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Which Sapphire 7970?

T

tinate

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2010
Messages
323
I want to get rid of one of the 7970s because I haven't played any fullscreen games in a while, and Xfire is a waste if you're not fullscreen. I have two Sapphire 7970s - 11197-01 and 11197-03. 01 is obviously reference PCB and it has a higher ASIC quality at 73% where my 11197-03 is newer, still in warranty but only 69% quality.

Does it even matter which one I keep and which one I sell off?
 
ASIC quality is a measure of how (voltage) leaky the chip is. The leakier the chip the more voltage it will need to run at its intended clock speed which earns it a lower ASIC quality score. But, since the chip can tolerate high(er) voltages that also means it can reach higher stable overclocked speeds.

You can confirm this by running Afterburner and seeing the max voltages each card reaches at identical clocks. The lower ASIC quality one will show higher voltages than the higher quality one.

Which one to keep is up to you. The lower quality ASIC one will tolerate higher voltages which potentially means higher stable overclocks but that also means it will draw more power and thus will run hotter. The opposite will be true for the higher quality one, it will require less voltage to run at its rated clocks thus consuming less power and running cooler but will not overclock as well.
 
I've owned both and the coolers are virtually identical, the only difference is the PCB layout.

OP, at this point it sounds like it doesn't really matter too much which one you save and which one goes. I'd probably choose the newer one still in warranty. ASIC quality seems like a pretty mixed bag when it comes to determining which is the "better" chip. The only other real reason to keep the reference PCB would be if you're trying to water cool it
 
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