7950 or 7970?

[Upgrade_Itch]

After reading lots of Newegg user comments on both the 7950 and 7970 models it seems lots more complain about 7970 noisy coil whine.

How bad is it?

I'd rather get a 7970 but it seems like overclocking one brings on coil whine. Its rare to see a complaint regarding 7950 and coil whine.

I definitely don't want a screeching vid card! I'm into efficiency, low noise and good cooling .

 

[lavaheadache]

I don't buy neutered chips. My vote goes for 7970

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Sapphire 7970 with a non reference cooler for $450 after rebate is the best buy in the business.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Get a reference 7970 with arctic cooling

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

Sapphire 7970 with a non reference cooler for $450 after rebate is the best buy in the business.

Ya, either that card or a GTX 680.

 

[dynaboom]

7950 if you want more bang for the buck. Overclocked it is very close to 7970 performance (around 3% slower at same clock speeds).

 

[mple]

7970 will be my next card. Hard to pass up at $450 for the Sapphire model. I'll likely stick with the 7970 unless they release a non-reference 7950 at $350, which can be entirely possible in the next month.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

The 7970 is 5-10% faster with the same clock and overclocks about 10% higher as well, so comparing overclocked to overclocked an avg difference of 10-20% prevails.

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

Nobody has mentioned the "coil whine".....How bad is it?

 

[Despoiler]

Nobody has mentioned the "coil whine".....How bad is it?

Non-existent on my 7970 (Sapphire reference). You can get non-reference models with solid state chokes if you are really concerned.

 

[Jhatfie]

The choice between the 7950 and 7970 hinges on how much that extra 3-5% performance is worth to you if you plan to overclock. If it is worth more $$ to you, then go for the 7970, if not then get the 7950. Overclocking headroom generally is pretty close between both models. All three non reference 7950's (2 Sapphire OC's and one Powercolor PCS+) I have tested have each easily OC'd past 1150/1600 24/7 stable @1.2v. That being said, if you like quiet then look for one of the aftermarket cooler models as I do not like the reference coolers very much. The Sapphire 7970 OC is only $450 AR right now and the cooler is fantastic, it would likely be my choice. In terms of coil wine, I have not really experienced it yet with any of the 79xx series cards I have used for myself or customers.

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

It seems the non ref versions are the ones ppl are whining about on Newegg reviews.

Thanks for the vote of confidence on Sapphire's 7950 oc.....I'm leaning that way....It will def be a Sapphire OC 7900 card.

 

[blastingcap]

Regarding the Sapphire dual-fan models:

7970 uses reference PCB and 7950 does not though it might be as good or better.
Both of the DUAL-X cards use same heatsink and fans which are good.
7970 comes with miniDP to DVI (active) which is important for those wanting Eyefinity out of the box.
Price delta is about $50 give or take.
Performance delta when both are clocked to the same clocks is about 5%.
There is a greater chance that a 7950 can't clock as high; it might have not made the cut to become a 7970 based on clocks; rather than a perfectly good 7970 getting cut down to make a 7950. Most 7950s appear to be of the latter variety though so they should clock high.

Obviously if you buy reference it's just reference, though there are 2 types of reference and I would go with the one that has a fan at the end, not the one in the middle which does a poor job of cooling VRMs. I linked to thermal photos at hardware.fr and the hardwarecanucks 7950 review and am too lazy to relink to them again just for this thread... it's somewhere in the forums though or just google.

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

Payday can't come soon enough, every two weeks kinda sucks.....The wait.

Rumor has the rest of the Nvidia 600 lineup being announced next week.....I gotta admit if a GTX 680 is available online next Wednesday at a $499 price point I might jump.

The 7950 or GTX 680 or the 7970......haven't had a team green card in about 7 yrs.

