7870 ghz edition vs. standard 7950

[hodgenutts]

I have a xfx 7870 ghz edition that I am R.M.A.ing do to instability. It's the following card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150605

I was wondering if I would really see much improvement with the black edition:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150606

Finally my originaly card was a -GHZ- edition how would that stack up against a base clocked 800 mhz 7950 such as the following with the 200 mhz slower core clock?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150588

thank you very much in advance.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I would take the 7950

 

[hodgenutts]

Ok, but that doesn't really tell how much performance increase a basic 7950 would have over a ghz edition 7870.

 

[raghu78]

OP stay away from the XFX DD coolers. the cooler is no match for the sapphire dual x or gigabyte windforce3x. also why are you picking a 800 mhz HD 7950. get the Sapphire HD 7950 boost with 925 mhz clocks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202006

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/11/12/fall_2012_gpu_driver_comparison_roundup/3

http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page4.html

even at stock this card is 20 - 25% faster than HD 7870 (1 Ghz). but the fact is once you max out power option to +20% and overclock this card to 1.15 Ghz the HD 7950 will be 35 - 40% faster than HD 7870(1.25 Ghz).

 

[hodgenutts]

I just liked the xfx DD cooler design. I like the solid copper cores on the heatsinks, and solid copper heat pipes. Is it bad?

 

[Eureka]

It's not the best. If you're going to overclock anyway, I'm not sure if it matters to get a boosted version. Just make sure it has an aftermarket cooler.

 

[hodgenutts]

I thought copper disipated heat better than aluminum. I could very well be wrong. I'm new to this kind of thing.

 

[raghu78]

I just liked the xfx DD cooler design. Is it bad?

for cooling efficiency the XFX DD is no match for the sapphire dual x or gigabyte windforce 3x. the newegg user reviews for the sapphire hd 7950 boost are very positive.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...2-sapphire-hd-7950-dual-fan-oc-review-12.html

load temps
Sapphire HD 7950 OC - 59c

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1862/13/

gaming temps

Sapphire HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) - 53
XFX HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) - 69

furmark temps -

Sapphire HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) - 63
XFX HD 7950 OC (900 Mhz) - 74


"The SAPPHIRE HD 7950 Overclocked Edition video card performed excellent in audio testing. We knew the card sounded quieter, but with the sound meter data we can see a huge difference. At idle the SAPPHIRE HD 7950 OC Edition came in at 41.9dB, which is 4.3dB quieter than the XFX R7950 Black Edition Double Dissipation card. At full load in Furmark, the SAPPHIRE card was 8.4dB quieter! Fan speed was obviously the culprit. The Sapphire branded card had the fans at 1200 RPM at idle and 1765 RPM at full load. The XFX cards fans were running much faster, 1480 RPM at idle and 2175 RPM at full load."

 

[jacktesterson]

The DD Cooler on the 7870 will work but sucks compared to the Sapphire, Asus and MSI cards... Or even the turbo x his.

 

[hodgenutts]

Ok tyvm for the info.

 

[hodgenutts]

I do have to admit, I also like the lifetime warranty of xfx vs. 2 year sapphire warranty.

 

[wand3r3r]

I agree, that is a nice warranty. I haven't tried the DD coolers so I don't know enough, but even if the card is running at 70 degrees that's still reasonable. I just don't know about noise and other factors.

About the clock speed difference, you can very easily overclock the 7950 in the catalyst control panel to 925 MHz which is what the boost version is at. You can very likely simply slide the clocks up to 1000 MHz or possibly beyond. You just need to run a few tests to make sure it's stable, and if you see visible artifacts or strange shapes etc. then back it down 20 MHz. It's very simple even if you haven't tried it before. The 7950's are generally ok or quite good for overclocking.

I would go for the 7950 and overclock it a bit.

 

[exar333]

I would take the 7950

This.

 

[Durvelle27]

+1 for the HD 7950

 

[KingFatty]

I just liked the xfx DD cooler design. I like the solid copper cores on the heatsinks, and solid copper heat pipes. Is it bad?

The design aspect can be very important, especially when you have a transparent or special-design case that shows off the look and design of the card.

But if your computer is like mine where you keep it under the desk out of view, then design is not as important and instead takes a back seat to how well the cooler actually functions, how much noise it makes, etc.

 

[Eureka]

I don't think he was talking about visual design.

Anyway, once again I would recommend to the OP, get the cheapest top-brand 7950, preferably with an aftermarket cooler. Any of the top brands will do you good. The OC versions shouldn't matter if you're going to do it yourself anyway.

Alternatively, if you're really itching to OC, get a reference card and put it under water (you can adapt an AIO cooler for this).

 

[MentalIlness]

Anandtech Bench

7870 vs. 7950

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=550

7870 vs. 7950 w/Boost

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/548?vs=645

 

[hodgenutts]

My case is am antec 900

 

[hodgenutts]

Found a Black edition xfx double D 7950 with a lifetime warranty and a factory clock of 900 mhz on the GPU. 3 free games were included, all for $299 after rebate. Crossing my fingers lol

 

[3DVagabond]

The DD cooler isn't terrible. It actually cools the GPU quite well. The VRM's (voltage regulation circuitry) runs hotter on the XFX cards. It's still not so hot as to be an issue. VRM's can safely run quite warm.

As far as it's O/C'ing goes, the XFX 7950DD is the card that [H] used to beat the 670 in their O/C comparison a few months back. It's not a bad O/C'er.

Summing it up, while the XFX DD cooling isn't the best overall, the XFX warranty is. If you plan on hanging onto your card for more than a couple of years, this could be a very important "feature". Just remember to register it withing 30days to take advantage.

 

[Silverforce11]

The problem with the XFX DD is 2 fold. 1) Twin 80mm fans, needs to spin at very high RPM to achieve similar airflow as other coolers with twin 92mm fans. Thus, it gets very noisy under load/especially OC. 2) For some bizzare reason, XFX did not feel they should put heatsinks on VRMs. They run hot at stock already. Running them on a daily basis at OC speed is asking for instability and or extra power waste (Hot VRMs are less efficient than cool ones, period).

 

[p_monks33]

I ran an xfx 7970 DD for about a month, are the coolers the same between the 7950 and 7970 DD? I remember it being very very quiet, and it cooled the gpu pretty well, like under 70c loaded. The VRMs always worried me running over 100c in Metro 2033. Its under water now.