$300 range GPU hunt

[motherboard1]

I'm currently considering a GTX 660 ti for a new build. If I go this route, baring any recommendations of ATI alternatives.

What should I consider about the different makes of GTX 660ti ?

What doors do I open up by going with the 3gb version?

Will my Corsair AX860 860W ATX Platinum be enough to support 2X of them in SLI for an upgrade path ?

Does the 192 bit bus width rule out big resolutions thereby negating the use of the extra GB of memory?

 

[Infinite66]

I don't know why you're ruling out ATI alternatives, but here goes. 660 vanilla uses less power making them a better sli option. They use 1 6 pin where as the ti uses 2. 850 watt will support them yes. The 192 bit memory is the 660s bottleneck yes. 3gb is a waste of .Indy if you're not running above 1920x1080, if the 660 even utilizes the whole 3gb. Lastly is price performance ratio. The 7870 is usually around $230 2gb from MSI, gigabyte etc. It performs on par and better in most circumstances to a 660 ti. You could probably grab a 7950 r a little more than the $300+ pics tag of a 660 ti. Long and short is if considering an sli solution, go Radeon, or jump straight to a 670. At least then you have a non self bottlenecking card.

 

[Infinite66]

Sorry for crap spelling. Not used to New phone.

 

[motherboard1]

I don't know why you're ruling out ATI alternatives, but here goes. 660 vanilla uses less power making them a better sli option. They use 1 6 pin where as the ti uses 2. 850 watt will support them yes. The 192 bit memory is the 660s bottleneck yes. 3gb is a waste of .Indy if you're not running above 1920x1080, if the 660 even utilizes the whole 3gb. Lastly is price performance ratio. The 7870 is usually around $230 2gb from MSI, gigabyte etc. It performs on par and better in most circumstances to a 660 ti. You could probably grab a 7950 r a little more than the $300+ pics tag of a 660 ti. Long and short is if considering an sli solution, go Radeon, or jump straight to a 670. At least then you have a non self bottlenecking card.

Thanks for the advice. By the way I wasn't ruling out ATI alternatives, my wording may have been ambiguous. I meant, assuming I go Nvidia.

 

[Bobnova]

If you don't have anything that needs Nvidia specifically, AMD cards are generally a better price/performance. In this case, the 7950 beats the 660ti in most things and costs about the same.

RAM wise, neither will power a high enough resolution display at high enough detail settings to need more than 2GB of RAM. The 7950 has 3GB in any event.
Now if you're contemplating multiple displays and multiple GPUs in the future, more RAM can be useful.

I'd go AMD, though the 660Ti is a solid card.

 

[motherboard1]

Ok so I'm looking at the 7950 now on directcanada.com and there are so many different 7950s varying wildly in price. So these can crossfire right ?

Feel free to let me know if there are any of these makes of 7950 I should avoid.

 

[Knufire]

Only need more than 2GB, IMO, if you're going multimonitor. Dual 660Tis can be EASILY done on a 650W, so can dual 670s or 680s or 7950s. Might want to step up to 750W if you go dual 7970s.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_558&item_id=055475

 

[Bobnova]

Yup 7950s can crossfire. You can run four of the things if you really want to (you don't).

Brand wise, nothing comes to mind to absolutely avoid. I like to do some research into RMA policies of various brands, on the off chance it dies later. It almost certainly won't, but I'm a paranoid.

 

[motherboard1]

Sweet. Thanks for the link Knufire. Looks like the one.

One last thing though, since I've always used Nvidia cards before. Aside from lower frame rates am I leaving anything behind switching to ATI ?

Image quality?
filtering ?
Stability ?

Are all other things mostly equal?

 

[Bobnova]

I've never been able to notice a visible difference in anything at all.

Performance based on the card obviously, and connectors. Power draw based on the card and temps based on the card and the cooler, but that all varies within a brand too.

 

[wingman99]

Here is benchmarks for 7950 http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/

 

[motherboard1]

Thanks guys, looks like its time to pull the trigger on this one. As you can probably gather from my sig, this build will be quite a leap from the rig I'm on now.

 

[Snq]

make sure the site u buy from has the never settle reloaded bundle if u get an amd even if u dont want the games u can sell them

 

[scibuff]

I'm a bit partial to nVidia cuz I've only used those card for the last ten years. I'm always hesitant to switch to something new when what I have works well. Only for that reason, even though a bit over your budget, I'd go with GTX 670 (which when OC-ed is at least on par with stock 680 and in 2xSLI almost identical to 690).

 

[motherboard1]

Ok guys you know how this works, he comes back and asks the question again

How does this one

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD3894&vpn=GV-R795WF3-3GD&manufacture=GIGABYTE

compare to this one that Knufire suggested.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=055475

The one on Canada direct has a 900mhz clock. and is $288 with free ground shipping, which would save me around $13. I know I'm really picking now. But its not just the $13, I'm wondering about the 50mhz extra clock speed and 3X Fan cooler.

Or is the Sapphire still the better model?

 

[Bobnova]

I'd get the windforce. I've had my hands on three windforce 7970s so far and they're excellent.
The sapphire card is likely excellent as well, but Sapphire's warranty service sucks. You get to pay $35-$45 to RMA the card.
Gigabyte it's free.

That's here in the USA, Canada may be different, it's worth some research.

 

[Infinite66]

Ok guys you know how this works, he comes back and asks the question again

How does this one

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD3894&vpn=GV-R795WF3-3GD&manufacture=GIGABYTE

compare to this one that Knufire suggested.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=055475

The one on Canada direct has a 900mhz clock. and is $288 with free ground shipping, which would save me around $13. I know I'm really picking now. But its not just the $13, I'm wondering about the 50mhz extra clock speed and 3X Fan cooler.

Or is the Sapphire still the better model?

Both gigabyte and sapphire are solid brands, but from what I have noticed, the gigabyte cards are much quieter, even when the fans are in full 100% tilt. Sapphires have a tendency to get loud with anything above 65% fan speed.

 

[irrykuxeh]

7950 no question for your price range. Gigabyte Windforce would be a good choice.

 

[wingman99]

+2 Gigabyte Windforce I have had no trouble with Gigabyte warranty service.

 

[motherboard1]

Awesome! It's In the mail