770 vs. 780

[lachyman]

Hey guys,

I want to buy a new card as the 660 I have now is simply not cutting it anymore, but there is a twist. I need the card for a specific amount of time which I dubbed "trasition time". Basically the time from now until 4K gets mature - affordable 4K IPS/PLS panels, effective GPU solutions, adopted SW. That should take 2 years at most. Now I have 2 options, a 770 ACX for €300 now or a 780 ACX for €400, but in September. I only want ACX because of my planned project and it's the easiest to mod since I'm a beginner. I need the card to deliver good performance at 1080p for the entire time, max out BF4 (which I'm sure both cards can) and run other current games at high/ultra settings, and run upcoming games at medium/high settings.

I think the 780 can deliver results I want, but is the 770 powerful enough to make it as well?

[PrehistoricDuck]

If you can afford the 780 just get it. It is not worth buying the 770 and realising it is not good enough for you thus making you return and get the 780 anyway. 

Also consider the R9 290.

[Manny Calavera]

r9 290 if you dont need nvidia stuff 

[BonBon Scott]

Don't forget the ol' R9 290. TRI-X or VAPOR-X or Windforce cooler.

[fringie]

In all honesty, the 770 is great but frame dips really hurt the fluidity (on 1080p). I purely blame it on bad ports but yeah, if you want to avoid that go with the 780 (I had a 290x and when it dipped it was still pretty fluid).

 

I don't really know what you want because the 780 still isn't a good option for 4k, by time 4k is achievable without spending like £2k there will be cards that are more suited for the job out there.

 

So 770 unless you don't mind paying 50% more for 100% fluidity. I'd say the 290 is the better option but that's if you'd consider it though.

[gilang01]

By frame dips you mean in watch dogs? Hell eevn a 780 time will drop to the 30s. This game is badly optimized

[lachyman]

By frame dips you mean in watch dogs? Hell eevn a 780 time will drop to the 30s. This game is badly optimized

I couldn't care less about Watch Dogs. The game comes with the cards and I would sell it as soon as possible.

[SlaughterSmurf]

Unlike everyone else in this thread, I am going to actually answer your question. In terms of performance the 780 is miles ahead of the 770, it isn't even close. I would go for the 780

[Inkz]

I would say either a 290 or a 780. If you can afford them, as I do not think the 770 will be a massive improvement like you want.

[JDregius]

I'm using a 770 and really I haven't found much that I cant enjoy with it. I haven't played battlefield as its not my cup of tea really, 
that being said even if you have it for only 2 years, you are paying $1 a week for a very large performance boost that could make a real difference when pushing game to the maximum. 
on first look i would have said 770 but if you can spring the extra 100 do it. 
I cant really say much when it comes to the 290 i haven't researched it much 

[lachyman]

In all honesty, the 770 is great but frame dips really hurt the fluidity (on 1080p). I purely blame it on bad ports but yeah, if you want to avoid that go with the 780 (I had a 290x and when it dipped it was still pretty fluid).

I don't really know what you want because the 780 still isn't a good option for 4k, by time 4k is achievable without spending like £2k there will be cards that are more suited for the job out there.

So 770 unless you don't mind paying 50% more for 100% fluidity. I'd say the 290 is the better option but that's if you'd consider it though.

I don't want a card for 4K, I want a card that will handle 1080p gaming for like 2 years with above average settings.

I currently play mostly BF4 and some other games 660 runs fine, and I'm surely getting GTA V, Project Cars, Witcher 3 and I'm probably getting Star Citizen as well. In those games I want high/ultra settings. I will also play other good games that come along the road, in which however I don't need the best possible graphics.

I want an ACX card specifically, because I plan to dye the shroud, and as I'm a beginner it's the easiest with ACX.

[SpyRosL]

I don't want a card for 4K, I want a card that will handle 1080p gaming for like 2 years with above average settings.

I currently play mostly BF4 and some other games 660 runs fine, and I'm surely getting GTA V, Project Cars, Witcher 3 and I'm probably getting Star Citizen as well. In those games I want high/ultra settings. I will also play other good games that come along the road, in which however I don't need the best possible graphics.

I want an ACX card specifically, because I plan to dye the shroud, and as I'm a beginner it's the easiest with ACX.

