AMD HD 6950 -> 7970 Ghz Ed. Worth it?

[dagamer34]

Thread title says it all, is the jump worth the $430 price tag? Most likely I'd be gaming at 1080p on my TV since it has 5.1 audio (via one really long HDMI cable to my living room), though I do have a Dell U2713HM in my room I might game on occasionally.

Originally I was just going to wait until the HD 8000 series shows up since I wanted to skip a generation and get a real performance boost, but it seems those cards won't be coming out until Q3/Q4, heck even a 2013 release seems flaky. Mostly interested in playing Crysis 3 at reasonably high quality levels.

Comments? Rest of specs are in my sig.

 

[badb0y]

IMO, it's worth it. I upgraded from a unlocked 6950 to a 7970 and never regretted it. It's a sweeter upgrade if you OC though.

 

[Nintendesert]

I'd rather just not run Crysis 3 with 4x MSAA/AA/FXAA/TXAA/WTFBBQAA and not notice the difference between the two cards at that resolution and continue to wait for the next gen stuff.


Edit: Crysis 2/3 typo.

 

[LagunaX]

IMO, it's worth it. I upgraded from a unlocked 6950 to a 7970 and never regretted it. It's a sweeter upgrade if you OC though.

Thant's what I thought too and it shows when I play my favorite game - 3DMark!

 

[RussianSensation]

Mostly interested in playing Crysis 3 at reasonably high quality levels.

1) Even if you are leaning towards the HD7970GE over 680, Consider saving some $ and getting HD7950 V2/7970 and overclocking them over 7970GE as the performance should be very similar.

2) Preliminary benchmarks with 4xSMAA/4xMSAA show that no single GPU can max the game out at 1080P. This likely means playing with 0xAA at 1080P.

The performance thus far looks nearly double a single 6950.

3) Wait until C3 launches to see if drivers/patches and final game change the standing between GTX680/7970GE before you upgrade for that game.

 

[james1701]

wow, those graphs are really making my 5870's feel their age.

 

[brianmanahan]

i can max out crysis 2 + dx11 + high res textures at 2560x1440 on my 7950 @ 1000 mhz, and get about 30 fps, very playable. when i tried that on my 6950, i got maybe 10-15. worth it for me :awe:

 

[RussianSensation]

wow, those graphs are really making my 5870's feel their age.

Considering HD5870 came out September 2009 and there isn't an update to HD7970 until Q4 2013, that would make it almost 4 years since you could buy a GPU at $500 or less than can more than double the 5870's performance. From that perspective, that would make the $369 HD5870 the most future-proof videocard ever made. I think you did pretty well with that purchase. ^_^

 

[tviceman]

Yes buy it.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

wow, those graphs are really making my 5870's feel their age.

That's before the release product, as far as I know the beta doesn't even have tessellation.. Which was one of the huge things with C3, also I think the lighting isn't nearly as dynamic in the beta... but then I really have no idea I've only seen screens of beta vs what was advertised and nobody has ever failed to deliver on what they advertised before

That can't be right... The way I figured it I'd get around 44 fps (31 + 40%) with my 470 on air, which is basically what I got with Crysis 2.

I thought Crysis 3 was going to melt your gpu's face, and destroy your wallet?

 

[RussianSensation]

I thought Crysis 3 was going to melt your gpu's face, and destroy your wallet?

I am hoping the single player campaign has the "full" Crysis 3 graphics they promised.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Worth it. I jumped from an unlocked 6950 2GB to a 7970GE, paid practically $0 thanks to Bitcoin mining

 

[notty22]

That's before the release product, as far as I know the beta doesn't even have tessellation.. Which was one of the huge things with C3, also I think the lighting isn't nearly as dynamic in the beta... but then I really have no idea I've only seen screens of beta vs what was advertised and nobody has ever failed to deliver on what they advertised before



That can't be right... The way I figured it I'd get around 44 fps (31 + 40%) with my 470 on air, which is basically what I got with Crysis 2.

I thought Crysis 3 was going to melt your gpu's face, and destroy your wallet?

You grabbed the high quality numbers, not VHQ, which is more taxing.
22fps.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

You grabbed the high quality numbers, not VHQ, which is more taxing.
22fps.

Good catch, I thought that was before and after driver updates >.<

If they're using large texture files /w 4xAA it's probably trashing badly as well. :hmm:

 

[RaistlinZ]

You'll enjoy the performance increase. When overclocked a 7970 can outperform a 6950 Crossfire setup.

 

[Eureka]

I'm going to go on a limb and say it isn't worthwhile to make the upgrade. While sure, you'll see a bump in performance, the 6950 will be good enough to max out most games now. Only a few games will see the added performance of the 7970, and you'd be paying $430 for that advantage. Not to mention, the 6950 (roughly a 7850) should be able to handle those games at lowered settings.

Now, since you already have a 6950, you have the privilege of waiting for a good deal. If you can snag a 7970 in the mid 300 range, it might be a more palatable upgrade. Or keep an eye out on the used markets, every once in a while a good used 7970 deal comes up (like that time a certan user here dumped 3 7970s for $280 each or so).

 

[mango123]

Are you serious?

6950 enough to max out most games?

Name me one game in the last three years that you can max at 1080 with a 6950.
Look at some benchmarks of that card and tell me it's enough to handle recent games.

OP if you are even considering this upgrade, it means you're not happy with the performance...

To other poster, next gen is a rebranding... it is likely to be 2014 before we see more AMD cards.

I personally made this same upgrade myself. Russiansensation helped advise me on my upgrade path. Thanks Russian! :awe:

I wasn't so sure that I needed or wanted more power, I doubted it... Just how much better can these new cards be?

