670 or 7950(or 7970)?

[chocozor]

First the reasoning. I have an HD 6950, it's ok but nothing special. I'm wanting something that will last a while and performs great. I saw some video about the PhysX demo on Borderlands 2, and that's why I'm leaning on the 670. I did pre-order BL2, and I'd like it to look nice with the PhysX.

Specs:

i7 3770k stock clock (for now)
XFX HD 6950 XXX edition
1920 x 1080
OCZ 750W from 3 years ago
HAF 922. Lots of clutter from not having modular PSU. H70 CPU fan with 2 scythe 120mm on it

Purchase Details:
Budget isn't huge, but hopefully under 400. I work at Micro Center so I should be able to get it with a discount.
I hear that EVGA makes good 670s, i.e. 670 ftw. I know nothing about the 7950.
No, I'm not going to crossfire or SLI.
I can get this one for about $410 USD.
For games, I'll be playing Borderlands 2, Guild Wars 2, Battlefield 3, Dirt 3. Hopefully on max settings at 1920 x 1080.
I probably won't overclock, but I also may, depending on temps, PSU, noice, etc.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Granseth]

I think you will be happy either way. If you want physX, you get 670, if you want bang for the bucks and want to overclock you get 7950, if you want the best performance you get 7970.

 

[Termie]

You know, you can get the 670 with a free copy of Borderlands 2 for less that your employee discount at MicroCenter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130787

 

[wand3r3r]

As much as I hate reference cards, this is pretty cheap.
$379.99 7970
http://www.microcenter.com/product/396060/Radeon_7970_3GB_DDR5_PCI_Express

Or this>
And if you sign up for their email list you get $10 off instantly.
(from H)

Galaxy GTX 670 GC
-Custom GTX 680 PCB
-GTX 680 core clocks
-Reference GTX 680 cooler
-Includes Borderlands 2 free
-Free shipping

$399.99 - $30 IR - $20 MIR - $10 email list thing= $339.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...556&CatId=7387

 

[brandon888]

idk about guild wars but BF3 runs perfect on my msi power edition gtx 670 ^^

Dirt 3 will run maxed out on all your 3 cards ....for battleield 670 is a lot better... idk abut guild wars but as i know you will get 60+ on 670 .... cause 660 TI users got like 50-60


Amd card are bad for BF3 ... i had 7970 and i know it ..... 670 is the best for you ... and on 1080P 2GB will be enough for you

 

[wand3r3r]

idk about guild wars but BF3 runs perfect on my msi power edition gtx 670 ^^

Dirt 3 will run maxed out on all your 3 cards ....for battleield 670 is a lot better... idk abut guild wars but as i know you will get 60+ on 670 .... cause 660 TI users got like 50-60


Amd card are bad for BF3 ... i had 7970 and i know it ..... 670 is the best for you ... and on 1080P 2GB will be enough for you

I think the drivers have improved.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

No matter what games you play (except for say 10% of the situations/games perhaps) 7970 GHz > 7970 ~ 680 > 670 > 7950

and when you consider the oc potential as well, then:
7970 GHz > 7970 > 680 > 7950 oc > 670

 

[brandon888]

wand3r3r

idk but 7-8 months for bf3 driver fix ? lol u serious i had 7970 2 months ago and it was terrible on bf3 ...on other games it run fine ... but other games was not so demanding ^^


i will never touch amd for sure .. you idk .... but don't get 660 TI ! unless you like to play without AA ... then its a good card ...

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I played BF3 way before the fix and it ran perfectly fine on my 7970. Stop spreading FUD.

 

[brandon888]

idk but on same system 480 runs better then 7970 2 months ago .. idk about now ;/ 670 runs great bf3 with 65-70 average fps ..... on 7970 i had 30-35 fps on gulf of oman :/ ,,,,


same system ! i haven't changed anything .....

this is all on ultra with 4x msaa 1080P ....


on gulf of oman i had 35 fps when i face whole map from the beach on 7970 :/ ....


so idk ... maybe amd cards don't like intel cpus

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Nope. Looks like a system or user error. Nothing wrong with the 7970.

