Final choice, Gigabyte 7970 GHz edition a good option?

[computerbuildin]

Ive been trying to slim down my options as much as possible, but they started so slim to begin with, and I dont like a small amount of choices, but I worked with it. I did a post before and it gets confusing because its always no get this or no that is actually a bad card or something along those lines. Most agreed on the 7970 GHz, no brand in particular though. I picked out the Gigabyte card, because well it was the lowest price, best cooling, and highest clock speeds. Some mentioned it was a good overclocker too. I plan on only getting 1 card for now, and it would be used for gaming on 3 monitors in surround. For some reason I just didnt feel like I was convinced enough. Even though in the benchmarks, it actually beat out the 680, and the 7970 GHz was ranked at the top. Of course my plan is a little different though because the game is going to be ran across 3 monitors. Keep in mind im not talking something like BF3 here. BF3 could actually run though on 3 monitors, with great fps on great settings. Another guy got it to run ultra with about 55 FPS on 3 monitors with a single 7970 GHz. I plan on playing games like WoW though. It all comes down how people all have different experiences. I might not overclock this card a whole lot, but if I do, there is posts all over of how the voltage is locked, and the overclock never works. The card could also have problems itself like during a game the Mhz could drop randomly from its 1100 mark down to 550 or around there for no reason. It seems to barely hold its control of its Mhz for some reason, in alot of cases. Does anyone else have any other suggestions of something I should shoot for instead of the gigabyte card? There is a chance far later on I could be CF'ing. Heres a link to the card anyway: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

 

[Eureka]

Did you just write a wall of text asking if that's the card you want? If you're doing 3 monitors for modern games, the 7970 is probably the minimum you could even go with.

The Windforce is nice, but I don't know if it's $60 nice (a XFX 7970 will go for around $370 or less, I've seen them at $350 at Tigerdirect with the older bundle). And because the Windforce is voltage locked, you're not getting the full use of the cooling solution anyway.

For a single card over 3 screens, I would recommend sticking to AMD cards, mainly because of the higher VRAM and bandwidth. If you're sure you won't be playing anything else but older games, you should look at the 7950. It's decently slower stock but will overclock to match a 7970 GE.

Twin Frozr: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667
Windforce: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

 

[blackened23]

Honestly, I think the non GHZ cards are a better value and they will overclock to GHZ levels fairly easily. There has also been news that some GHZ cards are voltage locked, although I'm not sure of how widespread that is - or if it even applies to the gigabyte card.

 

[notty22]

If you are not in to manual o/c, then GhZ 7970 is a good option. Even if you are, it probably is a good choice, if there is nothing much cheaper. You are guaranteed , 1050mhz. Be ready with how to deal with the one monitor that has to use a display port, out of your 3 monitors. Ideally , you would have a display port monitor. See if the card has a display port to VGA or DVI dongle, it might make things easier.

 

[Rvenger]

Any true reference 7970 is not voltage locked. The AIBs are cutting corners for the 2013 models.

 

[james1701]

I bought two of the Gigabyte 7970Ghz editions last week. Its a good card. Its pretty quiet, is more air whooshing than a fan or blower sound, even at high run levels. With two of them, and BF3 maxed out, I am running about 95fps at 2560x1600.

From what I have read, they are volt locked. Also, there is a newer bios that might make them perform better, so when you have your system tore down, and want to flash it, do it separately before you add them in crossfire.

Another thing to think about, is when is the EOL cycle for this card, and when will production stop. If you buy one, and think you are going to get another in 6 months, I would not plan on it, just in case. We are so late in the life cycle of these cards, its hard to say how long you will be able to get an exact match. I had that problem when I bought my Asus 5870's when I wanted a 3rd for Tri-fire. I would have had to buy a used one if I wanted it to match.

 

[Deltaechoe]

I would honestly recommend a regular 7970 and overclock it a bit (unless you are willing to pay a premium and have the OC done for you). As far as single card solutions go, only one card really beats a high clocked 7970 and that's the gtx titan which is expensive as all hell and I don't recommend purchasing one unless you intend to take advantage of CUDA based computation (entry level power).

 

[notty22]

I read of potential bios flashes, but if a particular model has a different Voltage IC, you are not going to gain control over it by a flash. A flash of a older bios, would look for a different voltage controller. A flash of a similar bios that used the same chip but with higher 3D voltages does /would work. But you have to know what your are flashing and what to. Especially if you don't have a backup bios switch to revert to.

