6870 to 7950 for 1440p?

[Smartazz]

Hi all, I've been planning to get a Catleap for a while and now I have plenty of money for it and a new video card to go along with it. Would I be much better off waiting until the 8900 series and GTX 700 series? With the price of the 7950 is seems like a steal and would probably be a huge upgrade from my 6870. Which 7950 should I get or should I consider another card in the ~$300 price range?

I. Processor/CPU:

2500K@4.5GHz

II. Current Graphics Card:

XFX Radeon HD 6870

III. Display Resolution:

Likely to be 2560 by 1440 soon.

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:

Seasonic 620W, should be plenty for any GPU.

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):

Antec 1200.

Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.

$300-$350


II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?

I would like an aftermarket cooler that is quiet. My Antec 1200 has plenty of airflow so it should't be a problem.


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?

No


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?

Yes, and the 7950 sounds like the best deal atm.

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?

Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2, Black Ops 2, Crysis 2 and 3 next year.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?

Yes, very much so with overvolting as well.

 

[Durvelle27]

say go ahead and get the HD 7950. The two i recommend

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003

 

[Smartazz]

say go ahead and get the HD 7950. The two i recommend

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003

The second one you linked is one of the boost 7950s. Are they really any different from the original 7950?
Edit: Users also report that the Sapphire cannot overvolt which is a dealkiller with the 7950.

 

[Durvelle27]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125414

 

[ZimZum]

The second one you linked is one of the boost 7950s. Are they really any different from the original 7950?
Edit: Users also report that the Sapphire cannot overvolt which is a dealkiller with the 7950.

Trixx 4.4.0 beta is able to adJust voltages on the Vapor-x.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1303929/7950-vapor-x-voltage-locked/170

 

[blastingcap]

Whatever you do, get a card with at least 2GB VRAM for that resolution.

 

[RussianSensation]

Do you care about noise levels?

MSI HD7950 Twin Frozr is a monster overclocker but the fan gets loud above 70% fan speed apparently.

Gigabyte Windforce 3x is quieter and also has a good record for overclocking.

Sapphire Vapor-X has solid black diamond chokes which should eliminate coil whine but if voltage control doesn't work properly, I wouldn't buy it vs. Windforce or MSI TF3.

Regarding HD8900 series, it depends if you want to wait until March at the earliest. You may be able to catch an HD7970 on sale for close to $320-330 soon though. That would be the main reason I'd not get the 7950 for your resolution at $300. If you are not in a rush to buy, you can wait for a sale on a 7970. It all depends how soon you want to get the new monitor and GPU. Do you want to play Medal of Honor Warfighter or BF3 on the new screen as soon as possible? Then don't wait and enjoy the new card.

Except for Black Ops 2, all the other games you are listed are pretty demanding for that resolution. Be prepared to turn down settings if you want 60 fps in Witcher 2, BF3, and Crysis 2. Crysis 3, I have no idea but apparently it will eat our GPUs for breakfast. For $300, HD7950 Overclocked is a great bang for the buck if you hit 1100mhz or faster.

 

[Smartazz]

Do you care about noise levels?

MSI HD7950 Twin Frozr is a monster overclocker but the fan gets loud above 70% fan speed apparently.

Gigabyte Windforce 3x is quieter and also has a good record for overclocking.

Sapphire Vapor-X has solid black diamond chokes which should eliminate coil whine but if voltage control doesn't work properly, I wouldn't buy it vs. Windforce or MSI TF3.

Regarding HD8900 series, it depends if you want to wait until March at the earliest. You may be able to catch an HD7970 on sale for close to $320-330 soon though. That would be the main reason I'd not get the 7950 for your resolution at $300. If you are not in a rush to buy, you can wait for a sale on a 7970. It all depends how soon you want to get the new monitor and GPU. Do you want to play Medal of Honor Warfighter or BF3 on the new screen as soon as possible? Then don't wait and enjoy the new card.

Except for Black Ops 2, all the other games you are listed are pretty demanding for that resolution. Be prepared to turn down settings if you want 60 fps in Witcher 2, BF3, and Crysis 2. Crysis 3, I have no idea but apparently it will eat our GPUs for breakfast. For $300, HD7950 Overclocked is a great bang for the buck if you hit 1100mhz or faster.

Noise levels are extremely important, especially coil whine. If the Vapor X has a pretty much non existent chance of that, then I'm leaning toward that. That Vapor X is a boost model, does that hold back overclocks through something like Kepler throttle?

 

[cmdrdredd]

The second one you linked is one of the boost 7950s. Are they really any different from the original 7950?
Edit: Users also report that the Sapphire cannot overvolt which is a dealkiller with the 7950.

Boost can be turned off with the sapphire card via a toggle switch that uses a 2nd bios.

 

[Smartazz]

Are the Gigabyte and MSI 7950s that much more likely to have coil whine? It's something I'd really like to avoid if possible.
Edit: I'm leaning toward the MSI Twin Frozr 7950. I'm going to try for 1200MHz, which should bring it above GTX 680 speeds right?

 

[ZimZum]

Are the Gigabyte and MSI 7950s that much more likely to have coil whine? It's something I'd really like to avoid if possible.
Edit: I'm leaning toward the MSI Twin Frozr 7950. I'm going to try for 1200MHz, which should bring it above GTX 680 speeds right?

They're certainly more likely than the Vapor-X which has zero chance of getting coil whine (supposedly). A 7950 at 1100mhz beats a 680. If your going for 1200mhz the Twin Frozr is your best bet. If noise and possible chance of coil whine are deal breakers go with the Vapor-X. Its not a bad overclocker, its just not as good as the TF.

 

[Smartazz]

They're certainly more likely than the Vapor-X which has zero chance of getting coil whine (supposedly). A 7950 at 1100mhz beats a 680. If your going for 1200mhz the Twin Frozr is your best bet. If noise and possible chance of coil whine are deal breakers go with the Vapor-X. Its not a bad overclocker, its just not as good as the TF.

Supposedly not all of the Vapor X cards will overvolt, can anyone confirm or deny this? If they can all overvolt, then I think that's the card to get. Man, buying a video card these days is tough.