BTs GTX 760 review uses 13.4 drivers for all the AMDs tested except the 7990, though they don't test as many cards.
Aha my google foo sort of failed me, mind you that gpu doesn't state LE so I think AMD (or partners) are failing a little there by confusing matters with product model numbers. Thought that was Nvidias game?
A small word of warning though, AMD minimum framerates tend to have a slight disadvantage, but only slightly. The Tahiti LE should be called that. The problem is that the 7870LE sounds like a lower version of the 7800 series rather than the 7900 series.
The LE isn't widely available and hasn't been promoted by AMD. It's an odd product. It beats a 7870 easily for the same price, and performs almost as well as a 7950 Boost, which is a good £60-£80 more. (It seems to be an exclusive for the smaller partners - you can't get an Asus, MSI or Gigabyte LE)
Both gpu companies need to think about their naming schemes, maybe the LE should have been called the 7875 or 7870+ it would have made more sense. (ignore the gtx465 please )
This model doesn't fit either of AMD's ranges - the 7800 series have 2GB/256bit memory and the Pitcairn GPU, while the 7900s have 3GB/384bit memory and Tahiti GPU. This one is a mix - a Tahiti GPU with 2GB/256bit memory.
So 7950LE? Or 7870XT? Or 7870XTX Crossfire Edition XXX. (I'm joking, but this was an actual thing at one point.)
But regardless My main concern is is the 580 cheap and worthy over my 285 and if the 7870 someone mentioned for £20~40 more is it a massive leap vs the 580 or will it be similar. Remember im talking about now and my current games list, not 2 years down the line..
The 7870 will be faster and cooler than the 580. But if you can negotiate for the 580, by all means get that.
7870 LE/XT offers markedly better performance in existing games, and with extra memory is much more future proof too. At £20 more it's not a big leap, and since you get 3 recent games included, it makes the price difference unimportant. Performance will also continue to improve with the 7870, while it won't for the 580. That's a summary of why I think the 580 is a bad idea
However I like your idea. Sourcing the chip at that price seems to be a bit of a hassle, quoting the latest magazine of CPC this month.
Just a quick one though. I would always prefer as a brand evga (step up and good name) to VTX who I personally don't know that much about. Unless that's a nooby thing to say. In still loving the 580 just to mention it BF3 looks great on it
Also as a random bit. It's £131 at the moment, if you buy it from the today only page, on homepage offers its £137 so £131 against VTX for £156 = £25 difference. And AS creed 3. Slightly biased here ha
