7870 or 7950? (i5-750 CPU, 1680x1050)

[King Mustard]

I currently have a have a GeForce 560 (1 GB) from May 2011 with an Intel Core i5-750 CPU and 8 GB RAM.

I always play the latest games (e.g. currently Far Cry 3, Crysis 3), at 1680x1050.

My options are:

• HD 7870 (2 GB) (Mar 2012) (£170)
• HD 7950 (3 GB) (Jan 2012) (£210)

The 7950 is a little faster overall I believe, and has more RAM. However it's also £40 more.

Which do you suggest as a worthy upgrade?

 

[Tweak155]

7870 at that resolution. If you think you'll upgrade monitors in the near future, might as well go for the 7950.

I currently use a 6870 in one of my machines and it plays everything I play just fine, but I rarely play the latest and greatest graphics wise.

 

[Termie]

The two games you mention (FC3 and C3) happen to require a lot of graphics horsepower. While you would in general be CPU-limited with a stock i5-750 and an HD7950, you probably won't be in those games, even at 1680x1050.

That being said, the HD7950 isn't much better at stock speeds than the HD7870 in FC3:

http://www.techspot.com/review/615-far-cry-3-performance/page2.html
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/12/17/far_cry_3_video_card_performance_iq_review/5

Despite that, at the prices you quoted, I'd be tempted to go for the 7950. You'll get on average 15-20% more performance for 23% more money.

 

[King Mustard]

The two games you mention (FC3 and C3) happen to require a lot of graphics horsepower. While you would in general be CPU-limited with a stock i5-750 and an HD7950, you probably won't be in those games, even at 1680x1050.

That being said, the HD7950 isn't much better at stock speeds than the HD7870 in FC3:

http://www.techspot.com/review/615-far-cry-3-performance/page2.html
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/12/17/far_cry_3_video_card_performance_iq_review/5

Despite that, at the prices you quoted, I'd be tempted to go for the 7950. You'll get on average 15-20% more performance for 23% more money.

Just discovered the Tahiti-core 7870 (December 2012).

It's £5 more than the standard 7870 but the performance is much closer to the 7950.

Also, I think I get 4 free games with the Tahiti-core 7870. I'll know tomorrow, when Aria's tech support is open.

 

[raghu78]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7870_jokerCard_Tahiti_LE/31.html

the HD 7950 boost is 15 - 20% faster than HD 7870 Tahiti LE at stock and overclocked. at the same clocks the HD 7950 is close to 30% faster than HD 7870.

 

[King Mustard]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/31.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7870_jokerCard_Tahiti_LE/31.html

the HD 7950 boost is 15 - 20% faster than HD 7870 Tahiti LE at stock and overclocked. at the same clocks the HD 7950 is close to 30% faster than HD 7870.

The 7950 Boost is £292...