Going to a 7970 from a GTX 680 - Page 2

Why can't people actually read the OP before they start vomiting their opinions and thoughts that are completely unrelated?

OP:
Go for a DCU2, it's the only card with 4 displayports which means you won't get the "third monitor tearing issue" you get with 2xDP+DVI+HDMI-cards.

EDIT:
To clarify, OP's swapping his 680 for a 7970 because a 680 can't/won't run 3x1920x1080@120Hz.

Ye but that's what people are saying if a 680 can't run 3 screens no way will the 7970 run them, since both cards trade blows. Would be a waste of money sidegrade.

No kidding, the nvidia zealots are ready to pounce for the attack without reading the OP

I love nvidia hardware, but I hate their extremist fans even back from the early TNT2 days....they got the name nvidiots for a reason....christ. They are annoying.

edit: Im bad at reading
Edited by Tslm - 5/20/12 at 6:13am

The comparison of a stock 7970 vs stock 680 is a bit sketchy because 680 uses turbo, and because 7970 OC's VERY easily and has more headroom than the 680. Im pretty sure if you OCd both (without voltage tweaks) the 7970 would trump the 680...but anyway theres really not that much difference between the two so I wouldnt ever bother swapping unless there is some other reason (faulty unit, want more compute performance or as OP said compatibility etc..)

I am curious ... is it even possible for a single 7970 to run 120hz on 3 monitors ... as far as I know and I could very well be wrong in which case I apologize ... but as far as I know ... the 7970 and 680 both fail at 120hz when put up with 3 monitors ...

Once again ... If I am wrong I apologize but yeah ... just my

All GTX 680's support four monitors at a time:
THREE MONITOR SURROUND + FOURTH MONITOR (non-gaming)

My understanding of the problem is that he simply can't get three monitors working in surround mode. I'm not sure why because most people have no problem, but the most common method is probably:

Monitor #1: DVI->DVI
Monitor #2: DVI->DVI
Monitor #3: HDMI->DVI

As for the GTX680 vs HD7970 issue, it's more or less back and forth between various games. In fact, some web sites have the HD7970 come out on top and some have the GTX680. It's also going to depend slightly on what his favourite games are, but in general I really don't know if there's any point in upgrading to the HD7970.

Still, the benchmarks are all available so I don't know that we can tell him much he can't figure out himself.

The GTX 680/670 4GB models look like they're going to be priced a little too high compared to the 2GB models. EVGA has a GTX680 4GB FTW model for about $780!! Ouch.

Personally, due to the high price of the 4GB GTX680/670 cards, the extra VRAM on the HD7000's, their availability, Zero-core power, the requirement for extra GPU power and the reduced micro-stutter of triple-GPU crossfire (versus 2x) I would recommend many triple monitor gamers do something like this:

3x (HD7970 3GB)

Summary:
the original post was asking about whether to go from a GTX680 to an HD7970. My short answer is simply check the benchmarks. The card supports triple-monitor so it's either a driver glitch or an installation glitch. So basically if you're sticking with a single card keep your GTX680 unless the HD7970 would run your games better. I assume selling the GTX680 right now should be fairly easy but if availability picks up in a few weeks it might not be.

Again, the GTX680 and GTX670 support both support 3+1 (triple-monitor surround, plus one non-gaming monitor).

HDMI-DVI:
Make sure you haven't selected the HDTV mode. DVI-D and HDMI both support the normal PC monitor output format as well as HDTV. (HDTV format looks like "1080p60_NTSC"). That may be obvious to most people. I'm still waiting my NVidia card so don't have a driver control panel to reference.

(BTW, I believe Diablo 3 and another game managed 60FPS at full settings on a GTX680 at 5860x1080).

I was reading about the 680 owners having DRIVER issues with 120hz setups, but I thought it was limited to multicard configs. They were talking about catleap his res monitors so maybe it could be the rest + 120? I don't have 3 monitors to test and I'm not sure which games you're playing but I haven't heard of any outside limitations other than just GPU power being a factor in driving 120hz. If you don't have anything against Sapphire it comes with all the connectors/adapters to run 3x DVI. HDMI to DVI, DP to DVI and of course the standard DVI port.

I'm not sure if you are directing your vomiting comments at me, but I did not take the OP to mean that he *physically* cannot run 120Hz Surround on a single card because, primarily, he said it is "failing to do so in surround". I took it as meaning he was having performance problems, but, you are right, I did miss the comment about using two cards for 3 DVI ports, which would have been a dead giveaway at a different issue altogether. Forgive me, it was 3AM here in NJ after a long night of Diablo 3 with the girlfriend.

Unfortunately, I don't follow every thread here, but the issue the OP is having is much more detailed these other threads:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1259100/gtx-680-2d-120hz-surround-limited-to-4320x900-75hz/0_40
http://www.overclock.net/t/1259080/gtx-680-120hz-via-displayport/0_40

Now that the picture is much clearer and I have some caffeine in me , I think Hellish should give the 7970 a try if he is adamant about sticking to a single card. In the other thread, he mentioned possibly getting a second 680 locally as well, and that would be another option. However, it seems the endgame is going to be Classified 4GB 680's no matter what, so I say be a little adventurous and go for the 7970 to try out an AMD flagship card for the first time ever, if money is not a concern. One of the editors over at [H]ardOCP runs a single 7970 on his triple 30" monitor setup and has been happy with it all along, so assuming no further compatibility or driver related issues are observed, it will definitely get you by and then some.

I agree the 7970 could win when overclocked. I actually did say that in my post, that you quoted.

For your bolded comments, see above.