13 replies to this topic

[Gideonwolf]

Have a AMD A10-5700 3.40 GHZ
28 Gig Ram
4 TB of HD space
Running Windows 8

What video card can you guys recommend between 200-300 dollars?

[Narcissistic Martyr]

GTX760 or an HD7950

Realistically those two trade punches so I'd recommend whichever is cheaper for you.

Although if you intend on overclocking then you'll have to do some research to see which card is best. I will say that the new Gigabyte WF3 HD7950 and the Sapphire VaporX HD7950 are both voltage locked and should be avoided.

[Farix]

http://www.tomshardw...eview,3107.html

Pick your price point and go from there.

[I C Wiener]

GTX760

[Catamount]

The 7950 is a considerably better value than the GTX 760. That's why live advice is better than something like Tom's; we're a lot more up to date than they are.

The cheapest 760s are ~$250, with free shipping at a few places like B&H and Amazon.

7950s, by contrast, are going for as low as $200 ($230 without MiR, which is still less).

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131478

With that 7950, you get 3GB of VRAM instead of the 760's 2GB, while still paying less. I don't know if powercolor voltage unlocks their AMD cards, but since Nvidia effectively banned any board partner from voltage unlocking any card (Nvidia won't warranty an unlocked card), it's a moot point for comparison.


Nvidia does appear to have squeezed out some extra driver performance of late, so the 760 is about 13% faster, but it's also 25% more expensive. You can decide if that's worth it to you.

Edit: had to correct my own out of date information

Edited by Catamount, 08 August 2013 - 05:19 AM.

[I C Wiener]

Yeah it's always the AMD vs. NVIDIA thingy.

Despite of AMD cards being a bit cheaper and faster most of the time I'd still think NVIDIA cards are ahead in terms like durability, noise and heat distribution. Also, you might run into weird compatibility issues especially when trying to run older games with an AMD card.

At least I have made bad experience with AMD cards and I know a lot of stories from friends with similar issues.

If you wanna go with a GeForce, I can recommend Zotac products.

[Narcissistic Martyr]

I C Wiener, on 08 August 2013 - 05:29 AM, said:

Yeah it's always the AMD vs. NVIDIA thingy.

Despite of AMD cards being a bit cheaper and faster most of the time I'd still think NVIDIA cards are ahead in terms like durability, noise and heat distribution. Also, you might run into weird compatibility issues especially when trying to run older games with an AMD card.

At least I have made bad experience with AMD cards and I know a lot of stories from friends with similar issues.

If you wanna go with a GeForce, I can recommend Zotac products.

In general, TDP is better for nVidea cards, the rest of it depends on what's on sale, who made the card, and what cooler they stuck on the card.

Edited by Narcissistic Martyr, 08 August 2013 - 06:07 AM.

[Pinselborste]

if the games you play are running fine, you should wait for the next GPU generation.

[Catamount]

I C Wiener, on 08 August 2013 - 05:29 AM, said:

Yeah it's always the AMD vs. NVIDIA thingy.

Despite of AMD cards being a bit cheaper and faster most of the time I'd still think NVIDIA cards are ahead in terms like durability, noise and heat distribution. Also, you might run into weird compatibility issues especially when trying to run older games with an AMD card.

At least I have made bad experience with AMD cards and I know a lot of stories from friends with similar issues.

If you wanna go with a GeForce, I can recommend Zotac products.

Nvidia lost a lot of their TDP advantage when they tried to squeeze more performance out of Kepler with the 700 series, so while Nvidia has a slight TDP lead, it's just that: slight.

Noise, durability, and temperatures are a matter of coolers and construction, and AMD generally does far better there, partly because most of the best board partners have been AMD-only ever since XFX jumped ship from Nvidia. Sappire makes the best cards you're going to find anywhere, and they're AMD-only as well.

There's a reason Nvidia doesn't trust having their cards voltage-unlocked

Pinselborste, on 08 August 2013 - 06:06 AM, said:

if the games you play are running fine, you should wait for the next GPU generation.

From what I hear, the Radeon HD 9000 series is due late next month.

[Bloodshed Romance]

I went big and got the XFX 7970 and have loved it.. its like 400 bucks currently but i'd almost agree and wait to see what next gen comes up with... although on ebay the other day there was a 6970 for 81bucks..... you could buy used and get a good deal on a decent card

also, might wanna make sure you PSU can handle a decent video card

Edited by Bloodshed Romance, 08 August 2013 - 06:37 AM.

