EVGA GTX 670 2GB or Asus HD 7970 3GB

[Xander]

Hi there.

I am getting close to enough money to buy a graphics card.

I can't decide, the one thing I have decided. Is to give up my research and turn you fine fellows.

The basics you will want to know will be uses,other components.

I would be using this card for gaming and video editing primarily.

Games: BF3, Planetside 2, Crysis 2, plus more that are less graphically intensive.

I'd be wanting to run these at 60 FPS+

Components that will be used with the GPU:

Crucial M4 128GB

Asus P8Z77-V LK

Intel i5 3570k

Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB

Corsair HX 650W

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Now, Cost is a factor here. I am not a nVidia fanboy nor an AMD fanboy.

Although I would sway towards nVidia because of nVidia Physx.

The GTX card cost $631.35 NZD (New Zealand Dollar).

The AMD card cost $688.85 NZD.

Unfortunately my budget is $700.00 NZD

AMD Card: http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z...HD-7970-DirectCU-II-TOP-Super-Overclocked-3GB

nVidia GTX Card: http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z...GeForce-GTX-670-2GB-256-bit-GDDR5-PCI-Express


My last question is will these cards both work with the components on my list?


Thanks a heap guys, my research failed me for once.

 

[J0s3e]

It really is a tough one, I'd say go with the nVidia and save some money, they perform nearly the same. I know there will be more members coming and shouting about the 7970 with the upgraded drivers being much better, but it really comes down to personal preference. Get THIS ONE

 

[J0s3e]

I just noticed, they cost the same. You'll be happy with either, really. They will be compatible with your rig without an issue. What I do is focus on ONE game (the most kind of "important" for me) and make a decision based on performance in given game. At the moment, the game of choice while choosing a GPU was BF3, so I went for 670. However, with the updated drivers 7970 performs much better now. Dunno about planetside 2 though, There might be a slight nVidia optimization in place. You must decide yourself

 

[PetrolHead247]

Defo a 7970, after the updated drivers they are the top pick for sure. I wish i got one

I'd go for a Sapphire or Powercolor non-reference card, they are some of the quietest and coolest 7970's out there, great prices too

 

[Chimp]

i voted for the 670 because i have just purchased that very same asus 7970 and it is winging its way back as we speak. Utter rubbish!

google search for people having problems with that card and you will find a lot of people having issues.

mine kept crashing in pretty much every game i play, (this was stock not overclocked at this point) on further examination and testing the voltage on the card was dropping very low at the point of the crash..

I thought i would get around this by upping the voltage and getting a wee overclock on there too but you wont be able to up the voltage. its locked down.

that card got some great reviews but asus sent different cards that were not voltage locked in the same way. there is no work around and like i say if you google it you will find people who have been through several cards trying to get over the issues.

i still might go for a 7970, but it wouldnt recomend the asus!

 

[Etlar]

I will say 7970, have one my self. And dont have any problem whit it, but i will not take Asus i will go whit XFX or some one else. Asus fans a not the best after what i have seen on the web.

 

[Curlyriff]

I would personally go for the 7970 although I voted for the asus that would not be the actual brand I would pick either. There are plenty of better ones to choose. The issue seems to be with certain brands for what ever reason. I haven't personally googled them etc.

In all fairness if you are overclocking as well I would suggest going for the 7950. It won't be a huge step down from the 7970 and overclocked has seen people happily running BT3 at 60fps. Powercolor would be my recommendation for either the 7950 or 7970 models.

Oh and make sure you pick a 7950 (if you decide to save yourself some cash) with the 7950 pcb as well cause all the cards using the 7970 pcb seem to be having issues at the moment.

Kind Regards,

Adam

 

[PEXON]

7970 1GHz Edition WITHOUT DOUBT. Its a superb card. Latest Catalyst drivers have seen huge boosts in BF3, Skyrim etc where it comes equal to a 680. In a LOT of games the 7970 trumps the 680, ala really demanding games i.e. Metro

 

[Xander]

It really is a tough one, I'd say go with the nVidia and save some money, they perform nearly the same. I know there will be more members coming and shouting about the 7970 with the upgraded drivers being much better, but it really comes down to personal preference. Get THIS ONE

May I ask why the FTW version?

 

[Josh Weston]

The FTW version is good for those that want to watercool, as it uses a reference 680 PCB. Other than that, I don't see any advantages. Other cooling systems perform quieter whilst yielding better temps.

 

[fearltu]

670 680 and 7970 all are great cards. If you lock in price 7970 all your maney is used on card, each dolar is spent to it, not for its name. Im used both nVidia and Radeon GPU, curent GPU is nVidia, i must admit in nVidia performance is beter, but quality of view go for Radeon. Im not performance man, and i was more happy with Radeon GPU.
nVidia has always been, more poverfull, and Radeon produced more quality of view. And now its a realy intrusting situation, Radeon have huge boost of performance compered of 6 series, and go to land that nVidia rule. I dont see any of 670 or 680 users to be not happy with performance that card gives, but i see some people are not realy happy with quality of view it produced.
I editing photos, and using enginering programs, and not happy at all of nVidia point of view, pour performance, colors not looks like real. First i think tham my monitor is bad than i buy dell ips ultra sharp monitor, situation is beter, and give back dell monitor and go for samsung, well colors are good but not make my hapy enough. Than i serch in internet why, and see people like my having same problems, GPU is gilty for this, and change it, was a solution.

With my point of view:
Performance Price Power Temperature Noise View quality
nVidia- 1 0 1 1 1 0
Radeon- 1 1 0 1 0 1

Enginering programs Photo editing
nVidia- 0 0
Radeon- 1 1

And that is only mine point of view. Im not fan boy of nVidia or Radeon, cads are equal 4=4, if you using normaly, if using like me 4<6 crown go to Radeon. And i change my nVidia to Radeon, probably upcoming 7990.
I will by happy if this post helps to make right decision.

 

[DB006]

7950 is the better choice, stick an overclock on it and it out performs the 670/680 and is on par with a 7970, plus, you save £££/$$$'s

 

[Bang]

Asus used to make great products. In the last few years they've had some problems with their PCB's, which of course have given me problems. Every IT guy I know now says to stay away from Asus and (bad)experience forces me to agree.

I would personally go with the 670 as I've never had problems with Nvidia cards that weren't made by Asus, and I honestly don't know that much about AMD cards due to Nvidia cards being solid, with Asus cards being the sole exception.

Besides, Asus just wants way too much for faulty parts.