So Im pretty new to the PC gaming world. I decided to build a rig this summer. Im having a hard time choosing a GPU. I was thinking about a MSI GTX 660 OC or a HD 7870. I'm not sure what to choose I do plan on potentially sli or crossfire later in the year. Here are my specs so far.
Intel i5 3570k
AsRock Extreme4 Crucial Ballistix Sport 8gb 1600mhz
Corsair CX750W ATX12v (plan on sli or crossfire down the road)
*(have not picked a case yet any reccomendations?)
Get an EVGA FTW Edition 2 660.
I would get the 660 oc or 660ti, because there are multiple applications that benifit from cuda cores, and since the 660 performs a tiny bit better than the 7870 non ghz in most tests. And I swear I am not a fanboy.
if you plan on sli/cf i'd reccomend the 660, less multi-gpu issues with sli, maybe wait for the ~760 if you want to wait
i like my case, thermaltake ms-i commander (snow edition, got it for ~$30) not the best but amazing for the price
If you can find a Powercolor Radeon HD 7870 XT anywhere, they usually go for around $210, and they'll outperform anything in that price range. It looks like they may have discontinued them or just raised the price though, because I can't seem to find it anywhere.
I feel like a vanilla 7870 would still beat a GTX 660, but you should look up some benchmarks just to make sure.
yeah i also noticed that issue with those 7870XT in the Netherlands for some reason they getting hard to get.. but if he can find one indeed go for it, its a downsized 7950.
Logan is going to have a 760 on tommarow at some random time. I hear that it is going to replace the 660 Ti. And EVGA may sell it at 250. If you can get the 50 extra bucks I would go for that.
There is also a HIS Iceq 7870 that has been floating around at that price point for some time. Newegg has a HIS Iceq Turbo 7850 that is overclocked from 860Mhz to 1000Mhz. Its benchmarking in the same range as a stock 7870 Ghz edition uses less power and does not get any hotter than 53c. Also its been beefed up like crazy. And given an extra 6pin PCI power and used seven phases instead of six. I have been seeing stable overclocks as high as 1250Mhz and still not breaking 70c.
If you care about phys x and want to stay under 200. I would say get a EVGA 660 at Newegg there 185 dollers right now. And I would not worry about the superclocked one. Its the same cooler, board, blower. Save yourself the 30 bucks and just do the overclock yourself.
EVGA is the best cardmaker in my opinon and I have know people that have had there cards die on them. (however very few of them) They work really fast to get a new one to you and don't worry about the details to often. If you can get an EVGA anything and its only a tad bit slower than any other card do it. Its worth it knowing that service is there if you need it.
Here's another 200 ish dollar option...
Have you thought about 2 x 7770's ? XD
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7750_7770_CrossFire/
For a little less than a 7850 you get VERY comparable performance, plus you get a kick ass little crossfire rig? Would look pretty sweet!
I think if he wants to add another card later on, it would be best to get the newest, most powerful card he can now and add another of the same later, when he will need it and it will be cheaper, than go with 2 cheaper cards now to get a somewhat mediocre performance that can be surpassed by a better single card.
Give a little more and get a 7870.
I believe AMD stated that they would release drivers to address the framerating issues in Crossfire sometime in the end of July. With that in mind, I would avoid Crossfire, as opposed to SLI. And I wouldn't recommend SLI much either. I recommend you just go for the best single GPU solution. 660 (&TI) vs a 7870 is sort of back and forth fight. I think the 7870 would be better because of the extra games.
Thanks for the help guys. The 660s went up in price but the 7870s are down the sapphire 100354OCL is on sale for $200 after rebate. I think Im going with the 7870 considering it beats out the 660 and touches the 760. the 760 didnt come out to be what I was expecting 7870 gives about the same performance. Only thing Im bummed out about is the free 4 games offer is gone I wanted bioshock infinite T_T http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/857?vs=854
i might consider the xfx 7870 that's also on sale quite often, i have that sapphire card, it's voltage locked (i don't know if xfx's is or not), and i can't get much of any overclock without the computer getting quite unstable
the GTX 760 has just been announced so give it a week or 2 the GTX 660 and the GTX660TI will be on sale you can allso guarantee ebay will be flooded with used 660-660TI cards with those upgradeing.
It maybe worth waiting
I really would consider this 7870 then. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161404
It overclocks really nice stays cool and quiet. I know Logan uses it. It is huge. Make sure you have 11 and a half inchs. And a little under 2 and a half card slots of room.
Here is Paul over at newegg's review.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0z_QfYKYqRg
And here is Logan's review. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkOZhwutP-o
I did spot it this month over at Tiger direct or Amazon for 10 bucks cheaper but I can't remember what one. It did not come with crysis 3 however.
I hope this helps good hunting.
Thanks for the help! I oredered it yesterday should be arriving this friday. Now I just need to grab me a case and the cpu.