1. #1

    2x7970 vs 2xGtx670?

    So im narrowing down my search for my GPU/s for my new build and im leaning on ethier

    1) 2x Radeon HD 7970s Crossfire
    2) 2x GTX 670 SLI

    Ethier way thats gonna run me around 800-850.00$+ Tax

    Looking at benchmarks, specs and just general research i would think ethier of these 2 setups would outperform a 690 or Titan, considering a single one of these isnt far behind a 690 from what i see.

    I cant find anysites to really compare SLI/CF setups to non ones.

    Any advice appreciated!

  2. #2
    What kind of setup are you looking at?

    I've had both a pair of 7970s (Gigabytes) and I'm currently on a Titan. If you give me the info on your 'rig, and which games you'll be playing, at what setting and resolution, I might be able to give some help.

    If you're looking at any resolution under nVidia Surround / Eyefinity (ie. 5760x1080).... A single 680 or 7970 will be more then enough.
    Past 'rigs in service (Now the dad's gaming rig):

    Current 'rigs:

  3. #3
    MSI 970A-G43 May change but friend highly reccomended for a cheap board capable of handling everything i needed (70$atm)
    AMD FX-8350 8 core 200$ and its right behind the i7 3770ks / intels at 280$+
    16GB corsair Vengeance 32gb seems complete overkill, extra 100$+ i could spend elsewhere
    128GB SSD Win764bit Leftover from my current build
    Basic Asus Optical Leftover from my current build
    Fullsize Haf case, multiple 200MM fans Leftover from my current build
    1000W PS leftover from my current build


    WoW Ultra, 25man/40manworldbosses recording HD fraps/other and running multiple applications World of Logs and more
    1920x1080 (However i may consider running triple monitor in the future so a build upgradeable within a budget wouldnt be bad)

  4. #4
    For the MB I'd recommend a switch to the ASUS Sabertooth 990FX; only $100 extra if you buy off Newegg.
    Looking at performance if you go with the 7970 GHz edition you'll get a better bang for your buck.

  5. #5
    Alrighty... First things first- What's your budget?

    Now.... If you get that motherboard, you'll regret it later. Basically, it'll gimp you if you ever try to overclock, or go to tri-monitor, as you'll notice that it's PCI-E Slots are only Gen 2. Honestly, a motherboard is the base of your whole system- do yourself a favor, and don't skimp on it. I've gone through a lot of motherboards over the course of my computing career, and found that the only ones I really buy now, are Asus Sabertooth boards... Though I understand that Asus's Maximus boards are pretty good too. You could also look at a Gigabyte UD5 or 7. The motherboards I'm listing off mostly all have enough PCI-E lanes to run dual GPU at 8x, or 16x single, and most if not all, will have PCI-E Gen 3 slots.

    Onto the CPU- .... If you're seriously just looking at WoW with some extras, look at an Intel i5-3570k. It's a quad core but it'll boast gaming numbers just as high as the 3770k, and it can be OCd as well. And at Newegg (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16819116504) It's $226. It also has PCI-E Gen 3 support, and will likely give you higher FPS as WoW (while now being GPU intensive as well) is primarily CPU based. Whatever you get- Get an H100 water cooler for it and OC it, and then have a grand ol' time.

    Please see for a comparison of CPUs with the same GPU- Note that no CPUs are OC'd: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...k,3348-13.html

    If you're looking at a single monitor, you should just go with a single 670, and then look into a second 670 later. If you're running WoW primarily you'd want a single GPU over a dual GPU solution (My second 7970 only netted me a 10 FPS gain over a single one- though that was 3-4 months ago I slimmed it down to a single card).

    For your RAM, I'd look at a base 8GB set, but a higher speed, and lower timings (1866MHz or higher, with 9-9-9-24 timings or lower). It'd run you around $100, but you'll net a decent FPS increase from the extra speed (Going from 1600MHz to 2133MHz gains 6-10 FPS in most games from a report I read awhile back- Even with the higher timings).

