Solved Looking To Purchase a New Graphics Card Want Some Input

Dsprague

Whisperer in Darkness
Hello, Please trust me when I say I'm not new to hardware installation or Building PCs I simply find myself in a bit of an Interesting spot at the moment and its driving me up a wall. I do a lot of high-end gaming on my Custom built Desktop however I am in the process of upgrading it as the hardware is getting a little outdated for my preferences. And the first thing I am looking to upgrade is my graphics card looking to spend between $200-$500 USD. I have contemplated either buying a single higher end graphics card i.e. an nvidia 680 or a Radeon 7970. My other option is going with two lower end Cards and running SLI or cross fire. Any thoughts?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Lenovo ThinkCenter, Custom Built PC, Acer Aspire V3-771G-9809
OS
Windows 7 enterprise 64 bit, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit ,Windows 8 64bit
CPU
Core i5-2400, Athlon 64 X2 6400+ ,Core i7-3632QM
Motherboard
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe
Memory
4GB, 4gb g.skill ddr2, 8gb
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 4550 sgb, Radeon HD 4870, NVIDIA Geforce GT 650m
Monitor(s) Displays
dual samsung 22" monitors
Hard Drives
500GB, Western Digital WD Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s, 1TB
Case
Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower
Cooling
ASUS Silent Square Pro
Mouse
Razar Death adder
Internet Speed
20 mbps
I've never honestly owned a SLI or CF setup but from what I hear, a single card is still more stable.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Build
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1
CPU
AMD Athlon II x4 Propus 2.9 GHz
Motherboard
ASRock N68C-GS FX
Memory
2 x 4GB Corsair XMS 3 DDR3 -1600 CL9
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5
Sound Card
On-board 6-Channel HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
18' LG Flatron E1942TC-BN on DVI, 18' Chimei 95ND on HDMI
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768 x 2
Hard Drives
1 x 500 GB Seagate
1 x 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Green
1 x 1 TB Hitachi Touro Mobile USB 3
PSU
Seasonic S12II 520W
Case
Generic with Cable Management
Cooling
Deep Cool Gammaxx 200
Keyboard
Dragonwar Desert Eagle
Mouse
Logitech B85
Internet Speed
5Mb/s DL, 0.9Mb/s UL
Antivirus
ESET Nod32
Browser
Google Chrome 64 Bit
Other Info
LG G4 H818P - Rooted with Xposed Framework
I have not had a problem running cross fire in the past, But then its been a while since I last had a rig that was running it.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Lenovo ThinkCenter, Custom Built PC, Acer Aspire V3-771G-9809
OS
Windows 7 enterprise 64 bit, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit ,Windows 8 64bit
CPU
Core i5-2400, Athlon 64 X2 6400+ ,Core i7-3632QM
Motherboard
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe
Memory
4GB, 4gb g.skill ddr2, 8gb
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 4550 sgb, Radeon HD 4870, NVIDIA Geforce GT 650m
Monitor(s) Displays
dual samsung 22" monitors
Hard Drives
500GB, Western Digital WD Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s, 1TB
Case
Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower
Cooling
ASUS Silent Square Pro
Mouse
Razar Death adder
Internet Speed
20 mbps
A lone 7970 Will smoke everything in it's price budget.
You could also wait for the new 8000 series coming up in a couple of months.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Windows 7 professional X64
CPU
AMD A10-5800K OC@ 4.4Ghz.
Motherboard
Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4
Memory
8GB Kingston HyperX Blu 1333mhz
Graphics Card(s)
XFX HD7870 2GB Core Edition
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer AL2216W
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
Seagate Barracuda 500gb 7200rpm
Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 7200rpm
PSU
Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W
Case
Thermaltake Commander MS-I
Cooling
Cooler Master N520
Mouse
Logitech M504
Internet Speed
10Mbps
I Have been putting it off for quite some time so a few more months of waiting wouldn't be bad, there is nothing wrong with the hardware I have now its just getting old. Perhaps waiting and saving up some more money would be the best way to go about things.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Lenovo ThinkCenter, Custom Built PC, Acer Aspire V3-771G-9809
OS
Windows 7 enterprise 64 bit, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit ,Windows 8 64bit
CPU
Core i5-2400, Athlon 64 X2 6400+ ,Core i7-3632QM
Motherboard
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe
Memory
4GB, 4gb g.skill ddr2, 8gb
Graphics Card(s)
Radeon HD 4550 sgb, Radeon HD 4870, NVIDIA Geforce GT 650m
Monitor(s) Displays
dual samsung 22" monitors
Hard Drives
500GB, Western Digital WD Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s, 1TB
Case
Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower
Cooling
ASUS Silent Square Pro
Mouse
Razar Death adder
Internet Speed
20 mbps
I have had both sli and xfire rigs. I'm currently running crossfire 7970s. Both green and red 2x work great, but have their unique issues. For your use - gaming - you may want to look at which games you play and how each driver set (green or red) work for your preferred games. 680 is a great card, as is the 7970. Why wait... When the 8000 come out, you can then wait for nvidia to reply... And so on, forever. You can get a 7970 or 680 for a great price today. For 7970s just unlock a reference card, add a little volts, and you have a GHz card for a lot less money.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
windows 7 home premium x64
CPU
i2700K @46 (via offset)
Motherboard
AsRock exteme3 gen 3
Memory
16Gb 2133
Graphics Card(s)
HD 7970 (2 xfire). 1125/1575
Sound Card
MB
Monitor(s) Displays
HP ZR30w
Screen Resolution
2560x1600
Hard Drives
PLextor 256 SSD
WD Raptor 1Tb
WD Black 1T
Seagate Green 2T
PSU
Silverstone Strider 1500W
Case
Sliverstone TJ09
Cooling
Custom water (Aquacomputer) CPU/GPUs, 720xt MK4
Keyboard
Razor mechanical
Mouse
G700
Internet Speed
80/35. (Fiber optic)
Other Info
Liang DCC aux pump
The GTX 680 is a good single-GPU card, probably the best one in the market, and it is 10-15% faster than a reference HD 7970... A Crossfire/SLI configuration will be more instable, will consume more power and consider that a lot of games (like NFS Most Wanted 2012) are not multi-GPU compatible: this means the application will only use 1 GPU, leaving the second one at 0% load.

