Are you talking about drivers? If so, go ahead and run the latest, it won't mess with your shaders, and will give you a better gaming experience. Only a bios flash would mess with your shaders.
If your talking cards.. the HD7950 was an upgrade for me as i had the same setup on my HD6950.. it cost me $90 after i ebayed my old card which sold for $180 and new card was $269 but i got 3 games also.