Looking to go 1440p

Pc.robb · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:49

As the title suggests I'm looking into buying a new rig and going 1440p.

What video card should I get 7950/7970/670/680, sli for 670 or 7950 or just 1 awesome card such as 7970 or 680?

Thanks.

kitkat9933 · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:53

To play at max your going to need Xfire or SLI. To play at reasonably high one decent card will do you fine. Depends how much you like your graphics over money in your wallet.

For my personally I like graphics over money so run Xfire 7970s.

Watlinguk · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:54

id probably go 7950 Crossfire if I where to go down the dual card road

Attu90 · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:55

Id try a single 7970 and add another later if you go multi monitor.

Pc.robb · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:56

So 2 cards is the route to go over 1 card?

kitkat9933 · 30 Dec 2012 at 13:57

Yeh like the guys above said try 1 card at 1440p see if the high but not max settings are ok for you, and then make the choice whether to double card or not.

Pc.robb said:
So 2 cards is the route to go over 1 card?

If you want max graphics yes.

Pc.robb · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:01

Yeah I want the most out of the screen, thanks.

LtMatt · 30 Dec 2012 at 14:54

Running an overclocked 7970 at 1440p im able to fully max out all current games i play. (sleeping dogs/Battlefield 3/Hitman/Farcry 3/Black ops 2) Providing you don't mind running AA at x2 or below that is. Personally i dont think you need AA in a res this high with any game worth its salt. You can run SSAA on high in sleeping dogs though and maintain extremely high FPS. (thanks to the 7970's 32 compute units)

If money is no object id recommend one for for 1440p. If you're on a budget you can pickup a 7950 which should get you within 5-10% of the 7970 performance depending on the game and overclock its capable of.

If you're going to go down the multi card route and money is no object then you can't get better than 2x7970. A more sensible and cheaper option might be 2x7950 which you can get for a fair bit cheaper.

Kaapstad · 31 Dec 2012 at 00:05

The most economical option is 2 x HD 7950s

The fastest option (just) is 2 x HD 7970s

The best 2 GPU option is 1 x GTX 690 (best for lack of microstuttering but also the most expensive).

andybird123 · 31 Dec 2012 at 09:43

LtMatt said:
Running an overclocked 7970 at 1440p im able to fully max out all current games i play. (sleeping dogs/Battlefield 3/Hitman/Farcry 3/Black ops 2) Providing you don't mind running AA at x2 or below that is. Personally i dont think you need AA in a res this high with any game worth its salt. You can run SSAA on high in sleeping dogs though and maintain extremely high FPS. (thanks to the 7970's 32 compute units)

If money is no object id recommend one for for 1440p. If you're on a budget you can pickup a 7950 which should get you within 5-10% of the 7970 performance depending on the game and overclock its capable of.

If you're going to go down the multi card route and money is no object then you can't get better than 2x7970. A more sensible and cheaper option might be 2x7950 which you can get for a fair bit cheaper.

fully max out... If you turn down AA?
erm... that isn't fully max out then is it!

@op, i tried a 670 but needed 2 to actually max out most games, a 7970 or 680 still won't do it but 2 off 670 or 7950 will, no point getting 2 of the top cards, save a little and get two of the number 2 cards

LtMatt · 31 Dec 2012 at 09:53

andybird123 said:
fully max out... If you turn down AA?
erm... that isn't fully max out then is it!

Because you can really notice the difference at 1440p between 2xAA and 8xAA can't you. :rolleyes:

The point is you don't have to turn down other eye candy, with a single 7970 at least. If you're happy running with lower levels of AA (x2 for example), or no AA at all (as it wont make any noticeable difference at 1440p) then a single 7970 is more than enough was my point.

Nuclear Fusion · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:04

I'd say get a 7950 and add a second if the performance isn't up to your liking. Less than 5% difference clock for clock between the 7950 and 7970, so it is not worth spending the extra for a 7970.

DarrenM343 · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:09

All depends on which games you'll be playing. FarCry 3 I find set to optimal works fine with just one GTX 670 and 1440p with AA off (as it's not really needed at this res). As this is the only game I'll be playing for a while (beause I want to complete it), I'm keeping to just one card for now and see what future single card solutions are like around March/April when apparently new cards will hit the market.

