7970 or 770?

[l33th3tr33]

Right so after a while without a card I'm getting another and am torn between these two cards.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-073-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

and

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-202-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

The only thing that puts me off the 770 is the 2gb memory vs the 3gb of the 7970, and the lower number of stream processors with the 770.

I know that the twin frozr cards are supposed to be very good, but haven't msi had a few problems recently regarding reliability?

So from the more knowledgeable, which card and why?

Main games will be BF3, Crysis 3 and Farcry 3 & blood dragon.

 

[l33th3tr33]

Forgot to say, I'll be using 1920x1080.

 

[l33th3tr33]

If I were to get a 7950 it would be the twin frozr but not heard good things about it recently so that's a no go.

This card is going to have to last me a couple years too so the 7970 is looking the best bet so far.

 

[l33th3tr33]

Right it's going to be the 7970 then, hopefully I don't have problems like the msi, eh Matt!

Just before I make a commitment, what's the fan noise like on the iceQ?

 

[l33th3tr33]

Well these cards all have good coolers that should see you reach 1200-1250 on the core and that nets serious performance when you increase the memory as well.

All the coolers on the cards below are decent. If you can afford the extra the Gigabyte card will be the quietest. But the other cards should all be ok up to around 60% or so.

Is the difference worth £30? It's all down the your answer Matt, no pressure.

 

[l33th3tr33]

Just ordered the HIS, can't wait to finally complete Crysis!

 

[l33th3tr33]

A tad faster? It's a lot quicker! Bugger.

 

[l33th3tr33]

Woah, I leave the thread for 2 minutes and it all blows up!

Yes I will be overclocking, luckily Matt has guided me in the past and I was in the accellero club (brings a tear of joy that I'm still considered 'part of the club') So yeah, I do like the painful test after test to get the best out of what I have.
I didn't know there was a 4gb version of the 670, but I completely forgot about the 7970 being 384 bit, which iirc tipped the scales last time.

I'm a bit nervous it being a HIS but iirc overclockers deal with the rma for them so all should be good if the card craps itself, for the 4th time.

Reading through all that had my mind flipping between 'I want a 770 now' and 'phew, I got the right card'!

 

[l33th3tr33]

As you will be overclocking both a 770 or a 7970 would be good, the 770 does seem to have an edge in the games you mentioned but either will be a nice card and should be fine.

That was my thought after reading all the replies, but less than one frame isn't exactly an edge.

 

[l33th3tr33]

Got my card today, and so far I'm very happy with it. Not had a chance to OC it yet but I'll give that a bash tomorrow.

A MILLION times quieter than my previous MSI, so I'm well chuffed.

Cheers guys.