7870 or 7950

[Sequences]

Hi, I've been doing a bit of research and can't really decide between the two.

Resolution: 3240x1920
Games: Civ5, possibly new SimCity next year

Power supply is 700W
CPU: i7 950
RAM: 24.5GB

I saw 2 reviews on Rage3D; one for a 7870 and one for a 7950 and there did not seem to be much of a difference between the two when it comes to eyefinity gameplay of Civ5. This is surprising for me as I'd assumed that to comfortably play on 3 monitors, one would need around 3GB's worth of VRAM.

7950 review I am referencing:
http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/his_hd7950_iceq_turbo/index.php?p=8

7870 review I am referencing:
http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/his_hd7870_iceq_xturbo/index.php?p=7

I know that Civ5 is a very CPU heavy game, but these results surprised me. Can someone confirm it?

Also, for which companies offer the better cards, I hear Sapphire/HIS/MSI/Gigabyte offer the better cards. I believe I would be interested in a voltage unlocked card for the possibility of overclocking the card a few years down the line when needed.

I realize that both cards are great cards for their values, but I would prefer to buy a 7870 if that will suffice for max (or close to max) graphics at the above resolution playing at 40+fps most of the time.

Much thanks!

 

[Durvelle27]

get the HD 7950 for that res

 

[Sequences]

Even though the review chart indicates that their performance is somewhat similar?

 

[Greenlepricon]

Try this

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

Civ V is one of those weird games where it doesn't really matter much. The main benefits of having the 7950 are you have the extra memory and it is a little faster at stock and much faster overclocked. Most games won't use the memory but it may come in handy for other titles.

 

[lehtv]

7950 3GB + overclock.

 

[Sequences]

Try this

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

Civ V is one of those weird games where it doesn't really matter much. The main benefits of having the 7950 are you have the extra memory and it is a little faster at stock and much faster overclocked. Most games won't use the memory but it may come in handy for other titles.

That does not do any benchmarking for the resolution I would like to play at, which is a bummer. I do see that the performance of the game is similar under regular one monitor. What I am concerned about is if I need the extra GB of VRAM (and extra BUS) for a multimonitor setup.

 

[Greenlepricon]

That does not do any benchmarking for the resolution I would like to play at, which is a bummer. I do see that the performance of the game is similar under regular one monitor. What I am concerned about is if I need the extra GB of VRAM (and extra BUS) for a multimonitor setup.

For the games you listed I highly doubt you'll need the extra gig of ram. If that's all you even intend to play then the 7870 will work out just fine. The main reason you would want the 7950 is because it should keep newer games going better than the 7870. If you're on a budget though then go for the cheapest you can get. They're both excellent deals at their price points.