Time for a new GPU

[Oerwinde]

So my SLI 9800 GTs are starting to show their age, and I'm looking to spend some of my christmas money this year on a new card. I miss the good old days of Bigger # = Better card, so I have a hard time figuring out what the best bang for my buck is. Basically I'm looking to not spend much more than 300 bucks and I'd like to get at least 3-4 years out of it. Any advice?

[Humanoid]

Only one real choice at $300, and that's a HD7950 as the competitor product at the same price point is a fair bit behind. If you're inclined towards nVidia then the only realistic option is ponying up another ~$50 for a GTX670, which performs much the same, so less value but can be argued for.

[Bartimaeus]

At $300, the only real choice is, as Humanoid mentioned, the HD7950. Alternatively, if you wanted to go a little lower, I would recommend the HD7870. I would not really recommend the GTX670, because the performance difference between it and the 7950 is minuscule, but if you reeaally don't like AMD...

[Oerwinde]

I don't have anything against AMD, I've just never had an amd/ati card so I had even less of an idea what I was looking at

[Oerwinde]

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=72414&vpn=VCGGTX670XPB&manufacture=PNY%20Technologies%20Inc&promoid=1033

 

Would this be a decent one then?

[Janmanden]

I am not familiar with PNY, but I've read that..

 

"The fact that the PNY GTX 670 uses the same reference design means that it uses the same radial cooler which is somewhat unfortunate. Our biggest gripe with the GTX 670 is the flimsy and fragile feel of the cooler that occupies the right side of the card. The noise-level of the cooler is also a tad loud under load compared to the GTX 680 despite their similar looking. While it is not vacuum cleaner loud, it is definitely audible. The idle noise is quieter, however." (Bjorn3D)

 

But also being the cheapest means that there should be some headroom for adding a custom cooler without raising the cost bar too much.. But it isn't really that cheap, even though you can save $70 and perhaps more after mail in rebate.

[Oerwinde]

http://www.ncix.com/...te&promoid=1033

So that would be better then?

 

No free Borderlands and Assassins Creed 3 though.

 

edit: though for 10 bucks more I can get it from newegg and get Farcry 3, Hitman Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs. Sounds good to me.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Oerwinde

[Humanoid]

Yeah - not a fan of the stock reference "blower" type coolers from either nV or AMD. That Gigabyte custom cooler is a pretty good one, as far as factory-installed ones go.

[Oerwinde]

Ok, so now my question is should I get it 10 bucks cheaper at NCIX, or go for the free games at newegg. The reviews seem pretty angry that if there is something wrong, the games count against your refund. Unless they only do it for refunds, not exchanges.

[Humanoid]

No experience with stores on that side of the pond so no idea how that kind of thing works normally - there's no real culture of vendor cashbacks or coupon options over here. Pretty hard to say no to three new release games for $10 of course.

[Janmanden]

Not sure what happened with the link. Died on me. Searched ncix for 670 as I assumed that it was still your choice. The Gigabyte Geforece GTX 670 OC 2 GB Windforce is a pretty cool and quiet one:

 

"Idle noise levels are outstanding, actually the card is the quietest GTX 670 we tested so far in idle. Under load the fan ramps up a bit but ends up being much quieter than the NVIDIA reference design. It is barely audible under load, but we've tested other cards like the ASUS DC II that is even quieter. "(TechPowerUp)

 

And with the massive OC also pretty close to GTX 680.. But then I noticed that the link wasn't quite the same. Regardless, Gigabytes custom Windforce is a pretty cool and quiet cooling solution.

[Humanoid]

The links were to a PNY reference-cooler 670 and a Windforce 7950.

 

For what it's worth, looked through all the 670s on NCIX and the cheapest ones with custom coolers are the $330 MSI and the $340 Gigabyte.

 

EDIT: The Windforce 7950 is $280 for comparison, and while there's a $260 XFX one with a custom cooler, I've heard disappointing reports of the XFX custom design.

 

EDIT2: Looking at Newegg, their 670 pricing is rubbish so the candidates appear to be the Gigabyte 7950 from NCIX for $280 (after rebate, no bundle?*), the Sapphire 7950 from Newegg for $290 (after rebate, bundled games) and the Gigabyte 7950 from Newegg for $300 (no rebate, bundled games).

 

* While there's no note on the item listing on NCIX, a googling of "Never settle bundle NCIX" does show that they're part of the scheme, so I'm not sure whether it's active for the particular card or not - might be worth contacting them to see whether that's the case.

Edited December 26, 2012 by Humanoid

[Oerwinde]

well, that settles it then. NCIX has local pickup so I can avoid shipping and returns would be a lot easier, so I'll go with the 7950 there. Thanks everyone.

[Oerwinde]

Turns out one of my PCI-E slots was shot. Possibly why my 9800s were feeling so sluggish lately.