How much better is the GTX 680 vs the 7970?

[Don Karnage]

No flame wars please. Overclocked vs overclocked. What is the percentage between them?

Reason i ask is because i just had a GTX 680 in my cart and some bastard clicked buy before i could.... :'(

 

[GotNoRice]

You'll get a much better answer if you tell us the resolution you prefer to game at, as well as list a few of the most common games you play.

 

[Don Karnage]

you'll get a much better answer if you tell us the resolution you prefer to game at, as well as list a few of the most common games you play.

1920x1080, bf3, bc2

 

[SickBeast]

In bf3 the GTX 680 is significantly better.

 

[Don Karnage]

In bf3 the GTX 680 is significantly better.

Ugh... I had a feeling it was

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

The two cards are very similar. If you can get your hands on a GTX 680 (which is no small feat) then it is superior. However if you don't want to wait around for the cards to get in stock then a 7970 is still quite capable.

This should help out quite a bit.

 

[blastingcap]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/04/nvidia_kepler_geforce_gtx_680_overclocking_review/5

These are high OC vs. high OC. Not stock vs. stock like the guy above me posted. (Guy above me may need to re-read OP's question.) However, keep in mind max OCs vary from card to card. Note also the GTX 680 is more efficient. It takes a lot more juice to rev up a 7970 at 1.3 volts and 1.26GHz core plus oc'd 3GB VRAM.

Edit to add: Also check out the downspikes in fps. The 7970's minimums are worse. On the other hand these are not canned benchmarks so there is some variability among the playthroughs, so don't read TOO much into this.

 

[Don Karnage]

The two cards are very similar. If you can get your hands on a GTX 680 (which is no small feat) then it is superior. However if you don't want to wait around for the cards to get in stock then a 7970 is still quite capable.

I'm weighing the idea now. I want an Asus/EVGA GTX 680 but finding one for less then 600 bucks is rough.

 

[SickBeast]

Here is a good review:

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=29157

At $50 cheaper it's hard to pass up on the 7970 IMO.

The cards are pretty equal. With the 680 you get physx and cuda, and with the 7970 you get 3gb of vram.

 

[3DVagabond]

No flame wars please. Overclocked vs overclocked. What is the percentage between them?

Reason i ask is because i just had a GTX 680 in my cart and some bastard clicked buy before i could.... :'(

This is from a recent review @ TechPowerUp. W1zzard actually updated his drivers for it.

~11.5% @ stock clocks

Now, you mentioned both cards O/C'd. The 680 starts out at higher clocks and who knows exactly what clocks it "boosts" to in BF3, but the 7970 can clock as high as the 680 when O/C'd. I really don't think there will any difference between the 2 O/C'd.

Which is cheaper, and which one can you actually get?

 

[Don Karnage]

This is from a recent review @ TechPowerUp. W1zzard actually updated his drivers for it.

~11.5% @ stock clocks

Now, you mentioned both cards O/C'd. The 680 starts out at higher clocks and who knows exactly what clocks it "boosts" to in BF3, but the 7970 can clock as high as the 680 when O/C'd. I really don't think there will any difference between the 2 O/C'd.

Which is cheaper, and which one can you actually get?

Asus HD 7970 isthe easier one to get. Reference version not directCUII

 

[lehtv]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/555?vs=508

 

[SickBeast]

Don don't buy a reference card unless you are planning to upgrade the cooling. I just made that mistake.

 

[chloros]

They cant keep stock of the 680 for more than 5 minutes. Plenty of 7970. So the masses know which is better....those who say otherwise are die hard amd fans or who were impatient waiting on 680's.

 

[Don Karnage]

They cant keep stock of the 680 for more than 5 minutes. Plenty of 7970. So the masses know which is better....those who say otherwise are die hard amd fans or who were impatient waiting on 680's.

5 minutes? More like 30 seconds

 

[3DVagabond]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/555?vs=508

Release drivers. I specifically pointed to the TPU review because they used up to date drivers. They also use a lots of benches. If you read the entire review, there really isn't much difference between the 2 performance wise. Throw in O/C'ing, which Don will do, and the 7970 will likely be a bit faster, actually. The difference, one way or the other, though, won't be noticeable. The 7970 also has the advantages of an extra gig of RAM, which I understand is of limited use, but it's still there should the need arise, and beefier power stage, 6pin+8pin with, I believe, 1 extra vrm stage for the GPU (couldn't find a reference, I'm going from memory. correct me if I'm wrong?), and with Don being an O/C'er, the 7970 offers voltage control, where the reference 680 does not.

Don don't buy a reference card unless you are planning to upgrade the cooling. I just made that mistake.

Don has that bitchin Arctic accelero cooler.

They cant keep stock of the 680 for more than 5 minutes. Plenty of 7970. So the masses know which is better....those who say otherwise are die hard amd fans or who were impatient waiting on 680's.

While I have no doubt the 680 is selling extremely well, it's not the reason there's no stock. nVidia has stated poor yields and limited wafer starts are an issue. Besides, lots and lots of people buy Apple. What does that prove? Better marketing and better corporate vision. That's a reason to buy stock, not the products.

The 7970 is handicapped by it's stock clocks. The masses wouldn't understand, or care about that. Don's a bit more advanced though than the average user.

Sorry, forgot to mention he one area the 680 does have a reasonable advantage. That's efficiency for typical consumer uses.

 

[Don Karnage]

Would 1300 core be out of the question on a arctic cooled 7970?

 

[blackened23]

AT maximum overclocks they are roughly equal to each other, IMO. At least at 2560 resolution, they're about the same depending on the game. 7970 wins some 680 wins some, the difference is negligible most of the time if they are both oc'ed to their respective maximums.

680 will win bf3 and skyrim, bc2, sr3, dirt 3. 7970 wins witcher 2, all crysis games, metro 2033, alan wake, de: HR. 1300 might be doable on an accelero cooler, but you'd have to up volts and you'd dump a ton of heat in your case. 1200ish is a more realistic expectation if you're using aftermarket cooling....maybe more if you want to up the volts

The hardocp review has a good max OC comparison, also legitreviews / hardwarecanucks has a MSI lightning 7970 review, although the oc is a modest 1070.

 

[xxxkaliboyxxx]

if your taking about reference cards with stock coolers, I had both. The GTX 680 is about 5x quieter than a reference 7970 (leaf blower)

 

[Don Karnage]

if your taking about reference cards with stock coolers, I had both. The GTX 680 is about 5x quieter than a reference 7970 (leaf blower)

If i buy the 7970 this is going on it

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Performance wise OC vs OC it's pretty much a wash, the biggest differences are the 7970 is good at bitcoins if that's your thing while the 680 isn't. The 680 still has CUDA which is still has far more actual RL support than AMD. The 680 draws about as much power as the 7970 does at stock once overclocked, however the 7970 while the better clocker, eats up voltage like a dozer. Equal performance is costing you 100+ watts more with the 7970.

Overall the 680 is just a better card.

 

[amenx]

Seems the 680 is only having supply problems in the U.S. In Europe it appears to be more easily available.

 

[Zebo]

Nothing you'd notice but if you got brains you buy a7950 for 369 and clock it. Card is high end, just factory underclocked to fool you into buying 7970 - and when same speed as 7970 there is no difference and will clock to even beat GTX 680, all for $369.


Basically right now

Highend - buy 7950 -$369

midrange - buy 7850 or cheap 448s $239

low range - buy 6870s $149

 

[Tempered81]

Well Zebo just about nailed it. Additionally, if you have $1200 blow, get a pair of 6GB Toxic 7970's or 4GB Classified 680's.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Don. Don't you have a 7850?
Got bored of it already?