Considering a GTX580 for new build...

[vanillatech]

Hi all.

I'll be putting together a new PC next month, and have been deliberating over the parts as I am on a tight budget. Long story short, I'm going for an IvyBridge i5, probably the K version for some overclocking, and an MSI Z77 board. I already have 8GIG Corsair XMS3 2000MHz in my bits drawer. Also, I'll be getting a 24" IPS screen, with 1080p res.

So basically, I was looking to get a GTX770, as it looks like THE best card right now in terms of value / performance. But then it's expensive, and I would be killing my budget with spending £330+ on this card. It would mean I sacrifice my Roccat Kone, my mechanical keyboard and also a spare 3TB external drive if I get that card.

Then I found I can get a brand new GTX580 with a years warranty for £130 from my friends computer shop. As the only few games I play are League of Legends, Starcraft II and Quake Live (possibly get back into Tribes Ascend and Skyrim), does it make more sense to get the GTX580 now so I can still afford my mouse/keyboard/HD, keep it for a year, then sell it on Ebay and buy a GTX770 when they have dropped to £200 or less?

What would you suggest?

 

[tviceman]

The gtx580 for that price is pretty darn good. I'd say see how much hd7950's are going for, and if they're significantly more than the 580, then go with the 580.

 

[KentState]

I would second finding a 7950 before a GTX580.

 

[vanillatech]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I was actually looking to change loyalties and move over to nVidia again, after 8 years of only buying ATI cards, the new GTX770 looks so tempting. Also, my last card (the 6870) was TERRIBLE at Starcraft II in high/medium details. The similarly priced GTX560 blew my 6870 out of the water. Maybe this has been addressed in a patch/driver now? Or do AMD's lineup still have terrible performance in SCII?

I did take a close look at the 3GB 7950's, I saw a nice one for £230. But it looks kinda middle of the road. Maybe a GTX580 now to tide me by for a year, then sell + pick up a more top end card as they are going out of product life might be better. I need to check more benchmarks.

 

[jacktesterson]

7950 is easily the best bang for the buck imo

Also,

My 1200 Core 7850 runs in the stock 580 performance ballpark and I bought it for $120 used. Plus it still uses less power and produces less heat... and has 2GB of ram.

 

[vanillatech]

It's true that the power/heat looks far more attractive on the new generation of cards. According to Anandtech BenchGPU 13, its 250watts for the 7850 and 410watts for the GTX580 at load. The 580 does win overall by about 15% in performance though.

Still, worth considering the 7850 for sure. I just can't get that top end card yet, it's something I'll sacrifice for a year because no matter how much I want the GTX770 or 7970, I just CANT JUSTIFY spending anything over £200 on a graphics card with my current situation!! :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[vanillatech]

Another annoying thing is that 6 months ago I was given a non working 5970 by a friend, and I baked it in the oven and it came back to life. I actually sold it for £250 on Ebay. Now I'm thinking I should have kept that card, as it cost me nothing, and now 6 months down the road I'm having to spend again on a card that is probably not as powerful. :ninja:

 

[KentState]

I would go with a 7850 then as it will be cheaper to own and operate. I had a GTX580 and it was a power hungry monster. ATI has their drivers together at this point for the line up as well.

 

[Silverforce11]

If you want best bang for buck currently its a toss between the 7950 and gtx760. The 770 is NOT anywhere close to good bang for buck in comparison.

AMD is dropping prices across its 7 series cards so if you can save a lot on ebay looking for 2nd hand ones.

I still play Starcraft II regularly and there's no difference to me between the gtx670 or 7950, both stay capped at 60fps even in 8 players MP and masses of armies (which is generally a CPU bottleneck scenario anyway). Its not a GPU demanding game at all, and yes, AMD had issues early on it, because Blizzard is known to optimize their games with NV GPUs.

 

[jacktesterson]

If you want best bang for buck currently its a toss between the 7950 and gtx760. The 770 is NOT anywhere close to good bang for buck in comparison.

AMD is dropping prices across its 7 series cards so if you can save a lot on ebay looking for 2nd hand ones.

I still play Starcraft II regularly and there's no difference to me between the gtx670 or 7950, both stay capped at 60fps even in 8 players MP and masses of armies (which is generally a CPU bottleneck scenario anyway). Its not a GPU demanding game at all, and yes, AMD had issues early on it, because Blizzard is known to optimize their games with NV GPUs.

I agree. No issues here on AMD Cards with current drivers with SC II.

 

[vanillatech]

I agree. No issues here on AMD Cards with current drivers with SC II.

