Still no real upgrade for a 7950?

[Rhezuss]

I'm shopping for a new card, not because I need it but because my geek demon wants it

But I can't find anything really worth the price and be a worthy upgrade...

I've been out of the loop for some time and i'm trying to catch up on what is new and what is announced.

Is there something worthy of well earned money coming soon?

 

[Sohaltang]

Reference 290x can be had on ebay for 300ish . Sure its a furnace but will give you close to double performance. Bitcoin miners gave up when market crashed and used amd cards tanked along with it. My choice would be 780ti used for 350ish. 7950's are 150$ so CF would an nice jump in most games. Lastly you could sell the 7950 and for 450$ cf290x or 550$ sli 780ti.



So yes, there are many options for upgrade. In a few months new cards will be old and likely drive down all prices.

 

[Zorander]

An R9 290 is the minimum you can upgrade to from the HD7950. Anything lesser is not worth it.

Or you could overclock your current GPU. I have the same card and it easily manages 1100/1500 speeds.

 

[raghu78]

there are rumours of a 500 sq mm R9 295X coming soon. Tonga has already proven the > 350 sq mm part true.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...-gpus-made-using-28nm-hpm-process-technology/

http://videocardz.com/52302/amd-radeon-r9-390x-cooling-pictured

 

[Silverforce11]

I had a 7950 prior and a single R290 is an upgrade, especially if you get a good custom model that can hit 1.1ghz without touching vcore (both of mine able to).

But definitely with the incoming Godzilla >500mm2 from AMD and NV's Maxwell 980, it will be a good time to upgrade soon.

 

[Sohaltang]

An R9 290 is the minimum you can upgrade to from the HD7950. Anything lesser is not worth it.

Or you could overclock your current GPU. I have the same card and it easily manages 1100/1500 speeds.

I noticed the clock speeds in his sig as well (btw dude any 2 card suggested solution will need a psu upgrade). If your not willing to overclock, I suggest used reference 290x all the way. They are already at the thermal boundary The nvidia cards need fine tuning but are known as excellent overclockers.

 

[Sohaltang]

there are rumours of a 500 sq mm R9 295X coming soon. Tonga has already proven the > 350 sq mm part true.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...-gpus-made-using-28nm-hpm-process-technology/

http://videocardz.com/52302/amd-radeon-r9-390x-cooling-pictured

The links call it a 390x. It's a single gpu. The 295x2 is already out. If they call it a 295x that would be hilarious.

 

[raghu78]

The links call it a 390x. It's a single gpu. The 295x2 is already out. If they call it a 295x that would be hilarious.

R9 285 used the Tonga GPU which measured 359 sq mm. there will e a fully enabled R9 285X launching soon using the same GPU. The >500 sq mm GPU will be built on 28nm node and is likely to be called R9 295X.

 

[BrightCandle]

Personally I view the value point of an upgrade to be when 2x the performance is available. That point hasn't been hit yet over the 7950.

 

[KingFatty]

Pretend you are Braveheart, "hold.... hold... holllllllldddddd...."

Maybe you can upgrade your motherboard/CPU while waiting for the next round of video cards? Or grab a used 7950 for messing around with crossfire to satisfy the upgrade urge while waiting.

 

[Sohaltang]

Personally I view the value point of an upgrade to be when 2x the performance is available. That point hasn't been hit yet over the 7950.

My 295x2 laughes at your statement.

 

[Termie]

Personally I view the value point of an upgrade to be when 2x the performance is available. That point hasn't been hit yet over the 7950.

My 295x2 laughes at your statement.

He meant at the same price. Double the performance of the 7950 was available the day it was released if you count CF setups.

 

[mojothehut]

I'm in the same boat as OP with my 7950.
I have the upgrade itch bad, but feel like I should hold out at least until the 980/390s from Nvidia&AMD come out.

Right now my 7950 handles everything I play at 1080p just peachy.
I tend to upgrade every other generation. However the early performance for the 970/980s looks a bit disappointing. I guess long gone are the days of a new GPU generation being like 100% upgrade over the previous. :\

 

[Sohaltang]

He meant at the same price. Double the performance of the 7950 was available the day it was released if you count CF setups.

The 7950 launched at 450, some brands were 499$. So what's on the market at that price point to compare? Many 290x with non ref cooling are under 500$ and will double the 7950, especially his non OC 850 MHz version. 600$ for a new 780ti will too. With the value on used cards right now for 300$ your going to get real close to double. It's going to be a long time before you can almost double performance for 300$ again. Bitcoin put the used market in a unique situation that we may never see again.

 

[wand3r3r]

The 290 is quite a step up, at least stock 7950 boost vs. stock 290.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1033

If you overclock the 7950 may OC better than a 290, at least if you go reference. I'd buy a used custom 290 and call it a day, otherwise wait and see the pricing on the upcoming cards.

 

[Greenlepricon]

I've had a 7950 for the past 3 years too and just built a new rig. That 7950 is the only old part I transferred over, and is going to stay there hopefully until 20 or 16nm. I'm ok with making some graphical sacrifices and to me there hasn't been a good incentive for upgrade from AMD or Nvidia. Overclocked it's a monster, and really good enough for 99.8% of games around if AA gets knocked down a bit.

 

[Rezist]

The 7950 was an amazing value if you want something with a decent jump your gonna need to spend quite a bit more.

Probably better to wait at this point or try a really high OC. Then if it dies you have a reason for another card .

 

[BrightCandle]

The best value upgrade from a 7950 is probably to add another 7950. I personally can not recommend 7000 series crossfire but many people seem happy with it and it would near double your performance for the outlay of another card at the same price point as your current card.

 

[SolMiester]

He meant at the same price. Double the performance of the 7950 was available the day it was released if you count CF setups.

I don't think so, double the performance for the same money is a bit cheeky if you ask me.
I thought he meant resolution, in which case you would have to ask, what res.

 

[Rhezuss]

Ok...GTX 780 or 290?
Same price, similar performance even though the 290 seem to have the edge most of the time. I don't care if it's red or green personally.

Surely there's new stuff coming out soon and I should wait?

 

[weevilone]

Ok...GTX 780 or 290?
Same price, similar performance even though the 290 seem to have the edge most of the time. I don't care if it's red or green personally.

Surely there's new stuff coming out soon and I should wait?

Not sure if serious.. The new stuff just came out, in the Nvidia 970 and 980.

 

[Rhezuss]

Not sure if serious.. The new stuff just came out, in the Nvidia 970 and 980.

It was serious and I should have checked before asking. I've been out of the loop for some time now and lost track of the new stuff. I'll go do my homework.

 

[Sohaltang]

The best value upgrade from a 7950 is probably to add another 7950. I personally can not recommend 7000 series crossfire but many people seem happy with it and it would near double your performance for the outlay of another card at the same price point as your current card.

This^^ 7950 used are 120$ on ebay. Or sell yours for 120$ and put it towards a used 290x.

 

[Rhezuss]

Looks like the GTX 970 is a great card and a worthy upgrade from a 7950.
The ASUS Strix look awesome!