Radeon HD7990 vs GTX Titan

[DigitalEdge]

I am in the final phases of building a gaming machine and in between choosing the right video card that will perform the best for me. I have done a lot of research on the GTX Titan, GTX690, and now the Radeon HD7990. After reading several reviews for the new ATI card I am sort of stuck and not sure what route to go. My initial purchase will be a single card then hopefully 6 months to a year later buy another and either go SLI or Crossfire. In your alls opinion what would be the best route to take? Will I get a huge performance increase buying the Radeon HD7990 over the GTX Titan? Am I going to lose a bunch of performance not have the Phys-x? Does the Radeon HD7990 have the Phys-x or is that strictly only ATI?

Help and feedback to help me make a decision I would greatly appreciate....thank you in advance.

 

[erocker]

Single GPU beating a dual GPU card. Titan, check.

Ratings by a reviewer I trust:

7990: 8.3

Titan: 9.0

Titan, check.

PhysX, which should hardly come into any kind of buying decision due to lack of use shouldn't be a concern.

You say you read reviews, reviews pretty much show the same thing. What are you particular questions?

What kind of monitor setup are you using? What are you using your computer for? Really though between these two cards it doesn't matter.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Physx is nvidia only , in some games the 7990 will beat the titan but the titan is better in others id say go titan or wait for the next 780 Gtx the nvidia cards are more consistent but the amd has the most potential imho .

 

[Volkszorn88]

Going to give you the generic forum answer, wait for next series of gpus to come out from both brands.

 

[GamerGuy]

I've looked thru the TPU review of the HD7990, only in a handful of game does the Titan beat out the HD7990, and GTX690, perhaps CF/SLi driver isn't up to scratch. Most of the time, it's the HD7990 that is trading blows with the GTX690 for the best framerate, especially at higher res.....at least 1080P and higher.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Unless they change the reference design I don't recommend a 7990 to anyone. Besides crossfire still being bugged the coil whine is something they can never fix with a software update. It's a faulty product. You will get far more for your money out of the Titan which says a lot given the terrible performance per dollar.

 

[cdawall]

Read the TPU review on it and if the games you play are the ones crossfire works in go for it. If not the Titan is the better choice obviously.

The graph erocker posted changes if you take out the games crossfire doesn't work.

here is the review of the new model http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7990

 

[the54thvoid]

OP mentioned buying 2 down the line. Waste of time buying 2 7990's or 2 690's as the scaling is awful across 4 gpus. For that reason if you are buying now, buy a Titan.

 

[radrok]

Titan all the way.

Single GPU is king.

This comes from someone who wasted years on dual-triple-quad setups, not to mention money.

The graph erocker posted changes if you take out the games crossfire doesn't work.

If you have to exclude games then where's the point? I thought one should be able to benefit from his purchase on every single title, atleast that's my personal opinion, no compromises.

 

[SystemViper]

Titan all the way.

Single GPU is king.

This comes from someone who wasted years on dual-triple-quad setups, not to mention money.



If you have to exclude games then where's the point? I thought one should be able to benefit from his purchase on every single title, atleast that's my personal opinion, no compromises.

nuff said...

 

[DigitalEdge]

So after all these comments and feedback everyone still thinks the Titan is the way to go? Is the Titan as good as a performer as a single GPU in benchmarks with all those games mentioned BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Hitman: Absolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

Am I better off going with the Radeon HD7990 for overall performance in these games which I do play quite often or intend on playing. Would skipping the Titan and going for the GTX690 be a better option or overall who should be the winner here as the top performer in all the games mentioned with quality, performance, and overall features plus expandability for the future?

 

[the54thvoid]

So after all these comments and feedback everyone still thinks the Titan is the way to go? Is the Titan as good as a performer as a single GPU in benchmarks with all those games mentioned BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Hitman: Absolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

Am I better off going with the Radeon HD7990 for overall performance in these games which I do play quite often or intend on playing. Would skipping the Titan and going for the GTX690 be a better option or overall who should be the winner here as the top performer in all the games mentioned with quality, performance, and overall features plus expandability for the future?

Everybody so far has answered your questions. Why ask them again? A single gpu will never have dual gpu driver issues. If they make a AAA title with crap support (Assassins Creed 3) and your card doesn't support it, it's a bit of a downer. You can't predict what will work well and what wont.

Whatever card you buy will be good. Titan is weakest. It can come close to a 690 when overclocked. 690 can also overclock. 7990 is fastest but has buggiest support - being rectified possibly in Summer.

They're this fast, in order: Best 7990, then 690, then Titan.
Driver performance: Best Titan, 690, then 7990.

Choose what you want.

 

[Velvet Wafer]

Titan all the way.

Single GPU is king.

This comes from someone who wasted years on dual-triple-quad setups, not to mention money.

I wonder, why NV and ATI both fail at delivering a proper dual gpu driver solution, which makes dual/triple/quad gpus indistinguishable from a single gpu, besides maximizing fps dependant on resolution etc...especially in dual gpu cards where the pcie overhead is possibly nonexistent,compared to SLI/CF/X solutions...explanation would be enlightening

 

[radrok]

I wonder, why NV and ATI both fail at delivering a proper dual gpu driver solution, which makes dual/triple/quad gpus indistinguishable from a single gpu, besides maximizing fps dependant on resolution etc...especially in dual gpu cards where the pcie overhead is possibly nonexistent,compared to SLI/CF/X solutions...explanation would be enlightening

I think they just need to change the approach, the kind of algorithm that is used to make multi GPU possible, AFR is the evil.

