Which graphics card for my system - 770 v 7970

Xcandyman · 18 Jul 2013 at 11:53

Hi,

I'm thinking of upgrading my graphics card in the future and I'm not sure what it could be capable of running. I've got my eye on the 7970 and the GTX 770.

Current:

Zalmon HD500 case.
Motherboard Giga Byte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
Intel i5 - 2500K 3.30GHz
Noctua NH-C12P SE 14 CPU Cooler
Western Digital WD20EARX 2TB Caviar Green Quiet
Corsair XMS3 - 4 X 4GB 1600Mhz 9-9-9-24 (CMX16GX3M4A1600C9)
Bluray Disc - Samsung 12x S-ata LightScribe BD-Rom/DVD Writer.
120mm Fans - Enermax Blue LED X 2
80MM Fans X2 - Sharkoon Silent Eagle
MSI Graphics Card Twin Frozrlll - R6950 Power Edition - 2048MB GDDR5.

Currently runs on a Corsair HX520W Modular Power Supply.

What graphics card is my power supply capable of doing? Note: I'll be gaming in 1080p but want to future proof myself a little

Thank in advance

mickyflinn · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:08

Your power supply will run both cards, as for which card to choose amd have a fantastic free games offer with certain cards.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18524382

7970 v 770

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/770?vs=829

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:12

^I don't think the Anandtech 7970 benches use up to date drivers with the big performance increases.

@Xcandyman You're probably better off getting a 7950 out of either of those anyway.

Xcandyman · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:18

Thanks for the input

would a 7950 give me a good performance boost over the Twin Frozr lll - R6950 Power Edition?

mickyflinn · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:18

spoffle said:
^I don't think the Anandtech 7970 benches use up to date drivers with the big performance increases.

@Xcandyman You're probably better off getting a 7950 out of either of those anyway.

Anandtech may not use up to date drivers but is a rough guide, so if its better to look at the latest reviews.

AS for getting a 7950 i disagree, get the best card you can afford.

ICDP · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:21

If you are planning to future proof then the extra 1GB could prove usefull. Though to be honest 2GB should be more than enough at your resolution.

Both cards have similar performance. One factor you need to consider is the games you play and the games you are looking forward to playing.

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:23

As long as you give it a decent overclock (it should be criminal to have a 7950 and not overclock it).

7950s are effectively underclocked. Their reference speeds are 800Mhz. My 2x 7950s overclock to 1300Mhz each.

On air, you're typically looking at 1100Mhz which is nearly a 40% overclock.

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:26

mickyflinn said:
Anandtech may not use up to date drivers but is a rough guide, so if its better to look at the latest reviews.

AS for getting a 7950 i disagree, get the best card you can afford.

There's so little in it between a 7950 and a 7970 that it's only ever worth it if you're mainly interested in running benchmarks where those extra few frames might make any difference.

Additionally, my 7950s when overclocked, give overclocked 7970s a very hard time, in fact my 7950s seem to overclock to a higher clock speed than most 7970s.

Sure, that's purely my experience, but I'm just pointing out that when overclocked in games you're going to get the same experience with a 7970 and a 7950.

Xcandyman · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:26

Yes I don't really want to be paying out for another graphics card for a few years so I'd like to be able to have a card that could last me. The 7950 has been under my radar as well but it niggles with me that it might not have the life in it as I'd like but I'm not sure.

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:27

ICDP said:
If you are planning to future proof then the extra 1GB could prove usefull. Though to be honest 2GB should be more than enough at your resolution.

Both cards have similar performance. One factor you need to consider is the games you play and the games you are looking forward to playing.

Going for 2GB now isn't really a great idea anyway when spending this sort of money.

Games are going to start using more and more VRAM, so cards with 2GB are going to become redundant a lot sooner than cards with 3GB+ when GPU performance is largely similar.

Xcandyman · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:28

Ohhh I should have said that I won't be overclocking.

Xcandyman · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:29

spoffle said:
Going for 2GB now isn't really a great idea anyway when spending this sort of money.

Games are going to start using more and more VRAM, so cards with 2GB are going to become redundant a lot sooner than cards with 3GB+ when GPU performance is largely similar.

So the 770 isn't a good idea then due to it being 2gb?

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:30

Xcandyman said:
Yes I don't really want to be paying out for another graphics card for a few years so I'd like to be able to have a card that could last me. The 7950 has been under my radar as well but it niggles with me that it might not have the life in it as I'd like but I'm not sure.

If a 7950 hasn't got the life in it, neither will a 770 or a 7970.

A 7950 has a load of overclocking headroom in it compared to a say a 770 because 770s don't have voltage tweaking, and are already bumped up in clock speed. A 7950 at say 1100Mhz will a noticeable amount quicker than a 770.

If you get more than 1100Mhz, then there'll be an even more noticeable difference.

