7950 vs. ALL sub 600$ GPU *Advice please*

[Face2Face]

Mango if you are still gaming on a phenom II then go with the 7950 & save the rest for a future platform upgrade. And yes I game on a Phenom II.

 

[sze5003]

Good idea in my opinion to save what you can and put it toward a later system upgrade. The 7950 will play whatever you want.

 

[RussianSensation]

I just.... I'm already spending a SHITLOAD more than I intended on..

[/QUOTE]

Just get the 7950 and forget about the 7970. In gaming there isn't that much difference. If you are not going to be bitcoin mining, then HD7950 @ 1050-1100mhz is a huge upgrade for you for ArmaII as it is.

So lemme get this straight, to achieve the levels of 7970 with the 7950 i need to above stock volts, thus creating more heat and lowering long term durability?

No to get to HD7970 speeds, you don't need to go above stock voltage of 1.175V. You can probably max out the MSI TF3 card below 1.175V before your cooler is too loud or the card hits 80*C. For the MSI TF3 7950 card, you don't even need to think about going above "Tahiti XT" stock voltage.

Sorry for the confusion. What I mean by stock voltage is that on the Sapphire DX 7970 that card's stock voltage is much higher than the MSI TF3. So you can hit 1100mhz on that. MSI TF3 tends to undervolt so on that card's "Stock" voltage you probably won't hit 1100mhz. However the actual stock voltage for Tahiti XT is 1.175V. You should be able to reach that on either card without problems. The main difference is the 7970 Sapphire DX will run cooler and quieter (but has a higher chance of coil whine lottery).

 

[Face2Face]

Also, take a look at this article here

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeon_hd_7950_overclock_guide,1.html

It's showing a 7950 @ 1020/1575 surpassing in most benchmarks the 7970 (Non GE) at stock speeds. You should be able to hit this overclock with a 7950 @ stock voltage.

 

[raghu78]

OP get the Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition card for USD 310 after rebate. comes with HD 7970 PCB and has a good cooler. put yourself on auto notify and grab the card when it comes back in stock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102991

comes with sleeping dogs game. fantastic game . have been playing it for a while. so its a nice value add imo. clock for clock HD 7950 is 3 - 5% slower than HD 7970. As you have seen in the posts above HD 7950 (1.1 Ghz) matches HD 7970 Ghz (1.05 Ghz) . Its quite easy to hit 1.1 Ghz with voltage tweaking and keep temps below 70c easily. All this for 310 bucks. incredible value for your money. :thumbsup:

If you want to buy immediately you could get the Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce. very good cooler. comes with the sleeping dogs game.

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

 

[wbynum]

OP get the Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition card for USD 310 after rebate. comes with HD 7970 PCB and has a good cooler. put yourself on auto notify and grab the card when it comes back in stock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102991

comes with sleeping dogs game. fantastic game . have been playing it for a while. so its a nice value add imo. clock for clock HD 7950 is 3 - 5% slower than HD 7970. As you have seen in the posts above HD 7950 (1.1 Ghz) matches HD 7970 Ghz (1.05 Ghz) . Its quite easy to hit 1.1 Ghz with voltage tweaking and keep temps below 70c easily. All this for 310 bucks. incredible value for your money. :thumbsup:

If you want to buy immediately you could get the Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce. very good cooler. comes with the sleeping dogs game.

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

Why not just get the 810mhz version of the Sapphire 7950 for $280 AR? Chances are the op will get pretty much the same overclocks as the 950mhz version and save $30.

 

[Fire&Blood]

Why not just get the 810mhz version of the Sapphire 7950 for $280 AR? Chances are the op will get pretty much the same overclocks as the 950mhz version and save $30.

Premium parts get better binning, his odds of landing a high ASIC rating card are higher. Less voltage=less heat and noise, both will be problems in his case.

 

[mango123]

Mango if you are still gaming on a phenom II then go with the 7950 & save the rest for a future platform upgrade. And yes I game on a Phenom II.

If you didnt notice on the first page I am on a z77 Mobo, with a 3570k @4.0 w/ 212 evo...
And I overclocked my phenom, and the performance difference with the 3570k seems almost DOUBLE. So, it was very worth while to me.

But, let's try and stay on the topic.

