HD7970 worth it? - Page 2

michaelmk86 · 08-03-2012, 21:38 | posts: 254

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayzorz

I'm seriously considering purchasing a HD7970 but all this talk of driver issues etc. makes it feel really risky.

I'm using a GTX580 now and it's been working well but I want a more powerful card to get a bit higher framerates. 7970 is the only card that seem worth it performance-wise to me but I don't want to waste my money on something that doesn't work.

Is it really that unstable like some say?

I was on the same boat, I had a GTX480OC(to almost the 580 speeds) and i upgrade to a HD7950(OC the core to 1150Mhz) and i get about 50-60% more performance than the GTX480OC. so yes it is worth it.

As far the driver issues I have played a lot of games and the only problem that I encounter so far is stuttering on skyrim(I temporarily fix it by limiting my fps to 57fps)

rl66 · 08-03-2012, 22:21 | posts: 330 | Location: France

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelmk86

I was on the same boat, I had a GTX480OC(to almost the 580 speeds) and i upgrade to a HD7950(OC the core to 1150Mhz) and i get about 50-60% more performance than the GTX480OC. so yes it is worth it.

As far the driver issues I have played a lot of games and the only problem that I encounter so far is stuttering on skyrim(I temporarily fix it by limiting my fps to 57fps)

i have tried the 7950 on windows for a while...i just get new issue at each driver release (you know the "it solve there and broke something that was fine") Batman, Crysis 2, Oblivion, Shrim, all OpenGL stuff (wich is totaly unacceptable for an ATI product as ATI is part of it).

one day as i was fed up i have put the 7950 in my linux only computer (to replace an old ATI x800) and put a 480 (50€ second hand lol) in this computer. now both computer are happy. (btw linux ATI package that i use contain nearly no ATI code...).

Nichtswisser · 08-05-2012, 15:04 | posts: 263

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrightCandle

AMD has its issues but the issues with a single card and screen probably wont make you regret the purchase. Depends how sensitive to smooth frame rates you are, because alas the 7970 isn't very smooth in comparison to previous generations of AMD cards and alas in that regard is quite a lot worse than NVidia's cards. Personally I think smooth delivery of frames is critical but as you can see a lot of other people don't value it much at all.

As far as I can tell NVidia 6xx cards have more issues with smoothness than 79xx cards. Before the NV Forum went down so long ago there was a giant 60 pages or something thread about people complaining that the gameplay wasn't smooth at all with their new 6xx card(s).

So far the driver quality especially at lunch left much to be desired with this generation of cards. Neither camp did much better than the other.

Frohman0905 · 08-05-2012, 16:11 | posts: 939 | Location: Belgium

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nichtswisser

As far as I can tell NVidia 6xx cards have more issues with smoothness than 79xx cards. Before the NV Forum went down so long ago there was a giant 60 pages or something thread about people complaining that the gameplay wasn't smooth at all with their new 6xx card(s).

So far the driver quality especially at lunch left much to be desired with this generation of cards. Neither camp did much better than the other.

That topic was solely dedicated to the vsync issue which has been resolved for most people. Some still have issues but according to ManuelG, nvidia is taking care of it. When the issue was still present, turning off vsync was a real joy. Yeah you get the tearing but the 6xx cards are smooth as butter.

At Hardocp, it has been mentionned in almost every review that although the 680 and 7970 were on par in almost every game, the reviewers felt that the 680 delivered a smoother experience. This is with vsync turned off! That's probably where BrightCandle got that from.

Loophole35 · 08-05-2012, 17:07 | posts: 1,659 | Location: FLA,USA

Just OC the piss out of your 580 it is still a very good card the only reason I could see to update your card would be to use less power. If all you need is just a bit more fps OC it if you need alot more 580's are cheap right now.

GhostXL · 08-05-2012, 17:58 | posts: 4,920 | Location: PA, USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loophole35

Just OC the piss out of your 580 it is still a very good card the only reason I could see to update your card would be to use less power. If all you need is just a bit more fps OC it if you need alot more 580's are cheap right now.

GTX 580 won't max out today's games at 1080p with 4xAA or more with even 2x supersampling.

SLI 580's will, not a single.

What you are saying here depends on the resolution played on.

---TK--- · 08-05-2012, 18:55 | posts: 14,724 | Location: New Jersey, USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayzorz

I'll probably keep my card and OC it as far as it will go. There just isn't any other decent options right now it seems. Nvidia's offerings aren't good enough and AMD's drivers scares me.

The next "gen" is so far away though.

why not add another 580 on the cheap?

rayzorz · 08-05-2012, 19:32 | posts: 378

Quote:

Originally Posted by ---TK---

why not add another 580 on the cheap?

