7950 replacement recomendation?

[hodgenutts]

I recently R.M.A.ed. a XFX 7950 black edition. Newegg ended up giving me a refund as they were out of the exact same card and could not replace it. I like the fact XFX has a lifetime warranty. I was going to downgrade to a 7870 since I play blizzard title, I.e W.o.W. , Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3 and I figures a 7870 could handle these titles. However, I'm also going to try assassins creed 3, and farcry 3. Would 7870 handle these titles as well at max settings at 1080p?

If not and I need to get a different brand 7950 what would you recommend in regards to decent warranty, good cooling and good O.C. potential? The reason I ask is I'm out of the loop on the other brands as I've purchased XFX the past 6 years cause of their warranty. The budget is $339 not include rebate as that's what I spent on the previous 7950. That being said, just because that's the budget if a $229 7870 would meet my needs I would be more than happy to save some money. Thanks for the help.

 

[Leadbox]

According to Techreport, the 660ti is the card to get :awe:

 

[FalseChristian]

I disagree.The GTX 670 is faster than the Radeon HD 7950. This is the card to get.

 

[Leadbox]

I disagree.The GTX 670 is faster than the Radeon HD 7950. This is the card to get.

How much do the 670s retail for? His budget is $339

 

[hodgenutts]

Yea, budget is $339 and if a card such as 7870 would meet my needs I'd go that route. Just because budget is $339 doesn't mean I'd hapilly go cheaper if the needs can still be met.

 

[Rikard]

You can spend a bit more and get a 670, or downgrade to a 660ti or 7870. But since you said you want OC potential the best is to get a new 7950. What was your problem with the XFX and were you otherwise happy with its performance?

I only had one XFX (NV card long ago) which was incidentally the only card that ever died on me, but your history with them looks better.

 

[Dark Shroud]

If you want to OC then get a 7870 with a good cooler or another 7950.

 

[hodgenutts]

The XFX 7950 O.C.ed horribly. Only would O.C. 45 mhz. Anything else made it unstable. I realize however there is no guarantee you get a good O.C. with every card. It also went out in just 2 weeks. First time in 6 years I had a bad XFX product. The problem is after I sent it into new egg for R.M.A, by the time they got it they were out of the EXACT same card. I had the XFX hd 7950 black edition which was factory overclocked from 800mhz to 900 mhz Wucha may have been the reason I could only push it 45 more mhz. Anyway they are now out of them. I could always take my chance with a regular clicked version I suppose.

 

[Dark Shroud]

This generation XFX has a horrible cooler and I believe limited to no heat sinks on the VRAM.

Gigabyte Windforce are cheap, MSI TF3 are very good of course, & the PowerColor PCS+ was a pleasant surprise.

Both the Gigabyte & MSI models are in your budget with some breathing room. Please check the links.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr795wf33gd

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r7950twinfrozr3gd5oc

 

[hodgenutts]

Looking at the following:

HIS with the ICE Q 2 cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161429


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


Sapphire FLEX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202007


Sapphire Vapor X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003


Leaning towards the HIS, but have never owned any of these brands. Any input would help and be much appreciated

 

[The Alias]

definitely iceq2 from those choices, but I'd downgrade to a vortex 2 7870 and get an ssd with the saved money

 

[3DVagabond]

As you said, there's no guarantees. The HIS 7950 that TechPowerUp got though, was a beast. 1210MHz stock voltage!

 

[Jacky60]

I'd get another 7950 if I were you. From my experience XFX often cheap out with components when building non-reference cards then limit the overclock because the cheap components have no overclock potential. It all helps make XFX make more money and delivers an inferior or very average product. I'd get the HIS iceq or Sapphire FLEX if I were you. Also I'd definitely not get a 7870 as at 1920/1200 you'll get around 30fps more in BF3 which really is worth the relatively small price premium and will be very noticable. The situation with new games will probably be the same or worse for the 7870.

 

[tweakboy]

Get what you had before or switch over to nVidia. gl

 

[lehtv]

I would get Sapphire 7950 Dual-X $300 ($280 AR). I don't think the HIS card is worth $45 more after shipping and rebate.

 

[raghu78]

I would get Sapphire 7950 Dual-X $300 ($280 AR). I don't think the HIS card is worth $45 more after shipping and rebate.

yeah. OP the sapphire HD 7950 boost is an excellent card. stock voltage of 1.25v. overclocks easily to 1.1 - 1.15 Ghz at stock voltage. good cooler. very positive user reviews.

 

[Rikard]

It sounds like you will be happiest with another 7950 from a different company. This thread has a wealth of info:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2259333&highlight=7950+owners
I am myself very pleased with the card in my signature.

 

[Shmee]

agreed, a good 7950 with a better cooler and Voltage control is the best bet, I wouldn't recommend anything else for an OCer unless you wanted to spend more and get a 7970 lol.

 

[lehtv]

Voltage control isn't essential since the 7950 usually overclocks pretty well without adjusting voltages. Mine runs 1100Mhz on stock volts and is volt locked, and the best that a different card could do with overvolting would be around 1200Mhz. That's not worth much.

 

[hodgenutts]

ok, I've taken the gigayte out of the equation.

I gave the sapphire dual x a look at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202006

also looking at the Sapphire Flex at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202007

my question is that both of these have the 2 X 6 pin power connectors where as

sapphire vapor x
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202007

and

MSI Ice Q X2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161429

use 8/6 pin which I read means they are actually on a 7970 PCB.

Is this true and if so does it matter? If not I wonder which would be the best value in terms of cooling and price/performance. I've read the MSI Ice q2 performs the best bet I'm unsure.

 

[raghu78]

OP the dual x has better VRM cooling than vapor-x . so go for dual x. the sapphire hd 7950 boost has very good user reviews. most users are running at 1100 - 1150 mhz at stock voltage of 1.25v. the his iceq is a good option too.

 

[Rvenger]

HIS products have been pretty darn good lately...

This cooler in particular has been getting very good reviews for its efficiency http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161420

 

[hodgenutts]

Ok thanks for the information. I am just wondering if it really matters that they have the 8 pin/ 6 pin power connector like the 7970 PCB?

 

[Rvenger]

Ok thanks for the information. I am just wondering if it really matters that they have the 8 pin/ 6 pin power connector like the 7970 PCB?

I have seen 6+6 pin 7950s hit 1200mhz so I wouldn't let the PCB sway your decision too much. It is just ideal to make sure the VRMs and RAM are properly cooled.

 

[hodgenutts]

Ok, ill look into the vrm cooling and ram cooling on the HIS iceq2, sapphire dual x and 7950 boost.

I wonder if the HIS model has the above mentioned cooling and voltage control?