OMG that is music to my ears. I always supported ATI, even though I am not biased one way or the other. Since 1996 I've spread my money evenly, buying whichever card was at the top spot. But hearing that AMD has fixed their drivers to give decent FPS in Starcraft is awesome. In this case, I will probably go with a 7950. I found one which is highly overclockable, has 3GB Vram, and the cooler has a little control panel on it which looks incredibly smart!

Thanks for all your input!

I'll let you know when it comes and do some benchies.

 

[raghu78]

OP go with HD 7950. crazy deals. best bang for buck. average overclock 1100 - 1150 mhz puts you on par with HD 7970 Ghz. here are a few good models.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/b0071lp5me/geizhals07-21/

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...dr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-2x-mini-dp

http://www.ebuyer.com/461928-radeon-hd-7950-3gb-gddr5-flex-pci-e-2xdvi-hdmi-2xm-dp-oc-11196-17-40g

 

[Mr Expert]

OMG that is music to my ears. I always supported ATI, even though I am not biased one way or the other. Since 1996 I've spread my money evenly, buying whichever card was at the top spot. But hearing that AMD has fixed their drivers to give decent FPS in Starcraft is awesome. In this case, I will probably go with a 7950. I found one which is highly overclockable, has 3GB Vram, and the cooler has a little control panel on it which looks incredibly smart!

Thanks for all your input!

I'll let you know when it comes and do some benchies.

Starcraft can run on a toaster and still be playable. It's not a demanding game on the hardware.

 

[SolMiester]

OP go with HD 7950. crazy deals. best bang for buck. average overclock 1100 - 1150 mhz puts you on par with HD 7970 Ghz. here are a few good models.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/b0071lp5me/geizhals07-21/

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...dr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-2x-mini-dp

http://www.ebuyer.com/461928-radeon-hd-7950-3gb-gddr5-flex-pci-e-2xdvi-hdmi-2xm-dp-oc-11196-17-40g

You keep on with the 7950>760, and link the hardocp link...but why do you leave out the conclusion, which said, 760 is better option than 7950..

In this follow-up evaluation to our initial MSI N760 TF 2GD5/OC video card review we looked at two important things. Firstly, we discussed on page 2 why we couldn't squeeze the Radeon HD 7950 Boost into the launch comparison. Therefore, we followed-up with added performance comparisons to that specific video card on page 3. Then we took our MSI N760 OC and overclocked it to its maximum potential on page 4. On page 5 we then compared the overclock of the MSI N760 OC to the comparison cards also overclocked to maximum potentials to see if the GeForce GTX 760 could keep up.

Radeon HD 7950 Boost (and in turn, GTX 670) Summary

Let's go over the prices once more. The GeForce GTX 760 was launched at $249. The reviewed retail MSI N760 OC was launched at $259. The GeForce GTX 760 is replacing the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which launched at $299. Current Radeon HD 7950 video cards are mostly at $299 base price right now, except for one single PowerColor which is $249.99 after $20 MIR. These are $40-50 more expensive than our reviewed card, and the GTX 760. The GeForce GTX 670 starts at $329 base price, even higher than the HD 7950, although now one single GTX 670 can be found for $279.99 after $40 MIR.

With these prices in mind, the MSI N760 OC, at stock settings, technically beat out, in raw performance, the Radeon HD 7950 Boost. The gameplay experience was the same. However, when we overclocked both, the Radeon HD 7950 turned around and provided the technically higher raw performance. However the gameplay experience was still the same.

The same holds true for the more expensive GeForce GTX 670 as we found out in our initial evaluation. We concluded that the MSI N760 OC (and in turn the GTX 760 as a whole) was a better value compared to the GeForce GTX 670, it would save you $66-75, while still providing near the same performance.

Well, we can now saw that the same is true compared to the AMD Radeon HD 7950 Boost. The MSI N760 OC (and in turn the GT 760 as a whole) is a better value compared to the Radeon HD 7950 Boost. You will save $40-50 and get the same or better performance at stock settings. The gameplay experience is the same, and you will save money. When overclocked the HD 7950 Boost has a slight performance advantage, but it is still so close that the gameplay experience is the same.

Our performance summary is that the MSI N760 OC (and GTX 760 GPU) is a good value, and worth the money savings, compared to GeForce GTX 670 and AMD Radeon HD 7950 Boost.

 

[Mr Expert]

You keep on with the 7950>760, and link the hardocp link...but why do you leave out the conclusion, which said, 760 is better option than 7950..

It's not better than the HD 7950 as the HD 7950 has generally higher min framerates and has the edge better OCing potential.

 

[RaistlinZ]

The 7950 is a much better card, but I'm not sure what prices are like in the UK.

 

[SolMiester]

It's not better than the HD 7950 as the HD 7950 has generally higher min framerates and has the edge better OCing potential.