I suggest trying one card first.

Devrij · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:28

Nuclear Fusion said:
I'd say get a 7950 and add a second if the performance isn't up to your liking. Less than 5% difference clock for clock between the 7950 and 7970, so it is not worth spending the extra for a 7970.

This would be my vote. I game at 1440p with an overclocked 7950 and with the exception of AA, I have everything maxxed for every game.

If you want 60fps locked and full AA, you'll need 2 cards, but single card is perfectly playable with a small compromise, and you can always add a second later.

andybird123 · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:51

LtMatt said:
Because you can really notice the difference at 1440p between 2xAA and 8xAA can't you.

The point is you don't have to turn down other eye candy, with a single 7970 at least. If you're happy running with lower levels of AA (x2 for example), or no AA at all (as it wont make any noticeable difference at 1440p) then a single 7970 is more than enough was my point.

I can easily tell the difference between 2x and 4x in BF3... TXAA is a blurry mess in comparison and 2x on it's own still has jaggies and a single card struggles to maintain 60fps

max out means, for example, running Ultra on BF3, not "ultra, well I say ultra but I mean custom with some settings on ultra", the OP says he wants to actually max out games, not turn down settings, so dual 7950 / 670 will be what he ends up with if what he says is actually what he means rather than the half truths some people are prone to dishing out

Crezzlin · 31 Dec 2012 at 12:09

Get a Gtx 680, look at my sig I've used all card setups on a single 1440/1600p screen and the Gtx is just so much smoother with every detail on max etc..

Nuclear Fusion · 31 Dec 2012 at 19:04

Crezzlin said:
Get a Gtx 680, look at my sig I've used all card setups on a single 1440/1600p screen and the Gtx is just so much smoother with every detail on max etc..

Hard to justify when a 7950 would be at least as fast as a 680 at 1440p and costs significantly less. If OP was adamant on going for Nvidia, the 680 is still hard to justify when the 670 is so close in performance and costs quite a bit less.

Kaapstad · 31 Dec 2012 at 20:14

Nuclear Fusion said:
Hard to justify when a 7950 would be at least as fast as a 680 at 1440p and costs significantly less. If OP was adamant on going for Nvidia, the 680 is still hard to justify when the 670 is so close in performance and costs quite a bit less.

+1

Its hard to justify a GTX 680 at this resolution, as said above the HD 7950 is a lot cheaper with the same performance. The HD 7970 is also cheaper and faster. If the op wants nvidia the GTX 670 is also a lot cheaper and will get the job done.

If we go down the multi gpu route any 2 of the HD7950/70 or GTX 670s will be cheaper than GTX 680s. If its freedom from microstutter and a single card get a GTX 690.

The GTX 680 is just too over priced, for the price of 2 of the cheaper GTX 680s you can get one of these

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-277-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1966

Which price wise is also a bit steep.

Pc.robb · 31 Dec 2012 at 22:35

Confused on what I should get/buy

Gtx 680 then later if so needed buy another
2x Gtx 670's?
or 7950/7970 crossfire route?

EDIT: didn't realize 7950 was a that much lower than gtx 670's, I was thinking they was cheaper only by a small amount. Plus the 3gb VRAM instead of the 2gb is a bonus that would help out?

MatsyLR · 31 Dec 2012 at 23:04

^ Yeh ATI did a massive cost slash on their cards, while nvidia did nothing to respond to it.
Atm ATI is the way to go unless you want nvidia for some specific reason, pay less, get more.

Look here's the thing, one 7970, hell even one 7950 is fine for 1440p, if you can give up having full AA (not like you need it at that res unless your super picky) and settle for 2x and can put up with FPS as low as around 45+ in BF3 (which in my opinion is perfectly fine.....depends how FPS sensitive you are

)

You can easily add another one down the line if you need the extra punch for whatever reason.
670 is fine for BF3 @ 1440p with 2x AA above 40fps, ATI is superior though and cheaper.
It's your choice in the end though, but there's little reason to get nvidia card's unless you only want nvidia for a reason.