinter Cell for free, and overclock it.

(I'd go for a 7950 in preference at current prices)

 

[RavenXXX2]

680 lightning has voltage control for potentially high overclocks, top quality build and components and is super quiet and cool. Depends on the price but if the 680 is aound £200 that is what I would go for.

 

[Geeman1979]

680 lightning has voltage control for potentially high overclocks, top quality build and components and is super quiet and cool. Depends on the price but if the 680 is aound £200 that is what I would go for.

Same here. +1

 

[MeMeMeMe]

I'd go for the 7950 myself, purely because the performance difference is mild and your looking at second-hand vs new.

The 680 is better, but not by a big margin, certainly not enough to justify the risks of going second hand. And certainly not enough to pay more for the second hand card than the new card. If the 680 was significantly cheaper than the 7950, it might be worth it, but that's not the case here.

 

[los]

Or the MSI 7970 for £260 if you can stretcha bit more, I'd never pay that sort of money for a second hand card as I prefer the safety of the warranty but thats just me.
The twin frozr and ICEq 7950 are absolute bargains at the moment

 

[555BUK]

If the 680 has a good/transferable warranty, go for that. It will be quite a bit faster out of the box and just as fast with both overclocked. The 680 will also consume less power, run very quiet and have a few extra bells and whistles (which most people either don't use or cannot notice).

The 680 may also hold it's value slightly better.

Me, I went for a ICEQ 7950 yesterday, but I already own a 680 within another rig.