7950 <> 7970

 

[mango123]

OP get the Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition card for USD 310 after rebate. comes with HD 7970 PCB and has a good cooler. put yourself on auto notify and grab the card when it comes back in stock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102991

comes with sleeping dogs game. fantastic game . have been playing it for a while. so its a nice value add imo. clock for clock HD 7950 is 3 - 5% slower than HD 7970. As you have seen in the posts above HD 7950 (1.1 Ghz) matches HD 7970 Ghz (1.05 Ghz) . Its quite easy to hit 1.1 Ghz with voltage tweaking and keep temps below 70c easily. All this for 310 bucks. incredible value for your money. :thumbsup:

If you want to buy immediately you could get the Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce. very good cooler. comes with the sleeping dogs game.

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

Because I would get the other 7950 at that price, the Vapor X with a better cooler with SSC. No coil whine, better cooler, same price... sold out as well.

 

[mango123]

So russian,
OC vs OC, are they going to be clocked similary?
Or does the 7970 go higher?
I know they will not be even in functional speed, but I mean clock wise?

 

[3DVagabond]

Why not just get the 810mhz version of the Sapphire 7950 for $280 AR? Chances are the op will get pretty much the same overclocks as the 950mhz version and save $30.

The 7950OC is built on the 7970 PCB. All else being equal it should give higher stable O/C's because of better power delivery. There's always the "silicon lottery" aspect though. You aren't guaranteed to get as good or better a GPU to go along with the better PCB. Although at this point in the maturity of Tahiti the chance of getting a dud chip should be pretty slim.

 

[sze5003]

You can overclock your 7950 to match a 7970 similarly. That would be your best bet if you want to save money. The 7970 is faster and has more shaders. It can usually be overclocked as well.

I'm not sure they would match 100% 7940 oc vs 7970 oc. If you compare them with the 7970 being factory overclock they are the same when you beef up the 7950. But about max oc on both I think the 7970 would be faster. In relativity to your gaming what everyone is saying is your performance gain would be the same.

 

[raghu78]

Because I would get the other 7950 at that price, the Vapor X with a better cooler with SSC. No coil whine, better cooler, same price... sold out as well.

there are lots of complaints of voltage locks on the Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X . So you might need to flash another BIOS like the Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition BIOS to fully enable unlocked voltage.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1717999

http://www.overclock.net/t/1303929/7950-vapor-x-voltage-locked

so think about it. the Sapphire HD 7950 950 Mhz edition and the Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce are your best options. :thumbsup:

 

[Face2Face]

If you didnt notice on the first page I am on a z77 Mobo, with a 3570k @4.0 w/ 212 evo...
And I overclocked my phenom, and the performance difference with the 3570k seems almost DOUBLE. So, it was very worth while to me.

But, let's try and stay on the topic.

7950 <> 7970

My bad...

There is quite a bit of info on here for you to make your decision. Everyone is telling you to go with the 7950, yet you still want more information. Just go with your gut and call it a day......

 

[mango123]

Mango, just re-read your initial post & with all things considered, it seems like you & I have something in common, which is a desire to play at the highest settings. I can tell you that with my TriFire setup in sig, I have a min. FPS of ~56 - 75 (depends on # of players on server at time of run) on Ultra settings in BF3. Give or take a couple here or there, that number usually applies to both 32 & 64 multiplayer maps, which is where it counts.

If I were to go back to March, when I built this rig, knowing what I know today (the supporting data we have today wasn't quite ready yet then), I wouldn't even consider the 7950's, if for one reason: Min. FPS. In absolutely no way, shape or form, would I want my Min. to drop even 1 below 56. TBH, IMO, that number is too low for the rig I have.

Sure, we could debate how my Min. is closer to 75 "most" of the time, but I don't care. That's not why I spent that coin. I'm sure you're well aware that with a game like BF3, the Min. is the most important number of the three.

So, it really depends on your priorities & what's most important to you. I wouldn't want you to have buyer's remorse. I picked the right cards, no question. Never a doubt.

Now is this because of your CPU or not?

 

[mango123]

He brings up a very good point for me....
the thing that is really important to me is Ultra quality with the highest MIN FPS...
So in a mins Vs Mins comparison...

3570k. 8g ram.

