Help me decide 7970 or 7950

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Want one of these cards and Crysis 3 doesn't hurt to sweeten the deal. :ninja:
I obviously want to play crysis 3 without a slideshow so I'm going to overclock highly whatever card I get. I want the best bang for the buck card that is a great overclocker. I am using a 2600k at 4ghz 16gb memory and a 120hz 1080p monitor. I'm in the US. Thanks in advance.

 

[DooKey]

7950, something with aftermarket cooling. Gigabyte WF or Sapphire Vapor-X

Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

Sapphire: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

7950, something with aftermarket cooling. Gigabyte WF or Sapphire Vapor-X

Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125414

Sapphire: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202003

Any particular reason you are suggesting 7950 over 7970?

 

[DooKey]

Any particular reason you are suggesting 7950 over 7970?

The performance increase of the 7970 over the 7950 isn't that much at all. The 7950 overclocks just as well as the 7970 and since you are a bang for the buck person there's no doubt you'll get more bang from the 7950.

 

[Ferzerp]

<oilfieldtrashlogic>Because a 7970 is extravagant, and one must make $80k/yr to afford one</oilfieldtrashlogic>

 

[Grooveriding]

I would get a 7950, the difference between the two is small if you are going to overclock them. Personal anecdote, bought an MSI 7950 TF3 and it does 1200 at 1.25V. That is probably a decent little bit faster than a 7970GE and only cost me $305

 

[jimhsu]

Because per clock, 7970 is only 3-7% faster, a difference that you can easily close w/ better cooling / volting. Price however is 33% more.

 

[Termie]

Check out these two articles to see how identical 7950 and 7970 models overclock:

HD7950: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/31.html
HD7970: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7970_X_Turbo/31.html

A lot of people will say "oh, the 7970 is only 5% faster". Well, that's not the whole story. The 7950 will have a greater overall gain from overclocking, but the 7970 will likely hit higher clocks. Also, the 7950 needs overvolting to hit high clocks, and the memory will likely never clock as high.

I guess I was a bigger fan of the 7950 when it was $280AR and the 7970 was $380AR. Now it's not quite as clear. Right now I think this 7970 for $380 no rebate looks awesome: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161412

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

looking at this review of crysis 3
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/crysis_3_graphics_performance_review_benchmark,7.html
There seems to be a huge difference 21% 7970 ghz vs 7950 ghz for fps. Not sure why the 7970 does so much better on crysis 3 while running the same clocks as 7950? The price difference in $300 7950 vs $380 7970 is 22%. 7970 not looking bad.

 

[Termie]

looking at this review of crysis 3
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/crysis_3_graphics_performance_review_benchmark,7.html
There seems to be a huge difference 21% 7970 ghz vs 7950 ghz for fps. Not sure why the 7970 does so much better on crysis 3 while running the same clocks as 7950? The price difference in $300 7950 vs $380 7970 is 22%. 7970 not looking bad.

Because he screwed up. There is no such thing as a 7950 GHz. It's a 7950 Boost, which is running at 925 versus 1050 for the 7970 Ghz.

 

[Jhatfie]

As others have mentioned, Clock for clock the 7970 typically is 3-8% faster depending on game and settings with an average of around 5%. 7970's generally use better hardware and thus generally have slightly better OC headroom. 7970's also will have higher resale when it comes time to upgrade so the extra money spent is not completely lost. I personally would just get a 7950 though and OC it and pocket the $80-100, but there are tangible reasons to go for the 7970 instead.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Thanks looks like I'm going with the 7950 gigabyte windforce. Have had good luck with gigabyte in the past with a rma on a motherboard and I also owned a windforce 670 for a short time and it was a great cooler. Thanks for the input.

 

[Jhatfie]

Thanks looks like I'm going with the 7950 gigabyte windforce. Have had good luck with gigabyte in the past with a rma on a motherboard and I also owned a windforce 670 for a short time and it was a great cooler. Thanks for the input.

You might want to double check, but I believe I have heard that the latest Gigabyte 7950's were voltage locked. That could severely limit your overclocking plans.

 

[spinejam]

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

 

[lavaheadache]

I vote 7970 but that's because I don't do cut down chips.

 

[Termie]

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

Oh, that's more like it. Nice price. Use $10 code: MELTDOWN

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

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

I bought this card instead. Thanks. Looks like the gigabyte are voltage locked and it appears this one isn't.
I won't spend $300 and have a voltage locked 7950.

Thanks for all the advice. Almost got screwed with that gigabyte voltage locking.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Oh, that's more like it. Nice price. Use $10 code: MELTDOWN

I found it at the egg for the same price. I'll gladly pay an extra 10 to the egg since customer service has always been top notch.

 

[Rvenger]

Man, OFT I wish I would have saw this. You could have bought my 7970 I would have upgraded to a GTX 690.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

You might want to double check, but I believe I have heard that the latest Gigabyte 7950's were voltage locked. That could severely limit your overclocking plans.

thanks for the heads up.
gigabyte cancelled.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Man, OFT I wish I would have saw this. You could have bought my 7970

yhpm

 

[spinejam]

Newegg price dropped to match S_biz:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202006

http://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST&user=u00000687

 

[aaksheytalwar]

The 7970 is 5-10% faster at the same core, is likely to do 10% higher core and 10-15% higher memory for a total avg difference of over 20% if not more. That is the price difference anyway, so I would pick a 7970 over a 7950 any day of the week.

 

[jacktesterson]

7950

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Newegg price dropped to match S_biz:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202006

http://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST&user=u00000687

Yeah that's what I bought. They had the same price last night. Not bad considering the games and unlocked voltage. Hoping for a 1150mhz oc.