Ref 670 for $368, or non ref 660 for $308?

[Frag Maniac]

Which would you get? Prices are total paid with shipping factored in.

Cards are base model (915Mhz) EVGA 670, and OC model (1019MHz) MSI 660.

I know there's been some complaints of ref 670s (including this one) artifacting, freezing, etc when going past just 60c, but according to EVGA, those were primarily a handful of cases with the first batch and specifically GPU vs card/cooler related.

I plan to OC, and usually shoot for the highest factory OC with similar cooler. The card will only be used a couple years until Maxwell comes out, so I want to keep the price low, but I also want to max out settings in most games with the exception of Metro and such. I don't like some features like blur anyway.

[EarthDog]

Get the best card you can afford is my advice.

[Frag Maniac]

I told myself a while ago that I wanted to keep my next GPU purchase preferably to $300, up to $350 range, and even consider $375 depending on model of card.

A price of $368 comes very close to that original price range and at only 19% more than the 660, it also is very close to the difference in performance percentage.

For me it's never a matter of what I can afford, it's a mater of overall value. I am very frugal and always have more than enough on hand to make a purchase like this.

It's mostly a matter of practicality factoring duration of use and retirement. By retirement I mean what level of card I'd be left selling (rarely the case) or using as backup after it's no longer in use.

[EarthDog]

Looks like your choice has already been made then.

/thread.

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah I'm kinda leaning toward the 670, despite the few scary reviews.

The guy at EVGA said something about a rebate on this card though, and so far I've not been able to verify such a thing.

[Flibolito]

Really good deal on a 670 it is a beast of a card a few of my friends just got 670s and all are extremely happy.

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah, the 670 GPU itself a beast, the ref PCB and cooler though, not so sure about.

Check these reviews, a bit scary considering EVGA claims it's just SC models that had issues. What's odd is their tech said they were GPU related, the sales guy said it was the way EVGA tweaked the SC models that was at fault.

EVGA 02G-P4-2670-KR GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GD...

On a side note, I found out why EVGA changed their warranty structure. Turns out after surveying customers, most preferred a 3 yr transferable warranty to a lifetime buyer only warranty on the higher binned models.

They still do binning btw, and not just top bin vs reference bin. They say there are various levels of binning depending on the model you get.

[eidairaman1]

im already seeing 660 hit a oc wall here

[Soylent Joe]

With the GTX 670 you're spending 16%-19% more money for ~10% performance gain over 660 Ti. The GTX 660Ti is more likely to be stable out of the box than a 670. You'd be spending less outright, and $300 hurts less in two years, when the card is worth $99 minus shipping. Go with the 660 Ti. It maxes all games out at any normal resolution.

[Frag Maniac]

Originally Posted by Soylent Joe

With the GTX 670 you're spending 16%-19% more money for ~10% performance gain over 660 Ti. The GTX 660Ti is more likely to be stable out of the box than a 670. You'd be spending less outright, and $300 hurts less in two years, when the card is worth $99 minus shipping. Go with the 660 Ti. It maxes all games out at any normal resolution.

All valid points. Realistically the more games benched the lower the diff in performance. TPU's review only shows 8% gain on a ref 670 vs that MSI OC edition, and with all the temp complaints on the EVGA base model, I'm not sure I'd want to OC it at all.

Truth be told I was about to pull the trigger on the MSI until I saw the promo on the EVGA, but the rebate on the MSI is good for another 10 days, so. I also like many of the features on the MSI. It hangs right in there with Giga's Windforce 2 model, and as far as I recall it's fan is set lower at only 41%.

[eidairaman1]

670

[ShiBDiB]

Find a EVGA FTW edition... things a beast and the cooler is silent

[plywood99]

Personally I would grab one of the 7970 reference editions that are selling for well under $400. Like the Visiontek for $368, or the Diamond for $386. They easily flash to the 7970 ghz edition bios.
I got the Diamond since it comes with dvi/hdmi and other adapters. Flashed it to the ghz bios and couldn't be happier.

[Aleksander]

I would choose 660

[ShiBDiB]

Originally Posted by plywood99

Personally I would grab one of the 7970 reference editions that are selling for well under $400. Like the Visiontek for $668, or the Diamond for $686. They easily flash to the 7970 ghz edition bios.
I got the Diamond since it comes with dvi/hdmi and other adapters. Flashed it to the ghz bios and couldn't be happier.

