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HD 7950 vs HD 7970 vs HD 7870 CFX

Durvelle27

Durvelle27

Diamond Member
I think i have asked this question before but never ended up upgrading. I have a max budget of $340 to spend. I want to max or nearly max most games out. I game at 1920x1080 120Hz. Games i play BF3, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Sleeping Dogs and soon newer Games like Watch Dogs & BF4. I really have the upgrade itch right now and want to ditch my HD 7870. Thx for any help.
 
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Isn't a new card coming out again in literally 2-3 months? Seems VERY LATE to upgrade at this point if you already have a 7870.
 
As always, 7950s give the best bang for the buck, but 7970s are getting pretty cheap. I'm looking forward to Crossfire being improved so I can get an second 7970. Two or more 7970s will handle upcoming games for quite a while, I would think.
 
tential said:
Isn't a new card coming out again in literally 2-3 months? Seems VERY LATE to upgrade at this point if you already have a 7870.
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Are you talking about the HD 9000 series. If so those are rumors nobody knows exactly when they will come out.



Also want to note i do OC as high as i can get out of the card
 
Save your money bud. Rumors are October for the 9000 series. Even with both of these cards you won't max out most newer games @ 1080p
 
Face2Face said:
Save your money bud. Rumors are October for the 9000 series. Even with both of these cards you won't max out most newer games @ 1080p
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Sure, but expect to pay a premium of around $150-200 for HD9000 equivalents. It's not a bad idea to buy now if you're on a budget and need the card now.

Rumor is the 9970 will cost at least $550, and you can snatch 7970s for as low as $330 before rebate now.
 
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Never get a 7970 over a 7950 these days, it was only worth it when bitcoin mining was profitable. Clock for clock, its 5% difference. Is that worth the 20-25% price difference?
 
I would say the MSI TF3, the HIS Iceq2, and the Sapphire Vapor X are the most well known overclocking cards. All have unlocked voltage and good coolers. Just go for one that is the best price, and fits in your case, the IceQ2 is a long GPU. As always overclocking is a gamble, so you could get a crap card from any manufacturer. My IceQ2 does 1200 core/1600 memory with a small bump in voltage, it's unlikely you will see much over 1250/1700 with any 7950 so have reasonable expectations.
 
p_monks33 said:
I would say the MSI TF3, the HIS Iceq2, and the Sapphire Vapor X are the most well known overclocking cards. All have unlocked voltage and good coolers. Just go for one that is the best price, and fits in your case, the IceQ2 is a long GPU. As always overclocking is a gamble, so you could get a crap card from any manufacturer. My IceQ2 does 1200 core/1600 memory with a small bump in voltage, it's unlikely you will see much over 1250/1700 with any 7950 so have reasonable expectations.
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My case can fit a GPU up to 13" with the drive cage in. And yea my expectations aren't really that high.
 
I agree with going with a 7950 over a 7970. 7950's are really great cards for their current price.
 
My advice is to wait until october. Then we will know if rumors are true. If they are you can grab a 7950/7970 from someone upgrading to the new card(s). If not, then you didn't lose anything as the two new games you mentioned BF4 and Watch Dogs would not have released yet.
 
Even if AMD does a refresh, there's no indications they are going to offer good value.. the leaks have the prices insanely high. Thus, an OC 7950 will STILL be the best bang for buck until 20nm, or likely beyond given what Apple and Qual is doing to 20nm wafer prices.
 
cmdrdredd said:
My advice is to wait until october. Then we will know if rumors are true. If they are you can grab a 7950/7970 from someone upgrading to the new card(s). If not, then you didn't lose anything as the two new games you mentioned BF4 and Watch Dogs would not have released yet.
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BF4 releases 10/29
 
Silverotrce11 said:
Even if AMD does a refresh, there's no indications they are going to offer good value.. the leaks have the prices insanely high. Thus, an OC 7950 will STILL be the best bang for buck until 20nm, or likely beyond given what Apple and Qual is doing to 20nm wafer prices.
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Did they say or any rumours stating how much faster they are over the HD 7000 series
 
Durvelle27 said:
BF4 releases 10/29
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so? thats the end of the month. if new cards ain't out by then they aren't coming.

The scenario could be you pay $300 for a card now and in 4 months new cards come and people are offloading their 7950 and 7970s cheap on the forums. I know i would hate to spend money and a few months later find out I could have saved $100 or something.
 
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How about waiting for the new drivers and see if crossfire works better? If it does then a 2nd 7870 will likely give you better/equal performance than the 9970(?). Definitely better than a 7950.
 
Durvelle27 said:
I think i have asked this question before but never ended up upgrading. I have a max budget of $340 to spend. I want to max or nearly max most games out. I game at 1920x1080 120Hz. Games i play BF3, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Sleeping Dogs and soon newer Games like Watch Dogs & BF4. I really have the upgrade itch right now and want to ditch my HD 7870. Thx for any help.
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I very much doubt that the 9xxx series will be debuting under $350, so that's out given your budget.

I know people like to bang on Crossfire, but I recently added a second 7870 to my rig and absolutely love it. I've had no issues at all except in Far Cry 3 (and a frame limiter fixed those), plus AMD's frame pacing driver is just around the corner. A second 7870 is cheaper than a 7970 and 7870 CFX absolutely smashes a single 7970 for game performance.

Here's a review if you need some graphs: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4...reference_video_cards_in_crossfire/index.html
 
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3DVagabond said:
How about waiting for the new drivers and see if crossfire works better? If it does then a 2nd 7870 will likely give you better/equal performance than the 9970(?). Definitely better than a 7950.
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thing with that is my mother board only has 1x 2.0 x16 slot and 1x 2.0 x4 slot.
 
cmdrdredd said:
so? thats the end of the month. if new cards ain't out by then they aren't coming.

The scenario could be you pay $300 for a card now and in 4 months new cards come and people are offloading their 7950 and 7970s cheap on the forums. I know i would hate to spend money and a few months later find out I could have saved $100 or something.
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I'm actually seeing them cheaper now on some forums. Like one guy is selling a Sapphire HD 7970 GHz for $280
 
Bummer. Supposedly running a second card in a x8 slot gives about a 5-8% (basically unnoticeable and still better than a 7970) performance loss, but x4 can be much worse.
I guess the 7970 would be the way to go with your budget. You could probably get a decent CFX mobo AND a 7870 for $350, but obviously it would involve gutting your system instead of just plugging in a new GPU. I know how much I despise gut upgrades...
 
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