I am in a long process of PC overhaul. I don't have enough money to spend in one go but when I build my PC I was faced with a choice of: - great DX10 graphics or -mediocre DX10 and worse DX11. I chose the former but that was three years ago. I want to replace the Radeon HD4890 I currently have with something along the lines of a HD7870 or a GTX650 or better. I am looking for something with enough horsepower to run my games at full settings at 1080p but with the potential for expansion to 1440p in about 6 months. But I would also like it to be rather quiet when not gaming. My current one is a bit loud when performing the boring tasks like work, and I can't leave it on overnight when I want it to backup as it is so loud I can't sleep. TLDR: Graphics card which can drive a 1440p screen with the eye candy up med/high but is also relatively quiet, or can be made to be when not doing intensive graphics work. My lower threshold is looking at HD7870 or GT660 and I can't afford silly money on a Titan or dual GPU (no matter how much I would like to) so I was looking for suggestions for the replacement and reasons why you would choose it over the competitor. I am not so new to know nothing but I'm too new to the hardware game to have picked a definitive side. Thanks in advance.
Well right now you don't have to pick a definitive side, both amd and nvidia have similar highend (whilst not breaking the bank) options. Right now the 7970 is very competitive and the 7950 is even better value for money. However, amd are slightly louder in general (on reference pcb/coolers) than nvidia, so if noise is an issue how about a 660ti or 670? Having said that, the 4890 is a louder card than any amd's current line up.
Yeah, a budget would be useful. 1080p can be very reasonably done at the 660/660Ti level, with most settings turned up. Where you'll struggle is 2560x1440 - I'd really be advising a 670 at the least to be honest. I buy NVIDIA cards because I find AMD's drivers to be a bit lacking, and they run cooler & quieter. However, there's always a comparable card at the price points, so that bit is down to you. tl;dr buy a 670 or even a 680
The Current Budget max is around 300. But that could be stretched if I waited another week or two till I buy it, and I was going to buy it after my exams anyway.
In that case i'd recommend a 7970. They can be had for 300ish and at that price really hit a sweet spot. You're getting 680 performance (give or take) for roughly a 670 price. Plus the 7970 has more vram, which will help if you want to run games at 1440.
+1 Although many will also recommend a 670, which runs a little cooler and sucks slightly less power but is overall the slower card. I personally have no preference between AMD and Nvidia, if you do then you have your answer.
670 or 7970 at that price bracket. 7970 is faster but you have to suffer amds bits and bobs if you can not do that then a 670 it is.
Speaking as an Owner of a 670, those things can be overclocked quite well. Mind you so can a 7970. Find whichever one is cheaper. Although I'd go with the 670 just for EVGA's warranty. Just in case.
