Did I waste money on getting a GTX 680 instead of a 7970? :| - Page 8  

That is logical for making a decision about the card a person buys for himself.

To speculate on what is or isn't the fastest card out there, the more examples you use, the more accurate the result.

I love how NV fans fail to comment on the fact that 680s have turbo boost that gives a huge advantage to NV at "stock", while god forbid you compare it to a GHz gpu and it loses to the cheaper gpu........


I also love how AMD fans pick the best benchmark on the 7970 vs 680 and then forget to comment on how the 7970 only really takes off when @1440 and up but before that the fight in most games is closer.


While some NV "shareholders" love to bring up AMDs past driver failures, the fact is AMD drivers are pretty solid and have come a long way from the early 2000s. With that said the driver crown goes to NV no contest, regardless of what the AMD "shareholders" think!

NV is usually first to have game profiles out whether it be a week or a month faster, this helps also with CF/SLI issues as NV is faster at fixing problems while with AMD you'll probably have to wait a couple of more weeks. Both have their downsides and both have had certain games where they drop the ball, from my point of view the driver badge goes to NV without much a fight since they've had a history of solid performance and quicker releases on big game launches. AMD drivers aren't the worst things in the world like NV "shareholders" think but they're edged out by NV.

@1080p the fight is closer but AMD gets the nod, past that it really goes one sided once bottlenecks are removed, see below Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
The issue with those benchies is the fact is most of us don't have that kind of rig to let our cards stretch their legs, but they do prove pretty convincingly that when nothing hold either GPU back the 7970 wins pretty easily. That might be one game but it's one of the most demanding games and was the crown jewel most NV "stockholders" clung to before 12.11 and 12.7.


Listen TC, your card is more than fine and while some of us more value oriented members might despise the 680 for being a horrid value and praise the 670/7950/7970, that doesn't mean you should feel like you made a mistake. The 680 is still quite a powerful card and 3D vision and Physx are really nice features to have, you might not have voltage control but even out of the box most of them are pretty much monsters @ 1080p and will be pretty close to a 7970 in most games while winning a handful here and there. Don't let most of the new AMD camp dissuade you from feeling good about your card, 680's are nice I might've owned one had the price been within reason when compared to the value I got my 7970 for.

I know I sound hard about the value aspect but it's pretty much a fact that for a few months most of the unbiased folks where recommending 670s over the other three cards pretty much 90% of the time before the price and drivers drops. How things have changed though, again those 680s are monsters and while they might not be as scary as they used to be they're still beastly and you should feel good about owning one.

No you didn't waste your money at all, unless your sporting a 1440p+ display or surround.

TPU change test methodology, giving nvidia cards illusory advantage by adding "100fps" games like Borderlands 2, Diablo 3, F1, WoW

From their previous review (Matrix 7970)
1200p - GTX680 6% faster than HD7970

1600p - HD7970 tie the GTX680


Then in "AMD Catalyst 12.11 Performance Analysis" it turns out that:
1200p - GTX680 12%! faster than HD7970, even GTX670, by 4%.

1600p - GTX680 4% faster than HD7970


So 12.11 brings 7970 only 1% closer to GTX680, instead of 7%, and that is how you can manipulate the results.

Yes, TPU manipulated the results toward Nividia by including some of the most popular current games like Borderlands and Diablo 3 that nobody really plays.

"Did I waste money on getting a GTX 680 instead of a 7970? :| "

Yes / End thread.

I think I have one of the fastest pairs of 7970 of OCN (non-LN2), and I think you are worrying yourself for nothing. GTX 680 is a top end card and on the very few benchmarks it loses, it definitely makes up for it on all the extras it brings to the game, from PhysX to Folding, to just general stability.

I would take nVidia QC drivers over AMD Catalyst any day of the week though.

This 12.11 beta catalyst crap is too over hyped by kids. I see nearly no performance difference in anything I play, if anything 12.11 Catalyst driver releases goes to show how inept they have been making their drivers this entire time.

Either way I think you've made a good purchase, both cards are fast. Even though the 7970 has the "performance" crown as of now I sure wouldn't be down right now if I was sitting on SLI 680s.

^This

The two cards are marginally different, and I find it hilarious how people can discuss this as some religion. Pick whichever you feel like. I really have a hard time understanding, how you feel down about the fact, that you own a GTX 680 instead of a 7970.

EDIT: Heck I even picked a GTX 680 Lightning just to get away from CCC.
Edited by Idef1x - 10/30/12 at 11:05am