7950 TFI OC'ed VS 7970 Sapphire Dual X (even Oc'ed) ....

(lets just say for comparison sake both of these at say 1150/6hz or 1200/6hz...

I know the performance numbers for like average frames and max FPS, but how do these stack up minimum vs minimum???

I am ready to pull the trigger today.

 

[sze5003]

Someone may have to test the minimum on their card..7950 vs the 7970 non oc then oc'ed. I would say the 7970 will have a higher minimum but I could be wrong. Would the game be stuttering and unplayable below 50fps? And at that time he bought the card was there a card that would run avg minimum of 50?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Stock vs stock 7970 is 15-20%+ faster than a 7950.

Comparing oced vs oced
7970 will probably oc a bit higher and will also be better clock to clock, so I guess 10-15% diff at least

Comparing 7970 ghz oced to 7950 oced
You can easily expect a 15-20% diff esp in min fps also considering the fact that ghz edition oc even higher

Bottom line
There will always be a difference of at least 10% regardless ESP in min fps
And practically more than 10% many times

 

[mango123]

WELL... I finally did it and pulled the trigger.
I got the 7970 OC Dual X.

This is probably the most I have thought about a purchase in a long time.

Thank you everyone for your help.

I will come back and update thread once I get the new card.

What would be a good way to see the performance increase I'm getting compared to my 6950?

What program can I use to measure fps in games besides fraps/consoles?



And also... Anyone have any ideas on how to unload my 6950? I had it listed on ebay with a ton of watchers but no bids, I relisted it and the same thing is looking like it might happen again. I also made a thread on for sale to try and sell it. I asked 180 for it. (sapphire toxic)
I can't seem to get anyone to bite on it?

Are there any other forums or auction sites where I may have better luck or am I maybe asking too much for it or something?

 

[zaydq]

Stock vs stock 7970 is 15-20%+ faster than a 7950.

Comparing oced vs oced
7970 will probably oc a bit higher and will also be better clock to clock, so I guess 10-15% diff at least

Comparing 7970 ghz oced to 7950 oced
You can easily expect a 15-20% diff esp in min fps also considering the fact that ghz edition oc even higher

Bottom line
There will always be a difference of at least 10% regardless ESP in min fps
And practically more than 10% many times

I don't think the 7970 ocs any more than a 7950 would. 7970 is faster clock for clock. It would also have higher minimums, but for what he was asking for... the 7970 was "above" his budget. If you're gunna look at 7970 vs 7950, just get a 7970. If 7970 is out of budget, then a 7950 would suffice. This topic should have been called 7970 or 7950 and everyone would have said 7970.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

180 for a used 6950 is too high. For a used 2 gb 6950 it should be more like 120.

 

[wand3r3r]

180 for a used 6950 is too high. For a used 2 gb 6950 it should be more like 120.

I think it's somewhere between, I would guess you might get more then 120. You can try hardforum for sale forum if you have enough posts to post there (50?).

 

[thilanliyan]

I sold my 2gb 6950 recently for $160 on ebay but usually you can get a slightly higher price on ebay than you can on forums (minus paypal fees of course).

 

[djnsmith7]

Now is this because of your CPU or not?

If your question is specific to my Min. of ~56 - 75, I would say yes, that is because of my CPU. At some point in the future (probably a min. of 12 mos. from now), I would like to upgrade to a CPU that can pin all 3 cards @ 95%+ usage. That's asking for a 35% increase in performance over a 2500K @ 4.5.

I haven't seen any supporting data that shows there's a CPU that's capable of doing that today.

So for now, my TriFire setup is pinned @ 60% (CPU bottleneck confirmed). Keep in mind that with 2 cards, CF is pinned @ 99% usage (2500K or better are excellent options in this scenario).

Btw, I have no doubt you'll be impressed with your new 7970.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I'm trying to figure this out myself. I don't really feel like messing with overclocking, so I read reviews for stock or factory overclocked numbers. Having a hard time deciding between 7970 ghz, 680 o/c, and the EVGA 670 FTW. The 670 FTW will probably be the cheapest, but poorest performer of the three, but I haven't decided yet if the small performance increase is worth the extra money. The reviews I've seen of 680 o/c vs. 7970 ghz seem to swing back and forth. I just want something that can give me a steady 60 fps at 2560x1440 with the visuals turned up.