It's because the 7950 and 7970 are so close together in terms of overclockability too that the 7970 is very rarely worth the difference in price.

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:32

Xcandyman said:
Ohhh I should have said that I won't be overclocking.

Any particular reason? In this case, it really is a case of literally moving some sliders in software and that's that.

1100Mhz on a 7950 is the sort of clocks all cards should reach unless they've got rubbish coolers on them.

Xcandyman said:
So the 770 isn't a good idea then due to it being 2gb?

In terms of longevity, it will be affected by the 2GB much sooner than cards with more than 2GB.

stuie · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:37

theres a lot of misinformation floating about at the moment about vram and what effect it has. The 770 with 2gb of ram is more than sufficient, the 79**s could run on a lot less ram but they are sold with more as a marketing point.

Simply put as and when graphics cards need more memory the cards themselves will need to be faster.

There was a thread recently about it but basically for a game to use 2gbs or more of vram the fps would be so low that it would be unplayable even with twin cards and as soon as you lower the the details to up the fps the amount of vram needed decreases. The only reason youd need to consider buying a card with 4gb or more is if your running 3 or 4 cards and tbh if youve got that sort of money to spend your probably already running a x79 system with titans anyway

Xcandyman · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:39

My worry was pushing the PSU a little too much saying it has low'ish wattage.

Next I will have the fun of which 7850 if I decide that one

spoffle said:
Any particular reason? In this case, it really is a case of literally moving some sliders in software and that's that.

1100Mhz on a 7950 is the sort of clocks all cards should reach unless they've got rubbish coolers on them.

In terms of longevity, it will be affected by the 2GB much sooner than cards with more than 2GB.

stuie · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:43

spoffle said:
A 7950 has a load of overclocking headroom in it compared to a say a 770 because 770s don't have voltage tweaking, and are already bumped up in clock speed. A 7950 at say 1100Mhz will a noticeable amount quicker than a 770.

Most gtx 770s boost to greater than 1100 at stock hell my 670s boots to 1215 with only a mild clock on them or are you suggesting a 770 at 1100 will be slower than a 7950 at 1100?

Xcandyman:

If your not clocking then the 770 is your best bet the boost on them works well if you can keep them cool and out the box they are great, while the 79** are cracking cards at great value you do need to play with them to get the best out of them

muriel · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:48

spoffle said:
There's so little in it between a 7950 and a 7970 that it's only ever worth it if you're mainly interested in running benchmarks where those extra few frames might make any difference.

Additionally, my 7950s when overclocked, give overclocked 7970s a very hard time, in fact my 7950s seem to overclock to a higher clock speed than most 7970s.

Sure, that's purely my experience, but I'm just pointing out that when overclocked in games you're going to get the same experience with a 7970 and a 7950.

+1

spoffle · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:49

stuie said:
theres a lot of misinformation floating about at the moment about vram and what effect it has. The 770 with 2gb of ram is more than sufficient, the 79**s could run on a lot less ram but they are sold with more as a marketing point.

It's not misinformation. It simply makes no sense to buy a 2GB card now for someone who wants good longevity out of said card.

Simply put as and when graphics cards need more memory the cards themselves will need to be faster.

This isn't how VRAM works.

There was a thread recently about it but basically for a game to use 2gbs or more of vram the fps would be so low that it would be unplayable even with twin cards and as soon as you lower the the details to up the fps the amount of vram needed decreases.

This also isn't how VRAM works. Computationally expensive settings (read heavy GPU usage) don't require more VRAM on a linear scale.

VRAM usage and GPU usage aren't closely linked as you believe.

The only reason youd need to consider buying a card with 4gb or more is if your running 3 or 4 cards and tbh if youve got that sort of money to spend your probably already running a x79 system with titans anyway

This isn't how VRAM works. It's a fallacy to think you need 3-4 cards to fill up VRAM. It doesn't work like this.

If your card isn't VRAM limited, then a game maxed out on a single card is only going get higher FPS (read, no increase in VRAM requirement) by adding more GPUs.

The VRAM usage will not go up just because you're got more GPUs.

bru · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:49

Xcandyman said:
Ohhh I should have said that I won't be overclocking.

Well done for stating the one thing that many people don't bother with when asking for help, if more people would just say this at the beginning of the threads so many arguments would never happen.

Anyway as for which card would be best for you, the 770 or the 7970 GHz ed are the two cards to look at, go read this review.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6994/nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-review (don't worry its a recent review and done with new drivers)
and then you will see that they are so close to each other swinging this way and that depending on which game your playing.
Priceing is very similar on here, one thing to bear in mind is that certain AMD cards get a good bundle of games with them, listed here.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18524382

Sorry not to be able to say get this card its better then the other, but in this case the two you have asked about are very very evenly matched, good luck with your choice.