[Byzan]

as far as the HD7950 vs GTX760 debate goes as far as performance and price goes they are basically the same. The HD7950 is not noticably cheaper on average from what I can see.

power is a cost though as far as power consumption goes the 7950 is 200w and the GTX760 is 170w

Less power = less heat, less PSU load, lower power bill and so on. That and the general better driver support and overall experience with nvidia cards id say the 760 is the winner.

they do seen like the best options, was going to look at the GTX670 but the price has not really dropped enough/at all.

I've always liked the HD7850 as a budjet card, good card really but even it's price needs to come down a bit more. I think it's great because you get 256bit memory and it only requires one extra power cable. Plus it's a small card by todays standards. great card if you can get one for ~$150 really good option for a crossfire upgrade later on.

[Catamount]

Byzan, on 11 August 2013 - 06:36 PM, said:

as far as the HD7950 vs GTX760 debate goes as far as performance and price goes they are basically the same. The HD7950 is not noticably cheaper on average from what I can see.

power is a cost though as far as power consumption goes the 7950 is 200w and the GTX760 is 170w

Less power = less heat, less PSU load, lower power bill and so on. That and the general better driver support and overall experience with nvidia cards id say the 760 is the winner.

they do seen like the best options, was going to look at the GTX670 but the price has not really dropped enough/at all.

I've always liked the HD7850 as a budjet card, good card really but even it's price needs to come down a bit more. I think it's great because you get 256bit memory and it only requires one extra power cable. Plus it's a small card by todays standards. great card if you can get one for ~$150 really good option for a crossfire upgrade later on.

I posted a 7950 that's cheaper than any new 760, so they are cheaper, and at around 8 cents per kilowatt hour for power, those of us in the US don't accrue an addtional cost for running a slightly more power-hungry system (it's literally pennies per year), and even for those elsewhere, the cost wouldn't be much more than mere pennies.

I'd also question the notion that Nvidia cards have a "better experience", and the fact that their driver team has managed two driver releases that are so bad, they actually melted cards, I'd also question the idea that Nvidia's drivers are better. Nvidia drivers were better back in the old Detonator vs Catalyst days years ago, but since then they've slipped (MS's own research showed Nvidia was largely responsible for Vista's instability) and AMD has made strides, to the point that the two both do a very good, if imperfect job.

[Ukrapture]

Narcissistic Martyr, on 08 August 2013 - 12:21 AM, said:

GTX760 or an HD7950

Realistically those two trade punches so I'd recommend whichever is cheaper for you.

Although if you intend on overclocking then you'll have to do some research to see which card is best. I will say that the new Gigabyte WF3 HD7950 and the Sapphire VaporX HD7950 are both voltage locked and should be avoided.

have no idea if you guys over there have it any differently from us, but i have had the WF3 since release and it is definitely UNLOCKED, also the best damn card i have ever had, literally nothing i throw at it has so much as made it sweat, for e.g MWO a steady 90 fps, BF3 around the same, all maxed ofc
its also quite quiet even at full load, and its absolute max temp after running rage for 4 hours straight was 56 degrees

[The Shredder]

If you're running an AMD processor, than you are definitely better off going with and AMD video card, just for the simple reason that it doesn't require a second driver program running in your memory to run. Fewer resources used, and less bickering between programs.
nVidia does release drivers more often, but that really implies that they NEED to release them more often. Whenever there is a serious bug, AMD is always good about hotfixing it quickly.
As for supporting older games. Should not be a factor here. Neither card will do well. Too much power. If old games are a factor, it is far easier to just keep an older system around for those few times you want to play them. Often times it is your OS that will prevent you from playing them, rather than hardware. To prove my point, I installed Windows 98 to a system running an AMD HD6770, and games ran fine. After I got Windows to recognize the card. Which was the hard part.
I've run both, and I've found that even in newer Intel-based systems, I had a far easier time with the AMD graphic cards. While for a short time Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs DID NOT get along, there is no problem now.
A friend that works at Intel boils it down to this: nVidia is usually faster in terms of framerates, but AMD always LOOKS better. It is up to you which is more important.
As for me, I'm running an AMD HD 6770 with an Athon II x4 and older SPINDLE drives, and I get framerates of 40 or better with only Shadows turned off, and everything else on high. And frames over 60fps are wasted, so I feel I'm doing just fine.
I am hoping to upgrade when the 9000 series is out, but mainly because I used to run a Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder, and the thought of having another 98XX card seems fitting.