[HWC] Breaking News: AMD HD 7970 Price Drop Incoming - Page 19  

I thought TXAA had to be coded for in the game itself?

That is correct.

IMO, a max overclocked 7970 will hang just fine with a max overclocked 680 in many benchmarks. While it does overclock with gpu boost, i'm talking about max overclock with a higher offset - hardocp has some tests as does hardwarecanucks and LR. Fact of the matter is the 680 is much more limited due to the 4 phase vrm and 2x 6 pin power connectors, whereas all 7970s have more tdp and a better vrm for this.

http://hardocp.com/article/2012/04/10/sapphire_hd_7970_oc_edition_video_card_review

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/53263-msi-hd-7970-lightning-3gb-review.html

There are others as well. I think that both are awesome cards, and the 680 at this time is definitely the better buy. For a new buyer, no question, 680 is where its at. However an overclocked 7970 can hang just fine, and the 7970 does much better in crysis 1 / warhead / metro 2033 / alan wake / witcher 2. BF3 and skyrim do very well on NV hardware, although the 7970 is close with a max overclock. Just depends on which game you benchmark I guess. 7970 wins some and 680 wins some when both are at their max overclock (and by max overclock, I mean max offset for the 680).

They're both great cards and everyone should be happy about competition and price cuts.
Edited by xoleras - 4/14/12 at 11:54pm

At present, I see no reason for anyone to go AMD. 680 is likely to be either cheaper or at the same price as the 7970, while offering perhaps better performance in most games, overclocks well, and you get Physx if you need it. They've really done their homework this time around with Kepler.

Ya' know, here in the land down under 680's are ~$700 and 7970's are ~$600 just looking at vanilla ones. If they took another price drop than it'd be even more obvious which card to choose. That being said, after this price drop cards in the US are still going to be like ~$120 less than ours.

Stop bickering :3

All that being said, still pondering weather I should pick up a 680 or 7970 when I go to Hawaii (in 3 days, hella yeah) for watercooling at uber cheap prices.

Hmmm one would think but I'm getting mixed feelings when I read this qoute from Source - TechPowerUP

With this kind of break through you know that game developers are going to be quick to utilize this as we see upcoming games. That's innovative on Nvidia's part. They seem to be the main source leading in pushing us forward with improvements. Always striving for performance and does a great job to provide game devs the tools while adding value to their GPU's.

Christpunchers
Do not make statements which are not based on facts. HD 7970 on stock voltage does 1.1 to 1.15 Ghz. With extra voltage HD 7970 does 1.25 - 1.3 Ghz . People who spend USD 500 are definitely going to play around with OC either at stock or max voltage and settle at stable clocks. Lots of people like you are telling the GTX 680 runs better by comparing a 925 Mhz HD 7970 against a GTX 680 even though 1 Ghz HD 7970 versions have been selling from day one.

Games in which the HD 7970 is significantly ahead

Crysis Warhead
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5699/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680-review/7

Metro 2033 AAA
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-680-review/18

Metro 2033 4X MSAA
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1886/10/

Alan Wake
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/857-12/benchmark-alan-wake.html

Crysis 2
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-680-review/23
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-radeon-hd-7970-directcu-ii-review/21
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680_13.html#sect1

Aliens vs Predator
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidia-geforce-gtx-680_12.html#sect1

Stalker Call of Pripyat
http://pc.pcinlife.com/Graphics/20120322/GeForce-GTX-680.html#STALKER_Call_Of_Pripyat（潜行者：普里皮亚季的呼唤）

Deus Ex Human Revolution
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/53263-msi-hd-7970-lightning-3gb-review-9.html
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/10/sapphire_hd_7970_oc_edition_video_card_review/8 (GTX 680 with turbo runs upto 1.1 Ghz. the GTX 680 oc'd to 1.3 Ghz will get 78 fps with 100% scaling)

Games where the HD 7970 is similar perf or slightly ahead

Battlelfield 3 at 2560 x 1600 Ultra 4X MSAA

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/10/sapphire_hd_7970_oc_edition_video_card_review/7

At 2560 x 1600 ultra 4x MSAA the stock GTX 680 with turbo upto 1.1 Ghz is running at avg 42.9 fps min 25 fps . 950 Mhz Sapphire avg 40 fps min 27 fps. The Sapphire HD 7970 OC at 1280 Mhz is rocking with an avg 50.7 fps min 34 fps. Almost 94% scaling for an extra 330Mhz core speed. (1280 / 950 x 40 x 0.94 = 50.66 ) The GTX 680 will be hard pressed to beat this at 1.3 Ghz even with a 100% scaling (42.9 x 1.3 /1.1 = 50.7). We know a 100% scaling is not going to happen. And the chances of higher OC than 1.3 Ghz are lesser and even then scaling is a factor.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1886/5/ (The MSI HD 7970 Lightning at 1070 Mhz overtakes the GTX 680 which runs upto 1.1 ghz with turbo at 2560 x 1600 ULTRA 4X MSAA.)

Witcher 2
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/53263-msi-hd-7970-lightning-3gb-review-15.html

Elder Scrolls Skyrim
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/53263-msi-hd-7970-lightning-3gb-review-13.html

Civilization V
http://pc.pcinlife.com/Graphics/20120322/GeForce-GTX-680.html#Sid_Meiers_Civilization_V（文明_5）Update7


Games like Batman Arkham City, Just Cause 2, Lost Planet 2, Shogun 2 Total War run better on GTX 680 even if both cards are overclocked. But across a large sample of games when OC'd the HD 7970 proves its superiority. Also the pricing cuts on mon 16th will make things more favourable for HD 7970. so don't disparage a product without knowing the facts.

In the UK latest prices for stock are:
£339 - HD7970 (available)
£409 - GTX680 (very limited availability)

At my monitor resolution of 2560x1440 according to most reviews I have read the HD7970 and GTX680 trade punches in most games and minimum frames are very similar although maybe 4%-5% faster in some games however the 680 is now 20% more expensive at the new prices. I'm not sure sites would be calling a win for the GTX680 at those prices. Other considerations are 7970 problem re coil noise, 680 possible problem re RSOD.

Still weighing up the pros and cons.... although I have gut feeling these cards might be £299 / £349 respectively later in the year.
Edited by EasterEEL - 4/15/12 at 5:07am

W t f , where are you getting those prices from. Uk here aswell and I cannot find the 7970 for that price its still over 400 from every online retailer making it just about the same price as the 680 which means in the uk the 680 is a MUCH better buy atm. From america tho they have had a price drop in a few places meaning we can get a 7970 for 300 internationally shipped making it an amazing buy over the 680.

Rather than double post have a look at my post here, it's actually £334 until Monday night and from a decent retailer:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1238572/gtx-680-availability/350#post_16984064

Ewwwww no that is their own brand form some unknown retailer. No ty. Wait for scan/overclockers etc to come down.