    All of this depends on your current budget though.
    Past 'rigs in service (Now the dad's gaming rig):

    Current 'rigs:

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Derpamis View Post
    AMD FX-8350 8 core 200$ and its right behind the i7 3770ks / intels at 280$+
    AMD processors suck on all MMORPG's, buying one for WoW primarily would be a tragic mistake. If you want more power for some video editing or whatnot, an i7-3770k would still be far better purchase than FX-8350.

    Quote Originally Posted by Diber View Post
    If you're looking at a single monitor, you should just go with a single 670, and then look into a second 670 later. If you're running WoW primarily you'd want a single GPU over a dual GPU solution (My second 7970 only netted me a 10 FPS gain over a single one- though that was 3-4 months ago I slimmed it down to a single card).
    Definitely start from single card, preferably Nvidia card as the AMD drivers have plenty of mystical bugs on Blizzard games. One GTX670 can max out almost any GPU dependant game on single 60Hz 1920x1080 monitor with the exception of Crysis on ultra settings so there's no point for SLI from the start.

    Quote Originally Posted by Diber View Post
    For your RAM, I'd look at a base 8GB set, but a higher speed, and lower timings (1866MHz or higher, with 9-9-9-24 timings or lower). It'd run you around $100, but you'll net a decent FPS increase from the extra speed (Going from 1600MHz to 2133MHz gains 6-10 FPS in most games from a report I read awhile back- Even with the higher timings).
    No. Going up from 1600MHz to 2133Mhz gives around 3-4% speed increase on some games. You'll never see 6-10fps difference unless you're running some game with vsync off at 200fps. Spending money on RAM above 1600MHz CL9 is totally pointless unless the primary use for the computer will be some memory intensive math. 8GB is enough for gaming computer today, but if counting pennies is not required I'd go for 2x8GB just to leave the other two RAM slots empty just in case...
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  7. #7
    Brewmaster Majesticii's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by vesseblah View Post
    No. Going up from 1600MHz to 2133Mhz gives around 3-4% speed increase on some games. You'll never see 6-10fps difference unless you're running some game with vsync off at 200fps. Spending money on RAM above 1600MHz CL9 is totally pointless unless the primary use for the computer will be some memory intensive math. 8GB is enough for gaming computer today, but if counting pennies is not required I'd go for 2x8GB just to leave the other two RAM slots empty just in case...
    This is true for Intel, the new AMD's do have increased performance with 1866mhz. Not saying it's worth the investment of upgrading though.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by vesseblah View Post
    No. Going up from 1600MHz to 2133Mhz gives around 3-4% speed increase on some games. You'll never see 6-10fps difference unless you're running some game with vsync off at 200fps. Spending money on RAM above 1600MHz CL9 is totally pointless unless the primary use for the computer will be some memory intensive math. 8GB is enough for gaming computer today, but if counting pennies is not required I'd go for 2x8GB just to leave the other two RAM slots empty just in case...
    My bad then. I thought I saw a big thing about it, but it was when I was looking at Z77 vs X79, so it could've been the difference between the dual and quad channel ram setups, I guess? I used to do quite a bit of Folding@Home, so I love my ram speeds fast, and the timings tight either way :P

    OT: Depending on your budget, I'd suggest getting a single GPU, and get a better CPU / Mainboard. Intel may be more expensive, but it's because it's better at the moment.
    Past 'rigs in service (Now the dad's gaming rig):

    Current 'rigs:

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Derpamis View Post
    MSI 970A-G43 May change but friend highly reccomended for a cheap board capable of handling everything i needed (70$atm)
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...nk_Express_III

    The 970 chipset is only capable of x16/x4 CF and is not capable of SLI.

    At the minimum, you're looking for PCIe 3.0 x8/x8 for CF/SLI to minimize PCIe bottlenecking. The ideal CF/SLI configuration utilizes the Intel X79 chipset which allows for PCIe 3.0 x16/x16.

    Since PCIe 3.0 isn't available for FX CPUs, the equivalent to PCIe 3.0 x8/x8 is PCIe 2.0 x16/x16 which is only available on the 990FX chipset.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Diber View Post
    My bad then. I thought I saw a big thing about it, but it was when I was looking at Z77 vs X79, so it could've been the difference between the dual and quad channel ram setups, I guess? I used to do quite a bit of Folding@Home, so I love my ram speeds fast, and the timings tight either way :P
    Synthetic memory speed tests or intensive math like F@H is something where you'll notice RAM speed, but never in gaming. Quad or triple channel makes no difference.