I said better option, NOT better!

 

[Silverforce11]

I said better option, NOT better!

If you can get 760 cheaper go with that TBH. But at similar prices, or lower, due to recent price drops, its no contest.

 

[SolMiester]

If you can get 760 cheaper go with that TBH. But at similar prices, or lower, due to recent price drops, its no contest.

Not in the US, so not up to play with pricing, i was going by the HardOCP link review.....

Current Radeon HD 7950 video cards are mostly at $299 base price right now, except for one single PowerColor which is $249.99 after $20 MIR. These are $40-50 more expensive than our reviewed card, and the GTX 760.

Sure, if the price has changed, then its no longer valid....

 

[Vesku]

I said better option, NOT better!

HardOCP 760 conclusion vs 7950 - "worth the money savings"

Doesn't really apply when steep 7950 discounts are why it's being suggested. Now if you can find a similarly steep 760 deal going then sure.

 

[raghu78]

You keep on with the 7950>760, and link the hardocp link...but why do you leave out the conclusion, which said, 760 is better option than 7950..

did you see the prices on HD 7950. USD 240 - USD 270. at those prices its a no-brainer. HD 7950 is faster than GTX 760. even in a TWIMTBP title like Metro last light , GTX 760 even at 1.3 Ghz can barely match HD 7950(1.15 ghz) and when it loses in AMD GE titles like Tombraider, hitman, sleeping dogs the gap is massive (25 - 30%). then how is the GTX 760 a better option.

 

[SolMiester]

did you see the prices on HD 7950. USD 240 - USD 270. at those prices its a no-brainer. HD 7950 is faster than GTX 760. even in a TWIMTBP title like Metro last light , GTX 760 even at 1.3 Ghz can barely match HD 7950(1.15 ghz) and when it loses in AMD GE titles like Tombraider, hitman, sleeping dogs the gap is massive (25 - 30%). then how is the GTX 760 a better option.

I saw the prices that HardOCP stated, and also saw that they thought it was the better option....You are talking like the 7950 left the 760 for dead, however they stated...

With these prices in mind, the MSI N760 OC, at stock settings, technically beat out, in raw performance, the Radeon HD 7950 Boost. The gameplay experience was the same. However, when we overclocked both, the Radeon HD 7950 turned around and provided the technically higher raw performance. However the gameplay experience was still the same.

and

The same holds true for the more expensive GeForce GTX 670 as we found out in our initial evaluation. We concluded that the MSI N760 OC (and in turn the GTX 760 as a whole) was a better value compared to the GeForce GTX 670, it would save you $66-75, while still providing near the same performance.

Well, we can now saw that the same is true compared to the AMD Radeon HD 7950 Boost. The MSI N760 OC (and in turn the GT 760 as a whole) is a better value compared to the Radeon HD 7950 Boost.

..I dont see anything in the review about massive gaps?!

 

[raghu78]

I saw the prices that HardOCP stated, and also saw that they thought it was the better option....You are talking like the 7950 left the 760 for dead, however they stated...

and

..I dont see anything in the review about massive gaps?!

if 25% more perf in tombraider is not a massive diff then what is. there are other games like hitman, sleeping dogs which show similar massive diff. HD 7950 is for all intents in a higher class than GTX 760. HD 7950 and GTX 670 are competitors as HD 7970 and GTX 770 / GTX 680. the best case is a golden GTX 760(1.3 ghz) can get close but is still slightly slower than avg HD 7950(1.15 ghz) in games where it performs well like metro, farcry 3, crysis 3 and the worst case is it get thrashed. so tell me how does GTX 760 become equal in performance or belong to the same class as HD 7950. The GTX 670 would trade blows depending on game and thus is an equal to HD 7950.

 

[SolMiester]

if 25% more perf in tombraider is not a massive diff then what is. there are other games like hitman, sleeping dogs which show similar massive diff. HD 7950 is for all intents in a higher class than GTX 760. HD 7950 and GTX 670 are competitors as HD 7970 and GTX 770 / GTX 680. the best case is a golden GTX 760(1.3 ghz) can get close but is still slightly slower than avg HD 7950(1.15 ghz) in games where it performs well like metro, farcry 3, crysis 3 and the worst case is it get thrashed. so tell me how does GTX 760 become equal in performance or belong to the same class as HD 7950. The GTX 670 would trade blows depending on game and thus is an equal to HD 7950.

Dude, im not the one telling the story, which you yourself linked....nevermind!...

 

[Shmee]

I would say it seems like a close call, when OCing is considered, I would say you couldn't go wrong with either. Some of the 7950s can really have good OC's though, get one of those, when on sale, and that should be the best bet for you.