conundrum!! HD 7850 or CF 6970 for new IVB build?

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A

Arcube

Junior Member
May 5, 2012
4
0
0
I cant seem to decide which one should I go for, I dont think I have need for either one but i want one :D

6970 is on sale at newegg and I can get the MIR on both cards but then 7850 is $30 cheaper and PCI 3.0 !!

damn choices, they confuse me :D


System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU: Core i7 3770K
II. Current Graphics Card: -N/A-
III. Display Resolution: (24”) 1920 x 1200 AND (19”) 1280x1024
Samsung 24" 245BW / Dell Ultrasharp 19"

IV. Power Supply Unit specifications: Corsair 620W HX
V. Case Specifications: P180


Purchase Details:

I. Budget? $2000


II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?
- Nope

III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?
- hmmm, should I?


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?
- Yes

V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?
- possibly WoW

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?
- YES :-D


Additional Notes:

My needs in order of importance are below, I am not too demanding in my rigs :p

web browsing + MS office
watching movies
Unix+Linux (bsd/fedora) in virtual PC and development (c++/java/perl)
home video editing (large files ~30gb) - Adobe Premiere
video transcoding
Skype video call is always running in background for work or personal
Casual gaming - World of Warcraft
 
Jaydip

Jaydip

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2010
3,691
21
81
Forget about the PCIE 3.0 but the 7850 is a better buy.It scales very well to oc.
 
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aaksheytalwar

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2012
3,389
0
76
6970 also has 2gb VRAM

I would say at least 7870 oc or 7950 for oc. Though to really get similar fps/experience across most games you need a 7970 at 1150 or 1200. So a 7950 won't be hugely behind that when Oced past 1100 1150.

The thing is that 6970 cf will be faster than the single card you can afford. But it will be less smooth, will have ms period, not as good an experience etc I would strongly recommend against it.

7850 oc will be like 20-30% faster than single 6970 stock. So not even close to 6970cf. I recommend putting some more and getting at least 7870 and oc it, that would be a good 10-15% faster than 7850 oc, not vfm but still a good 35-45% faster than a stock 6970 and close enough to 6970cf to provide a similar real world experience.

Nothing like a 7950 or 670 tho.

Go for a single card
 
TakeNoPrisoners

TakeNoPrisoners

Platinum Member
Jun 3, 2011
2,599
1
81
Go for a single reference 7970 or a GTX 680.

Overclocked the two cards are more or less equal and neither have inherent problems of multi-gpu. Less noise, less power, less driver issues ect.

For single cards AMD and Nvidia are equal. The only perceptable difference will be the 7970 using more power and being louder when overclocked.
 
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sandorski

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,861
6,396
126
The only thing I'll say is that PCI-e 3.0 should only be a determinant factor when buying a Motherboard. Whether a current Video Card supports it or not is meaningless.
 
C

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
3,751
8
81
A 7850 with a pretty mild OC easily outpace a 6970.

Sure, stock it's kind of a dog, but most 7850s you can pop in and immediately move the Overdrive slider to it's max (1050) and be fine. At that speed it clearly bests a 6970 (check http://www.anandtech.com/show/5625/...-7850-review-rounding-out-southern-islands/19 for example, their OC on the 7850 is 1050... the Overdrive limit)

Most can go further with more fiddling and 3rd party utilities, 1150-1250 range, but 1050 is a virtual gimme OC on a 7850. I put my 7850 into my PC Wednesday morning and it spent all of about 10 minutes at stock speed. went straight to 1050 at stock voltage and I'm now working the voltage up a bit (currently at 1175 MHz at 1.165 volts.)

I don't see much of a reason to get a 6970, unless you REALLY do not want to OC. The 7850 has so much headroom though, that it's really the ideal card to get your feet wet with overclocking if you never have before.
 
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S

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
I've heard that the 7950 performs within 5% of the 7970 clock-for-clock. AMD underclocks the things for marketing reasons.
 
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aaksheytalwar

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2012
3,389
0
76
SickBeast said:
I've heard that the 7950 performs within 5% of the 7970 clock-for-clock. AMD underclocks the things for marketing reasons.
Click to expand...

Clock to clock the diff is 5%+ but 7950 ocs about 5-10% lower as making the total difference nearly 15% or at least > 10% and that diff stays there
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
You can Crossfire 7850 with no issues at all. Requires only on 6-pin per card, consumes less power than a 6850.
 
A

Arcube

Junior Member
May 5, 2012
4
0
0
thank you all for your comments and insight :)

So 7850 it is, i think I can also buy 7870!!
but would like to save money if I can :D

what is the brand/manufacturer would you recommend and also how do I hook up both of my monitors to single DVI port?
 
3

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
204
106
This one has dual DVI native (one dual link one single link). The Sapphire cards come with an adapter. None are listed on Newegg though? :confused:

That particular XFX model is one w/lifetime warranty.
 
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