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Recommend a 7970

G

garage_logician

Junior Member
I have decided on the 7970, but I am looking for some advice on which to buy. Is the Ghz model worth the extra money? How about something like the Asus Matrix? Diamond? Sapphire? Looking for the best bang for the buck, not the cheapest.

Thanks!
 
I think the best bang for the buck is Sapphire HD7950 for $270 on Newegg.

Among 7970s, Sapphire dual-fan version for $387 should be good. The Matrix on Newegg doens't come with free games but it is probably the best overclocker among all 7970s on air. Let's say you hit 1300mhz on that card vs. 1150mhz on the Sapphire dual-fan card, that's 13% increase for $120 more. It's up to you if it's worth that much or not.

I don't think the GE's are worth the extra $ over non-GEs unless you don't want to overclock. Even then, the Sapphire 7970 is 1Ghz and GEs are 1.05-1.1. I wouldn't buy a reference 7970 card unless you plan on watercooling it.
 
aaksheytalwar said:
You can buy reference and then artic it. But I would recommend going for an out of the box 1100+ MHz one.
Click to expand...

Doesn't make much sense imo. At that point might as well spend $500 for the Asus Matrix 7970 as those AC heatsinks are $60+. Also, a card like Gigabyte Windforce 3x HD7970 1.1ghz or PowerColor PCS+ 1.1ghz should still be reasonably quiet for $450 if the OP doesn't want to OC.

AdamK47 said:
What's wrong with reference cards? They're great in Tri-Fire.
Click to expand...

Works great for Tri-Fire but what about 1100-1150mhz overclocks on a single reference HD7970? Can't be quiet at reasonable temperatures compared to something like a Windforce 3x 7970.

GIGABYTE-HD7970-39.jpg


Adam, time to change that Vette logo for something more modern come January. 🙂

2014_chevrolet_corvette_bdg_ns_101812_600.jpg
 
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RussianSensation said:
Doesn't make much sense imo. At that point might as well spend $500 for the Asus Matrix 7970.
Click to expand...

Me myself i am having a hard time with the 7950 oc lottery or getting the Matrix myself,aim for 1250+core and skip the 8000/700 series.

More then likely gonna go for the Matrix as i lusted for the gtx580 Matrix and well never could afford it with its $550+msrp nor justify it.
 
I'm also looking at the Sapphire HD7950 as suggested by Russian Sensation. Will this card support a 3d 120hz monitor in 120hz mode like the Planar SA2311W? I'm assuming it will since it has DVI dual link but thought I'd better ask before I purchase. Is there a tab that allows 120hz operation in Catalyst control center?
 
3D 120hz works on AMD cards via HDMI.

FastHDMI.jpg


120Hz should work over Dual-Link DVI but to confirm 100%, ask in this Radeon 7950 owner's thread if anyone is running a 120Hz monitor on their 7950 to make sure.

If you want to play 3D games with glasses, I'd probably consider NV's solution instead as it has wider support for 3D games.

Your monitor is not on the list of recommended monitors for AMD cards for stereoscopic 3D :
http://sites.amd.com/us/recommended/Pages/hd3d-panels.aspx
 
If youre OCing the Saphire Dual-X that RS recommended is probably the best deal going among 7970s that come with the game bundle. If your not OCing just get the cheapest GHZ version you can find.
 
Makes sense.
1. I only care about the single fastest arch. At release it was 7970 and now it is 7970 ghz.

2. I don't want cf or sli.

3. Arctic gets better temps, thus enabling good com while being in audible at 100%. I don't think any other custom cooling is in audible at 100%. Besides, I get to buy at the day of release when no other card is available, and in India we only get reference cards for the most part anyway.

4. Honestly whether it costs 100 bucks more or less doesn't matter to me as much. I care that it is in audible at 100% and cools better than any custom cooling. The only deal breaker would be a better overclocker which I can't get in India anyway while retaining the above.

5. If I get out of the box 1100-1200 with 0 audible noise I would go for it if I were buying a new card. But otherwise I would stick to reference plus external cooling 🙂
 
aaksheytalwar said:
Makes sense.
1. I only care about the single fastest arch. At release it was 7970 and now it is 7970 ghz.

2. I don't want cf or sli.

3. Arctic gets better temps, thus enabling good com while being in audible at 100%. I don't think any other custom cooling is in audible at 100%. Besides, I get to buy at the day of release when no other card is available, and in India we only get reference cards for the most part anyway.

4. Honestly whether it costs 100 bucks more or less doesn't matter to me as much. I care that it is in audible at 100% and cools better than any custom cooling. The only deal breaker would be a better overclocker which I can't get in India anyway while retaining the above.

5. If I get out of the box 1100-1200 with 0 audible noise I would go for it if I were buying a new card. But otherwise I would stick to reference plus external cooling 🙂
Click to expand...

If you have limited options sure. Otherwise there are better solutions. While the AC offers great cooling on GPU itself. It doesnt do much for VRMs and Memory. Not to mention with the Asus Matrix your guaranteed a better binned chip and superior components.

dtempxbt.png



89371216.png




RussianSensation said:
What about 3D gaming support though? Would you go with HD3D over 3D Vision? I am not sure I would.
Click to expand...


At this point 3DVision. But I would like to see an in depth comparison of both solutions using the latest drivers.
 
Arctic has released a new watercooling setup for 7970 for sub $200 which is a complete package. No custom cooler will come close to that 🙂

With the binned things in Matrix I agree. But with most previous cards including Lightening, the chips weren't much better than initial reference chips.

Besides, on the day of launch nothing of this sort is available or even announced. And I like to buy at launch day. 🙂
 
AdamK47 said:
What's wrong with reference cards? They're great in Tri-Fire.
Click to expand...

The problem with references cards is usually Shitty coolers.

I artic all my gpu's so I don't have to deal with excessive noise at load.

But with your setup you have to go with stock coolers there is no room to go aftermarket in 3 card setup and even with 2 cards you don't have much room.

One of the reasons I prefer single card setups.
 
ZimZum said:
If you have limited options sure. Otherwise there are better solutions. While the AC offers great cooling on GPU itself. It doesnt do much for VRMs and Memory. Not to mention with the Asus Matrix your guaranteed a better binned chip and superior components.

dtempxbt.png



89371216.png







At this point 3DVision. But I would like to see an in depth comparison of both solutions using the latest drivers.
Click to expand...

The last AC cooler I picked up which i'm using on my 6950 came with VRM and memory sinks!

I do agree with you about better bin chips though.
 
RussianSensation said:
Doesn't make much sense imo. At that point might as well spend $500 for the Asus Matrix 7970 as those AC heatsinks are $60+. Also, a card like Gigabyte Windforce 3x HD7970 1.1ghz or PowerColor PCS+ 1.1ghz should still be reasonably quiet for $450 if the OP doesn't want to OC.



Works great for Tri-Fire but what about 1100-1150mhz overclocks on a single reference HD7970? Can't be quiet at reasonable temperatures compared to something like a Windforce 3x 7970.

GIGABYTE-HD7970-39.jpg


Adam, time to change that Vette logo for something more modern come January. 🙂

2014_chevrolet_corvette_bdg_ns_101812_600.jpg
Click to expand...

Hey RS,

what do you think of this.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_558&item_id=045297

*edit* lol I had no idea this was the Windforce 3x 7970 that you were talking about.

I just randomly saw it and the default clocks are at 1Ghz.

For $479 not bad i've seen the stock 7970 aslow as $400 now.
 
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