Best 7970's? Possibly 7950's

O

oChaos Nine

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
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More than likely gonna purchase from Tiger Direct for easy returns to the store but open to newegg and amazon. Almost have my mind made up for the Sapphire http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7369719&csid=_61

Each time I check Tiger Direct their game deal changes from Bioshock/Crysis 3 to Sleeping Dogs/Hitman/FarCry 3. I didn't think they were even offering the latter anymore.

Other choices are http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=7700178&sku=P450-7971 and http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3242918&csid=_61 but I can't tell the difference between those two XFX cards besides the game deal and a little different look.

Whichever one I get I want them to be a good overclocker (minus luck). I've read so many reviews on the 7970 and how they perform but I haven't seen too many relating to brand so I'm hoping people here that have these cards can help me out.

Also I'm open to a 7950 as that was my original plan after I read what a great overclocker it was. But that was before I sold a few of my older parts I've been replacing so now I'm thinking 7970 unless I can be talked down to a 7950. Money isn't the issue as long as we're talking $400'ish price range.

Whatever I get I want it to be able to overclock well (in theory) and beat or hang with a 680 for far less money (not including used prices).
 
Sapphire 7970 and HIS 7970 are good cards.
As for the 7950s the Sapphire ones or one from Gigabyte are good cards, but make sure that these are not voltage locked, not sure about the Gigabyte one. The Sapphire cards (7970 and 7950) and the HIS 7970 above are not voltage locked, unless they changed it of late.
 
QDemon19 said:
Sapphire 7970 and HIS 7970 are good cards.
As for the 7950s the Sapphire ones or one from Gigabyte are good cards, but make sure that these are not voltage locked, not sure about the Gigabyte one. The Sapphire cards (7970 and 7950) and the HIS 7970 above are not voltage locked, unless they changed it of late.
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Both of those 7970's are unlocked voltage. Personally I would get a 7950 and overclock the hell out of it.
 
naticus said:
Both of those 7970's are unlocked voltage. Personally I would get a 7950 and overclock the hell out of it.
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Yeah the sweet spot is 7950s. After selling the games you could do 2 x 7950s for 480-500.

Be careful with xfx, my friend just ordered a 7970 xfx and it was locked.
 
oChaos Nine,
I was considering purchasing 7970 right now as well but decided to wait a bit. The reviews for 7970 have been saying the cards are now voltage locked and many users on newegg are having reliability issues with the GPUs.

I'd go for 680 GTX if you want something now.

I'm waiting to see how much the 7990 is going to cost when it's released.
 
Are you planning to watercool and what resolution are you playing at?

Regardless the 7950 is a great buy and the best bang for the buck, but if you want the most performance a 7970 is going to clock higher on average. I personally would look for a reference 7970 or 7950. The 7950s can be had for $269.00 depending on what day of the week you catch it.

What game/s are your main focus?
 
dsmwookie said:
The 7950s can be had for $269.00 depending on what day of the week you catch it.
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This is the problem for most people, regardless of the known issues, 2 x 7950 can be had (after selling the bundled games) for less than a lot of 680s. Hard to pass that up.
 
I'm loling based on the contents of a PM he sent me regarding my GTX 680... and then coming across this thread.
 
Your 680 was used which is the only way I would even think about spending that kind of money on a card for what... MAYBE 5% more performance of a stock 7970? I'm always looking for a good deal and trying to see what the best out there for me is. Just because I msg'd you about a card you had for sale didn't mean I had my mind made up about it.
 
dsmwookie said:
Are you planning to watercool and what resolution are you playing at?

Regardless the 7950 is a great buy and the best bang for the buck, but if you want the most performance a 7970 is going to clock higher on average. I personally would look for a reference 7970 or 7950. The 7950s can be had for $269.00 depending on what day of the week you catch it.

What game/s are your main focus?
Click to expand...

Got an email today http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ex-_-DesktopGraphicsVideoCards-_-14202030-L0A but I honestly can't decide if I want a reference card. From my understanding they seem to overclock better but get hotter and louder with fan noise so I can't decide which way to go atm. Possibility of a lower OC but better cooling, which could increase OC :) or vice versa.

WoW, Tomb Raider, Hitman, Far Cry 3, and then Crysis 3 and Bioshock w/ the AMD bundle.
 
They overclock fine and run cool but you have to run the fan at pretty loud levels. Id honestly look at the Swiftech H220 cooler and add the GPU in with ur savings.
 
FYI, I sold my 680 and bought 2 of those exact Sapphires. Wasn't impressed with 680 overclocking or perf at 6040x1200 and there was no option for the equivalent x1050 resolution in the drivers.

What finally killed it was the inability to find a second 680 4GB for close to what I purchased/sold mine for and the lack of hotswitchable profiles for NVSurround/extended desktop.
 
I wouldn't get reference cards. My sapphire boost with the two fans gets to about 63C max for vrms too and is quiet under load. My 7950 oc'ed is faster and smoother than the evga 670 vanilla card I had previously.
 
If you guys are interested in OC-ing, ask around on the {H} to make sure that these 7970/50s are still voltage unlocked.
Some of the once unlocked voltage 7970/50s are now voltage locked, just something to bear in mind.
 
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