Which high end card to choose

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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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Hello all.

I want to upgrade my system. So the part that I find some difficulties is the gpu part.

I am between 7970 Matrix and 660ti SLI. My main purpose is gaming in maximum quality, if possible. My screen resolution is 1920x1080 and my budget is around 650USD (500EUR).

My first question is about the 7970Ghz model. Asus is a great company and I trust their products, but is the best choise (in terms of benchmars)?

The second question is about SLI. It is true that there are problems with compability in some games, but the AAA titles support it, and if not I don't mind waiting some time. But I know that frame rate is not the only thing that matters, but also latency and SLI problems (mircoshuttering).

Thanks in advance for your time. I hope I didn't make you bored.^_^
 
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raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
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for 1080p go with a single HD 7950 boost gpu. at the same clocks the HD 7950 is 3 - 7% slower than HD 7970. HD 7950 boost with 925 mhz boost clocks comes with stock voltage of 1.25v. easily overclocks to 1100 mhz at stock volts and 1200 mhz with voltage tweaking. go with sapphire as they have unlocked voltage . good cooler. also which country are you from ?
 
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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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Thanks for your answer!

I prefer to go with something better than 7950, in order to last a little longer.

I am from Greece.
 
Grooveriding

Grooveriding

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Dec 25, 2008
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I don't think an OC 7950 will get maximum quality @ 1080P like the OP is chasing.
 
Jacky60

Jacky60

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Jan 3, 2010
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If you can afford 660ti SLI you can (at least in the UK) afford dual 7950 gigabyte windforce or MSI oc version. Asus Matrix is nice but I'd buy 7950 crossfire tomorrow (well trifire actually) if I was upgrading. In UK Matrix is over £100 more (nearer £200) so it would be moronic to pay that premium for card that may be 10-15% better. You need 2 7950's at least to get 'max' quality at 1080, overclocked my 6990's (similar in performance to highly oc 7950) don't quite allow me to max out anything really demanding from this year (Crysis 3/arma 3 alpha)
 
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raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
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bigmen 2007 said:
Thanks for your answer!

I prefer to go with something better than 7950, in order to last a little longer.

I am from Greece.
Click to expand...

go with a single GPU. if you are particular about HD 7970 go with the HIS HD 7970 iceq x2 ghz. its massive at 311 mm long. so make sure your case can fit it. reference AMD PCB design. unlocked voltage. good cooler. more power phases than reference HD 7970. allows better stability and lower temps for extreme overclocking.

http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-726.shtml

http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...hz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,2.html

http://www.pixmania.gr/gr/gr/19339189/art/his/radeon-hd-7970-iceq-x2-ghz-edition---3-g%CE%92-gddr5---pci-express-3.0-%28h797qmc3g2m%29.html

if that card won't fit go with the sapphire hd 7970 oc(1 ghz) or sapphire hd 7970 ghz(1.05 ghz) vapor-x

http://www.pixmania.gr/gr/gr/183664...b-gddr5---pci-express-3.0-(11197-03-40g).html

http://www.pixmania.gr/gr/gr/172896...Β-gddr5---pci-express-3.0-(11197-12-40g).html

both these cards have unlocked voltage and good coolers.
 
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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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The truth is that i don't want 7950 for this reason. Not all games will be maxed out at this resolution.

Your idea Jacky60 isn't bad, I can order 2x7950 at the price of 482 pounds from amazon, but it's a little pricy (about 560 euros).

I don't want a stock clocked 7970, since it's slower than 680. I prefer to go with 7970Ghz edition. I don't have space problems, since I have a full tower.

I would like to have a black PCB since the m/b will be maximus v formula, but I can sucrifice design for performance.;)
 
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dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
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Always always always go for a single card. No scaling performance problems and you have the option of buying a second card in the future.
 
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Dravonic

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Feb 26, 2013
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Another vote for single GPU, though even with an OC'd 7970GHz you won't be maxing out 2013 games at 60fps. As other people said, OC'd cheap 7950s CF will get you there I suppose, but CF really can bite you in the ass. The best here would be to settle down for now, get a nice 7970GHz and deal with CF in the future to make your system last longer. It's what I'm doing, so I might as well recommend it.

Rvenger said:
GTX Titan
Click to expand...

Read his budget again.
 
