7950 or 7870 ... or what?!

BaGGy

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
156
$320 (w/ $20 MIR) - MSI Radeon HD7950, 3GB GDDR5, Mini DisplayPortx2, DVI-I, HDMI, PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card R7950 TWIN FROZR 3GD5/OC
$270 (w/ $20 MIR + Dirt SHOWDOWN) MSI R7870 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP
$130 (w/ $30 MIR + Dirt 3) - XFX HD-687A-ZHFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP


These are the cards I am debating right now, trying to justify if the performance from a 7950 for the additional $50 will be lasting and worthwhile for games like Diablo 3, Mechwarrior Online, Mists of Pandaria Expansion, and Planetside 2. Resolution will be 1366x768 until we upgrade the monitor later one, aiming for at least 1920x1080 before the year ends.

Unless someone can show me some of these rebates they are finding with 7950's for under $300, I've seen a few posts talking about them.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
These are the cards I am debating right now, trying to justify if the performance from a 7950 for the additional $50 will be lasting and worthwhile for games like Diablo 3, Mechwarrior Online, Mists of Pandaria Expansion, and Planetside 2. Resolution will be 1366x768 until we upgrade the monitor later one, aiming for at least 1920x1080 before the year ends.

Go for the MSI HD 7950 OC. Since you mention going for a 1080p monitor thats your best option. The games you mention don't seem to be very demanding. But you would want to have the best card you can get now for your budget. Latest games like Dirt Showdown are making these high end cards itself struggle.

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/869-14/benchmark-dirt-showdown.html

at 1080p with advanced lighting the HD 7950 (800 Mhz) does 48 fps. HD 7870 does 47 fps. But the card you are looking at runs at 880 Mhz. At that speed the HD 7950 will atleast be 10+ % faster the HD 7870. Also HD 7950 has more OC headroom than HD 7870. It can overclock at stock volts to 1 Ghz and with voltage tweaking to 1.15 Ghz. so there is more simply more perf to be had from the HD 7950 card.

Games like BF3 will be faster on the HD 7950. Let me put it this way HD 7870 at 1200 Mhz will get close to a HD 7950 at 900 Mhz. But the HD 7950 is just getting started. it will easily beat the HD 7870 by 20 - 25% once you overclock it to 1.1+ Ghz.
 
I think a 7950 is overkill for those games, TBH. The 7870 for $289 - $20 MIR on the MSI is a pretty darn good deal. I just nabbed that exact one today, and I play at 1080p to replace my 5770.

Save your extra $50 and get the 7870, or you can go $50 less and get the HIS 7850, not a bad option either.

What are you upgrading from?
 
The 7850 is a better bargain than the 7870 because it will overclock to the same level of performance as the 7870 stock or overclocked and actually its not far from a stock 7950.
 
Get the 7950. Overkill in a few games is better than not enough horsepower in others.
 
To be honest, I've owned a 7850, 7950 and 670 over the last 3 months now, they will all play any modern game well, granted the 7850 requires some overclocking to get near the same level of performance but if it can be had for under $250 with a non-reference cooler, its a steal. If a 7950 can be had for low $300's with a non-reference cooler, its a steal also, just be prepared to overclock a 7850 or 7950 to get the most out of them. The 7870 isn't necessarily bad in any way, its just stuck bteween two cards that offer better value for equal or better performance, but then again I feel the same way about the 7970.
 
I feel there is such diminishing returns on your dollar over $300 on a video card... but that is just me, especially at 1080p.

EDIT: I agree without Blkout, the 7870 is kindof stuck between a 7850 and a 7950, but for the price ($270 after MIR) you get great guaranteed performance out of the box without having to place your bets on a decent OC chip.
 
I feel there is such diminishing returns on your dollar over $300 on a video card... but that is just me, especially at 1080p.

That's a valid opinion, but that being said, what if I said you could save $30-40 and buy a 7850 compared to a 7870, overclock it yourself and be just as quick as a 7870 overlocked or not? I don't hate the 7870, its just that for all intents and purposes its like buying a overclocked 7850 and paying a premium for it. But then again, I don't care anything about paying a premium for factory OC'd versions either.
 