Ur post confuses me.. u say under 400 yet list prices over 600 and say to flash to the same cards u listed... are u retarded or just stupid

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by ShiBDiB

Ur post confuses me.. u say under 400 yet list prices over 600 and say to flash to the same cards u listed... are u retarded or just stupid

major tyographical errors on this persons post ShiBDiB

[MT Alex]

Originally Posted by ShiBDiB

Ur post confuses me.. u say under 400 yet list prices over 600 and say to flash to the same cards u listed... are u retarded or just stupid

Your last line would have had much more of a sting if you wouldn't have truncated simple three and four letter words into pop culture abbreviations.

[manofthem]

I vote 670, seems like a much better deal. More money but not by much, and Hanes are it'll be a better overclocker!

Those few dollars may be the difference between a constant 60fps or not...

Originally Posted by plywood99

Personally I would grab one of the 7970 reference editions that are selling for well under $400. Like the Visiontek for $668, or the Diamond for $686. They easily flash to the 7970 ghz edition bios.
I got the Diamond since it comes with dvi/hdmi and other adapters. Flashed it to the ghz bios and couldn't be happier.

Some have had problems with the Ghz bios flash, both of the flash not working and then rendering errors for those that did work. Beside that, most 7970s can overclock lik champs (most, not all)

[Frag Maniac]

@SHib,
The next card up from EVGA's base model is a FTW with 680 PCB, but it has the same cooler/fan. If it's fan seems quieter it's merely an illusion caused by a possible lower factory setting due to more surface area on the PCB to dissipate the heat. According to EVGA, the only difference from the base model is the 680 length PCB and a slightly higher binned chip. Likely VERY slightly since they only up the speed by 26MHz. Cheapest I could get it for is $400, which seems a bit much for a 2 yr card.

@Ply's response,
Easy guys, I knew right off that was a mere typo. $368 on the Vis 7970 IS tempting, but I'm not really willing to give the A camp another chance after several years worth of woes with them on my last two cards.

@manof,
Better overclocker? The ref 670s may be better than the 570 on that front, but the MSI card with the parts and cooler it has, not to mention a 175w vs stock 150w ceiling is no slouch when it comes to OCing. It also has a hefty OC from the factory, so chances are it has a higher binned chip than the base model EVGA would.

Soylent seems to be in tune with what I'm looking for. I basically don't want to exceed my needs even if it means spending only $60 more. I also want no OCing issues, and the reviews on the base model EVGA, even recent ones, don't look promising. Conversely the reviews on the MSI are solid across the board.

To put it in better perspective, I am happy with and prefer games like Cryis and Metro 2033 at mixed vs max settings. I don't care for extreme blur or shader settings like Crysis' ambient occlusion on the High setting that makes colors look washed out and causes a milky haze in the air when you move.

I'm also taking note that Last Light is more optimized than Metro 2033, and that Crysis and an increasing number of high resource, PC exclusives are trending toward more efficient cross platform engines. Lastly, one of my biggest priorities is getting enough performance, while getting the best FPS per dollar, and there a non ref, OCed 660 pulls ahead of a ref 670.

I'm currently on a GTS 250 1GB, and although it's nowhere near the 580 I'd originally planned on, it's been adequate for the most part and still one of the best at bang for buck. I have no regrets buying it and consider it one of the best values in gaming gear I own. Furthermore at only $70, it also serves duty as a backup card well.

In the end, it's elite enough just to spend $300 on a 660 to get 2GB of VRAM, because for most games, @ 1080p, 1GB still suffices, and a dual SLI setup with the 560 Ti would actually beat a 670 and cost less, so there's that.

[Delta6326]

Get 660Ti when it comes back in stock by far the best cooler as its the same as the 670 DC2.

ASUS GTX660 TI-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192...

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by Frag Maniac

@SHib,
The next card up from EVGA's base model is a FTW with 680 PCB, but it has the same cooler/fan. If it's fan seems quieter it's merely an illusion caused by a possible lower factory setting due to more surface area on the PCB to dissipate the heat. According to EVGA, the only difference from the base model is the 680 length PCB and a slightly higher binned chip. Likely VERY slightly since they only up the speed by 26MHz. Cheapest I could get it for is $400, which seems a bit much for a 2 yr card.

