Highly tempted to upgrade to 7970x2

[HumblePie]

I have two unlocked 6950's at beyond 6970 speeds right now. I'm going to hold out and see if there is something equivalent to that with the new 7xxx series. Still I'm think I might like the performance of overclocked and crossfired 7970s. I can sell off the current cards I have, but I'm still looking to spend between $500 to $700 after selling my cards.

Anyone else thinking the same thing?

 

[aphelion02]

Heh, I'm debating between moving to a single 6950 or a 7970. If you ever are see selling your cards, let me know.

 

[Dark Shroud]

I've decided that if I do upgrade it will be to a HD 7990.

 

[blackened23]

I've decided that if I do upgrade it will be to a HD 7990.

Just curious, any reason to prefer a 7990 over dual 7970s? I assume that a 7990 would be a somewhat watered down version of 2 7970s, downclocked and such.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Just curious, any reason to prefer a 7990 over dual 7970s? I assume that a 7990 would be a somewhat watered down version of 2 7970s, downclocked and such.

Pricing rumors puts the 7990 at below the cost of two 7970s. I intend to watercool whatever I get, so the 7990 would likely clock up to what 7970s are capable of. Assuming the power circuitry on the 7990 is up to snuff.

So
7990 costs less than 2x7970s
Could in theory get the same performance with watercooling
I only have to buy 1 GPU block.

 

[Grooveriding]

Pricing rumors puts the 7990 at below the cost of two 7970s. I intend to watercool whatever I get, so the 7990 would likely clock up to what 7970s are capable of. Assuming the power circuitry on the 7990 is up to snuff.

So
7990 costs less than 2x7970s
Could in theory get the same performance with watercooling
I only have to buy 1 GPU block.

This is true, but the block is going to cost at least $100 as well, so you are talking $1000. I'd also reckon by March when the 7990 is out, 7970s will have stabilized to about $500 even.

I don't like the dual-gpu cards myself, I think you are better served by two of the single-gpu flagships rather than cramming them both on to one card. Near certain you would get better performance out of whatever overclocks you could get on two 7970s on air vs one 7990 overclocked on water.

I also like using multiple cards because in the event one fails, you are not left in a lurch while you wait on an RMA.

 

[HumblePie]

^ Same reason I prefer multiple cards Grooveriding.

I've had cards fail on me before and PSU as well. It is nice to be able to have a fall back to a single card if I must while I wait for a replacement to come in. For example I had my 1250w OCZ unit die on me recently. I only had a 450w PSU as an extra at the time. I was able to use that 450w with a single GPU while I waited for the replacement 1250. If I had a 6990 instead I wouldn't have been able to use it without massive risk to my system from over drawing too much power.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Don't do it!

In other words, your current set up is above and beyond the call.

 

[ljtatej]

I've got two shipping to me on the 30th. This will be the first time I go all out like this and probably the last, but it should last me for quite some time. Steam also hit my wallet pretty hard also!

 

[OVerLoRDI]

This is true, but the block is going to cost at least $100 as well, so you are talking $1000. I'd also reckon by March when the 7990 is out, 7970s will have stabilized to about $500 even.

I also like using multiple cards because in the event one fails, you are not left in a lurch while you wait on an RMA.

True, however I'm going to watercool whatever I get. So getting a 7990 allows me to buy only one block.

7990 with block: ~1000+
7970 with blocks: ~1200+

This is assuming 7990 is about $900, 7970s being $500, and blocks being $100 a piece.

All depends if 7990's power circuitry can handle the same kind of overclocks that 7970s can. In my situation the 7990 could potentially be the card to get.

Or not upgrade at all (the likely scenario)

 

[BrightCandle]

I had the same dilemma with the 5870x2 verses the 5970. The dual card was cheaper, about as fast as two 5850's and I only needed one waterblock. But in practice I've had some problems not present on a crossfire system:

1) A 5970 doesn't count officially as crossfire. You get none of the options in the bios to turn crossfire on or off or make custom profiles. Only games that have profiles provided by AMD will work. THIS SUCKS especially when it takes them months to get around to a game, if ever.
2) The 5970 waterblock ended up costing about 50% more than a single card block. Now that makes it cheaper but its the saving of only about £20 in all.
3) The 5970 came with less DRAM and that limited its ability to run in eyefinity well - that has really hurt over the last 1.5 years.
4) In many circumstances the 5970 has been behind in terms of profiles and driver releases of the normal crossfire solution. Due to the fact it isn't the fastest single card possible it also tends to suffer badly if the game can't be run in crossfire.