In this case, you're getting a discounted overclocked 7870, that's why I think it's a good deal. It's only $30 more than the 7850 from MSI. That saves you the $50 price gap to jump into the 79xx range.

EDIT: I agree with you, I originally purchased a 7850 (returned it - DOA, it was a Sapphire dual fan OC 7850 if anyone was curious) with intentions of overclocking it and getting it to 7870 speeds. But with this deal I was guaranteed 7870 speeds out of box and room to OC it more if I needed. It's just the way I looked at it.
 
Don't get me wrong, the MSI Twin Frozr version of the 7870 at that price is far better than a reference version at the same price and makes the offer much more tempting but since the 7870 and 7950 in this case are both Twin Frozr's, I still believe the 7950 offers more value.
 
That's a valid opinion, but that being said, what if I said you could save $30-40 and buy a 7850 compared to a 7870, overclock it yourself and be just as quick as a 7870 overlocked or not? I don't hate the 7870, its just that for all intents and purposes its like buying a overclocked 7850 and paying a premium for it. But then again, I don't care anything about paying a premium for factory OC'd versions either.

In few games like BF3 HD 7850 is around 9 - 10% slower clock for clock.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/9.html

HD 7850 (1 Ghz) - 45.4
HD 7870 (1 Ghz) - 49.5

HD 7870 is 9% faster clock for clock.

while in few other games like crysis 2 its around 4 - 5%.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/14.html

HD 7850 (1 Ghz) - 45
HD 7870 (1 Ghz) - 47.5

Games like shogun 2 which show almost linear scaling with extra shaders show almost 20% difference at same clocks. So accounting for various cases a 10% avg diff at same clocks is reasonable.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_7850_PCS_Plus/28.html

Also its safe to assume that 1200 Mhz is easier on HD 7870 than HD 7850. so accounting for better binning and a 10% perf diff at similar clocks HD 7870 is a better value till the price diff is less than USD 50. There is no linear perf to price scaling in graphics cards. GTX 670 is 8 - 10% slower than GTX 680 but 20% cheaper. so a HD 7870 is a good buy at USD 300 when compared to a HD 7850 at USD 250. But above USD 300 HD 7870 is not a good deal.

But nothing comes close to a HD 7950 at USD 320. Get that bad ass chip to 1150 Mhz and you will whack any high end card on price perf while remaining competitive on pure perf even when all the high end cards are overclocked. ( GTX 670, HD 7970, GTX 680)
 
Your regurgitated benchmarks are quite frankly getting old and no one is even looking at them by now, certainly not me so there's no sense in posting for them for my benefit. My 7850 overclocked was not far behind a stock 7950 in most games which is a great value. The 7870 for all intents is an overclocked 7850 with a few more shaders which could easily be made up for with a little clock speed. Keep in mind, I have owned BOTH a 7850 and a 7950.

Which current generation cards have you owned and what was your experience with them?
 
Raghu, he's not playing those games. The benchmarks are completely irrelevant. It's important when buying hardware (IMO) to get value out what you need it for. It's not about what benchmarks better than the other in irrelevant titles.

Get your best performance to the dollar for what you will see a benefit in.

you guys still recommending cards and we have no idea what his pc looks like.

I agree, I'm just trying to help with the information given (games and resolution) the OP is wanting. OP, can you please provide the rest of your hardware specs? Specifically, PSU, CPU and motherboard.
 
Last edited:
Raghu, he's not playing those games. The benchmarks are completely irrelevant. It's important when buying hardware (IMO) to get value out what you need it for. It's not about what benchmarks better than the other in irrelevant titles.

Get your best performance to the dollar for what you will see a benefit in.

Personally I feel the HD 7950 is a very good buy. the OP can decide whether he needs that extra perf or if he wants to save a little money.
 
Wow, good job Raghu, a benchmark of a game the OP isn't going to play at a resolution he won't be playing at.
 
Wow, good job Raghu, a benchmark of a game the OP isn't going to play at a resolution he won't be playing at.

I kind of look at using a graphics card for 2 - 3 years. For that time frame I would recommend anybody to over provision in terms of perf. The OP himself asked HD 7950 vs HD 7870. for me its a no brainer. the OP can make his decisions weighing the factors he considers important.
 
