GTX 660ti vs HD 7950

[Totally Dubbed]

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 !

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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.

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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]

That's why I have only posted the model number

you should PM me !
(yt, fb, twitter)

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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.

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?

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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!

Just put model number in search engine - job done

I did do bro

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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?

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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?

 

[Totally Dubbed]

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

fair enough - what about noise then - unless that doesn't concern you?

 

[Totally Dubbed]

It is apparently quieter than the others even though it has three fans...

Plus, many people have confirmed an excellent overlocks/cooling/noise.

An extract from a review I read:

dayyymmmeee

 

[Totally Dubbed]

I'm a bit confused by the OP. In the first post you said you don't want to overclock
If that's the case then the 7950 probably isn't for you, as its value is in its over clocking ability.

If you are not going to over clock, I would get the msi 660ti power edition, or splash a bit more and get a 670.

Also if you are over clocking and considering a 7950, I would go for the MSI twin frozr 7950 on special offer this week. I would stay away from the HIS cards as you said you want it to stay quiet.

Sorry for not making it clear.
Last night after god knows how many hours of research. I came to that conclusion.
I scrapped gigabyte from the list, due to warranty. Impossible to call them, as of 2003.

I then thought, which msi to go for. Amd or nvidia.
My conclusion came to what you stated about oc'ing. But also gaming: nvidia works better for the games I'll play, so why go for amd.
I'm going to give msi and evga a call right now.

Thanks a lot for the help

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Right this is most interesting!

EVGA will honour the warranty internationally.
MSI said they would only honour the warranty within the country of purchase.

(called both of them)
Might go with EVGA then

I'm set on the GTX 660 ti now.

 

[Totally Dubbed]

I bought the evga 3gb 660ti sc version yesterday for very similar reasons. Includes Borderlands 2 as well, very impressed so far.

I'm thinking of the 2GB version though.
Didn't even know there was a 3GB version!

Where did you find it?
I'm having trouble even getting it!

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Right i got email confirmation from EVGA regarding the warranty - that's a no brainer now.
Now to see 3GB or 2GB SC+

 

[Totally Dubbed]

I bought mine on tottenham court road, but the today only place do it. It is about 20 quid more, but i run 3 screens so thought it would help.

I don't actually need the extra 1GB, as I'm running on 1 screen but when I'm spending £250-270 (OCUK price) - 1GB for an extra £20 doesn't hurt.

Mind PM'ing me where you got it?
I can't seem to find any UK resellers on that one.

Or else I'll settle for OCUK's 2GB

 

[Totally Dubbed]

I went for the MSI GTX 660ti with OCUK with the free borderlands 2 CD.

I only went via that, and not the USA route, as I was "only" saving £60 via going to the USA - so to save myself the hassle for at least the initial build (as things can go wrong) + the first year warranty being with OCUK.

Both EVGA and MSI offered 3yrs warranty.
It came down to looks, price, and clock speed.

The looks, for me - the EVGA won hands down, especially with the Asus Z77 Sabertooth.
However the slightly higher base clock speeds of the MSI, alongside its 3X and the free borderlands 2 game, made me choose MSI.

If EVGA offered a free game or a slightly cheaper price - I would have gone with it.
Really drove me nuts which to go for - so I just picked for silly reasons, rather than concrete benchmarks etc (as both perform near equally in my eyes)


I didn't go with the HD7950's for several reasons (even told by an MSI rep, as I called them and asked them what's better the HD7950 or GTX660ti offered by MSI)
The reply was very simple:
If you aren't using more than 1-2 screens, the mem bus and size, won't really matter.
And when it comes to gaming, you (me) mentioned you liked Battlefield 3 - and thus the Nvidia is better supported with Battlefield (and EA generally after some research).

Considering if I game I would be playing battlefield - I thought Nvidia is better.

That said - I don't want to OC the GPU (purely because of a fear of it blowing - naive maybe on my part, but safety first)

So if anyone wants to OC their GPU - I strongly suggest the HD7950 over the GTX660ti's
This is after many hours of research, videos, reviews, and personal input by people.

I'm saying it here, so that people can see what went through my mind in my decision, and more so, a simple, yet effective comparison (personal input on my part) of the HD7950 vs GTX 660ti - So i hope this thread also helps.