7870 Tahiti vs 7950

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korndawg

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I'm torn on what card to get. I recently purchased an i5-3570k along with 8GB RAM and an ASROCK Z77 Pro4 motherboard for a gaming build. I'm going to reuse my Antec Earthways 500W PSU. I play on a 23.6" 1080p Asus monitor. The games I play at the moment are WoW and iRacing. Thinking about maybe Crysis 3 too at some point. I know any card will suffice for WoW. But with iRacing and Crysis, I don't know. I may buy 2 more monitors for an eyefinity setup for iRacing this year too. Is it best to spend $240 for the Tahiti or $290 for the 7950? I don't need overkill, but I want to run 60+ fps on ultra settings. Or am I better off buying a $180 7850 until the 8000 series are released. Thanks for the recommendations!
 
Get the 7950 and overclock to at least 1100.the extra bus width will help you run ultra settings.
 
Yes I second the 7950, especially since you want to run 3 monitors in the future.

I believe that you'll need at least a 7950/670 to get a decent 3 monitor setup more so if you try to play games like Crysis.
Are you looking to upgrade your PSU, does the 7950 not recommend atleast a 550W supply?
 
I may upgrade the PSU if necessary. The 7950 recommends a 500W. I don't plan on overclocking at all unless necessary. No sense trying to squeeze 10-15 extra FPS if I'm already getting over 60.
 
the HD 7950 boost is atleast 15% faster than HD 7870 Tahiti LE at stock . with overclocking that gap can get to 20%.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7970_X_Turbo/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7870_jokerCard_Tahiti_LE/31.html

BF3 1920 x 1200 4x AA

club3d HD 7870 Tahiti LE - 59.2
HIS HD 7950 iceq boost - 67.5
club3d HD 7870 Tahiti LE (1210 mhz) - 69.8
HD 7970 Ghz (1050 mhz) - 78.9
HIS HD 7950 iceq boost(1210 mhz) - 82.9

the ANTEC EA 500 has only 408W combined across both +12v rails. thats 34A combined across both +12v rails. (34 x 12 = 408W) .

http://techreport.com/review/23419/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-ti-graphics-card-reviewed/10

the psu would do ok. but i would not push voltages to the extreme. get a sapphire HD 7950 boost. you can do 1150 mhz at stock voltage of around 1.25v. get your 3570k to 4 Ghz at stock voltage. you should not draw more than 350w.

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-11196-16-20G/dp/B0098HW1HG/

make sure your case can fit this card. its 29 cm long.
 
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am i cheap? I'm looking at getting a Myst instead of a 7950 because the myst is 215 after MIR....
 
Well we cannot judge you but if 7870 is all you need and $215 is your budget for a GPU then no you're not cheap, maybe you're just practical..lol.

Now if you had some more $$$ ($280 after MIR) you can get a 7950 which we all know by now is better than a 7870, but again like I said depends on your budget and your needs.

Besides would you care about what some random people on some forum think about you!
 
sorry for hijacking but..

for me... my res is 1680x1050 so....... i personally think a 7950 is super overkill. While yes, i think i can go to triple 16x10 monitors (i actually have 2 other monitors but no desk space) i'm just far to lazy to buy a new desk too.

Besides, i prefer to new tomb raider then crysis 3...
 
hesho said:
sorry for hijacking but..

for me... my res is 1680x1050 so....... i personally think a 7950 is super overkill. While yes, i think i can go to triple 16x10 monitors (i actually have 2 other monitors but no desk space) i'm just far to lazy to buy a new desk too.

Besides, i prefer to new tomb raider then crysis 3...
Click to expand...

if you are on a very tight budget go for PCS+ HD 7870 MYST. but its better to spend a little more and go for sapphire HD 7870 XT which uses the same Tahiti LE chip. the sapphire card has a much better dual x cooler. go for it.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202024
 
hmm...... 252 after MIR for a tahiti LE card (powercolor myst) with both games or 280 for a sapphire 7950 single fan version with bioshock.....

worth paying the extra 30 for the tahiti card? Though, the sapphire is the 1st gen 7950 so i am a bit weary of coil whine with it :/
 
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7950- the performance is so much more future proof. ~$40 for an extra year use, i'd bet.
 
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