GTX 660 vs AMD 7870

[thiagofmelo10]

Want to buy one of them for gaming purposes only, atm they are arround the same price at newegg.com , but GTX has cuda/physx, Does AMD have a similar feature when it comes to gaming?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFkDrKvBRU
After seen this vid idk, want some help... Dont know wich to choose, I will be gaming @ 1920x1600 or 1600x1200 res.

any help would be aprecciated, thanks

 

[BallaTheFeared]

No, AMD has nothing like it.

The 660 Ti comes with Borderlands 2, have you considered it an alternative to the 660? You could sell the game code if you've already pre-purchased I guess.

Between the two it's hard to say, the 7870 will overclock better and provide slight higher frame-rates. However it's not going to produce higher IG settings compared to the 660.

What current card are you using? I don't think BL2 will be any different than other modern PC titles, drop a setting or two and even an old 2006 era card will run it just fine.


Edit: Also you should know - I can't say for sure but to get those results with PhysX in BL2 you're going to basically need a decent modern card dedicated to PhysX, a GTX 460 or higher probably.

 

[The Alias]

I think the 7870 would serve you better in this price bracket when oc'ed the lead is substantial just view here : http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/graphics/geforce-gtx-660/zfulltable.png

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I think the 7870 would serve you better in this price bracket when oc'ed the lead is substantial just view here : http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/graphics/geforce-gtx-660/zfulltable.png

Your chart shows a 7870 overclocked to the max trading blows with the 660 Ti, slower overall if you throw out Dirt Showdown, and that's against a stock 660 Ti.

Your chart doesn't show the 7870 sounds awful if it's a reference card at that point, nor does it mention those clocks are at the very limit of the cards design and will degrade it quite a bit quicker than stock would. It also doesn't mention how your mileage in overclock will very from sample to sample.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125441

The 660 Ti is $300 - $15 MIR - $60 BL2, a cost of $225 since the OP is already planning to get BL2. That makes it less than the 7870 after it's MIR, which is obviously a way better deal than any max out 7870 could ever offer.

 

[thiagofmelo10]

I am currently with a gtx 460, want to upgrade to either gtx 660 or radeon 7870.
I want a better gaming performance, I was going for 7870, but physx looks so cool. My card already has it. is it that different in all games or just some of them? (like borderlands)

 

[The_Golden_Man]

I am currently with a gtx 460, want to upgrade to either gtx 660 or radeon 7870.
I want a better gaming performance, I was going for 7870, but physx looks so cool. My card already has it. is it that different in all games or just some of them? (like borderlands)

Very few games support PhysX. Batman Arkham Asylum and City is two who supports PhysX and adds a few extra effects.

If you buy a GTX 660 you should use that GTX 460 to handle PhysX. If you have two PCI-E lanes in your motherboard.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I am currently with a gtx 460, want to upgrade to either gtx 660 or radeon 7870.
I want a better gaming performance, I was going for 7870, but physx looks so cool. My card already has it. is it that different in all games or just some of them? (like borderlands)

You can get the 7870 and keep your 460 for PhysX, there is a driver hack that will allow it

 

[thiagofmelo10]

I will sell my gtx 460 as soon as I get hands on the new vga.
The radeon does NOT have particle feature, or just not like nvidia does?
I mean, looking at this picture, if its THAT different from physx and without it, I would go with nvidia, but I'm not sure if it works like that, the AMD card will NOT have details like that, or just less details?

 

[The Alias]

I will sell my gtx 460 as soon as I get hands on the new vga.
The radeon does NOT have particle feature, or just not like nvidia does?
I mean, looking at this picture, if its THAT different from physx and without it, I would go with nvidia, but I'm not sure if it works like that, the AMD card will NOT have details like that, or just less details?

it won't but lletting one game decide your purchase when the rest of your games suffer isn't really the best move

 

[Lepton87]

7870 is both faster and overclocks better.

7870 is 9% faster

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2012/test-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660/4/

12% faster without FSAA, 7% faster with AA

 

[zaydq]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814127667

7950 at $260. Don't bother with a 660ti or a 7870.

 

[SPBHM]

The 660 Ti is $300 - $15 MIR - $60 BL2, a cost of $225 since the OP is already planning to get BL2. That makes it less than the 7870 after it's MIR, which is obviously a way better deal than any max out 7870 could ever offer.

you can buy the 7870 for $239.99 after rebate, and it comes with Sleeping Dogs $50 game on Steam, so by your logic it's a $ 190 card!?


as for the OP,
are you a programmer? If not, you shouldn't consider CUDA as a factor here in my opinion...

as for the 660 vs 7870 the 7870 seems to be some 5-10% faster overall, but also a little bit more expensive (but if you consider the extra free game and rebate is perhaps the same price or cheaper?)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814127667

7950 at $260. Don't bother with a 660ti or a 7870.

great option!

 

[The Alias]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814127667

7950 at $260. Don't bother with a 660ti or a 7870.

best way to go hands down

 

[Lepton87]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814127667

7950 at $260. Don't bother with a 660ti or a 7870.

A very good option if you don't plan to OC, a fantastic option if you do. OCed 7950 basically matches GTX680 which costs 500$(!!!)

 

[thiagofmelo10]

Wow, rly 7950 for $260 rly a great deal, I still have 2 weeks to decide though,
I'm still kinda fascinated with the physx effects which amd doesnt have. Gaming gets so realistic, too bad few game titles have physx, or am I wrong?

 

[AnandThenMan]

You should definitely get an Nvidia card if to you PhysX makes games "so realistic."