 

[james1701]

No, Gigabyte has an updated Bios for their own cards. It won't unlock anything.

Now when the Ghz editions hit, people were flashing non Ghz cards with the Ghz bios and having moderate success.

 

[computerbuildin]

I actually looked at the non ghz editions and I saw some people saying that it can be overclocked pretty close to the ghz editions. The XFX looks like a pretty good choice. I dont even know how to overclock a GPU(Yeah, really) but ill figure it out.

 

[Imouto]

Wasn't the XFX Double-D a crappy card with heating issues?

 

[3DVagabond]

Any true reference 7970 is not voltage locked. The AIBs are cutting corners for the 2013 models.

Agreed. It's pretty typical as time goes by that the AIB's cheapen the cards to shave ~$10 off of the price.

This is where doing homework is imperative. Checking connectivity to be sure monitors and card connections are compatible. If adapters are needed are they supplied? Or, if you have to buy them will the card be such a good deal.

We've all seen the posts where someone has bought a card for Eyefinity and then been pissed to find out it's not compatible with their monitors. Or the guy who says he's super enthusiast overclocker, but buys a card that's voltage locked and is pissed at everyone but himself for buying it.

 

[Jacky60]

I'd avoid XFX unless you're absolutely sure it's reference design. I bought an xfx 5870 and it was voltage locked and had overclock headroom set 50mhz above stock. They cheap out on components in my experience.

 

[computerbuildin]

3Dvagabond, by compatible monitors do you mean things like you need one display port display for eyefinity? Because all id have to do for that is buy an active mini display port to dvi right?

 

[computerbuildin]

And also about what jacky said, how can I tell if its reference design?

 

[3DVagabond]

3Dvagabond, by compatible monitors do you mean things like you need one display port display for eyefinity? Because all id have to do for that is buy an active mini display port to dvi right?

Yes, you would need an adapter if your monitor didn't have DP. If a card includes the adapter for the same price, or less than the cost of the adapter, it would be a better deal.

 

[computerbuildin]

Also another question, I see things that say like hdmi and DP give you a better picture instead of DVI, is this true?

 

[blackened23]

Also another question, I see things that say like hdmi and DP give you a better picture instead of DVI, is this true?

Out of the 3 HDMI is by far the worst. It is in no way better than either DVI or DP - It doesn't even support over 1080p in 99.9% of implementations - use HDMI *only* on TVs, never with your PC.

Displayport is technically superior to DVI, as DVI is a dead standard (the committe disbanded in 2001) - but DVI-D / DP are mostly equal for most users. They support the same color output and bandwidth up to 2560x1600, so long as you are using a DVI-DL cable. Beyond 2560 displayport is really the only option, but we're a ways off from 4k being reality.

 

[computerbuildin]

Okay, thanks for the help guys. So the card in question now is the XFX double D black edition, non GHz. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150586
I dont think it is reference design though, but then again, not many are. And about the ports I plan on using 2 DVI and then one mini dp to dvi adapter

 

[Dark Shroud]

The XFX cards this gen have had crappy coolers, there were even issues with them not having heat sinked on the VRAM. For that price you could get a stronger card/cooler from MSI or Asus.

The Gigabyte Windforce is a good card though.

 

[computerbuildin]

The Gigabyte Windforce is a good card though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125413 This one? Its funny, that was my first amd choice (well almost, the GHz one was my first choice) and that seemed like it was shot down, people said go for a different non ghz 7970.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Well that one is a non-GHZ edition that is factory over clocked decently high.

Some people don't like it because it might be voltage locked. So you can't do much more of an OC on it.

Check out this link to compare cards.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#c=70,112&sort=a5

 

[computerbuildin]

Mmm, im still thinking XFX. Between the gigabyte card and the xfx card... Just trying to decide between the two. Theres mixed opinions on both the cards almost about the same stuff, so its the luck of the draw. Any opinions from anyone else from their own experience or something?

 

[computerbuildin]

Sorry for posting again, but just one more quick question. I decided to go with the XFX 7970 black edition. All id have to do as a transition from an nvidia card to amd is wipe nvidias drivers and programs, take out gtx 560, put in the 7970, and install the newest drivers from amd's website riiiiightt?

 

[Dark Shroud]

Yes, you can download the latest AMD drivers from their site. Then use driver sweeper to remove the Nvidia software. Then switch cards and install the new AMD drivers and you should be ready to go.