 

[brandon888]

aaksheytalwar

note : im not overclocker so 7970 was on 925 mhz ... maybe that was problem idk ...


chocozor

if you like PhysX then go with Nvidia ( GTX 670 )

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I never said you oced. Though at stock the 7970 would have been much slower than with oc.

 

[brandon888]

aaksheytalwar

yes ! maybe it's cause of stock clock 925 mhz .... idk .... so depends OP is noob like me or overlocker ? for noobos like me nvidia is better .. for overlockers amd i guess

 

[cmdrdredd]

It's well known that performance on the AMD 7000 series was lacking in BF3 for a while. It's better now because of newer drivers, but everyone knows (just go look at reviews of when the 680 and 670 launched).


OP you mentioned Borderlands 2 and that comes free with a 670 so I'd honestly look to go that route since it also uses physx and from the videos I've seen looks pretty fun.

 

[chocozor]

OP you mentioned Borderlands 2 and that comes free with a 670 so I'd honestly look to go that route since it also uses physx and from the videos I've seen looks pretty fun.

Sorry everyone for not responding to their posts directly. I got Borderlands 2 a while ago for about half off, so it coming with a copy of it isn't really a huge bonus. It's nice, yes, but not necessary.

 

[bxcloud]

Nvidia will have higher FPS some games AMD will be better others. I would of bought 7950 if the price was right couple months ago but happy with my GTX 670.

 

[SPBHM]

if you want the physx thing, just go for the Geforce, nothing wrong with that.

but I think the 7950 is the best deal at the moment, even more if you intend to overclock.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you want PhysX and won't OC, 670 is a solid choice. I wouldn't get a blower card though.

Asus DirectCUII 670 (quietest 670) is my #1 pick noise levels
MSI Power Edition 670 is #1 pick for overclocking
Gigabyte Windforce 3x is #1 pick for safe choice

Blower cards work well for SLI but for a single card with a modern case with good airflow, go for an after-market version unless you want EVGA's customer service.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Sorry everyone for not responding to their posts directly. I got Borderlands 2 a while ago for about half off, so it coming with a copy of it isn't really a huge bonus. It's nice, yes, but not necessary.

Could always sell it for $50.

Either way you won't go wrong. So whatever you think is the best deal is what I recommend.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

No reason not to oc with this generation though.

 

[RussianSensation]

idk but on same system 480 runs better then 7970 2 months ago .. idk about now ;/ 670 runs great bf3 with 65-70 average fps ..... on 7970 i had 30-35 fps on gulf of oman :/ ,,,,

Sounds like there was something wrong with your drivers/ or configuration.

GTX670/680 are faster than 7950/7970 in BF3, but barely starting with Cats 12.7.

Battlefield 3 Armored Kill GPU & CPU Performance - GameGPU.ru
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2270271

You are describing a performance difference of 100%! It would be believable if you said NV cards are 10% faster. Even HD6950/GTX570 get more than 35 fps average.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Exactly my point

 

[brandon888]

Sounds like there was something wrong with your drivers/ or configuration.

GTX670/680 are faster than 7950/7970 in BF3, but barely starting with Cats 12.7.

Battlefield 3 Armored Kill GPU & CPU Performance - GameGPU.ru
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2270271

You are describing a performance difference of 100%! It would be believable if you said NV cards are 10% faster. Even HD6950/GTX570 get more than 35 fps average.

i tested 480 and 7970 on same system how can it bottleneck 7970 but not bottleneck 480 ? strange ya ?

i used 12.5 or 12.6 drivers ... idk but now 670 rus BF3 even better then on graph but it's OC edition.... yeah that matters

 

[aaksheytalwar]

i tested 480 and 7970 on same system how can it bottleneck 7970 but not bottleneck 480 ? strange ya ?

i used 12.5 or 12.6 drivers ... idk but now 670 rus BF3 even better then on graph but it's OC edition.... yeah that matters

Point is that you need somebody with more experience to test your system before you keep spreading FUD.