Many graphics card vendors have different ranges through which they group cards based on different levels of tweaked performance and for MSI this has mainly resided around the top level Lightning series cards, much like the GTX 680 Lightning that we looked at mid last year in June and the lower entry level HAWK range that offered up value options for the budget user. MSI however have noted that there is a gap to be filled in between these two card ranges and this is where the Power Edition range of cards come into play.
The Power Edition is MSI’s way of offering up a balance between overclocked performance off the shelf and great value for that performance at the same time. This is not to mean that cut backs have been in other areas however. With these cards we still see the same high level of quality that we would with any other card including the feature of MSI’s Twin Frozr cooler and Military Class III components.
The 670 Power Edition comes in a blight blue box with minimal detailing of the card’s features on the front. We do see though that this is an overclocked card and features the Twin Frozr IV cooler as well as an enhanced PWM design and triple overvoltage. Under the front flap we find a whole host of information on the cards features including a dust removal system that spins the two fans in reverse for thirty seconds to expel any dust that may have built up.
Alongside the card we find a pair of molex to 6-pin power adaptors and the obligatory DVI to VGA adaptor as well.
Whilst this is the same card that’s currently running in my rig I find it to be poor value as opposed to the HD 7970 which can be had (in South Africa at least) at an equivalent or cheaper price. But seeing I got this thing for free I’m not complaining. Great performance (if not overkill) at 1080p.
Free is always good lol The whole 670/7970 debate is always a tough one as the cards excel is different areas. If you are using your card for other tasks (not gaming) then the Nvidia card will win, when it comes to folding and GPU acceleration in certain software.
I tested cards from both manufacturers from very entry level all the way to the range toppers but my personal rig is kitted out with a GTX 670. As you say each have their advantages but from my experience I’ve found the HD 7970 to be slightly better value for money overall (at least in South Africa but mileage could vary depending on location). Generally I find nVidia is slightly faster.in frame for frame gaming but what difference does 5/6 fps make when you’re running well over 60 fps anyway? If I paid for my cards I would take the cheaper everytime. That said I’m really looking forward to getting my paws on the GeForce Titan. Pity my suppliers won’t let me keep it so I’ll just go sit in the corner and sulk.
A heavily overclocked 7970 will blow the shit out of any single GPU nVidia card, even including the 680. Check out Anand’s benches, in most, the 680 loses to the 7970 Ghz by a margin.
But that’s purely because the 7970 Ghz has a higher stock clock.
The only card that’s the exception is the Galaxy 680 White, AKA, KFA2 680 LTD OC.
That card is built better than anything out in the market. With it, you’re looking around a 1200 Mhz OC.
That card can pull the heels of a Titan.
the 7970, wouldn’t stand a chance against the Titan…
Chris, you do realise the Titan did not exist at the time I wrote that comment, right?
And Epiphone’s fucking suck shit. Gibson LP’s are the way to go.
LOL.
Does your fanboyism bother me? Not really, especially considering I got this card about ÂŁ60 less than I would a 7970, and about ÂŁ90 less than a Ghz edition.
And if you look at benchmarks, this card, even without extra OC, beats the 680 everytime.
No one here is a fanboy, you’re a retard.
You’re comparing an overclocked, custom cooled, custom PCB’ed 670 to a stock 680.
Have a nice day sir.
johndoe just perpetuates a stupid-ass running fanboy myth, that’s been floating ’round the internet for a year or so. Look, there are areas in which 7970 will excel and a 670 will excel. I have the MSI GTX 670 Power Edition OC, and it beats the 7970 Ghz Edition on some tests and on some games, but loses on other ones. The reason why, I believe, my MSI card wins hands down is: FAR superior temperatures, FAR better energy efficiency, a lower price tag and greater overclockability, that can take it further than a Ghz Edition in many instances, anyway. When you think of it like this, you’d be literally insane to buy a Ghz Edition–unless, maybe, you are using 3 screens on resolutions higher than 1080P. This stupid auto-assumption, that because of the on-paper numbers the Ghz Edition is better just never pans out in practise. THIS STUPID-ASS RUNNING FANBOY MYTH HAS GOT TO STOP!
Nvidia wins on power efficiency on most GTX 600 series GPUs sure. However a 7970 with custom cooling will easily beat a custom cooled GTX 670 in most tests. This myth that you speak of is not a myth. Most review sites have shown the 7970 GHz edition to beat the GTX 680 in most tests, and the normal 7970 to beat the gtx 670. You would not be insane to buy a HD 7970 GHz edition as it is a great card, the normal HD 7970 is also pretty good too. For the money they are some of the best cards you can buy and the extra VRAM over Nvidia counterparts is nice too. (http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970_GHz_Edition/images/perfrel_1920.gif) They easily beat Nvidia counterparts at higher resolutions.
