Editorial Christmas Special: The PC Technology of 2011

[qubit]

take the "by 50-80%" out and we are good to go. Most people are just not agreeing with the numbers, but most agree Kepler WILL beat the 7970.

Ok, done!

This was a great thread qubit, thanks for taking the time and effort to write it. The Nvidia thing doesn't bother me one way or the other because it is so far out that I don't know what to expect from it. I enjoyed the read.

You're welcome.

 

[v12dock]

I love the general consensus of the 7970 amongst 580 owners

 

[qubit]

I love the general consensus of the 7970 amongst 580 owners

Do you mean comments about the 7970 not being enough of an improvement? I truly believe this, as I explained in my article and in the comments. If I'd had an AMD card, I would have been even more pissed off. Believe me, I want a reason to upgrade my card, no matter how new, fast or shiny it is, so I always want the new kid on the block to be substantially faster than what went before, be it nvidia, AMD or another brand - eg Intel I want to be at least a little unsatisfied with what I have and have that upgrade itch for the next big thing. The 7970 with its slight performance gain and noisy cooler is just so "meh".

This is the hallmark of a true enthusiast!

 

[Damn_Smooth]

Do you mean comments about the 7970 not being enough of an improvement? I truly believe this, as I explained in my article and in the comments. If I'd had an AMD card, I would have been even more pissed off. Believe me, I want a reason to upgrade my card, no matter how new, fast or shiny it is, so I always want the new kid on the block to be substantially faster than what went before, be it nvidia, AMD or another brand - eg Intel I want to be at least a little unsatisfied with what I have and have that upgrade itch for the next big thing. The 7970 with its slight performance gain and noisy cooler is just so "meh".

This is the hallmark of a true enthusiast!

Do you think that W1zz would have given it a 9 at this price point if it was as bad as you think it is?

It sounds like you just skimmed the review to find the worst parts and ran with that as your official opinion. There are cases where this competes with the dual GPU cards as well. Not to mention the fact that we're still on beta drivers. I think that this is a much better card than you're giving it credit for.

If these launch prices go down soon, it will be even better.

Ok, enough of my rambling.

 

[v12dock]

Do you mean comments about the 7970 not being enough of an improvement? I truly believe this, as I explained in my article and in the comments. If I'd had an AMD card, I would have been even more pissed off. Believe me, I want a reason to upgrade my card, no matter how new, fast or shiny it is, so I always want the new kid on the block to be substantially faster than what went before, be it nvidia, AMD or another brand - eg Intel I want to be at least a little unsatisfied with what I have and have that upgrade itch for the next big thing. The 7970 with its slight performance gain and noisy cooler is just so "meh".

This is the hallmark of a true enthusiast!

No need to defend yourself every good news site has a spin. Overall great editorial

 

[qubit]

Do you think that W1zz would have given it a 9 at this price point if it was as bad as you think it is?

It sounds like you just skimmed the review to find the worst parts and ran with that as your official opinion. There are cases where this competes with the dual GPU cards as well. Not to mention the fact that we're still on beta drivers. I think that this is a much better card than you're giving it credit for.

If these launch prices go down soon, it will be even better.

Ok, enough of my rambling.

I maybe would have given it an 8. However don't quote me, as I've not actually physically played with the card and there's lots of intangibles and a general feel for how it performs which go into a rating. For example, the reviews mention that it's somewhat noisy and I see that it's got that same turbine as first seen on the 2900, which sounded awful (I've got one) therefore I'm concluding from reading it that the cooler is a disappointment and should be quieter or just acoustically less annoying. However, if I had reviewed it and noticed that it was a bit noisy, but the quality of that noise wasn't especially objectionable, then it wouldn't bother me especially. Heck, you can certainly hear my 580 when it gets going! (but the tonal quality isn't bad). A little bit of Unigine with vsync off really makes it spin up...

Therefore, if W1zz reckons it's worth a 9, I won't argue that.

No, I looked at the benchies on TPU and other sites and it's overall 10-15% faster than a 580, which I think is disappointing, given the 28 nm tech and the year-long gap between the two cards.

I always find that excuse of "beta drivers" a little unconvincing. I mean, it's not like the GPU suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the driver team have to suddenly get to grips with a brand new GPU they don't understand. No, the driver has evolved with the card over a long period of time and should deliver pretty much all its performance from the get-go. Granted there's always glitches to be ironed out and a little more performance to be squeezed out, but that's what updates and continual development are for.

The prices as you mention, of course, are the best part. Crucially, it beats the 580, which will force the price of both cards to become much more reasonable in a month or two and if we're lucky and maybe a little price war...

 

[Damn_Smooth]

I maybe would have given it an 8. However don't quote me, as I've not actually physically played with the card and there's lots of intangibles and a general feel for how it performs which go into a rating. For example, the reviews mention that it's somewhat noisy and I see that it's got that same turbine as first seen on the 2900, which sounded awful (I've got one) therefore I'm concluding from reading it that the cooler is a disappointment and should be quieter or just acoustically less annoying. However, if I had reviewed it and noticed that it was a bit noisy, but the quality of that noise wasn't especially objectionable, then it wouldn't bother me especially. Heck, you can certainly hear my 580 when it gets going! (but the tonal quality isn't bad). A little bit of Unigine with vsync off really makes it spin up...

