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680 or 7970

Evansd

Evansd

Evansd

Associate
Joined
5 Apr 2012
Posts
113
I need to purchase a new 120hz monitor but it depends on the card I buy. I was going to go for a 680 but I think that's because it's newer..

After something that is going to run everything on full settings and keeping the fps up for the monitor. Not really into overclocking.

I have read so many reviews and a lot say the 680 is faster some say it's not. If it is no quicker why when it is more expensive do people buy it?

The question has most likely been asked before but if you were to purchase now what would you pick and why?
 
I'd personally pick the 7970. This is for the 3gb Vram, price and when overclocked it'll equal/outperform the 680.

On the other hand the 680 has a turbo boost thing so it overclocks itself which is why it is better than the 7970 in most benchmarks. If you're not going to overclock then get a 680 unless price is very important as there's very little between them and they're both fantastic cards.
 
The truth is both cards are fast, one can be faster in some games the other faster in the others. The GTX680 is with out a doubt Nvidia's best top end card in a long, long time which is reflected in the price and add into that the lack of availability prices for existing lines are sky high and given that the 7970 is around £50 or more it makes it better value then the GTX680.

Some people only buy ever buy Nvidia or AMD cards out of brand loyalty (even though the loyalty only ever extends one way) these people are marked as 'fanboys' and will buy anything from that company no matter how rubbish or overpriced it is.

The bottom line is you shouldn't worry to much, which ever card you buy your going to happy with, both are fast and will play everything you through at it at super high speeds. If I were you I would look for things like a good 3 year warranty on cards this expensive so you might want to consider EVGA or Gigiabyte for a Geforce card while AMD has a games promotion running at the moment and you can get 3 free games with every card you buy which you can keep or sell on to get more money back.

I personally wouldn't buy either, I would get the MSI Radeon 7950 3Gb Twin Frozr 3 with a 3 for free promotion. Much better value, good cooling and a 3 year warranty from a company that has a good reputation for customer service.
 
Overclocked the cards are ~equal so I'd go for 7970 now unless you are about to play Batman AC.

If you plan on going multi gpu in the future then 680 as I've read too many problems with 7970 crossfire.
 
Evansd said:
What about 3d are they both equal or is one better than the other?
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They both use different 3D technologies. Nvidia 3D vision is IMO the best out there by far, but it is horribly expensive. AMD uses tridef drivers for 3D, which aren't too shabby either.

shawsy109 said:
Some monitors that are 3d only work with Nvidia, some only work with ATI cards. Make sure whichever card you get will work in 3d with your 120mhz screen.
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MHz?!:eek:
 
Tute said:
Never knew this, bit of a downside to the technology no?
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Just the way it is for now I guess until it becomes more common. I recently purchased a 120Hz 3d vision BenQ monitor, best I have ever owned. Some manufacturers work with Nvidia to develop there 3d vision, some work with ATI for their 3d application. Some work with both I think.

Just make sure whatever screen you get will work with your card.
 
just out of interest, why isn't there more hype for the 7950? the difference in speed once overclocked isn't a lot apparently, and for a price difference of 60~100, isn't it the same apples to apples comparison of 7970 and 680?
 
shawsy109 said:
Just the way it is for now I guess until it becomes more common. I recently purchased a 120Hz 3d vision BenQ monitor, best I have ever owned. Some manufacturers work with Nvidia to develop there 3d vision, some work with ATI for their 3d application. Some work with both I think.

Just make sure whatever screen you get will work with your card.
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This is the setup I was looking at but just making sure its the right setup for the money
 
Evansd said:
But then if your going to pay the extra for the 7970 why not get the 680 :)
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Because at the moment the 680 is priced high due to demand exceeding supply. This coupled with performing pretty similarly to a 7970 means there isn't much point unless the 680 has something specific you're after.

That coming from a 680 owner :) although I did pay £420 for mine on release which is looking like a good deal more and more as each day with stock shortages carry on :)
 
Given how close the two cards are, I'd take a look, see which group of fanboys annoy you the most, and then buy the other card. Make sure to post about buying it to rile them up.
 
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