I don't really know where I could find one cheap. They're ~€350 which is just as much as an 7970 with a good aftermarket cooler or a reference 670.

I have looked at getting a used 580 but buying gpus etc. used seem really risky. The card can be dead, have heavy artifacting etc. and there's no way to tell.

---TK--- · 08-05-2012, 20:05 | posts: 14,724 | Location: New Jersey, USA

There's used 580s on the fs/ft of this site periodically. Just make sure the seller is a trusted seller and ask for feedback. You should be fine

rayzorz · 08-05-2012, 20:25 | posts: 378

Not really a fan of sli either, I've used it before and it was mostly compatibility and driver issues.

rl66 · 08-06-2012, 00:22 | posts: 330 | Location: France

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayzorz

I don't really know where I could find one cheap. They're ~€350 which is just as much as an 7970 with a good aftermarket cooler or a reference 670.

I have looked at getting a used 580 but buying gpus etc. used seem really risky. The card can be dead, have heavy artifacting etc. and there's no way to tell.

second hand 580 's price is around 150€ (even if you can found lot lower price)... so for the price you can even goes triple-SLI if your board accept it...

about the problem you type about: make a test BEFORE to give the money

it take around 10 min
but generaly those GPU are very solid if it come from a good brand (EVGA, ASUS, MSI...).

rl66 · 08-06-2012, 00:26 | posts: 330 | Location: France

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayzorz

Not really a fan of sli either, I've used it before and it was mostly compatibility and driver issues.

those thing are mostly from the past

hopefully NVidia and ATI (with crossfire) have learned a lot since those early period

Nichtswisser · 08-06-2012, 13:16 | posts: 263

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frohman0905

That topic was solely dedicated to the vsync issue which has been resolved for most people. Some still have issues but according to ManuelG, nvidia is taking care of it. When the issue was still present, turning off vsync was a real joy. Yeah you get the tearing but the 6xx cards are smooth as butter.

Sorry, yet paying this much money for a new card and be stuck with either tearing or stuttering does not sound so great to me. There were a
also people who at least claimed to notice the stuttering without vsync, in the end different people have different levels of visual perception after all.

main_shoby · 08-06-2012, 13:23 | posts: 805 | Location: Miami

580 SLI will put you around ~11k 3dmark11 points, which is better than GTX680 lol.
think about this instead, If you sell your GTX580 for like 250$ add 250$ which you are planning to spend on another used GTX580 = $500 = New GTX680 / 7970 ($450).

---TK--- · 08-06-2012, 15:43 | posts: 14,724 | Location: New Jersey, USA

I'm well over 13,000 in 11

Agent-A01 · 08-06-2012, 15:46 | posts: 5,634 | Location: USA

Yeah i hit 14 with mine.

Loophole35 · 08-06-2012, 15:55 | posts: 1,659 | Location: FLA,USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

Yeah i hit 14 with mine.

Yeah but your cards are freaks. High 12k low 13k should be average.

Frohman0905 · 08-06-2012, 20:09 | posts: 939 | Location: Belgium

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nichtswisser

Sorry, yet paying this much money for a new card and be stuck with either tearing or stuttering does not sound so great to me. There were a
also people who at least claimed to notice the stuttering without vsync, in the end different people have different levels of visual perception after all.

Sucks even more to pay over 2k for a Trifire 7970 setup with triple monitors and then finding out that almost every game crashes. This also took a while before it got fixed. Both teams have their problems but saying that 6xx cards stutter even without vsync is just wrong. Sure there will be a small amount of people who notice stutter. Exactly the same thing has happened with some HD7xxx users. Just type it into google: "HD 7970 stutter". I bet you'll find threads about it.

I'm pretty sensitive to tearing and stuttering and I never noticed it with my 680. Maybe because I kept using the 300.81 drivers that came with the card and then jumped over to 304.48 as soon as they came out. Never had any problems. I'm sure both "sides" have cards with zero problems but it's an all known fact that the ones who are happy about their purchase are the silent majority. Just look at the GTX670/680 satisfaction poll":

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=365608

Or this 7970 thread at Hardocp:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1691551

Nichtswisser · 08-07-2012, 05:50 | posts: 263

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frohman0905

Sucks even more to pay over 2k for a Trifire 7970 setup with triple monitors and then finding out that almost every game crashes. This also took a while before it got fixed. Both teams have their problems but saying that 6xx cards stutter even without vsync is just wrong.

You don't have to tell me, I couldn't use my second monitor before the cat 12.6 came out because prior to cat 12.6 using more than 1 monitor caused random crashes. As I already wrote, the drivers this generation leave much to be desired and that goes for both sides. I just pointed out with my prior post that NV has issues with stuttering as well.