@Ply's response,
Easy guys, I new right off that was a mere typo. $368 on the Vis 7970 IS tempting, but I'm not really willing to give the A camp another chance after several years worth of woes with them on my last two cards.

@manof,
Better overclocker? The ref 670s may be better than the 570 on that front, but the MSI card with the parts and cooler it has, not to mention a 175w vs stock 150w ceiling is no slouch when it comes to ocing. It also has a hefty OC from the factory, so chances are it has a higher binned chip than the base model EVGA would.

Soylent seems to be in tune with what I'm looking for. I basically don't want to exceed my needs even if it means spending only $60 more. I also want no OCing issues, and the reviews on the base model EVGA, even recent ones, don't look promising. Conversely the reviews on the MSI are solid across the board.

To put it in better perspective, I am happy with and prefer games like Cryis and Metro 2033 at mixed vs max settings. I don't care for extreme blur or shader settings like Crysis' ambient occlusion on the High setting that makes colors look washed out and causes a milky haze in the air when you move.

I'm also taking note that Last Light is more optimized than Metro 2033, and that Crysis and an increasing number of high resource, PC exclusives are trending toward more efficient cross platform engines. Lastly, one of my biggest priorities is getting enough performance, while getting the best FPS per dollar, and there a non ref, OCed 660 pulls ahead of a ref 670.

I'm currently on a GTS 250 1GB, and although it's nowhere near the 580 I'd originally planned on, it's been adequate for the most part and still one of the best at bang for buck. I have no regrets buying it and consider it one of the best values in gaming gear I own. Furthermore at only $70, it also serves duty as a backup card well.

In the end, it's elite enough just to spend $300 on a 660 to get 2GB of VRAM, because for most games, @ 1080p, 1GB still suffices, and a dual SLI setup with the 560 Ti would actually beat a 670 and cost less, so there's that.

You have very good points. That leads me to agree with EarthDog at the beginning of the thread when he said...

Originally Posted by EarthDog

Looks like your choice has already been made then.

/thread.

Can't go wrong with the 660 as you well know so the 660 it is

[Frag Maniac]

Originally Posted by Delta6326

Get 660Ti when it comes back in stock by far the best cooler as its the same as the 670 DC2.

ASUS GTX660 TI-DC2-2GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192...

Same price as the MSI I mentioned (w/ MIR) and only ref speeds, which likely means lower binned chip. The MSi OC version performs identical to the ASUS 660 TOP according to TPU's reviews on each. The only difference is the ASUS TOP is a bit quieter at 25db vs 29, and slightly cooler at 70c vs 73.

That all goes out the window when talking a non TOP version of an ASUS card though, which is the case with the one you linked to. It has a ref speed of only 915MHz, and if clocked to the speed of the TOP, it would no doubt run hotter, esp since it's probably a lower binned chip.

For some time MSI has been ahead of ASUS on value when it comes to MBs, but now it's looking that way with their GPUs too. It's even looking like MSI is a closer partner with Nvidia. ASUS is always slow to produce Nvidia cards in quantity anymore.

If I was gaming on say a Yamakasi Catleap 27" 2560x1440 display, I'd def go for the 670, but at 1080p, I just don't think I'll see much benefit to warrant 19% more money for 10% more performance.

Ideally I'd like to take the 10 days I have on the MSI rebate offer to check for reviews on the ref ASUS 660, but I'm not sure there'd be much point to it since TPU already showed that OCed MSI and ASUS cards perform equally.

That said, if I could find an ASUS 660 TOP for $300, now that would be a bit better deal, mostly the 3c cooler temps. I've yet to see one for sale at ANY price though.

As far as EarthDog's post, I think he said that when he thought I was leaning toward the 670, not the 660.

[plywood99]

Originally Posted by ShiBDiB

Ur post confuses me.. u say under 400 yet list prices over 600 and say to flash to the same cards u listed... are u retarded or just stupid

Calling someone stupid for a typo is well... just stupid.

[eidairaman1]

Originally Posted by MT Alex

Your last line would have had much more of a sting if you wouldn't have truncated simple three and four letter words into pop culture abbreviations.

pop culture abbreviations? I thought it was just called short hand

[PopcornMachine]

If your resolution is 1920x(1080/1200) then the 660 is plenty of card for you.

If you want higher resolution, then you'd probably want a 670.