GTX 660ti vs HD 7950

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:13

ANSWERED AND ORDERED
See here for more info behind me going for the GTX660ti by MSI:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=22814469&postcount=32

I'm a little lost as to which to go for - both sit in my price range. For the research I have done it is really hard to pin down.

660 GTX ti vs 660 GTX ti SC+ vs 660 GTX ti PE vs 7950 vs 7950 OC

Basically, this is what I understand from all the searching I've done:
It's all about your personal preference.

There are certain games that the 660 gtx ti does better in, and others the 7950.

The thing is this, at stock:
7950 has lower clocks, higher mem and bus
660 has higher clocks, lower mem and bus

660 is favoured atm for people who game, as it supports games much better. ie. BF3 is designed for nvidia.

Now for overall, long-run, it seems the 7950 is better because of it's high bus and mem size - this will allow it to stretch to high limits in the long run.
However it should be noted that both are OC'able - now I don't want to OC, but if you want to OC the GPU's the 7950, can out-perform it's bigger brother the 7970 (stock) - so for me, I'm leaning for the MSI AMD Radeon HD 7950 TWIN FROZR.

Ref:
MSI HD7950:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-MS

EVGA GTX660ti SC:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-198-EA

MSI GTX660ti PE:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-172-MS
Could anyone point me in the right direction?

I should note that I would want something that can be a little on the quiet side

Also warranties are something that's important to me - so how would each cope internationally speaking? If I moved let's say from the UK - how would I deal with it? Will MSI for example deal with that, in another country?
Any help would be appreciated

!

Gregster · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:19

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, Dirt Showdown & CODMW2 PC Games £239.99
Total : £250.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).

Is a no brainer. A simple case of moving a couple of sliders and you will surpass any OC selling card and many guys here will help if you are stuck at all. The free games help make this an even sweeter deal

and as for the 660TI competing with the 7950, clock the 7950 and it will leave the 660TI behind in more or less all games.

Edit:

Just read reviews and James of St helens is exagerating slightly as I game @ 5760*1080 and run 680's in SLI and in ultra, I can't maintain anywhere near 60FPS in BF3 and he can with a single 7950....

Dodger · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:22

gregster said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, Dirt Showdown & CODMW2 PC Games £239.99
Total : £250.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).

Is a no brainer. A simple case of moving a couple of sliders and you will surpass any OC selling card and many guys here will help if you are stuck at all. The free games help make this an even sweeter deal

Totally agree with this.

On a side note, what is your opinion on the Gigabite Windforce version, model number GV-R795WF3-3GD. It is currently not available on OC, so do a search in google and let me know what you guys think of it?

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:23

gregster said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, Dirt Showdown & CODMW2 PC Games £239.99
Total : £250.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).

Is a no brainer. A simple case of moving a couple of sliders and you will surpass any OC selling card and many guys here will help if you are stuck at all. The free games help make this an even sweeter deal and as for the 660TI competing with the 7950, clock the 7950 and it will leave the 660TI behind in more or less all games.

thanks for the feedback - but I heard the "his" GFX's are to be avoided for warranties.

As for games - why do people say nvidia is the choice or better for bf3?

FYI:
I bought BF3 today from origin

Orcvader · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:24

Clocks, bus speeds, and mem size is a poor way to measure AMD cards against Nvidia cards as they're completely different architectures.

I would be more tempted to get the 7950 due to it's overclocking headroom. You can easily get 1ghz+ on the core and is more worth the money. MSI support is also UK based if I remember correctly, so if you have any problems the support should be quick and simple. There's also a MSI representative on OcUK

.

However if the games you play prefer Nvidia, then go for the 660 Ti.

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:25

Dodger said:
Totally agree with this.

On a side note, what is your opinion on the Gigabite Windforce version, model number GV-R795WF3-3GD. It is currently not available on OC, so do a search in google and let me know what you guys think of it?

haha!
That's one i have short-listed but didn't post it simply due to not being available on OCUK - but yes that's in my mind too - with the other 3.

Dodger · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:26

Totally Dubbed said:
haha!
That's one i have short-listed but didn't post it simply due to not being available on OCUK - but yes that's in my mind too - with the other 3.

That's why I have only posted the model number

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:27

Orcvader said:
Clocks, bus speeds, and mem size is a poor way to measure AMD cards against Nvidia cards as they're completely different architectures.

I would be more tempted to get the 7950 due to it's overclocking headroom. You can easily get 1ghz+ on the core and is more worth the money. MSI support is also UK based if I remember correctly, so if you have any problems the support should be quick and simple. There's also a MSI representative on OcUK .