These dual cards do save on power and are cheaper than 2 7970's but they also have some pretty bad drawbacks that amplify the problems people have with crossfire.

 

[GaiaHunter]

3) The 5970 came with less DRAM and that limited its ability to run in eyefinity well - that has really hurt over the last 1.5 years.

This is incorrect.

The 5970 packs 2GB memory, 1GB per GPU. The 5870 packs 1GB ram. There is 5870 with 2GB ram but those cards cost even more. There are also 4GB 5970.

 

[Corporate Thug]

OP, what res do you run?

 

[Dark Shroud]

Just curious, any reason to prefer a 7990 over dual 7970s? I assume that a 7990 would be a somewhat watered down version of 2 7970s, downclocked and such.

The 6990 was not down clocked, quite the opposite. I expect this will also hold true for the 7990. The issue for me is space, I have other cards in my system so doing a crossfire set-up just isn't possible unless I also replace my mobo.

I will say that I would consider 7970s if it's a MSI Lightning or a triple slot card from Asus if they make them again. Those cards were all monsters.

But in the end I can also choose to sit this round out and wait for the AMD respin.

 

[scooterlibby]

I am not anti-AMD, had a 4850 and a 5970 I bought for $700 in its heyday, but what games necessitate a 7990? I can't find a game that can't be handled by 2xGTX580's or a 6990. I built my rig for BF3 and it's like butter with my setup. Even Arkham City with DX11 and Phsyx is playable at 1920x1200.

Are you guys wanting a 7990 doing Eyefinity? That's only where I see this being worthwhile.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'm probably going to get a 7970 to replace my 4870x2, but I'm not doing Crossfire. I just had too many issues with it and I'm gun shy now.

 

[BrightCandle]

The 6990 was not down clocked, quite the opposite. I expect this will also hold true for the 7990. The issue for me is space, I have other cards in my system so doing a crossfire set-up just isn't possible unless I also replace my mobo.

I will say that I would consider 7970s if it's a MSI Lightning or a triple slot card from Asus if they make them again. Those cards were all monsters.

But in the end I can also choose to sit this round out and wait for the AMD respin.

It will have to be downclocked because the 7970 is a 210W card. No way they can fit two of those cores in 300W without reducing the voltage and clock speed.

I have had such a bad experience with crossfire on my 5970 I can't express how strongly against these dual core cards I am. Its been shockingly bad performance for much of its life and I hate this card and can't wait to get rid of it.

 

[wahdangun]

It will have to be downclocked because the 7970 is a 210W card. No way they can fit two of those cores in 300W without reducing the voltage and clock speed.

I have had such a bad experience with crossfire on my 5970 I can't express how strongly against these dual core cards I am. Its been shockingly bad performance for much of its life and I hate this card and can't wait to get rid of it.

hmm, i think you forget one tiny detail, HD 6990 break the 300 watt barrier, hell its even have a switch to make it even more power hungry

 

[Dark Shroud]

I am not anti-AMD, had a 4850 and a 5970 I bought for $700 in its heyday, but what games necessitate a 7990? I can't find a game that can't be handled by 2xGTX580's or a 6990. I built my rig for BF3 and it's like butter with my setup. Even Arkham City with DX11 and Phsyx is playable at 1920x1200.

Are you guys wanting a 7990 doing Eyefinity? That's only where I see this being worthwhile.

My monitor does higher than 1080p res and I plan to upgrade in a year. On top of that I like eye candy settings.

It will have to be downclocked because the 7970 is a 210W card. No way they can fit two of those cores in 300W without reducing the voltage and clock speed.

I have had such a bad experience with crossfire on my 5970 I can't express how strongly against these dual core cards I am. Its been shockingly bad performance for much of its life and I hate this card and can't wait to get rid of it.

I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience but crossfire has gotten a lot better. On top of that these newer cards are designed to go past the limit.

Are you running your HD 5970 at stock settings or did you use the software tools to unlock it to 5870 speeds or higher?

Also for a moment it seemed like you had two HD 5970s in crossfire which did have a few bugs since it was so uncommon of a set up. I personally wouldn't do anything more than a tri-fire set-up.