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.

 

[Phixsator]

Im not a very big fan of the new 700 series lineup from nvidia with the exception of the 780 which is a beast to be feared. Find the 7950 alternatives to be a better bang for the buck imho. Dont think the 2gb 770 will hold you back as long as you are gaming in 1080p, should serve you nicely, just remember that the only 700 series card that actually has something new to it is the 780, the rest is just glorified superclocked 600 series cards in new cloth.

 

[l33th3tr33]

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

 

[Rusty0611]

7970 as when they're both clocked up the 7970 will probably be a touch faster (and generally cheaper).

 

[whyscotty]

7950 wouldn't be a bad choice either

 

[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.

 

[LtMatt]

7970 as when they're both clocked up the 7970 will probably be a touch faster (and generally cheaper).

+1

7950 wouldn't be a bad choice either

+1

Both cards are solid but id say go for the 7970 if staying single card.

 

[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?

 

[LtMatt]

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?

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.

 

[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.

 

[LtMatt]

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

Nah, id go with either the His or Sapphire.

 

[vonex]

reference gigabyte 7970 for £269.99 from another retailer... cracking deal!!

 

[l33th3tr33]

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

 

[555BUK]

As a GTX 680 owner I say you are correct opting for the 7970, mostly because I hate re-branded products but also because of the AMD games bundle and 3GB vs 2GB VRAM.

 

[bru]

Just to put the cat amongst the pigeons, I would suggest a 770, they are every bit as quick as a 7970ghz ed, a tad faster in some games and a tad slower in some. with the games you have listed the 770 is somewhat faster in those particular games.













Test setup and review here http://www.anandtech.com/show/6994/nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-review

CPU: Intel Core i7-3960X @ 4.3GHz
Motherboard: EVGA X79 SLI
Power Supply: Antec True Power Quattro 1200
Hard Disk: Samsung 470 (256GB)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1867 4 x 4GB (8-10-9-26)
Case: Thermaltake Spedo Advance
Monitor: Samsung 305T
Video Cards: AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
AMD Radeon HD 7990
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan
Video Drivers: NVIDIA ForceWare 320.14
NVIDIA ForceWare 320.18
AMD Catalyst 13.5 Beta 2
OS: Windows 8 Pro

 

[bru]

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

dam too slow, well I do hope you enjoy your new card anyway.

 

[l33th3tr33]

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

 

[LtMatt]

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

Its only faster because the 770 is a 680 with an overclock. If you added a similar clock boost to the 7970's core and memory then it would then be clearly faster than a 770. Don't forget the 770 is voltage locked, the 7970 is not so providing you overclock the 7970 it will be faster. Another thing to remember is even with these clock boosts the 770 is not faster in every game, in a quite a few it still loses out despite its clock boosts.

 

[bru]

It could be said that the 7970Ghz ed is just a 7970 with an overclock, you cannot get away from the fact that in the games he wants to play the 770 is faster.

to the OP'ing poster if the card hasn't been shipped you could contact them and change to a different card.

I would recommend one of these as it is slightly higher stock clocks and a little cheaper than the other two cards you were looking at.

YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 770 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (77XPH6DV6KXZ) £329.99
Total : £329.99 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[spoffle]

^ That's not really the point, and seems you're taking it out of context on purpose?

I don't know, but the 7970GE IS an overclocked 7970, no one's arguing that, but at 1050Mhz, a typical 7970 still has some overclocking left in it as most 7970s seem to go 1200Mhz+.

That aside, you've still got the 3GB RAM and 384bit bus on the 7970, buying in to 2GB 256bit isn't a great idea now because they won't have such a long life span as other cards.