SLI vs single card question

[Durvelle27]

there seems to be incompetent people that dont realize im using your opinion to help my research and my own opinion

do you think i go by what 3 people on a forum say? when they say different things? do i question your education level and pay grade before asking you for advice? no

so dont get mad when i rule out your opinion and see your computer build and wonder why you tell people to buy things you cant afford

Rule of thumb -> dont tell people to buy things you dont have first hand experience from, noone wants to hear about how alcohol makes you feel when youve never took a sip of beer



judging me or questioning my personality by words on the internet shows the true level of your intelligence.
/college

In that case ......i still recommend the HD 7950

 

[raildogg]

I am in a similar situation of deciding between mid-range graphics cards so I posted a thread here. Even after the recommendations, I am still not decided. So maybe the answer lies with you and not anyone else. They can suggest certain products but it is your decision in the end. Further research and inquiry often doesn't lead to a better outcome but may increase confusion. So if you have the means, just go ahead and buy it.

 

[Macgruber]

In that case ......i still recommend the HD 7950

it looks like its HD 7950 vs gtx 670 for me and seems the HD7950 is winning with more than 5/10 on the stats(thats not a 1-10 scale but 10 different "fields")

I am in a similar situation of deciding between mid-range graphics cards so I posted a thread here. Even after the recommendations, I am still not decided. So maybe the answer lies with you and not anyone else. They can suggest certain products but it is your decision in the end. Further research and inquiry often doesn't lead to a better outcome but may increase confusion. So if you have the means, just go ahead and buy it.

indeed, thankyou for understanding im only considering what people say to help my own research..

Russian did the most, he gave me links and his own personal opinion which ive thanked him in PM, the link he gave me to compare cards is whats doing it for me, i can compare core/memory/fill rate and all the good stuff without opening 5 browsers

 

[Eureka]

there seems to be incompetent people that dont realize im using your opinion to help my research and my own opinion

do you think i go by what 3 people on a forum say? when they say different things? do i question your education level and pay grade before asking you for advice? no

so dont get mad when i rule out your opinion and see your computer build and wonder why you tell people to buy things you cant afford

Rule of thumb -> dont tell people to buy things you dont have first hand experience from, noone wants to hear about how alcohol makes you feel when youve never took a sip of beer



judging me or questioning my personality by words on the internet shows the true level of your intelligence.
/college

The problem is your attitude. You keep treating everyone who gives you advice as incompetent or unknowledgeable. In the past 6 months I have bought a 7850, a 7970 a 660, a 570 and a 670.

Secondly, stop talking like everyone is 13 year old, because most of us on here are either working age or older. And no, we don't have to divulge you our personal life.

What more do you want to hear? Russian already gave you most of the charts. If you are set on the 7950 vs the 670, then just pick one. The 7950 is by far a better card once you start the overclock, the 670 draws less heat and less power and has PhysX.

Stock for stock, they're very close:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/645?vs=598

But with newer drivers, both cards have gotten even faster, and the 7950, will be faster.

You won't see many reviews on the newer drivers because they keep changing all the time. But the newest drivers are reducing stutter on the AMD cards, which was supposed to be the biggest problem to date (with the exception of texture flashes).

http://techreport.com/review/24218/a-driver-update-to-reduce-radeon-frame-times

Unless you want to tell us what games you play and what screens you have, we can't help you any more than this. Maybe if you actually shared with us what you were doing, we can point you in a better direction. Because a lot of us have tried out different cards and different setups and we do know more than you think.

 

[Macgruber]

The problem is your attitude. You keep treating everyone who gives you advice as incompetent or unknowledgeable. In the past 6 months I have bought a 7850, a 7970 a 660, a 570 and a 670.

Secondly, stop talking like everyone is 13 year old, because most of us on here are either working age or older. And no, we don't have to divulge you our personal life.

What more do you want to hear? Russian already gave you most of the charts. If you are set on the 7950 vs the 670, then just pick one. The 7950 is by far a better card once you start the overclock, the 670 draws less heat and less power and has PhysX.

Stock for stock, they're very close:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/645?vs=598

But with newer drivers, both cards have gotten even faster, and the 7950, will be faster.

You won't see many reviews on the newer drivers because they keep changing all the time. But the newest drivers are reducing stutter on the AMD cards, which was supposed to be the biggest problem to date (with the exception of texture flashes).

http://techreport.com/review/24218/a-driver-update-to-reduce-radeon-frame-times

Unless you want to tell us what games you play and what screens you have, we can't help you any more than this. Maybe if you actually shared with us what you were doing, we can point you in a better direction. Because a lot of us have tried out different cards and different setups and we do know more than you think.

so PhysX makes a 670 make up for the other loss in components or what are you trying to say?

 

[SolMiester]

Meh, for me, 5% performance doesnt matter, its the extra features, thermals and cooling noise, driver stability, output combos, power requirements, etc etc....its not as if one card will make you play better than the other.

 

[Eureka]

so PhysX makes a 670 make up for the other loss in components or what are you trying to say?

7950 is fast. Very fast, if you OC, and still fast if you don't. The 670 has PhysX, if you want it, and runs cooler and with less power.

The question is if you want PhysX. There are a very limited selection of games with PhysX, but if those games are games you really like, then it might be worthwhile to turn on PhysX. This is why, I've been asking you over and over again, to list the games you want to play.

