I switched

[sze5003]

So I just finished placing my order on a new case and HIS IceQ X2 7970 card. Never had an amd card before so I hope it will be nice.

I was going to wait for the Evga Nvidia 670 FTW to go one some sale but I did not find anything.

Newegg had 20% off on some cases and I found a 7970 that was the same if not little bit cheaper than the 670 that I wanted.

I hope it will be a good buy :/

 

[Rvenger]

It was $394.99 for that HIS 7970. Thats a great deal on one with an aftermarket cooler. You should go post it over in the hot deals section.


You should be happy with your choice and remember to install the latest Cat 12.8 drivers

 

[sze5003]

Oh ok I am brand new to Amd so I was thinking 12.7 is what I saw on the HIS site. Is Catalyst the whole driver kit?

I'll go and add it to the deals section.

 

[jacktesterson]

Make sure to use 12.8. Works excellent.


You will be more than happy with your 7970.

 

[spinejam]

Nice card -- congrats!

 

[sze5003]

To avoid any confusion or conflicts, since I am running Intel HD right now, I should switch the bios to PCIE before I take apart my computer to transfer components to my new case?

After that I plan on booting safe mode and using driver cleaner to get rid of any graphics card drivers left over from Intel or Nvidia.

Also, what do most people use for monitoring the card is there a favorite program in specific? I know HIS has the iTurbo app but I don't know much of it.

 

[markyd]

You will regret buying AMD over NVIDIA (possibly thanks to the AMD bias some of the members on this board throw around). nonetheless congrats on your purchase.

Marky, we've had enough. Please take the next 3 days off
-ViRGE

 

[Dulanic]

You will regret buying AMD over NVIDIA (possibly thanks to the AMD bias some of the members on this board throw around). nonetheless congrats on your purchase.

Lol bias claiming bias.

Note : I have a Nvidia card.

 

[blastingcap]

You will regret buying AMD over NVIDIA (possibly thanks to the AMD bias some of the members on this board throw around). nonetheless congrats on your purchase.

You'd be more credible if you actually backed up your statement. I see no explanation for your statement. Just sayin'.

 

[markyd]

You'd be more credible if you actually backed up your statement. I see no explanation for your statement. Just sayin'.

AMD users are constantly complaining about problems and all the late driver issues. All you have to do is look at nvidia product reviews and so many are amd users who have switched, just go on newegg.

Nvidia is the better product, it's simple. It's not bias, it's the truth.

 

[blastingcap]

AMD users are constantly complaining about problems and all the late driver issues. All you have to do is look at nvidia product reviews and so many are amd users who have switched, just go on newegg.

Nvidia is the better product, it's simple. It's not bias, it's the truth.

I've owned and operated both. AMD used to have more issues and they had a particularly glaring one in WC3 that I hated, but that was back before I did regular driver updates so who knows, maybe a driver update would have fixed it. On the other hand NV drivers have never caused problems for me at all.

In recent years AMD has caught up in single-GPU drivers. They are probably still a little behind in multi-GPU, but even there, they've gotten crossfire to scale way better than it used to. The HD6xxx series in particular had a big jump up in scaling efficiency and the HD7xxx series seems to have retained that. People say NV has less multi-GPU microstutter though which could be huge to people who notice microstutter.

 

[markyd]

I've owned and operated both. AMD used to have more issues and they had a particularly glaring one in WC3 that I hated, but that was back before I did regular driver updates so who knows, maybe a driver update would have fixed it. On the other hand NV drivers have never caused problems for me at all.

In recent years AMD has caught up in single-GPU drivers. They are probably still a little behind in multi-GPU, but even there, they've gotten crossfire to scale way better than it used to. The HD6xxx series in particular had a big jump up in scaling efficiency and the HD7xxx series seems to have retained that. People say NV has less multi-GPU microstutter though which could be huge to people who notice microstutter.

Thank you for replying to what i say instead of just saying i'm a fanboy and ignoring it like in the other thread where i say nvidia has all the AAA titles.

 

[sze5003]

Well that's no good to hear. I've done my research for weeks now. Reason I got the 7970 was because it turned out within my budget of what I wanted to pay. I could have gotten the Evga 670 when it first had some sales for 399 or so but I wanted that specific model.

I missed out on it and with this week's sales I had a chance to get both a bigger case and a new card.

To be honest yes I have read about people's driver issues, but I have also read about those that haven't had any. I've had trouble with the Nvidia drivers once or twice, had to rollback because they caused some Windows 7 display issues, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the card.

Besides, I wanted to try an AMD card for once and normally if it was a lower tier card I would not have bought it.

I hope I don't have issues but even so if I do I can return it to Newegg within 30 days.

 

[96Firebird]

You'll be fine with your 7970, enjoy it. Don't worry about other's experiences. If you do have any problems, you can always turn here and ask for help. Many members are extremely knowledgeable.

 

[Phynaz]

You will regret buying AMD over NVIDIA (possibly thanks to the AMD bias some of the members on this board throw around). nonetheless congrats on your purchase.

Awesome, thanks for your contribution. Oh, BTW, I reported you.

 

[Phynaz]

Well that's no good to hear.

Don't sweat it, just a new reg trolling. You'll be fine.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I've never understood the fanboyism around GPU manufacturers. I've owned both Nvidia and ATI/AMD cards for the past 10+ years (and a 3dfx card before that). I haven't had any more issues one manufacturer than the other. Had my Geforce 3 die and an ATI 9800 die. Never had any issues I can actually trace back to drivers - just overclocking too much resulting in artifacts and such. I've put ATI cards in my past 2 machines because they were the best value at the time. If I were to upgrade today (which I'm considering), I would probably buy a 7950 or 7970 with a custom cooler. Not because I think Nvidia sucks or AMD is awesome - because they seem to be the best value in their price range and I don't particularly care about PhysX or vendor specific AA methods.

