13 replies to this topic

[Shahadet]

....If you had the money for either one?

I'm not looking to burn money, but at the same time, I'm a very "value oriented" or "bang for the buck" kind of person.



So: Drop $260 for this? http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131472
(PowerColor Radeon 7850)


Or Drop $450 for this? http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131471
(PowerColor Radeo 7970)


Which is giving me more "bang" for my "buck" ?

Or is there another choice? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks!

[DocBach]

7970, I use the mobile version and it's pretty awesome.

[For_the_Emperor]

Does your MB support PCIe 3.0? If not, I would go with neither.

[Genghis Black Death Khan]

The difference between PCIe 3.0 and 2.0 as far as current card bandwidth usage is minimal. I've never really been an ATI fan, but when it comes to graphics card you really shouldn't skimp out due to the fact it's the best item to future proof. I would go for the 7970. You COULD go for a Nvidia Gigabyte or EVGA 670 GTX (I personally use the Gigabyte), runs Witcher 2 with Ubersampling with 0 issues.

Edited by Genghis Black Death Khan, 05 August 2012 - 11:10 AM.

[Freric]

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130604

I would go with a 190 dollar evga 560 ti

[hurleybird]

If you wait long enough you can find 7970's for as little as ~360 with a good deal.

[Monsoon]

Freric, on 05 August 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130604

I would go with a 190 dollar evga 560 ti

I went with the 550 Ti, but that's because it was on sale for $90 less then the 560 Ti. But personally, if you have SLI get two 560 Ti. Assuming you have the power and cooling for it.

Edited by Monsoon, 05 August 2012 - 11:18 AM.

[Damocles]

Get the 7970 on newegg.

OR save some money and get a 7950 (gigabyte with 3 coolers i just got friken rules) and OC it.

[Henchman 24]

If staying with PC and AMD, then when talking bang for buck....

This http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131458

straddles the line between the two performance metrics you listed, leans more toward the faster of the two, and is 100 bucks cheaper. (quieter too)

[Belorion]

The only time that SLI or Crossfire makes sense is if it is the top of the line card you can get. In almost all other cases it is more cost effective just to get a higher series card.

[Landron]

Well your first problem is you are trying to use Radeon lol. You need to buy yourself a nvidia card anything 560 and up or any of the 600 series.

Edited by Landron, 05 August 2012 - 11:48 AM.

[MarcusBorilius]

I have found that all the problems that were common when they were ATI cards have gone away now that they are AMD cards, usually they were driver issues. But AMD has done a really good job keeping drivers current... now if anyone says how much better Nvidia drivers are apparently nobody remembers the several instances where Nvidia drivers burned up video cards... like the 196.75 driver...

I also agree on the PCIe 3.0 versus 2.0 if you actually read the comparison reviews between the two versions, the 2.0 PCIe is as fast as the 3.0 PCIe most of the time, they loose a small percentage of the time and they win a small percentage of the time. Thats why even though the PCIe 3.0 standard has been released to the market since November of 2010 it is only available on a small number of Intel high end motherboards.
If you are wondering why they are not on AMD high end motherboards yet (yes for all you Intel fanboys there are high end AMD motherboards usually they have as many or more features but they are cheaper because they dont have to pay licensing fees too themselves too use AMD technology.. now thats ironic isnt it...)..
"PCI Express 3.0 is as of June 2012 available on only a few high-end motherboards. Boards that implement PCI 3.0 on their Intel incarnation typically do not on their AMD incarnation, using the native HyperTransport bus there, which already has all the promised features of PCI 4.0."
http://www.pcisig.co...CI_Express_4.0/
So why would we worry about the PCIe 3.0 when apparently its not that good and PCIe 4.0 is almost here....(kind of like vista and windows 7 huh)

If your rig can handle it I would reccomend the 7970, they require the use of a larger power supply so that needs to be taken into consideration, they also trade blows with the Nvidia 680gt with an average price of $100 USD cheaper price tag, they have eyefinity that supports up too 5 moniters on one card, and if you have never gamed with a widescreen setup you are missing out.

[Koshadows]

bang for buck wise, definitely the 7850. Its performance per dollar is quite impressive for a mere $250 card.

On the other hand, if you don't like buying the newest and best stuff after two years, get the 7970 cause it'll last you a bit longer.

[Shivus]

Wait for the 660 TI to come out. Performance wise it's between the 7870 and 7950 generally, at lower resolutions it outperforms the 7970.

Even if you don't go for it, it will force AMD to drop the price on the 7850 and 7870 so you'll get a better deal then.