 

[erocker]

Everybody so far has answered your questions. Why ask them again? A single gpu will never have dual gpu driver issues. If they make a AAA title with crap support (Assassins Creed 3) and your card doesn't support it, it's a bit of a downer. You can't predict what will work well and what wont.

Whatever card you buy will be good. Titan is weakest. It can come close to a 690 when overclocked. 690 can also overclock. 7990 is fastest but has buggiest support - being rectified possibly in Summer.

They're this fast, in order: Best 7990, then 690, then Titan.
Driver performance: Best Titan, 690, then 7990.

Choose what you want.

Thank you! This thread could go back and forth until the end of time.

I'll let it go for the rest of the day.

 

[15th Warlock]

In before thread is closed!

Unless you love the crispy sound
Of whining coils while you play,
Titan it is my friend,
all the way

Listen to my colleagues advice
I assure they mean you no harm
That's unless you realize
you like to keep your case warm

What's this thing I hear,
about bad crossfire profiles and such
what's a game or five?
Until you wanna to play that title so much

So my son in conclusion
to all this debate and arguing
I think in the end you'll find
That Titan is the most charming

 

[cdawall]

So after all these comments and feedback everyone still thinks the Titan is the way to go? Is the Titan as good as a performer as a single GPU in benchmarks with all those games mentioned BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Hitman: Absolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

Am I better off going with the Radeon HD7990 for overall performance in these games which I do play quite often or intend on playing. Would skipping the Titan and going for the GTX690 be a better option or overall who should be the winner here as the top performer in all the games mentioned with quality, performance, and overall features plus expandability for the future?

With the games you have listed the 7990 is the fastest of the cards listed end of story.

 

[Fluffmeister]

With the games you have listed the 7990 is the fastest of the cards listed end of story.

More like it appears to be faster.

I'm sure they will sort it out, but if you're splashing $1000 bucks on a new card, I'd expect proper performance right out of the box.

Sure, go for a 7990 if you want, but wait for new drivers first.

 

[cdawall]

More like it appears to be faster.

I'm sure they will sort it out, but if you're splashing $1000 bucks on a new card, I'd expect proper performance right out of the box.

Sure, go for a 7990 if you want, but wait for new drivers first.

What do you mean appears? It either has 70FPS or it has 30FPS there is no it appears to have 70FPS.

 

[erocker]

What do you mean appears? It either has 70FPS or it has 30FPS there is no it appears to have 70FPS.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Radeon-HD-7990-6GB-Review-Malta-Gets-Frame-Rated

Fraps, frame times, etc...

I suppose it's something I've noticed with dual GPU setups in the past.

 

[cdawall]

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Radeon-HD-7990-6GB-Review-Malta-Gets-Frame-Rated

Fraps, frame times, etc...

I suppose it's something I've noticed with dual GPU setups in the past.

You are getting nit picky at that point dealing with a different kind of overhead not to mention drivers at that point. I have run multi card setups as long as you have and on the screen I can't see it. Complaining about numbers on a graph is a waste IMO.

 

[erocker]

No, not really. To each their own I suppose.. But there is a reason I'm not running two cards right now and it has nothing to do with reading frame latency articles/reviews. AMD has even admitted that CrossFire is currently broken in ways. But I suppose when I have two or more cards in my system my bias towards my purchase reflects my opinion as well.

 

[cadaveca]

You are getting nit picky at that point dealing with a different kind of overhead not to mention drivers at that point. I have run multi card setups as long as you have and on the screen I can't see it. Complaining about numbers on a graph is a waste IMO.

This is an issue nearly exclusively related to 7-series GPUs. If you haven't run Tahiti in Crossfire, I 10000% believe you'd not fully understand this, but if you did, I know you'd be able to see the difference. It's quite obvious, and AMD admitted that it is a real problem. So until AMD releases a working driver for Crossfire, yes, FPS numbers for AMD 7-series GPUs are meaningless. W1zzard even noted it on his 7990 review. Last line of the conclusion.

 

[cdawall]

This is an issue nearly exclusively related to 7-series GPUs. If you haven't run Tahiti in Crossfire, I 10000% believe you'd not fully understand this, but if you did, I know you'd be able to see the difference. It's quite obvious, and AMD admitted that it is a real problem. So until AMD releases a working driver for Crossfire, yes, FPS numbers for AMD 7-series GPUs are meaningless. W1zzard even noted it on his 7990 review. Last line of the conclusion.

I have used desktops with 7 series crossfire, but never anything deeply in depth. I am getting a second 7950 for myself so I guess I will see. Even with the dual 7870 system I used I could not tell the difference between it and my tri-470 setup. That being said tri-470's might be a bad comparo.

 

[cadaveca]

I have 3 7950's to run together, two sit on my desk. Second card merely draws power, doesn't truly improve FPS in the games I paly, actually makes for worse FPS visually in many situations. Basically, frames from second card never get displayed, and the CPU overhead from running two is definitely noticible when one card does just over 60FPS... as it makes that one card drop to just below 60FPS instead of just above.

I know AMD can fix it, but I do believe that they are making sure it's good and stable in most apps first, and that will take some time. They said June/July for that driver release.


And that's the kicker. AMD says it's a real problem. So there's no point in arguing about it. I know you're discriminate enough to notice the subtle change here.