In my opinion, go for a strong single GPU card. I suggest you the GTX 680 because it is a bit faster than the HD 7970 and it supports Physx, better 3D vision than the HD 7970 and it has really better drivers.
If you can, search for a superclocked edition... It will give you a little more performance boost than the reference card.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
AMD Radeon cards are the better value currently, but Nvidia cards on average are suppose to run a tad bit better. You can't go wrong with a high end card from either maker honestly. You could have identical systems, one with a GTX 680 and the other with a 7970 and run tests until you were sick of them and never find a clear "winner". Nvidia does seem to have better driver support, so that may be a factor. I've heard more people having issues with 2xAMD cards than 2xNvidia cards, mainly because of the driver. The GTX 670's are coming down in price and they are proven performers, but the 7870 GHz edition and the 7950's are cheaper or around the same price as the 670. I know nothing I've said so far help you decide, if anything it muddies the waters a little bit! Sorry about that lol.

Also, you are upgrading other parts as well? What exactly are your plans? That would probably affect which way you need to go in terms of graphics cards.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.5GHz
Motherboard
Asus Sabertooth Z77
Memory
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) @1866MHz CL 9-9-9-24 1T
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 750 Ti FTW
Sound Card
Onboard Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2309W
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 830 128GB SSD - OS
(4) Seagate 5TB HDD
(1) Seagate 2TB HDD
PSU
Seasonic X750 80+ Gold Full Modular
Case
Antec Eleven Hundred Super Mid Tower
Cooling
Intel Liquid Cooler
Keyboard
Max Nighthawk X8 Mechanical keyboard
Mouse
Mionix Naos 7000
Internet Speed
50 Mbps Down / 10 Mbps Up
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials/Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Browser
Chrome/Firefox
Other Info
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's
Asus RT-N66R Wireless Router
At the low end of your price range, a Radeon HD7870 looks like the clear choice. It doesn't compete with a 7970, but it's about half the price. I doubt that there's a competitive nVidia card that's just over $200US.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
homegrown
OS
Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core I7-3930k
Motherboard
Asus P9X79 Pro
Memory
16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133
Graphics Card(s)
eVGA GTX680
Sound Card
Creative X-Fi Titanium
Monitor(s) Displays
As PA246Q
Screen Resolution
1920 X 1200
Hard Drives
Corsair Force GT, 120 GB
WDC 1.5TB Caviar Black
PSU
PCP&C Silencer 750 Crossfire
Case
Silverstone FT02
Cooling
Noctua NH-D14
Keyboard
cheap Logitech USB
Mouse
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer (old optical) USB
Internet Speed
6Mb cable
Other Info
Pioneer BDR-205
Samsung SH-203B
Monsoon 5.1 speakers
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