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Which GPU

Associate
Joined
19 Mar 2010
Posts
398
Hey.

Planning on upgradeing to Ivybridge next month and I cant afford to do the whole upgrade on my creditcard in one go, so I was thinking I might get the GPU this month and have been trying to make my mind up which one to buy.

Really like the look of the Sapphire HD 7970 OC 3072MB @£429.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-297-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Going on the reviews the cooler is really quite and it overclocks really well and runs prity cool.

EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-176-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2255

Or the cheaper option wait untill I upgrade my PC and then Crossfire my 6970.Would have to wait my Current board dosent support crossfire.

My monitor is a Dell Ultrasharpe 30" 2560x1600, My 6970 dosent do to bad at that res tbh, I have to turn some of the settings off or down abit in afew games though.

Crossfire would be cheaper but I tend prefer a single card setup over crossfire/sli.

Been trying to make my mind up for awhile now, I know the 680 is faster @stock, but overclocked there both prity close, the 7970 has 1 gig more vram which dosent really mean much looking at the reviews, but this time next year who knows lol.
 
Soldato
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If you aren't bothered about drawing every ounce of power out your card then the 680 is better out the box. Max overclock side by side performance is very similar even comparing non reference 7970's vs reference 680's.

With that resolution though it may (and I mean small chance) that you could have VRAM issues in the future with the 680. It's unlikely but a consideration nonetheless. Everyone knows where I stand on the VRAM debate (i.e. we overstate its importance) but its a consideration at the least at that resolution.

I still feel you'll run into GPU limitations before VRAM limitations though :)
 
Soldato
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Purley - Croydon
If you aren't bothered about drawing every ounce of power out your card then the 680 is better out the box. Max overclock side by side performance is very similar even comparing non reference 7970's vs reference 680's.

With that resolution though it may (and I mean small chance) that you could have VRAM issues in the future with the 680. It's unlikely but a consideration nonetheless. Everyone knows where I stand on the VRAM debate (i.e. we overstate its importance) but its a consideration at the least at that resolution.

I still feel you'll run into GPU limitations before VRAM limitations though :)

+1

For 1600p, 2GB is the minimum you'd want. The 680 still beats the 7970 even with less VRAM at that res
 
Soldato
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One of these for your res http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-152-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

They clock to 1300mhz on air, run cool and attain performance the 680 can only dream of ;)

GX-152-MS_45735_600.jpg
 
Soldato
Joined
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Posts
14,431
Location
Peterborough
One of these for your res http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-152-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

They clock to 1300mhz on air, run cool and attain performance the 680 can only dream of ;)

GX-152-MS_45735_600.jpg

And if you read some of Dave Beast's posts in this section you'll see that he's so red from his admiration for AMD that he isn't objective at all.

Listen to people who are least balanced with their views. If you go for the card he recommends then you'll be impressed - it's an excellent card. But it's not a "win all" card over the 680 like he makes out.
 
Soldato
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And if you read some of Dave Beast's posts in this section you'll see that he's so red from his admiration for AMD that he isn't objective at all.

Listen to people who are least balanced with their views. If you go for the card he recommends then you'll be impressed - it's an excellent card. But it's not a "win all" card over the 680 like he makes out.

LOL, I post a few facts and i'm an admirer?!
A 680 will just about cut it at that res in some games and be pretty near it's performance limits.
 
Caporegime
Joined
8 Nov 2008
Posts
28,997
If you aren't bothered about drawing every ounce of power out your card then the 680 is better out the box. Max overclock side by side performance is very similar even comparing non reference 7970's vs reference 680's.

With that resolution though it may (and I mean small chance) that you could have VRAM issues in the future with the 680. It's unlikely but a consideration nonetheless. Everyone knows where I stand on the VRAM debate (i.e. we overstate its importance) but its a consideration at the least at that resolution.

I still feel you'll run into GPU limitations before VRAM limitations though :)

+1
 
Soldato
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14,431
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LOL, I post a few facts and i'm an admirer?!
A 680 will just about cut it at that res in some games and be pretty near it's performance limits.

You know as well as I do how much you like to bait the green equivalents of yourself. :)

I don't get involved so it doesn't bother me but calling them *facts* just reminded me of when Rafa Benitez had his famous rant about facts. The 'fact' is if they were truly 'facts' then they wouldn't be as contested as they are. Fine - post your pro AMD propaganda but making it out like they're facts is misleading and inconsiderate. People buy things based on recommendations here so at least try to present a balanced view.

Luckily, I think you've made your points so ostentatiously in a number of threads that nice people like me will inform the potential buyer not to listen to you ;)
 
Soldato
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Location
London
You know as well as I do how much you like to bait the green equivalents of yourself. :)

I don't get involved so it doesn't bother me but calling them *facts* just reminded me of when Rafa Benitez had his famous rant about facts. The 'fact' is if they were truly 'facts' then they wouldn't be as contested as they are. Fine - post your pro AMD propaganda but making it out like they're facts is misleading and inconsiderate. People buy things based on recommendations here so at least try to present a balanced view.

Luckily, I think you've made your points so ostentatiously in a number of threads that nice people like me will inform the potential buyer not to listen to you ;)

Look at the results for the op's desired res, and this is at stock, as I said, overclocked, it will destroy an overclocked 680.

metro-30inch.jpg


bf3-30inch.jpg
 
Soldato
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Still clocks less. And ignoring the fact it costs £75 more for what.... 0.9 FPS in BF3 in one set of results?

Also not really fair comparison as the MSI Lightning has a 15.67% overclock out the box whereas while boosting, the 680 only has a 5.16% overclock. Clock speed comparison isn't really useful hence the conversion to a percentage over stock.
 
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Soldato
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Purley - Croydon
You can't compare AMD and Nvidia clocks dude, different architecture. Most, if not all of the Lightnings clock to 1250mhz, and at that speed will destroy a 680. Let's see what non ref 680's can do, seeing as the ref card is clocked pretty damn high anyway.

True, but you're comparing one of the most premium AMD cards that's famous for its massive clocks and youre comparing that to a stock Nvidia card.

An MSI 6970 lightning can beat a stock 580 (IIRC) but we all know that the 580 is still better.

1600p doesn't benefit massively from the extra gig of ram the 7970 offers.
 
Soldato
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You can't compare AMD and Nvidia clocks dude, different architecture.

Oh really? I never knew that... :rolleyes:

Re-read my post as I know I wasn't being completely clear.

"Also not really fair comparison as the MSI Lightning has a 15.67% overclock out the box whereas while boosting, the 680 only has a 5.16% overclock. Clock speed comparison isn't really useful hence the conversion to a percentage over stock."

It won't destroy a 680. You're talking utter nonsense. It may be slightly better but then paying £75 more you'd expect it to be a little better no? At least in certain situations.

My 680 clocks to 1285 or more if I boost the fan. Not a clock for clock comparison but the performance increase is more than enough to match and surpass a 7970 in certain scenarios. I understand the 7970 performs better in certain scenarios as well but for to come out and saying it "destroys" it shows the level of your intellect.
 
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Soldato
Joined
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Cannock
Look at the results for the op's desired res, and this is at stock, as I said, overclocked, it will destroy an overclocked 680.[/IMG]

May I refer you to the benchmarks in this thread Dave:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18390154

I don't think the word 'destroy' has any place in your argument. They trade blows equally and both are very good cards for the op's res.

Seriously stop defending your 7970, it's boring and there's no need. They're both good cards (I know, I've used both).
 
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