WaTaGuMp

WaTaGuMp

Lifer
May 10, 2001
21,207
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Dravonic said:
Another vote for single GPU, though even with an OC'd 7970GHz you won't be maxing out 2013 games at 60fps. As other people said, OC'd cheap 7950s CF will get you there I suppose, but CF really can bite you in the ass. The best here would be to settle down for now, get a nice 7970GHz and deal with CF in the future to make your system last longer. It's what I'm doing, so I might as well recommend it.



Read his budget again.
Click to expand...

Pfft, budgets were meant to be broken, just ask the Government.
 
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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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WaTaGuMp said:
Pfft, budgets were meant to be broken, just ask the Government.
Click to expand...


Hahaha.. That's true but I can't steal the country's money. I left our politicians deal with this job.:p

So we stay with the 7970Ghz solution. The thing now is which one. I want the best of them.
 
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Dravonic

Member
Feb 26, 2013
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The Asus DirectCU II is quite crazy, and expensive, though I wouldn't be able to tell you with absolute certainty it's the best you can buy.
 
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Rvenger

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator <br> Video Cards
Apr 6, 2004
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bigmen 2007 said:
Hahaha.. That's true but I can't steal the country's money. I left our politicians deal with this job.:p

So we stay with the 7970Ghz solution. The thing now is which one. I want the best of them.
Click to expand...


I wasn't all that serious about the Titan, you can't even find them right now anyways.

I have a Reference 7970. It does 1100/1500 on stock voltage. I personally like the reference blowers. (For possible crossfire reasons)

I have been eyeballing the Powercolor 7970 Vortex 2 1100mhz edition, has a very robust aftermarket cooler and PCB has 2x 8pin connectors. The Sapphire VaporX 7970ghz 6gb is very nice. (if you can find for a decent price)
 
Jacky60

Jacky60

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Jan 3, 2010
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No single card solution can give you 'max' performance in today's games. Overclocked 7950's are faster than Titan for about or less than half the cost. I bought 2 6990's over two years ago and have had 2 years amazing high end gameplay. Why upgrade later when you can have amazing performance now? Unless you've been there you have no idea what it's like but staying high end is the same price (after initial inverstment including resale value) as going mid range apart from electricity. Only the people who have single cards recommend them, all the high end gamers on this forum are crossfire or SLI-it's about performance.
 
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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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Jacky60 said:
No single card solution can give you 'max' performance in today's games. Overclocked 7950's are faster than Titan for about or less than half the cost. I bought 2 6990's over two years ago and have had 2 years amazing high end gameplay. Why upgrade later when you can have amazing performance now? Unless you've been there you have no idea what it's like but staying high end is the same price (after initial inverstment including resale value) as going mid range apart from electricity. Only the people who have single cards recommend them, all the high end gamers on this forum are crossfire or SLI-it's about performance.
Click to expand...


So you suggesting me going with two 7950 or 660ti? But what about microshuttering. Did ever occured to you? Did you have any problems with performance or frame rate delays or drops?
 
WaTaGuMp

WaTaGuMp

Lifer
May 10, 2001
21,207
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At one point I was gearing up to run xfire with my 6850. I read too many stories about issues with either that or something else with my setup and it scared me away. Now I am thinking about it again just for peace of mind and to check it out for myself, can get cards pretty cheap.
 
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bigmen 2007

Member
Mar 6, 2013
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WaTaGuMp said:
At one point I was gearing up to run xfire with my 6850. I read too many stories about issues with either that or something else with my setup and it scared me away. Now I am thinking about it again just for peace of mind and to check it out for myself, can get cards pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

To tell you the truth, now I have a 4870X2 on a single pcb. I didn't had problems with internal crossfire, but I don't know about 2 different cards.

I have found this card:

http://www.pixmania.gr/gr/gr/212421...---pci-express-3.0-(vx7950-3gbd5-2dhxv3).html

with 20 euros transport fee. If I crossfire it it will be equal to my budget. But I don't know this brand. Is it good? Can you suggest me one? I can also buy one from ebay.
 
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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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bigmen 2007

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Mar 6, 2013
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With some search to the internet, I found that crossfiring has a lot of issues. The main one is due to bad drivers and microstutter.

Does this problems solved nowdays with the new drivers, or it is not worth crossfiring two 7950s?

I will also run them with a 3770k cpu, will it cause bottleneck?
 
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