 

[sze5003]

I've never understood the fanboyism around GPU manufacturers. I've owned both Nvidia and ATI/AMD cards for the past 10+ years (and a 3dfx card before that). I haven't had any more issues one manufacturer than the other. Had my Geforce 3 die and an ATI 9800 die. Never had any issues I can actually trace back to drivers - just overclocking too much resulting in artifacts and such. I've put ATI cards in my past 2 machines because they were the best value at the time. If I were to upgrade today (which I'm considering), I would probably buy a 7950 or 7970 with a custom cooler. Not because I think Nvidia sucks or AMD is awesome - because they seem to be the best value in their price range and I don't particularly care about PhysX or vendor specific AA methods.

I've never been in favor of any particular brand. At the time it was just what I had that I made due with. Why knock something when you have not tried it, or even if you had tried and had problems you shouldn't blame it as a bad token. I've seen people here on AnAndTech over excellent reviews and advice down to the nitty gritty technical specs. And of those people offering these reviews/advice, neither was going around saying this is a bad choice, brand X is the all time best.

These things are all opinions as far as I am concerned. I don't expect to analyze and mess with every single setting available. I set my resolution and as long as I can play on High/Max settings on most games without stuttering/lag/crashes I am happy.

I will probably spend a great deal of reading on here about overclocking and taking things slowly. I expect this card to last me quiet a bit. Next time I upgrade I will be upgrading the mobo and processor most likely.

Yes some games run better on Nvidia but its not like those games can't even start on an Amd card. Nvidia has a lot of market share/commercials. When is the last time you saw an Amd commercial or sponsor on tv?

Its really like Apple vs PC. Nvidia is the popular brand when in reality both brands are equally capable of giving you expected results.

I work hard for my money and this was a deal that fit my range and in reality it turned out being cheaper for me. I didn't want a stock 670 and could not afford a 680. I wanted an aftermarket cooler and the ability to be able to run higher resolutions later if I decide to change my monitor. The factor here was that I've always been interested in the Amd cards but I wanted the top tier models and in this case, I was able to get it for my ideal price.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The 670s just haven't moved much on price so I see nothing wrong with going with a better priced alternative. I love my 670 and find certain features really welcome at times, I don't think it's totally bad to go with a 7950 or 7970 if the pricing is good (which it is).

 

[sze5003]

The prices on Nvidia have been slow until the next model Amd comes out or the newer Gtx from Nvidia is out. If you can save some money I don't see a problem. I'm sure I would have liked the 670 as well and from doing all the research at the resolution of 1920x1080 I will be getting similar results the way I play.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Yeah dude for a single card either way is about the same unless you think Physx is must have or you use something that demands Cuda support. By the same token DirectCompute is way faster on AMD right now and maybe that's something you will want to have too.

 

[sze5003]

Yeh it will be a while before i even get into any of the processing effects of either type. I do quite a bit of web development, mostly java, asp, C#. Zipping/Unzipping, compressing stuff and so on. I haven't had issues on my work pc and that uses an old ass Radeon card.

 

[Avalon]

You will regret buying AMD over NVIDIA (possibly thanks to the AMD bias some of the members on this board throw around). nonetheless congrats on your purchase.

I've bought several AMD/ATI cards over the past 10 years and have never had a single driver problem, or really any problem for that matter, and have always been satisfied.

For single GPU use, I don't see either Nvidia nor AMD being an issue for a user.

 

[RussianSensation]

AMD users are constantly complaining about problems and all the late driver issues. All you have to do is look at nvidia product reviews and so many are amd users who have switched, just go on newegg.

Nvidia is the better product, it's simple. It's not bias, it's the truth.

So you use Newegg reviews as "proof" that NV cards have better drivers? Not another new poster such as yourself. Keep using NV cards and enjoy them but don't tell our entire forum that AMD cards are junk. Please don't repeat your drivel over and over again. You think 40% of desktop users and 50-60% of mobile discrete users would waste their $ on AMD cards if the drivers didn't work? Your argument may hold some water for micro-stutter of SLI vs. CF but other than that it has 0 credibility.

I've owned countless NV and AMD cards and the drivers work fine for both camps for single-GPU cards. There are NV driver issues that NV users share among each other. The same is true for AMD users. You expect me to believe there are no driver issues with GTX670/680 series? NV's drivers cannot be perfect considering NV is behind in all of these games:

- Anno 2070, Serious Sam 3, Risen 2, Arma 2 Operations/Day-Z mod, Alan Wake, Dirt Showdown, Sniper Elite V2, Crysis 1/ Warhead, Metro 2033, Bulletstorm, Dirt 3. And then you have notoriously poor 8xMSAA performance, whether driver or memory bandwidth related (Batman AC, Skyrim with mods). It looks like now AMD is even faster in Guild Wars 2 and Darksiders 2. Their drivers suck, ah?

We got the message that you hate AMD videocards after your first 40 posts. GTX670/680 are excellent cards but all we are looking for here is sze5003's experience with this particular card, NOT discussing 7970 vs. GTX680. Just seeing if this card is any good since so far no one has this card on our forum it seems. It would be great to hear about how this new IceQ X2 HIS cooler does.

 

[RussianSensation]

sze5003, can you confirm if this card ships with the 1050mhz GPU clocks BIOS? Some people reported 925mhz and others 1050mhz. I am curious to see what the deal is. Any results with overclocking yet? How are the noise levels at idle or load?

What voltage do you need to hit 1150/1200mhz per HWInfo64 or GPU-Z (Sensor)?

It seems this card can hit 1200+ mhz and still remain cool and quiet. The cooler seems very potent, easily on par with the MSI Lightning.

Any coil whine at full load?