If you can afford the 780,don't look back.

However,if you want to save some cash, the 770 is a pretty damn good card for 1080p.It's of course way slower than the 780 but as you said,it's for 2 years. bf4 is maxxed out 60+ fps for sure because i play it with my 770.( abandoned 1080p and started playing 1440p with downsampling now with no AA.)

 

It all comes down to your budget.

[lachyman]

If you can afford the 780,don't look back.

However,if you want to save some cash, the 770 is a pretty damn good card for 1080p.It's of course way slower than the 780 but as you said,it's for 2 years. bf4 is maxxed out 60+ fps for sure because i play it with my 770.( abandoned 1080p and started playing 1440p with downsampling now with no AA.)

 

It all comes down to your budget.

Well I can currently afford both cards, but if I bought the 770 I would have some more money to buy some other things for my project and buy everything I need comfortably, but with the 780 I would probably have to skimp on some minor-ish things.

To the project itself, I plan to do some sweeping changes in my build since I'm not very satisfied with some things and the color scheme, I wasn't as educated and intererested in this matter when this computer was built and I didn't really pick all the parts myself.

[fringie]

I don't want a card for 4K, I want a card that will handle 1080p gaming for like 2 years with above average settings.

I currently play mostly BF4 and some other games 660 runs fine, and I'm surely getting GTA V, Project Cars, Witcher 3 and I'm probably getting Star Citizen as well. In those games I want high/ultra settings. I will also play other good games that come along the road, in which however I don't need the best possible graphics.

I want an ACX card specifically, because I plan to dye the shroud, and as I'm a beginner it's the easiest with ACX.

You'll want a 780 then.

[jonno45]

EVGA 780 super clocked ACX great performance shows the Titan a thing or two!

[lachyman]

Hey there,

sorry for bumping this thread, but I wanted to thank everybody who contributed to this topic and helped me make a choice. I ordered the EVGA 780 SC ACX, it should be arriving by the start of next week, I will of course share my thoughts in a review and start my personal little big project in the build log section.

 

A small question though, I currently use as you may have noticed a 660 with the latest drivers (340.43) and GeForce Experience (2.1), do I have to do fresh installs wtih the 780's or is it safe to leave it alone?

[BiG StroOnZ]

 do I have to do fresh installs wtih the 780's or is it safe to leave it alone?

 

It is recommended to always remove a previous driver installation before adding in a new card. So yes, uninstall old drivers. Remove old card. Install new card. Install fresh drivers (preferably newest available). Enjoy new card. 

[lachyman]

It is recommended to always remove a previous driver installation before adding in a new card. So yes, uninstall old drivers. Remove old card. Install new card. Install fresh drivers (preferably newest available). Enjoy new card.

Alright, I will do the fresh install then. Should I use the utility Nvidia provides to uninstall the drivers or use Driver Sweeper?

[BiG StroOnZ]

Alright, I will do the fresh install then. Should I use the utility Nvidia provides to uninstall the drivers or use Driver Sweeper?

 

In most cases a simple uninstallation from the "Uninstall or Change a Program" in My Computer option will suffice. So just remove the old nVidia driver via that method. Then check clean install when it prompts you to do so when installing the new drivers.

 

It's not like you are switching from AMD to nVidia.

[lachyman]

In most cases a simple uninstallation from the "Uninstall or Change a Program" in My Computer option will suffice. So just remove the old nVidia driver via that method. Then check clean install when it prompts you to do so when installing the new drivers.

 

It's not like you are switching from AMD to nVidia.

I will do it that way then, thanks for the info.

[kekstorm]

Go with the 780, I can't tell you how much I regret getting a 770. It's like buying the "best GPU with GK104 chipset" compared to other GPUs with GK104", but the 780 and 780ti is much better (GK110). The GK110 (GTX 780) has faster bandwidth and 358bit bus, which greatly impacts high resolutions' (1440P, 1600P, 2160P) performance positively. On top of that, the GTX 770 is not really next generation card; it's basically an overclocked GTX 680 with a bit better performance.

The 780 is definitely worth it and you can SLI it down the road in a year or two and you will still be slicing through games like butter on 1080P.