Radeon HD 7770 1GB or GTX 650 2GB

Chalky Emultion · 13 Dec 2012

ajd112 said:

Thanks guys for all the reply. I will actually be going for a new mobo and cpu (amd also) in the near future, say 4-5 months. But right now, I only will change the psu and gpu. And I don't intend to use SLI/Crossfire in the future. Single gpu is good enough for me. And the cards in the price range of GTX 650 and Radeon 7770 are the ones I can afford at present. That's why I am wondering which one to go for.
@Dorado: I couldn't understand what you meant by GTX 650 will be a waste because of my cpu. Can you please explain a bit?

nostaw5 said:

ajd112 said:

@Dorado: I couldn't understand what you meant by GTX 650 will be a waste because of my cpu. Can you please explain a bit?

I think what he is trying to say is your CPU will be the bottleneck of the system. Meaning with the 650 will not utilize its power as the CPU is limiting its rendering because it is now the slower component.

In short:
Bottlenecking is when the system not being able to optimum levels because one (or more) components are holding it back. In this case I believe he means your CPU.

Either that he wants the opposite and thinks you should get a better card. but most likely he is talking about the bottleneck

HOPE I HELPED!

Yes, I think that a GTX 650 will be a waste for your current CPU, but if you are going to a new motherboard and new CPU, it will be nice.

If you want some extra performance than the GTX 650/HD 7770, I found these cards on Newegg.com:

Newegg.com - PNY VCGGTX650T1XPB GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P4-3650-KR GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
(Assassin's Creed 3 game included!)

It's the GTX 650 Ti 1GB. It will be faster than the other 2 cards.
But keep in mind that 1GB video memory is not really much for today titles, so a 2GB solution should be better.

as nostaw5 said, if you can wait to keep the GTX 670, it will be the best choice if you are going to a new CPU and motherboard (you need at least a quad core CPU to use it).

Returning to HD 7770 1GB vs GTX 650 2GB... Well, the difference is minimal, but the GTX 650 has got the 2 GB VRAM...
And keep in mind that a slower Nvidia card, compared to a 10-15% faster Ati Card (in this case, the HD 7770), will have the same performance level in games since Nvidia uses better drivers than Ati ones; they're also updated more often and they contains costant improvements for games.
And also, the Nvidia GPU will render PhysX too.
Since you aren't going to use multi-GPU, in my opinion you should go for the GTX 650, because of the 2GB VRAM, better drivers, better support for games, PhysX support,...

(the HD 7770 should be a good card too :) )

ajd112 · 13 Dec 2012

Thanks nostaw5 and Dorado. I wish I could go for the Gtx 650 Ti. But in my country it is pricier by around 11k. So not really an option. I will go for the Nvidia card then. And get a hexa-core processor in a few months.

Chalky Emultion · 14 Dec 2012

You're welcome :)

neo101 · 16 Dec 2012

Was shocked to read this recently
Nvidia Keplar only offers partial support for DirectX 11.1 (4 out of 10 main-core additions)

I don't givva wotsit cos i'm not a gamer - argue amongst yerselfs over pros 'n cons(nvidia ones?)

"As an example of how feature levels can add confusion, DirectX 11.1 comprises Feature Level 11_0 and Feature Level 11_1. This means that even though a GPU claims to support DirectX 11.1, it may in fact only support Feature Level 11_0, or, as in the case of Nvidia's Kepler GPUs, only partially support Feature Level 11_1.

Mr.Nalasco claims that AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture, available in AMD Radeon HD 7700, HD 7800 and HD 7900 Series graphics, along with AMD FirePro W series cards, provide complete support for DirectX 11.1 Feature Level 11_1 in Windows 8.

"Well, for one, AMD fully supports DirectX 11.1, whereas currently Nvidia does not,
- so if you're planning to install Windows 8, or buying a new system that already has it installed, then we recommend you make sure your system includes an GCN-based AMD Radeon HD 7000-series graphics card or AMD FirePro W series card," Nalasco wrote on a blog post. "This will not only ensure you're getting the most out of the new operating system today, but also maximize the usefulness of your graphics purchase down the road."

AMD Says Nvidia's GPUs Do Not Fully Support DirectX 11.1

I heartily recommend one of the factory AMD overclock cards Sapphire etc which give 15 percent speed increase for 5 percent (or less) price increase!