TWICE if not more faster... IMHO TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!

 

[RussianSensation]

I'm going to go on a limb and say it isn't worthwhile to make the upgrade. While sure, you'll see a bump in performance, the 6950 will be good enough to max out most games now. Only a few games will see the added performance of the 7970, and you'd be paying $430 for that advantage.

Not if he resells the card / already intends to purchase the games that come in the bundle with the 7950/7970.

$380 for 1Ghz 7970 wit Crysis 3 + Bioshock Infinite that I bet he could sell for $50. That brings the card down to $330. Sell his 6950 for $120, that brings the upgrade to $210. Better yet he can do the exact thing with a $290 HD7950, for a net upgrade cost of $290-50-120 = $120.

HD7950 OCed is going to deliver 90% of the performance of an overclocked HD7970GE and at that point it's going to be 80-90%+ faster than HD6950 in more demanding games like Crysis 2, 3, BF3, etc.

I personally made this same upgrade myself. Russiansensation helped advise me on my upgrade path. Thanks Russian! :awe:TWICE if not more faster... IMHO TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!

You are welcome! It all depends on what games dagamer34 plays. As mango said, in recent titles HD7970 thrashes HD6950/6970.

The best part is GCN is performing even faster in modern titles which is what one would want if they are upgrading from VLIW gen. In some of the most demanding 2012 games, HD7970 at only 1.05ghz is basically doubling the 6950.

 

[Will Robinson]

OMG Russian you are like a living, breathing "Wikipedia".:biggrin:
Mucho respect for your well thought out and documented posts.:thumbsup:
You should be a mod here...or on the AT video card review staff.

 

[raghu78]

as RS said the HD 7950 boost has the best price perf. at same clocks HD 7950 is 3 - 6% slower than HD 7970. most of the HD 7950 boost reviews do not max out power control to +20% to avoid clock throttling. HD 7950 at 1100 mhz matches HD 7970 Ghz.

sell your HD 6950 for USD 120 . the sapphire HD 7950 boost can be had at superbiiz for the best price.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

price = 299 - $10 OFF w/code:CHERY3110 ends 2/11 - $20 mail in rebate + shipping
= 289 (269 after rebate) + shipping

you get crysis 3 and bioshock infinite. go for it :thumbsup:

 

[dagamer34]

I'm not too terribly concerned about saving $50-100 and getting the plain 7970 instead of the Ghz edition, however I don't want to buy a brand new card and then the true next gen AMD successor shows up and just blows everything away again.

Does Crysis 3 digital download from AMD's Never Settle Reloaded Bundle require Origin? No Steam? Bleh.

 

[raghu78]

I'm not too terribly concerned about saving $50-100 and getting the plain 7970 instead of the Ghz edition, however I don't want to buy a brand new card and then the true next gen AMD successor shows up and just blows everything away again.

Does Crysis 3 digital download from AMD's Never Settle Reloaded Bundle require Origin? No Steam? Bleh.

AMD's never settle reloaded game coupons are for digital download through Steam. Also the HD 7950 boost at USD 290 easily overclocks to 1.1 - 1.15 Ghz. some can hit 1.2 Ghz while few can do 1.25+ Ghz.

if you want to spend USD 400 - 450 then go for the HD 7970 Ghz. No concrete information is known on AMD's next gen HD 8000 series. some say Q2 launch and some say Q4 launch.

http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/AMD-plans-no-new-graphics-cards-2013-report

 

[RussianSensation]

OMG Russian you are like a living, breathing "Wikipedia".:biggrin:
Mucho respect for your well thought out and documented posts.:thumbsup:
You should be a mod here...or on the AT video card review staff.

Thanks Will!!

I'm not too terribly concerned about saving $50-100 and getting the plain 7970 instead of the Ghz edition, however I don't want to buy a brand new card and then the true next gen AMD successor shows up and just blows everything away again.

Does Crysis 3 digital download from AMD's Never Settle Reloaded Bundle require Origin? No Steam? Bleh.

If you are not that concerned about $50-100 extra, instead of spending $430 on an HD7970GE, you could just get a single HD7950V2 now and then wait until prices drop and get a 2nd one later. Then you'll have a huge performance increase with 2 of them overclocked. Although you would have to upgrade your PSU. Also, if you get 2x HD7950s, you should be able to get 6 free games.

If you are not overclocking, I wouldn't spend extra for the HD7970GE as you get a minor bump in memory and just a 50mhz bump in GPU speed. I don't think that's worth it over something like a $380 1Ghz HD7970 Windforce. AMD's roadmap shows no desktop HD8000 cards until at least Q4 2013. The official roadmap only has HD7000 to end of Q3 2013.

 

[raghu78]

If you are not overclocking, I wouldn't spend extra for the HD7970GE as you get a minor bump in memory and just a 50mhz bump in GPU speed. I don't think that's worth it over something like a $380 1Ghz HD7970 Windforce. AMD's roadmap shows no desktop HD8000 cards until at least Q4 2013. The official roadmap only has HD7000 to end of Q3 2013.

recent batches of the gigabyte HD 7970 is voltage locked. so if the OP chooses HD 7970 he should go for a good custom design card like the Sapphire HD 7970 Ghz vapor-x. USD 440 (420 after rebate).

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=AT-7970GHZ

 

[RussianSensation]

Looking at his specs, he seems he doesn't overclock. In that case, it seems wasteful to get Sapphire VaporX over 1Ghz HD7970 Windforce since you are spending $50 for a 3-4% performance difference.