7970 or gtx 680

[SimenGaming]

Hi! (Pardon me if this has been asked before.)

I got some money for christmas and was wondering which one of the two cards in the title I should go with? I need a card that could run three monitors, and I can't afford a 6GB or 4GB. What's the best option?

(I already own a 7970, but I'm going to sell it off for a new one, because it doesn't match my theme.)

Thanks for your help!

 

[jamesriley94]

Is this for gaming?

If so, you aren't going to be able to max out games (assuming your running at 5760x1080) with either of those. You're going to need a crossfire or SLI setup to properly max out games...

If you already have a 7970 then you'll probably know this.

Either way, the 7970 is the better option as it's more powerful and the extra RAM may come in useful. Maybe consider adding a second at a later date, or a save a bit of money and go for a 670, and again save up for SLI in the future

 

[SimenGaming]

^Well here in Norway there is no price difference between a 7970 and a 670 so I wouldn't need to save up anything. I was also thinking of cfx or sli, but what would you go for? There's less memory on the 670.

 

[jamesriley94]

If they're the same price then go for the 7970.

In the UK we can get the 4gb 670 for cheaper than the 7970 so nevermind.

I run a single 670 across 3 games, and it runs perfectly fine, but demanding games such as BF3 have to be put down to medium settings. It will be a similar story for the 7970 and the 680 as they're all pretty close in performance.

 

[SimenGaming]

Ok thanks for your help

 

[Techie103]

I say 680 but I own one. I did own a 7950 OC'd to match a 7970, but it still didn't cut it for me anyways

 

[dragoonk]

the 7970!

 

[seumasbeathan]

Definetely the 7970, much cheaper and better

 

[Mhyles]

The 7970 is on par with the 670, and that's only 2% - 7% worse than the 680. It's well known that AMD are better for multi setups anyway.

 

[sonrise]

7970, the extra gig of memory is crucial on high resolutions.

 

[SimenGaming]

I've checked on some 7970's, and since there is no price difference between the DCU 2 and the Matrix card which one should I go for considering the noise-level?

 

[iiBetrayforAR]

If you can get a 7970 with a nice cooler it will OC further, and in the end perform better than a 680 in most games. Not to mention it is usually cheaper than a 680, and will handle multiple screens better.


The Matrix. I want one sooooo bad, but not in stock at any online U.S. stores.

 

[PittPyro]

the 7970 matrix is a great card...the 7970 matrix platinum is just sick

although water cooling the platinum might be a task as it is built on an Asus custom pcb...if you were wanting to go that rout in the future.

 

[SimenGaming]

Yeah it was the platinum I've checked on, but does anyone have anything to say about the noise it produces? I'm aiming for a silent system.

 

[MacLeod]

Performance wise, there is pretty much no difference between a GTX680 and 7970. Theyre both beasts and trade wins in benchmarks.

If you think youll ever eventually go witih dual video cards then Id suggest going with the 680 cause Nvidia has much better drivers for multiple cards and multiple monitors. If youre always going to be rocking a single card then either would be a good choice.

 

[iiBetrayforAR]

If you don't overclock it to hell, and aren't running it a 100% all the time I'm sure anything will be quiet!

 

[Glassjaw003]

Price for performance, the 7970 definitely has it. I have heard of a coil whine with it though. But that really depends.

 

[XANADV]

Performance wise, there is pretty much no difference between a GTX680 and 7970. Theyre both beasts and trade wins in benchmarks.

If you think youll ever eventually go witih dual video cards then Id suggest going with the 680 cause Nvidia has much better drivers for multiple cards and multiple monitors. If youre always going to be rocking a single card then either would be a good choice.

Agreed. Crossfire still has microstutter issues; SLI is the way to go for multi-gpu.

 

[Ironhand]

Price for performance, the 7970 definitely has it. I have heard of a coil whine with it though. But that really depends.

I've heard the same thing. But always from other people with Brands I don't use and they always seem to be a reference based card.

Agreed. Crossfire still has microstutter issues; SLI is the way to go for multi-gpu.

Actually both of them aren't the best in multiple GPU setups. I've read and heard issues with both Xfire & SLI. One will get microstutter with the AMD cards, then update the driver and all appears fine. Some are having driver issues were it breaks SLI etc.


They both have their flaws and I think it will be another year or so before both companies get a hang of driver support for dual GPU and some of these intensive games that are appearing.

 

[XANADV]

I've heard the same thing. But always from other people with Brands I don't use and they always seem to be a reference based card.



Actually both of them aren't the best in multiple GPU setups. I've read and heard issues with both Xfire & SLI. One will get microstutter with the AMD cards, then update the driver and all appears fine. Some are having driver issues were it breaks SLI etc.


They both have their flaws and I think it will be another year or so before both companies get a hang of driver support for dual GPU and some of these intensive games that are appearing.

I know but lately it seems like SLI works better than Crossfire the majority of the time when games launch and AMD only addresses issues after the fact.