Black Friday Preparedness - 660 (ti) or 7870/7950

[jmt]

I'll be upgrading my system on Black Friday and I'm stuck on where I need to go with the GPU.

I game at 1080p on one monitor. No bottlenecking issues but power consumption is important. The build will be in an FT03 Mini so heat is also concern, but I would like something that works with the case design. I will OC but would prepare not to for the aforementioned reasons.

My current set-up is CF 4890s. I typically prefer nVidia due to their drivers, but I'm not married to them.

Any input is appreciated. I'm trying to get a game plan together.

[Deleted]

performance wise those ATI cards lose to a 660Ti in any game on single screen pretty much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130837 perhaps? (also what temps are you aiming for?)
power consumption is 660Ti for 160W on load where as a 7950 has 200W on load.

[jmt]

7950 is about the top regarding consumption.

The FT03 Mini can get pretty toasty and tends to work better with blower type coolers. However, blowers are not usually as quiet and efficient as dual fans.

My only worry is that the 660ti will be around $240 on BF. The 7870 will probably hit $150. The 7950 I'm not sure about. I'm thinking about $250 as well. And the 660 I'm guessing will come through around $170.

[Deleted]

define toasty what kind of temps do you deem acceptable?
from what i recall the current ATI cards also run hotter compared to keplar ones. (altho a vapor chamber one might work but if the cooling can keep up is another question)
like :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127711 (lots of ATI ones got a smaller vapor chamber just browse newegg a bit )

edit: passive cooling can be questionable if temps inside the case are higher compared to room temp.

[Deleted]

performance wise those ATI cards lose to a 660Ti in any game on single screen pretty much.
.

Not really.... Perhaps wow/diablo and BF3, but def not all games.

But i do think Nvidia is lower on the consumption side of things. So in that regards a 660ti might be the best option.

[Deleted]

Not really.... Perhaps wow/diablo and BF3, but def not all games.

But i do think Nvidia is lower on the consumption side of things. So in that regards a 660ti might be the best option.

the two ati cards in question do lose it from the 660Ti

[Deleted]

the two ati cards in question do lose it from the 660Ti

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...rmance/14.html

There are some other games aswell. The 7870 might lose it from the 660ti all the time. The 7950 however, does not.