I have not heard once of an aftermarket 7970 Ghz Edition beating an aftermarket GTX 670 in terms of temps and power consumption. That is on air but I am sure there are water cooling enthusiasts out there who could run a 7970 Ghz cooler. My point was, primarily, that we can all point to images all day. This once-size-fits-all mentality about the 7970 is foolish. Usually, a 680 will beat a 7970 and a 670 will lose only half the time. Some games run better on one or the other, and benchmarks like 3DMark, etc, tend to come back nVidia-pro. That’s not to say I prefer nVidia over AMD–I’m not making that case–as I have had and loved AMD cards in the past. What I am saying is: Price-to-cooling-to-energy-to-bang-per-buck, an aftermarket 670 beats an aftermarket 7970 any day of the week. It’s just logic. I am not saying one company beats the other.
http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image//skymtl/GPU/GTX-670-POWER/GTX-670-POWER-92.jpg
Bullshit. Going by stock speeds, a 7970 Ghz will easily beat a 670, and it will beat the 680 by a small notch as well. 7970 Ghz significantly beats both in Anandtech’s benches.
Also, reference 7970’s have one of the best PCB’s out there. They have Volterra VRM’s and CPL chokes. And, the Sapphire Dual-X 7970 is the coolest running card out of every single one of those cards you’re comparing, so that is also nonsense.
Have a nice day.
Read the 3dguru review of the MSI GTX 670, and you will see it beats the Ghz Edition on almost all of the tests/games. Like I said, each card will beat the other in certain situations, but the fact of the matter is: Unless you play on 3 screens in high res–and bear in mind over 90% of gamers play in 1080P–there’s no real standout reason to get a Ghz Edition. I’m not saying it’s a bad card. I am calling out all the people saying it is the best card; that’s BS. The energy consumption of a Ghz Edition is fucking astronomical–something nVidia have really been excelling at in the past few years. (Again, not saying one company beats the other; I like both.) There are more charts showing my MSI card has higher benchmarks and FPS in, at least, 50% (if not 75%+) of games, than there are of Ghz Edition charts beating the MSI. We can go ’round in circles, and this is turning into a flaming war, as you obviously cannot see where I am coming from–you are being bullheaded. Fact is: My MSI outshines a Ghz Edition. Like I said A MILLION FUCKING TIMES, not necessarily in FPS/raw power/etc. but in energy efficiency and temperatures which are strangely neglected by card purchasers. The whole package of the MSI outshines a Ghz Edition and quite obviously so.
I’d hardly say the Guru3D review is fair. They even state in their testing methodology that they used catalyst 12.1-12.4. That means they didn’t use latest drivers for all testing. Between 12.1 and 12.4 we saw several optimisation drivers for AMD cards that made up to 10-15% difference in certain games for the 7970 GHz. Furthermore, we are comparing an overclocked custom GTX 670 with a reference stock HD 7970 GHz. Naturally the temperatures will be better and the performance. But if you then took overclocked results for the 7970 GHz you’d see it is much better than an OC GTX 670. As far as power consumption goes, definitely at load the GTX 680/670 consume much less than the 7970/7970 GHz but a key thing to note is that people always do “peak” power consumption. AMD ZeroCore operates under typical load scenarios. During “average/idle/normal” non-gaming usage we see a HD 7970 that is totally competitive with the GTX 680, and a HD 7970 GHz that is about 10% higher (but gives more performance). Naturally compared to the GTX 670 both cards consume more but the HD 7970 isn’t meant to compete with the 670 but the 680. As far as temperatures go, yes the GTX 670/680 has about a 5-10 degree victory over the HD 7970 comparing equivalent cooling solutions but both still come in with totally good operating temperatures and these limit neither cards with their overclocking. Having a 90 degree max core temp vs 70 makes no difference if you’ve already reached the maximum stable clock. Sure lower is better but it has no real difference.
In summary my point is this: both cards compared with latest drivers the 7970 GHz beats the gtx 670 + gtx 670 PE easily. The GTX 670 is much more power efficient but as cards increase in performance power efficiency declines. The 7970 (non GHz) and GTX 680 have performance per watt measurements within 4% of each other.
Thank you for the non-flame response, at least. 🙂