 

[realjetavenger]

Regarding the Sapphire dual-fan models:

7970 uses reference PCB and 7950 does not though it might be as good or better.
Both of the DUAL-X cards use same heatsink and fans which are good.
7970 comes with miniDP to DVI (active) which is important for those wanting Eyefinity out of the box.
Price delta is about $50 give or take.
Performance delta when both are clocked to the same clocks is about 5%.
There is a greater chance that a 7950 can't clock as high; it might have not made the cut to become a 7970 based on clocks; rather than a perfectly good 7970 getting cut down to make a 7950. Most 7950s appear to be of the latter variety though so they should clock high.

Obviously if you buy reference it's just reference, though there are 2 types of reference and I would go with the one that has a fan at the end, not the one in the middle which does a poor job of cooling VRMs. I linked to thermal photos at hardware.fr and the hardwarecanucks 7950 review and am too lazy to relink to them again just for this thread... it's somewhere in the forums though or just google.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33349659&postcount=59

I still have not made a decision between the sapphire 7970 or a 680 or wait to see what big K has to offer (or wait until the next round of cards). Howevever I am not doing anything until tomorrow to see what nvidia is announcing.
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/its-coming-countdown/

 

[DeeJayeS]

I returned my 7950 two months ago and am glad I did given the price drops. Have been waiting/hoping to see the rest of the 6xx lineup prior to jumping back in. Whatever the case, I will be buying in the next week or two prior to D3 launch on May 15th.

FWIW, I enjoyed the weekend I spent with my Sapphire 7950. Was stable at 1050 (stock voltage). It did have VERY minor coil whine, not audible outside the case, and I'm sensitive to those things.

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

The thermals on that MSI Twin Frozr III HD7950 are impressive, but I cannot seem to locate any.

De activated?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

My reference msi 7970 for instance does 1175 at 1.168v. At 1.2 I can do close to 1210-1230 without water cooling. So this essentially mean a constant lead of 10-15% regardless. And this core is with mem at 1625 stock volts. I can do 1125 1575 at 1.13 or so. I would recommend a 7970 given the price difference is less than $100

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

I have about $510 to spend on payday towards a card. I'll be checking my NCIX and Newegg email things like crazy until then. Haven't shopped anywhere else in a long time.

 

[blastingcap]

The thermals on that MSI Twin Frozr III HD7950 are impressive, but I cannot seem to locate any.

De activated?

The Sapphire dual-fan 7950 is just as good as the Twin FrozrIII at cooling, and also significantly quieter. Look at what happens when you overclock both of them (scroll down to the thermal images and mouse over the "overclock" text; then repeat for the other card):

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853-11/sapphire-radeon-hd-7950-overclock-test.html

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853-7/msi-radeon-hd-7950-twin-frozr-iii-test.html

They also noted how quiet the Sapphire fans are compared to others, including the Twin FrozrIII 7950 which is anywhere from several to a few decibels louder than the dual-fan Sapphire 7950.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33349659&postcount=59

I still have not made a decision between the sapphire 7970 or a 680 or wait to see what big K has to offer (or wait until the next round of cards). Howevever I am not doing anything until tomorrow to see what nvidia is announcing.
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/its-coming-countdown/

Thanks. And yeah that's a good idea to wait a day if you can.

 

[FalseChristian]

The 7950 is killer card. It's about 2.5 times faster than my GTX 460 1GB. Be happy with that and overclock the shit outta it.

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

LOL, I advertised an expensive treadmill I own in the WANT AD DIGEST....I have a girl coming over to check it out at 6 pm EST...

My pc funds may be increasing $300 more....(paid $999 for it 16 months ago, its a dust collector)


http://s800.photobucket.com/albums/yy281/OldgamerEast/Yowza Siesta Treadmill/?albumview=slideshow

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

If the girl buys the treadmill in the morning (says she will) I'll be getting the Sapphire 7970 oc......

If she doesn't I'll be getting the Sapphire 7950 oc.

Never had a single problem with any of the Sapphires I've owned.

 

[toyota]

have the specs of the pc and res being played at even been mentioned?

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

Specs are in my sig.......Rez is 1920 x 1080p...single NEC monitor.