Help me choose a 7950!

[almightyobo]

I will be purchasing a 7950 this upcoming Friday, but I am still torn on which one to choose! I've narrowed it down to these 5 at the moment:

ASUS V2 - $339
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121716

Sapphire Vapor-X - $339
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003

MSI TF3 - $319
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

GIGAGBYTE 3GD - $309
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125414

Sapphire 3L - $309
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1


My top choices are the MSI and the ASUS. Looking for anything and everything I can find to help sway my decision in favor of one individual card! It must come from NewEgg.

Looking for expert opinions! Please leave a detailed reason for your choice.

 

[Face2Face]

Do you plan on overclocking at all?

 

[almightyobo]

Do you plan on overclocking at all?

omg yes I forgot to mention! I would like to OC!

 

[Yuriman]

The Gigabyte is a great card with a great cooler if you don't plan to touch the voltage but the newer ones are coming locked AFAIK. I can't speak for the other cards.

 

[Face2Face]

My expert opinion is ----- get the MSI TF3 7950.....:whiste:

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I've had three 7950 TF3's now and they've all been good cards imo. High speed fan performance isn't that great, but low to avg is really good. They'll all do decent overclocks with low to mid fan speed, and the vrams stay cool enough for the clocks I'm at.

I may get a vapor-x with my next 7950, not because I don't like the TF3, but because the vapor-x also looks like a good card and I want to see for myself.

The Asus card you linked is probably as good or better than either the TF3 or vapor-x, but it's triple slot which means I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

Edit: The Gigabyte card is voltage locked as far as I know, at 1.25v it's not terrible for overclocking, but if you like to undervolt or optimize at all it's no joy whatsoever.

Cooler design and price have nothing to do with the silicon, it's a crapshoot.

 

[almightyobo]

the triple slot ASUS doesnt bother me at all, from what I remember it has the best cooling solution of the 4. I could be mistaken though.. I've read so many different reviews on so many cards its making my head spin! Which is why I posted haha

 

[sublime420ec]

His turbo 7950 best card i'd recommend at this time. ..

 

[AtenRa]

I have the ASUS V2, great card, awesome cooler, stays cool with low fan speeds.

 

[KompuKare]

Not the Gigabyte IMO. Not only are they all voltage locked GHz editions now which run at a fixed crazy 1.25V, Gigabyte skimped and didn't equip it with a good monitoring chip so no info on VRM temps, GDDR5 voltages etc. - just vcore, core temp and fan speed.

For the crazy locked voltages I did manage to force the older F43 (fairly safe since it has dual BIOS but to use ATIWinflash the card cannot be the primary). But that still locks the voltage at 1.09V which while that is okay up to 1100MHz for me, is not ideal since for ~1000MHz I think 1.05V or even 1.00V should be possible and would save me few watts plus run cooler.

Still, the cooler is good though and no sign of any coil whine.

 

[hjalti8]

I have the ASUS V2, great card, awesome cooler, stays cool with low fan speeds.

It has unlocked voltage right? also does it have a custom pcb?

 

[almightyobo]

the Sapphire 3L is a possibility too for $309.99. I know the 2L was very popular.

 

[Durvelle27]

my vote is for the TF3

 

[Rvenger]

I vote the Gigabyte this time around. The new revision 7950 PCBs are using a 6+8 Pin 7970 PCB.

 

[Silverforce11]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161420

This card has the best cooler: cool AND quiet AND all the heat exhaust out your case.

The only downside is, its 2.5 slots thick and a bit longer than usual.

 

[almightyobo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161420

This card has the best cooler: cool AND quiet AND all the heat exhaust out your case.

The only downside is, its 2.5 slots thick and a bit longer than usual.

I had read about that card but didnt notice in on NewEgg for some reason, Ill keep in mind

size is no issue, I have all the room in the world in my Fractal

I vote the Gigabyte this time around. The new revision 7950 PCBs are using a 6+8 Pin 7970 PCB.

the one I have linked has 6+6 in the picture, are you referring to that one or the Windforce model?

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Sorry, I chose before I read the other option. Not the vapor-x, get the HIS iPower IceQ x^2

 

[almightyobo]

up for more opinions

the Vapor-X is currently sold out. Probably from people taking advantage of the $30 off $250 deal currently going on at NewEgg, which is what I am trying to do as well

the Sapphire 3L is still in stock though

at this point I'm looking for the best potential overclocker with the best cooling solution (I know overclocking will depend on the silicon lottery, but some cards have better reputations than others)

 

[Rikard]

I've had three 7950 TF3's now and they've all been good cards imo. High speed fan performance isn't that great, but low to avg is really good. They'll all do decent overclocks with low to mid fan speed, and the vrams stay cool enough for the clocks I'm at.

I may get a vapor-x with my next 7950, not because I don't like the TF3, but because the vapor-x also looks like a good card and I want to see for myself.

The Asus card you linked is probably as good or better than either the TF3 or vapor-x, but it's triple slot which means I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

Edit: The Gigabyte card is voltage locked as far as I know, at 1.25v it's not terrible for overclocking, but if you like to undervolt or optimize at all it's no joy whatsoever.

Cooler design and price have nothing to do with the silicon, it's a crapshoot.

Hey Balla, if you get a Vapor-X could you please compare the noise compared to the TF3? I made some recordings on youtube
http://youtu.be/kdifmfCrtrY
http://youtu.be/TDikMf2CicA
and while this is the most silent card I had in modern times, some people think it sounds loud on the recordings. However, one reason I did not go for the TF3 was that it is supposedly loud like a NASA shuttle, and I keep my PC in the living room.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

at this point I'm looking for the best potential overclocker with the best cooling solution (I know overclocking will depend on the silicon lottery, but some cards have better reputations than others)

AFAIK the IceQ x2 comes on 6+8 pin PCB and it's said to have great cooling. I just haven't owned one. Looking into getting one actually.

 

[Face2Face]

at this point I'm looking for the best potential overclocker with the best cooling solution (I know overclocking will depend on the silicon lottery, but some cards have better reputations than others)

The MSI TF3 7950 I think has the best reputation for overclocking. The catch is their coolers are louder than others and vrm cooling is not good for high overclocks (1200+) anything over 65-70% on the fan speed is very loud. Balla has a newer batch of TF3's so he could tell you what type of fan speeds are needed to hold a decent temp on a decent overclock.

 

[almightyobo]

Yea mostly the negative things I hear about the TF3 are that they are loud, which is kind of an issue since I already have a somewhat silent theme going in my Fractal. I've already upgraded all of the case fans for better performance / less sound

 

[Rvenger]

the one I have linked has 6+6 in the picture, are you referring to that one or the Windforce model?

Ignore the picture, LagunaX can confirm that any new revision Gigabyte 7950 with locked voltage will have the 7970 PCB.

 

[Binky]

MSI or Sapphire. I have the TF3 and Vapor-X and they are both very good. I'd grab the one that is cheaper with better warranty.

You could even grab a blower-style 7950 and slap an AIO liquid cooler on it for about the same price ("the red mod")...

 

[RussianSensation]

Why not wait for GTX700 cards to drop to see if there are price movements? Rumour has it GTX760Ti will ~ GTX670 or so at $299 and GTX770 ~ GTX680 at $399. Might put pricing pressure on 7950s and 7970s too.