That's it, really. I won't lie to you and tell you nvidia has magic drivers, because it doesn't. I have shadow flickering on my 670, in the same way that the AMD cards have/had texture flickering. Nvidia does have a bigger community, which alone might be worth something (in terms of support and resale, if you care about it).

 

[CurrentlyPissed]

7950 is fast. Very fast, if you OC, and still fast if you don't. The 670 has PhysX, if you want it, and runs cooler and with less power.

The question is if you want PhysX. There are a very limited selection of games with PhysX, but if those games are games you really like, then it might be worthwhile to turn on PhysX. This is why, I've been asking you over and over again, to list the games you want to play.

That's it, really. I won't lie to you and tell you nvidia has magic drivers, because it doesn't. I have shadow flickering on my 670, in the same way that the AMD cards have/had texture flickering. Nvidia does have a bigger community, which alone might be worth something (in terms of support and resale, if you care about it).

7950 would be my choice as well. Get the Twin Frozr, they are 7970 PCBs

 

[ArmyVet88]

Just built my first rig this month cant wait to order my PSU next week and deal with first boot issues haha. GTX660 (Non Ti)

 

[Macgruber]

7950 is fast. Very fast, if you OC, and still fast if you don't. The 670 has PhysX, if you want it, and runs cooler and with less power.

The question is if you want PhysX. There are a very limited selection of games with PhysX, but if those games are games you really like, then it might be worthwhile to turn on PhysX. This is why, I've been asking you over and over again, to list the games you want to play.

That's it, really. I won't lie to you and tell you nvidia has magic drivers, because it doesn't. I have shadow flickering on my 670, in the same way that the AMD cards have/had texture flickering. Nvidia does have a bigger community, which alone might be worth something (in terms of support and resale, if you care about it).

awesome link, thanks
im not the biggest gamer but its good to know that physx is almost next to useless
im not sure if texture flickering is worse than shadow flickering, you've had both cards, if you want to elaborate i will appreciate

in terms of running hot, do you have any examples? seems both cards like to consume power but does the 7950 mean ill need to buy a seperate cooler (50-100$) on a cooler? im not willing to expand my water cooling loop since im not sure the XSPC rx240 can handle a heavy oc i7 and a 7950 as well

 

[raghu78]

OP when you ask for GPU advice/opinion please try to use this template

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2225141
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32975664&postcount=2

it helps everybody to give relevant and useful opinion. otherwise its just guesswork.

 

[Macgruber]

OP when you ask for GPU advice/opinion please try to use this template

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2225141
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32975664&postcount=2

it helps everybody to give relevant and useful opinion. otherwise its just guesswork.

thanks for your input but like i stated in original post, im just looking for bang for buck, trying to get peoples opinions and facts to whats the top card on the market

To be quite honest, my components wont alter the cards core mhz/memory mhz/ texture fill rate/bandwidth

While i appreciate you trying to help, im not screening people before they give information so im not going to screen myself.

a 200$ card thats better than a 210$ card will remain better regardless whats in my PC

 

[raghu78]

thanks for your input but like i stated in original post, im just looking for bang for buck,

if its purely bang for buck and you have a quality 500w psu with atleast 36A on +12v rail then go for a HD 7950 boost. its not a contest. the price perf of HD 7950 boost is unbeatable.

 

[Eureka]

awesome link, thanks
im not the biggest gamer but its good to know that physx is almost next to useless
im not sure if texture flickering is worse than shadow flickering, you've had both cards, if you want to elaborate i will appreciate

in terms of running hot, do you have any examples? seems both cards like to consume power but does the 7950 mean ill need to buy a seperate cooler (50-100$) on a cooler? im not willing to expand my water cooling loop since im not sure the XSPC rx240 can handle a heavy oc i7 and a 7950 as well

You won't need to get a special cooler, especially if you get a model with an aftermarket cooler. For stock on stock cards, the 670 will actually runner 1-2°C hotter because they use a lower profile. I don't have a temperature comparison for the same cooler on both cards.

In gaming, the 670 will draw less power than a 7950:

Which means less heat is dissipated through the card. But with modern coolers, temperatures shouldn't matter unless you're going to OC the 7950 to the max.

Texture flickering means that the side of an object (like a rock) will flicker white occasionally. Shadow flickering means that the shadow of the rock will flicker, rather than the side. It will flicker black/gray but because it's a shadow it's not as obvious as a white flicker. They're both kind of rare and really depends on the game/drivers.

Example of shadow flickering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVZc5PpvFG4

Example of texture flickering (look at his belt):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKeIt-5jGac

Both can be minor/major based on your card, game, and driver. It can happen to cards from both companies, but it seems right now that shadows are more prone to flicker with nvidia cards and textures are more prone to flicker with amd cards.

If you just want bang for buck, the 7950 is generally better, especially once you turn up the OC. Reference 670s start around $330 typically and go down to around $300 on sale, while 7950s start around $300 and can get down to $250 on sale. Get a slightly nicer version with an aftermarket cooler, and you don't have to really worry about temperatures as much.

Here's a good review: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_hd_7950_twin_frozer_iii_review,1.html

Stock temps peak around 59°C, 9°C lower than a stock 7950. When you overclock, it peaks around 70 °C.