• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

7970 - Reference vs OC non-reference

V

Vesqwi

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 9, 2011
Messages
352
Is there any benefit from having an already overclocked 7970 (non-ref) vs a reference one that I overclock myself ?
 
Another question too:
Would a Asus DirectCU II 7970 (HD7970-DC2T-3GD5) fit in my case and motherboard ? (because I heard it takes 3 slot, and I want to CF two 7970...)

mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
case: Fractal Design Arc Midi
 
Well the one you OC yourself will be cheaper for starters and its more fun to see how high you can take it ;)

The extra $$ for the small bump is not worth it. Not worth SLI'ing the CU cards. Go reference and get blocks.
 
I've read that a lot of non-reference cards have issues with VRM temps. The slight over clocks offered on non-reference models are easily obtainable and aren't worth the price premium, at all.


I would suggest picking up two reference cards and OCing them -- You won't be disappointed.
 
Melon said:
I've read that a lot of non-reference cards have issues with VRM temps. The slight over clocks offered on non-reference models are easily obtainable and aren't worth the price premium, at all.


I would suggest picking up two reference cards and OCing them -- You won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...

Thanks Melon. Since my motherboard is an Asus (ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3) should I also take the Asus 7970 or does it have nothing to do ? (my concern with the Asus Direct CUII is that each card takes 3 slots and I have no idea if it would fit my case and mobo in crossfire)
 
yes there were rumors the double d black edition had binned chips also i've heard that some other non-ref designs use better VRMs that allow for better overclocking
 
hardforummarc said:
Thanks Melon. Since my motherboard is an Asus (ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3) should I also take the Asus 7970 or does it have nothing to do ? (my concern with the Asus Direct CUII is that each card takes 3 slots and I have no idea if it would fit my case and mobo in crossfire)
Click to expand...

Reference manufacturer brands having no relevance, whatsoever -- They all use AMD's reference design, which is why they're coined as being 'reference'. The only thing that differs is the amount of accessories included and which stickers are on the card.

You'll have no spacing issues with crossfiring on that board and reference 7970's.
 
Buying pre-overclocked cards is a waste of money unless they offer something else. Now, one thing to consider is non-reference cards will sometimes have better cooling options. The reference 7970's aren't noisy, but they're not as quiet as some of the non-reference designs.
 
Melon said:
You'll have no spacing issues with crossfiring on that board and reference 7970's.
Click to expand...

Thanks Melon. Do you know if I might have any issue with Crosffiring some non-reference 7970 ? If so, which ones ?


Mr. K6 said:
Buying pre-overclocked cards is a waste of money unless they offer something else. Now, one thing to consider is non-reference cards will sometimes have better cooling options. The reference 7970's aren't noisy, but they're not as quiet as some of the non-reference designs.
Click to expand...

Would the best of both worlds be: reference + aftermarket fan like an Accelero Xtreme 7970?
If so, why, if not why.
 
Last edited:
hardforummarc said:
Thanks Melon. Do you know if I might have any issue with Crosffiring some non-reference 7970 ? If so, which ones ?
Click to expand...
Considering your top two PCI-e 16x slots are three lanes apart, you shouldn't have any spacing issues.
hardforummarc said:
Would the best of both world be to get a reference card and add some gpu cooling to it ?
If so, why, if not why.
Click to expand...
Not at this point, unless you go water cooling. The best air coolers come on the non-reference cards, so just buy those first. The reference cooler isn't by any means bad, in fact, I think it's the best AMD is produced yet. However, it can be improved upon, and that's what the AIB's have done with some of their non-reference designs (Gigabyte, ASUS Direct CU, etc.).
 
I heard the Gigabyte non reference one runs much cooler and produces less noise, I would get that one over the reference model, and the price tag isn't that huge.
 
John Vuong said:
I heard the Gigabyte non reference one runs much cooler and produces less noise, I would get that one over the reference model, and the price tag isn't that huge.
Click to expand...

That is starting to get me confused as hell... anyone ?
 
hardforummarc said:
That is starting to get me confused as hell... anyone ?
Click to expand...

No offense, but maybe you should try to learn some stuff on your own instead of asking question about every little thing. I mean, that guy was crystal clear and if his words are confusing to you, your level of tech expertise is seriously lacking on a very basic level, especially for tech forum like this one. Either that or you don't know English very well :D In any case, keeping asking questions and not understanding answers is not very productive if you don't try to learn something on your own :)
 
hardforummarc said:
That is starting to get me confused as hell... anyone ?
Click to expand...

The Gigabyte card has 3 fans, versus the one blower fan on the reference model. Blower fans exhaust the hot air from the rear of the card, while the majority of Aftermarket models dissipate the heat into your case and rely on your case fans to exhaust the hot air.


Ignore Quick, not everyone is a dick around these forums.


I would suggest reading HardOCP's reviews of the 7970 and base your decision off of which looks best to you, in terms of heat dissipation and OCing.
 
Melon said:
The Gigabyte card has 3 fans, versus the one blower fan on the reference model. Blower fans exhaust the hot air from the rear of the card, while the majority of Aftermarket models dissipate the heat into your case and rely on your case fans to exhaust the hot air.

Ignore Quick, not everyone is a dick around these forums.

I would suggest reading HardOCP's reviews of the 7970 and base your decision off of which looks best to you, in terms of heat dissipation and OCing.
Click to expand...

Thanks again Melon,
I wish HardOCP had a review of the ASUS 7970 DCU II to compare with the OC Gigabytes. I'll try to find a good review on the web and compare both.

@Quick, you're right that I could sometime search a little bit more before asking, but my questions are usually valuable and pertinent. And yea i'm french... still learning english.. I wish I learned it at age of 5 or sooner..
 
hardforummarc said:
@Quick, you're right that I could sometime search a little bit more before asking, but my questions are usually valuable and pertinent. And yea i'm french... still learning english.. I wish I learned it at age of 5 or sooner..
Click to expand...

I apologize if I came across like a "dick" as someone implied here, but you got to admit - when you are asking so many questions answers to which are easily obtainable on your own (eg, covered in multiple threads here and elsewhere), repeating the same questions over and over and not understanding simplest of answers you convey an impression that you lack maturity, too.

In any case, good luck with learning english and your build. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about such minute details like the difference between reference vs non-reference and just get whatever catches your eye. Also, don't go and try to build an extremely complex computer right off the bat (i.e. with watercooling) because you don't seem like the type of guy who knows much about doing that. Start simple and then, as you gain more experience and skills, you can add custom cooling, mod your system, add components, etc - that way you'll be sure to avoid catastrophic mistakes that novices tend to make when trying to do all at once.
 
for someone who's just getting into the computer building game - buy a reference cooler (the ones that are sealed and exhaust air in the back)

I run a 6950 non ref, and 6970 (ref) and the reference design is usually about 20 or 30 C LESS than the dual fan non reference model. This is with 7 case fans as well arranged optimally. (Personally I'm not huge fan of the XFX non reference card I got, bastards runs hot.


If the guy doesn't know too much about airflow he will have a pretty tough time troubleshooting any issues if his card is choking from all the hot air being put into the case.
 
hardforummarc said:
Thanks Melon. Do you know if I might have any issue with Crosffiring some non-reference 7970 ? If so, which ones ?




Would the best of both worlds be: reference + aftermarket fan like an Accelero Xtreme 7970?
If so, why, if not why.
Click to expand...

This thread
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1674481 may answer the question 'why not'

Best advice so far has been not to overthink the build by swetting small details, keep it simple and stick with the ref design.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top