Hardware recomendation?

[lvl4f]

Hi, I plan to change my video card and I have 2 options is:

 

Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 OC Boost 3 Gb GDDR5

 

and the other is:

 

Zotac Geforce GTX 680 AMP! Edition 2 Gb GDDR5

 

 

 

My system is as follows:

 

 

Mother: Asus Maximus V gene

 

 

Micro: I5 3570K@4.4GhZ. / Corassair H100 (WC).

 

 

MEMS.: Gskil Ripjaws 8gb-DualChannel@2133

 

 

Power: 750W XtremeFatality

 

 

3 monitors 24 '' LG E2340 led.

 

 

 

I was watching reviews and both are excellent, the 7970, has more performance, more bandwidth, more Bits, more speed, better OC, but I have 2 things that I don't like, the DRIVERS, and consumption in LOAD, which is slightly higher than the GTX 680.

 

 

On the other hand the 680 handles better antialiasing, it has technology GPU boost, the celebrated Physics, better consumption/temp., and almost at the same time or a little less performance than the 7970.

 

 

For price, that obviously the 7970, but those damn drivers, but as I read, the drivers for the 7xxx series is very well worked, (currently run them for 6xxx series).

 

 

 

Now here the question,... which of the 2 is better or you would recommend me?, talking exclusively about the DCS series?, it is the only thing I use on this pc, and the idea is run on 3 monitors, and thinking in the future benefit from those 3 Gb of the 7970 in Max. Res., or take advantage of the GPU boost of the 680.

[Sorin]

Over the years I have bought both AMD/ATI and Nvidia.

Definitely the drivers are better at Nvidia. I don't know why AMD keeps making that Catalyst rubbish...

 

If we talk only for DCS then 680 is the better card. It will give you slightly more FPS IMHO.

I have one and I drive 5 high-res monitors with only 2G VRAM. Only 30FPS but constant.

 

My recommendation is Nvidia 680.

[lvl4f]

Thanks for advice Sorin.

[metalnwood]

Over the years I have bought both AMD/ATI and Nvidia.

Definitely the drivers are better at Nvidia. I don't know why AMD keeps making that Catalyst rubbish...

 

If we talk only for DCS then 680 is the better card. It will give you slightly more FPS IMHO.

I have one and I drive 5 high-res monitors with only 2G VRAM. Only 30FPS but constant.

 

My recommendation is Nvidia 680.

 

No Sorin, I am not stalking you so give the opposite view! :)

 

I on the other hand would go for the 7970, with the performance of the cards being on par the 3 gigs can be an advantage when running triple screen. I wasnt sure how much vram was being used but in a thread here the other day someone said it was over 2gigs.

 

On the other hand if the 680 never goes below 30 then that is the one to get as I dont know of any computer that has managed to to that - depending on setting of course.

[Sorin]

metalnwood I am glad that you provide your opinion; it is always good to hear from more sources. The more the merrier :)

 

This post contains my settings at the time I was trying that benchmark:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1709154&postcount=28

 

Even with 5 high resolution monitors the VRAM is OK at 2G. But of course 3G should be better than 2G, with the same GPU. AMD and Nvidia have different memory hardware and so far it seems that Nvidia uses the memory more efficiently so they can save some cost and still be competitive.

 

Based on my experience a 680 is faster than a 7970 for DCS. For other applications can be different. Of course this is just my opinion so just take it as a free advice.

[agrasyuk]

I'd go with the nvid card, however since you using 3 monitors you should benefit from extra vram. If budget allows consider the 4gb version.

[mhe]

nVidia GTX 680 4GBs are my vote then - no VRAM issues and it outperforms any AMD card in DCS so far.

[Sorin]

I find the price too high for 680 with 4G VRAM. But if you have the budget go for it. I will stick with my 680 2G VRAM for now.

[metalnwood]

Yes, I wondered why not the 4gig version on your list. That would solve the memory issue if there is one.

 

If I had a 680 about I would like to try it in dcs. I have kept away from nvidia because ati dominated the triple screen world but some things with ati bug me, like AA. I don't think it's bad with dcs but it is for some other things.

[JG14_Smil]

It is subjective.

 

My 7970 gave me smoother FPS than the 680 (even with two of them). Nvidia has much better picture quality.

 

I concur and say look into a 4G Nvidia card if you can.

[metalnwood]

Over the years I have bought both AMD/ATI and Nvidia.

Definitely the drivers are better at Nvidia. I don't know why AMD keeps making that Catalyst rubbish...

 

If we talk only for DCS then 680 is the better card. It will give you slightly more FPS IMHO.

I have one and I drive 5 high-res monitors with only 2G VRAM. Only 30FPS but constant.

 

My recommendation is Nvidia 680.

 

OK, you have got to tell me something.. When I got my 7970 I was thinking about the 680 instead, primarily for the image quality and now that they have nvidia surround on a single card it seemed fine.

 

I just remembered the thing that tipped me over to ATI was because I was running 5 screens (helios+triple screen + cdu ) and the 680 only supported four screens.

 

So how have you got five going on the 680?

[Sorin]

OK, you have got to tell me something.. When I got my 7970 I was thinking about the 680 instead, primarily for the image quality and now that they have nvidia surround on a single card it seemed fine.

 

I just remembered the thing that tipped me over to ATI was because I was running 5 screens (helios+triple screen + cdu ) and the 680 only supported four screens.

 

So how have you got five going on the 680?

 

I have 2 monitors connected to a DisplayPort=>2 HDMI adapter.

The card sees a big virtual monitor 3840x1200 instead of the 2 physical monitors I have.

[metalnwood]

Thx mate.

[lvl4f]

Thx mate´s i buy the Xfx 7970 Black Edition.

[cichlidfan]

I have 2 monitors connected to a DisplayPort=>2 HDMI adapter.

The card sees a big virtual monitor 3840x1200 instead of the 2 physical monitors I have.

 

Good to know. Thanks.