Price/perf wise and looking at your current and future resolution I actually recommend the 6870.
There were 560TIs in the 130 range too after rebate, but I don't think they are available anymore.

We don't know what the rest of your system looks like, but at such a low resolution, the other options are truly a waste. I personally believe that anyone recommending a 7870 or 7950 for 1366x768 is insane. Even at 1080p those cards are overkill for the games you listed.

Your resolution implies that you're probably using a TV since not many consumer LCDs are native 1366x768 monitors. Hell, you could get 2 6870s for cheaper than the 7870 and they still won't be vram limited in the games you listed.
 
Corsair 620HX PSU
Intel 3570K
ASUS P8Z77-V
G.Skill Ares 8GB (2x4GB) 1600 1.5V

For those requesting additional specs...
 
You could easily just get the 6870 and be happy with it, but that depends on what you're upgrading from. A 7870 is about as high as I would go for your resolutions and still have plenty of headroom (these OC quite well), over $300 and you're paying for performance you won't see right now and you won't get your money's worth. That's my opinion.
 
To put it in perspective, when I played World of Warcraft on my QX6850 and 5770, it was maxed. I play Diablo 3 on highest settings with my 5770. Zero framerate problems at all for me at 1080p with those titles. Planetside 2 requirements are low as well.

I also play BF3 and Skyrim and some other more demanding games, so I made the jump for that MSI 7870.

I think you would be perfectly happy with a 7850 or the 7870, but the 6870 you listed would do you just fine. It depends on your highest budget, and what you are OK with spending.
 
If you are truly only playing those games, save the money and get a 6870. Although to be honest I'm not sure what Planetside 2's specs are like.
 
7950 if you're going to hold for 2 years or more. This is what I did and why.
 
7950 if you're going to hold for 2 years or more. This is what I did and why.

Can you explain why you think the 7950 is beneficial for the OPs purpose for the overall cost? Just curious if you've read most of the thread.
 
I understand it's reliant on my budget, but I also am looking for good information just as Cmustang87 has posted.

I could go buy a 7950 and essentially waste money... because apparently the 7870s are a slight decrease in performance; however, capable of higher numbers with just a push of a button thus saving me money.
 
I honestly think the 7950 is a waste of money in your case BaGGy. Overclocking won't even be necessary. The out of box performance on any of those cards will blow you away anyway.

If you want to go the safe route and be sufficient for what you need and save a boatload of money, 6870.

If you want to have a card that will last you another year or so (you could easily get 2+ years), get a 7850 (this can be overclocked as well). I bought a 4870 4 years ago with my rig, and did a sidegrade to a 5770 just because of power/heat and still using that. I only upgrade video cards every 3-4 years and this (5770) held me over perfectly.

The MSI 7870 will get you the best performance out of the box for the dollar and you're not paying a premium price for extra horsepower (7950) you may not, and most likely won't, see in the games you play.

I would completely forget about getting a 7950. It's way too much money for the games you said you play. But I'm speaking with my wallet, not yours.
 
Can you explain why you think the 7950 is beneficial for the OPs purpose for the overall cost? Just curious if you've read most of the thread.

Buying for just the games you're playing right now is extremely short sighted. New consoles in 13, meaning new console ports requiring a lot more muscle. 7950s can widely be had at ~$300.
 
I think that you would be crazy to spend any more than the $130 for that resolution. Worry about a gpu upgrade when you upgrade that display. Even at 1080p a 6870 is no slouch.
 
I understand it's reliant on my budget, but I also am looking for good information just as Cmustang87 has posted.

I could go buy a 7950 and essentially waste money... because apparently the 7870s are a slight decrease in performance; however, capable of higher numbers with just a push of a button thus saving me money.

Yeah exactly. The overclocking you mention on HD 7870 is possible on HD 7950 too. And in fact with more clock headroom. So you have to decide if the extra perf of HD 7950 is required or not. If you want to keep the card for more than 2 years get the HD 7950.
 
I'd go with a 7950. However if you think it's too much then cross out the 7870 and consider a 7850 instead. It can overclock pretty well and almost to the same level of an overclocked 7870.
 
Back
Top