GTX 660 Ti or HD7950

martyn3000

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I'm debating upgrading my current GTX 560 Ti for a faster current gen card. The two that have caught my eye are the GTX 660 Ti and the HD7950. They seem to be around the same price, the 660 Ti being a little cheaper.

Usually I'd go with Nvidia all the way, but after looking at recent gaming benchmarks I'm not so sure... Using the latest drivers the HD7950 seems to surpass the 660 Ti, and occasionally match the GTX 670... Could this just be due to the fact the 660 Ti has only recently come out and still has a lot of scope for driver optimization? Or is the HD7950 really a better card?
 
Not sure if it's worth waiting for it to get closer to the £200 mark. Never spent more than £200 on a GPU before... It's just when today that would buy you a PS3 or Xbox 360 with some money left over.
 
Well you have to remember that new technology is always been developed therefore components are released regularly. By the time the price drops there'll be a new line of graphics cards out, it's up to you what you decide to do but the 7950 is a great card due to it's OC ability it will definitely keep you happy and you won't need to upgrade any time soon again
 
I've been planning on getting one or the other. There's no problems with drivers if I change from my current GTX480 to a HD7950 is there? And also, with regards to the PSU and amps, currently I have a 12v rail with 62 amps. No problems with my 480. Good enough for the 7950? I have 2 HDD's and 2 DVD drives.

Thanks.
 
You should have no problem powering a 7950, it will consume less power than your current GTX 480.

As long as you remove your drivers and use a program like driver sweeper to clean up the remains, you should have no problem. Some people recommend a fresh install of windows, but I've had no problem changing GPU manufacturer.
 
martyn3000 said:
You should have no problem powering a 7950, it will consume less power than your current GTX 480.

As long as you remove your drivers and use a program like driver sweeper to clean up the remains, you should have no problem. Some people recommend a fresh install of windows, but I've had no problem changing GPU manufacturer.

Thanks!
One last question. Will I need a new mobo as I see these cards use PCI-E 3.0? I believe the 480 is only 2.0.
Scratch that. After some googling I see it makes no real difference. Are there even 3.0 mobo's out there?
 
Last edited:
Of course the Intel Ivy Bridge processors come with PCIe 3.0 support so the Z77 chipset motherboards come with the slot(s) :)
 
dacads said:
Of course the Intel Ivy Bridge processors come with PCIe 3.0 support so the Z77 chipset motherboards come with the slot(s) :)

Well, I don't think I'm going to do a new build of my PC quite yet! A new GPU is enough for now.
 
Actually I think I might go after the 7970 (or gtx 670) as they're in my budget! They both seem to be less power hungry than my gtx480 too!
 
Might be Christmas by the time you've made your mind up :p

7950 is a great card and definitely the way forward :smashin: it can be OCd to match the gtx 670, which can also be OCd but to match the 7970! So the 7950 is the best bang for buck card ;)
 
Well, if I need to save money then the 7950 is a good call. Firstly though does anyone know where I can get a driver sweeper/cleaner for free that isn't too complicated to use? If I can't find one I'm just going to stick with nVidia.
 
Hi

I'm having a similar GPU dilemma so thought I would post here rather than starting a new thread.

What do you recommend out of the following cards, looking around the 200 price mark and to play mainly BF3 at 1920x1200.....

The 7950 is the most i'm willing to spend, but looking at some benchmarking sites the 660 (not ti version) appears to be better on BF3 but not on other games?

ScanFX X-Edition Radeon HD 7950 AMD Graphics Card - 3GB - VX7950 3GBD5-2DHXV2 - Scan.co.uk

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Superclocked NVIDIA Graphics Card - 2GB - 02G-P4-2662-KR - Scan.co.uk

XFX 7870 Core Edition AMD/ATI Graphics Card - 2GB - FX-787A-CNFC - Scan.co.uk

Help would be much appreciated!
 
Hi

I'm having a similar GPU dilemma so thought I would post here rather than starting a new thread.

What do you recommend out of the following cards, looking around the 200 price mark and to play mainly BF3 at 1920x1200.....

The 7950 is the most i'm willing to spend, but looking at some benchmarking sites the 660 (not ti version) appears to be better on BF3 but not on other games?

ScanFX X-Edition Radeon HD 7950 AMD Graphics Card - 3GB - VX7950 3GBD5-2DHXV2 - Scan.co.uk

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Superclocked NVIDIA Graphics Card - 2GB - 02G-P4-2662-KR - Scan.co.uk

XFX 7870 Core Edition AMD/ATI Graphics Card - 2GB - FX-787A-CNFC - Scan.co.uk

Help would be much appreciated!

At your price point, the AMD 7950 would be the card to choose.

The nvidia drivers are better optimised for BF3, thats why the benchmarks are higher. Overall, the AMD card is better across multiple games.
 
Well I've bit the bullet and gone for a 7950!

I originally agreed to buy a MSI 7870 from the classifieds, but the clueless seller (spenty) then decided he didn't want to sell it (the fool now has a trading ban). Anyway, long story short I was caught in the lurch as I had agreed to sell my current 560 Ti to another forum member, so had to find something fast.

I toyed with buying a new 7870, but in the end I thought "to hell with it" and went balls out with a full fat 7950. The Gigabyte 7950 Windforce X3 OC to be precise. Card should be arriving tomorrow, can't wait.
 

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