 

[BallaTheFeared]

you can buy the 7870 for $239.99 after rebate, and it comes with Sleeping Dogs $50 game on Steam, so by your logic it's a $ 190 card!?


as for the OP,
are you a programmer? If not, you shouldn't consider CUDA as a factor here in my opinion...

as for the 660 vs 7870 the 7870 seems to be some 5-10% faster overall, but also a little bit more expensive (but if you consider the extra free game and rebate is perhaps the same price or cheaper?)


great option!

Sleeping Dogs isn't a factor since it's not a very good game and not something seemingly the OP was intestested in.

Seems the ol AMD bias is kicking up strong here, I guess it really is true, Nvidia has no real options available after all

Not even when it's faster, and comes with a $60 game you're upgrading for... Making the cost overall lower than buying the game and a 7870.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

If to this point you've been running a GTX460 and you have to ASK if phyX is worth it, it probably isn't.

But if you're really digging it, then why not buy Nvidia? You might not get the best price/performance at the moment, but their cards are still rock solid and will give you fantastic performance nonetheless.

 

[The Alias]

Seems the ol AMD bias is kicking up strong here, I guess it really is true, Nvidia has no real options available after all

no, they really don't . The 640 is demolished by the 7750 at the same price point, the 650 is demolished by the 7770 which around the same price point, the 660 is beaten (not demolished) by the 7870 and IS demolished when they're oc'ed, same thing goes for the 660 ti and 7950 although you can find a 7950 for $260 and oc it past 670 oc levels and by extension the 670 and 7970, and finally the 680 is bested by the 7970 ghz edition . So no nvidia doesn't have any cards worth buying unless you're case constrained .

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Well at this point you can get a 660Ti for less than the 7870 if you were intending to get BL2.

Did the OP say he was comfortable running his card so far outside of specifications? Do you know what kind of case he has? Are you aware of his air flow, have you mentioned the cost of a quality case and the cost of fans for a heat dumping non reference 7870?

I've seen him post that he was intested in the 660 or 7870, I see he has interest in BL2, I see he likes what he sees with PhysX. What I don't see is him saying he's willing to cripple the operational lifetime of his card by overclocking it well past specifications.

The 7870 at max clocks isn't fast than a stock reference 660 Ti, which would be a cheaper option overall at this point for the OP, so the real question isn't 660 vs 7870, it's 660 Ti vs 7870, and no a max clocked 7870 isn't a better choice in this situation.

 

[3DVagabond]

Want to buy one of them for gaming purposes only, atm they are arround the same price at newegg.com , but GTX has cuda/physx, Does AMD have a similar feature when it comes to gaming?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFkDrKvBRU
After seen this vid idk, want some help... Dont know wich to choose, I will be gaming @ 1920x1600 or 1600x1200 res.

any help would be aprecciated, thanks

I don't know of any games where CUDA is used. It's a compute function. It's hard to know how well the 660 (or any card) performs with PhysX, since the reviewers don't consider it important enough to test in reviews. Unless you can find a review that tests it and it's in any games that you play.

Besides that, the 2 cards perform pretty comparably until you start to O/C or push AA, where the 7870 takes over. Also check game by game performance. There are some sizable differences between games.

 

[zaydq]

660ti then if BL2 is important. If BL2 wasn't a factor, then he's got a 7870 for cheaper or a 7950 for the same price/cheaper. Not being biased, but the 660ti is in a tough spot competetively.

 

[toyota]

I don't know of any games where CUDA is used. It's a compute function. It's hard to know how well the 660 (or any card) performs with PhysX, since the reviewers don't consider it important enough to test in reviews. Unless you can find a review that tests it and it's in any games that you play.

Besides that, the 2 cards perform pretty comparably until you start to O/C or push AA, where the 7870 takes over. Also check game by game performance. There are some sizable differences between games.

Just Cause 2

 

[The Alias]

I've seen him post that he was intested in the 660 or 7870, I see he has interest in BL2, I see he likes what he sees with PhysX. What I don't see is him saying he's willing to cripple the operational lifetime of his card by overclocking it well past specifications.

The 7870 at max clocks isn't fast than a stock reference 660 Ti, which would be a cheaper option overall at this point for the OP, so the real question isn't 660 vs 7870, it's 660 Ti vs 7870, and no a max clocked 7870 isn't a better choice in this situation.

you can run a card for years with increased voltage/clocks (have you seen how long people kept their oc'ed 8800s ?)

also : http://www.xbitlabs.com/picture/?src=/images/graphics/geforce-gtx-660/zfulltable.png so say what about a max clocked 7870 not being faster than a stock 660ti ?

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I don't know of any games where CUDA is used. It's a compute function. It's hard to know how well the 660 (or any card) performs with PhysX, since the reviewers don't consider it important enough to test in reviews. Unless you can find a review that tests it and it's in any games that you play.

Besides that, the 2 cards perform pretty comparably until you start to O/C or push AA, where the 7870 takes over. Also check game by game performance. There are some sizable differences between games.

An important thing to remember about CUDA is that fewer developers are going to utilize it now that OpenCL is seeing more use, the main reason most people wanted CUDA was for Adobe programs, but since those use OpenCL now, CUDA isn't really a factor anymore.

I'm sure people will tell me otherwise, but moving forward CUDA is on the way out unless nvidia makes it open source.

As for Physx, I've yet to see a truly impressive implementation that made me want to buy a video card specifically for that purpose. Also, on the cut down nvidia cards I can see performance absolutely tanking when Phsyx is enabled.