Therefore, if W1zz reckons it's worth a 9, I won't argue that.

No, I looked at the benchies on TPU and other sites and it's overall 10-15% faster than a 580, which I think is disappointing, given the 28 nm tech and the year-long gap between the two cards.

I always find that excuse of "beta drivers" a little unconvincing. I mean, it's not like the GPU suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the driver team have to suddenly get to grips with a brand new GPU they don't understand. No, the driver has evolved with the card over a long period of time and should deliver pretty much all its performance from the get-go. Granted there's always glitches to be ironed out and a little more performance to be squeezed out, but that's what updates and continual development are for.

The prices as you mention, of course, are the best part. Crucially, it beats the 580, which will force the price of both cards to become much more reasonable in a month or two and if we're lucky and maybe a little price war...

I won't be able to afford anything until February at the absolute soonest, so I'm hoping that we get some concrete details on the 600 series before then. The overclocking headroom on the 7970 is extremely nice and along with a driver that bumps this up 10%, this card is a beast. I don't think a 10% driver increase is out of the question or anything, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[qubit]

I won't be able to afford anything until February at the absolute soonest, so I'm hoping that we get some concrete details on the 600 series before then. The overclocking headroom on the 7970 is extremely nice and along with a driver that bumps this up 10%, this card is a beast. I don't think a 10% driver increase is out of the question or anything, so I'm looking forward to it.

Oh yeah, if someone was to purchase a card now, it most certainly should be considered, regardless of whether one expects it to have performed 'better' or not. It gives the 580 a good kicking and that's what really matters for competition.

Just be sure to start a thread in February and I'll be even surer to stick my oar in with suggestions!

EDIT: I've just created The HD 7970 overclocking thread

 

[n-ster]

I wonder how the 7950 will perform and its pricepoint... If it is too high, I'll just go with the 78XX when they come out, but I really wanted a 79XX card lol. Hopefully the i7 3820 will OC well and I can buy an LGA 2011 quad setup with the new GPU tech

 

[ViperXTR]

Skyrim DLC? i want an EXPANSION not dlc >:[

 

[Hayder_Master]

Great articles.

 

[mediasorcerer]

Hey q good post ,thanx!!! u do a lot of good work around here ,i appreciate it.


i used to be an adventurer ,then i took and arrow to the "head" hahahaha

gots to love it, honestly, whats wrong with a bit of controversy anyway,? it gets us all interested and talking, and thats a good thing isnt it?

as for nvidia and amd, im glad they both exist, they spur each other on, and that leads to more power /better perf for us in the long run, there both great manufacturers in there own ways,

h, im a bit pisd so,,,,,,,,,,, waak waak waak.=happy drunk new years for everyone[when it gets here]!

 

[Strider]

Nice read.

On the whole 7970 topic, I wonder if some people checked their brains at the door. Drivers make a GPU, pure and simple. 7970 performance will go up as drivers mature, and they start to see more advanced games being played on them. Including the first titles to use DX11.1.

As it sits today, the 580 does not beat out a 6970 by all that much, and a lot depends on the games in question. At least not considering the price difference between the two cards. Price to performance, the 6970 still tops the 580 in most gaming situations, FPS per Dollar. Also, AMD and Nvidia have the discrete GPU market just about split down the middle, neither can claim dominance over the other. Just look at the figures.

Now we have AMD beating Nvidia to the next gen punch, this does not seem like much until you consider the drivers. They will have their cards out first, their drivers will be more "mature" by the time Kepler hits the shelves. Thats a big deal. You can also bet those supposed numbers they "leaked" will be about as accurate as the "leaked" AMD numbers. Nvidia only did that to top AMD, like most all leaked info like that, it's all marketing BS. Always has been.

The fact of the matter is the next gen from both sides will top their current generation, that's a given, and that the competition between the two will continue. I personally think the same old story will hold true with this next generation as it did with the current generation.

The market will be split right down the middle like it is now. The Nvidia cards will cost more than the AMD, yet not perform in most games high enough over the AMD counterparts to really justify the higher price tag if you go by the numbers and do the math. FPS per Dollar. The debate over the two sides will rage on. Fanboys on both sides will proclaim one winner over the other.

In the end, it will all come down to personal preferences and what hype people buy into or blindly believe about one or the other. When in all reality, both sides make fantastic hardware that will power through any games on the market.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Most people are just not agreeing with the numbers, but most agree Kepler WILL beat the 7970.

What exactly would be the point of releasing a competeing product (poss6-12 months) later if it wasnt going to be better(but for Even more money) ,i predict that after kepler comes out AMD will release an even better card

and qubit is your alter ego intelnvidiaftw by any chance foor foot snake man i just love your new love qubit club too

like the story tho dude and i will say ya get people talkin