    Only game benchmarks I've seen shows around 3-4% speed boost going from 1333MHz to 1600MHz, and after that 1-2% for every step up (1866, 2133, 2400). Because prices of 1333 and 1600 are practically the same but it goes up really fast after that 1600 gives best value for money. Sure if money is not an issue faster RAM gives tiny bit better performance but it's poor investment.


    Quote Originally Posted by Majesticii View Post
    This is true for Intel, the new AMD's do have increased performance with 1866mhz. Not saying it's worth the investment of upgrading though.
    AMD processors with built-in GPU benefits from memory speed, CPU very little. 1866MHz might boost new Bulldozer processors bit more than Intel's SB/IB line, but still it's usually better to put the money on better graphics card instead of faster RAM when looking for FPS.


    edit:

    Since 1866MHz CL9 memory price has dropped quite significantly since I last looked, it's probably best purchase for AMD use. Still wont give any benefit on Intel side unless you want to overclock it.
    Last edited by vesseblah; 2013-04-07 at 04:24 PM.
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  11. #11
    Deleted
    tbh in order to improve wow performance the most just use that budget in order to get a 660Ti/7870 XT and going Z77 + 3770k.
    your performance in your case is more cpu bound instead of gpu. (just they way the wow engine works , which also scales not so well with sli/cf)

  12. #12
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by shroudster View Post
    tbh in order to improve wow performance the most just use that budget in order to get a 660Ti/7870 XT and going Z77 + 3770k.
    your performance in your case is more cpu bound instead of gpu. (just they way the wow engine works , which also scales not so well with sli/cf)
    I think his budget is 800 dollar for just the gpu

  13. #13
    Alright well after a lot of consideration i think im going to be going with a 670 (400$ish) and putting extra money saved from my originally planned 690 into a better Mobo/Cpu.

    Currently looking at

    ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel - 240$
    i7 3770k - 300$
    Gtx 670 - 400$
    16gb Corsair Vengeance - 120$

    While keeping my Cooler Master HAF, 1000W PS, Optical, 128gb SSD / W7 and CPU fan. Ill then switch my current mobo/cpu/gpu to my old build (4 yrs back) and get a few hundred bucks for it.

  14. #14
    Bloodsail Admiral Killora's Avatar
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    PCPartPicker part list

    CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Amazon)
    Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.49 @ Amazon)
    Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
    Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($409.99 @ Newegg)
    Total: $959.46
    (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
    (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-08 00:06 EDT-0400)

    I wouldn't get a Sabertooth. It's rather overpriced. I assume you don't want to SLI anymore? Or did you?

    Even if you intend to SLI, you don't need a sabertooth. and it's still overpriced!
    Last edited by Killora; 2013-04-08 at 04:10 AM.

  15. #15
    Deleted
    For multi GPU configuration always use NVIDIA. But since you change your mind to a single GPU it doesn't matter anymore whether you take NVIDIA or AMD.

    I'd go with the configuration Killora posted.

  16. #16
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Derpamis View Post

    While keeping my Cooler Master HAF, 1000W PS, Optical, 128gb SSD / W7 and CPU fan. Ill then switch my current mobo/cpu/gpu to my old build (4 yrs back) and get a few hundred bucks for it.
    Unless you already have it, you dont need a 1000w psu. For a single gpu a 550 is enough. If you want to be safe for SLI a 750 would be the max i think.

  17. #17
    Bloodsail Admiral Killora's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeara View Post
    Unless you already have it, you dont need a 1000w psu. For a single gpu a 550 is enough. If you want to be safe for SLI a 750 would be the max i think.
    "While keeping my 1000W PSU"

    I'd say he has it already.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Killora View Post
    "While keeping my 1000W PSU"

    I'd say he has it already.
    Jup, just noticed his second post :P Just couldnt get it out of that one post, could very well have meant he wanted to keep it from his first suggested build for example

  19. #19
    Go with Killora's build; the Sabertooth is decent for the price for the AMD build but def a little overpriced for Intel.

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