However if the games you play prefer Nvidia, then go for the 660 Ti.

well I haven't gamed in ages (please don't hate me

) on the PC - I've been on the Xbox.

I might start getting back into gaming - but I'm actually getting the card as a way of being future-proof if anything.

As for games preferring Nvidia - is there a reason behind it?
ie. why bf3 supposedly runs better on it vs amd?
I'm not sure on that one, would love some explaining

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:28

Dodger said:
That's why I have only posted the model number

you should PM me

!
(yt, fb, twitter)

Gregster · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:29

Totally Dubbed said:
thanks for the feedback - but I heard the "his" GFX's are to be avoided for warranties.

As for games - why do people say nvidia is the choice or better for bf3?

FYI:
I bought BF3 today from origin

BF3 is better on Nvidia cards but since AMD have pulled their fingers out, they have seriously closed the gap in performance on BF3 especially.

I also am a fan of checking out warranties and check this out for piece of mind

Dodger · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:29

Totally Dubbed said:
well I haven't gamed in ages (please don't hate me ) on the PC - I've been on the Xbox.

I might start getting back into gaming - but I'm actually getting the card as a way of being future-proof if anything.

As for games preferring Nvidia - is there a reason behind it?
ie. why bf3 supposedly runs better on it vs amd?
I'm not sure on that one, would love some explaining

In the AMD vs Nvidia thread, people state yes BF3 runs better using Nvidia but the difference compared to AMD is marginal. Might be different for other games.

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:34

gregster said:
BF3 is better on Nvidia cards but since AMD have pulled their fingers out, they have seriously closed the gap in performance on BF3 especially.

I also am a fan of checking out warranties and check this out for piece of mind

Check that thread - last reply is from me

!
It is useful to know where and how - but does that means it works internationally again or not?

I think tomorrow is decision day for me - I'll be calling them to ask them.

Out of interest and OT - how does one RMA ASUS motherboards?
I absolutely hate asus btw.

Dodger said:
In the AMD vs Nvidia thread, people state yes BF3 runs better using Nvidia but the difference compared to AMD is marginal. Might be different for other games.

so if it is marginal - and we look at pure specs and long-run, it would seem my/our assumption is correct on the 7950?

Gregster · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:44

Well my recommendation was for the HIS (which I stand by) and that states "2 year warranty (if bought from OcUK, they will deal with the warranty even in the second year, so should be no more than 3 - 5 days).

Unless you intend on buying from else where, then I have no idea sorry.

Dodger · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:46

Totally Dubbed said:
you should PM me !
(yt, fb, twitter)

Just put model number in search engine - job done

Totally Dubbed · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:49

gregster said:
Well my recommendation was for the HIS (which I stand by) and that states "2 year warranty (if bought from OcUK, they will deal with the warranty even in the second year, so should be no more than 3 - 5 days).

Unless you intend on buying from else where, then I have no idea sorry.

Thanks!

Dodger said:
Just put model number in search engine - job done

I did do bro

Dodger · 20 Sep 2012 at 23:55

Have you considered this card? More expensive than the HIS one Gregster recommended. Opinions?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

Totally Dubbed · 21 Sep 2012 at 00:12

Dodger said:
Have you considered this card? More expensive than the HIS one Gregster recommended. Opinions?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

I haven't actually 0- I know that's the one you chose.
Might look into that a bit more - have you got any links showing benches for that?

Dodger · 21 Sep 2012 at 00:17

Totally Dubbed said:
I haven't actually 0- I know that's the one you chose.
Might look into that a bit more - have you got any links showing benches for that?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7950-review-benchmark,3207-14.html

I only chose the IceQ to put something in the basket

I'm after the Gigabite version @ £270 but you can get the HIS HD version for £240. Not sure if I should be spending the extra £30

Totally Dubbed · 21 Sep 2012 at 00:23

Dodger said:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7950-review-benchmark,3207-14.html

I only chose the IceQ to put something in the basket

I'm after the Gigabite version @ £270 but you can get the HIS HD version for £240. Not sure if I should be spending the extra £30

why the gigabyte over the MSI?

Dodger · 21 Sep 2012 at 00:27

Totally Dubbed said:
why the gigabyte over the MSI?

I think it has better cooling (3 fans) which hopefully should mean a better overclock on the GPU whilst maintaining decent temperatures.

61 reviews in Google about the Gigabite, purely basing my decision on that