I'm now torn as to which new graphics card to plump for. I'm not a 'fanboi' of either the Red team or the Green team - my buying choices have in the past been influenced by things like HDMI 1.3a, bitstream audio and the ability for (extreme) passive cooling. My last few cards have been from the Red team, but I'm more than happy to change. My shortlist is at present a Sapphire HD 7950 OC'd Vapor-X card, or the EVGA SuperClocked 660 Ti. I simply can't decide, and the benchmarks seem fairly similar. I will, however, probably be watercooling the card that I end up choosing, and I don't want to be buying another card for a while (this will be to upgrade a 4980). So - can anyone offer a balanced view as to which one is the better choice, has anyone tried both of these side-by-side in the real world (not just benchmarking), or is it just a case of 'choose one'? Thanks. I just can't decide!
If I were to pick one of these it'd have to be the 7950. I think it will age slightly better due to more advanced architecture. Please don't ask me to qualify this statement. There's actually very little in it, so pick the card with the cooler you prefer if nothing else sways you.
I would go with the 7950 on the grounds that it's probably cheaper, but is faster and scales better in Crossfire. I've seen credible benchmarks showing 7950 Crossfire beating 680 SLI handily. Besides that, it has more vram and overclocks better. That said, I really do like EVGA's customer service/warranty.
Personal recommendation for the 7950. I have recently acquired the HIS Turbo edition and am very happy with its performance.
3-0 for the 7950... It's what I've been leaning toward so far, but I've read that companies like EK aren't going to make a full cover block for the Sapphire non-reference board. Anyone got a full cover block on a 7950 Vapor-X?
I might add that I would have probably gone for the 7950 if I hadn't been offered the 670 F T W for such a knockdown price. That tipped it, a slightly better card for a bargain - with warranty.
If that's the issue then buy a reference 7950. IMO though, I don't see the point in watercooling a 7950 just because the performance gains you could get would probably be less than an overclocked 7970 on air, which would work out cheaper.
It's not the only issue, but it's something I'm bearing in mind. I'm obsessed with making PCs quiet, and I'm really keen to have a lash at watercooling. BUT - performance is important to me, and quite frankly, I can't afford a 7970 at the moment. Thanks for your advice, though!
AMD/ATI tend to do multi monitor better and are sometimes cheaper and Nvidia cope better with high levels of AA. Though since 600 series Nvidia is changing their chip design to be closer to AMD. (brute force less complex units and more of them VS highly complex and less units) In the past I have gone Nvidia since their driver support has been better. Since my 8800 GTS I have never had a driver based issue, though I do buy the high-end OC editions from EVGA or Gigabyte.
