[kemical]

Hi,

in a few weeks I'll be upgrading my aging 5870 to a 7970 but before I trawl through the reviews I wondered if you guy's would have a suggestion or two. I'll be gaming at 1920x1080, I'm not looking to go crossfire and run these specs:

FX8150 @ 4.3GHz (would be higher but need better cooling)
GA-990FXA-UD3
8GB XMS3 1333MHz
500GB RAID 0 (SATA2 Barracudas- This is also being replaced eventually with SSD)
600W OCZ ModXstream PSU

I love playing Crysis1,2, and 3 as well as Skyrim.

I did think about Nvidia but the 3Gb Vram offered with these cards does give a certain amount of future proofing IMO.
Depending on performance I might overclock but as with all things of this nature it depends on the card..

Thanks in advance.

 

[Blade 117]

i wont try and sway you if your heart is set on a 7970 this one in the link will give you best cooling available on ATI chipset

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

of course you will need to find somewhere that has it in stock

 

[drBlahMan]

NONE...Just buy a 7950 Boost & OC it some more

BUT if you prefer a 7970, I recommend you buy a reference card & OC it some more

 

[raghu78]

As suggested above go with a HD 7950 boost. you can get it to 1150 mhz easily. at the same clocks HD 7970 is 5% faster. HD 7950 at 1100 mhz matches HD 7970 ghz at 1050 mhz.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7950_X2_Boost/31.html

sapphire hd 7950 boost has a good cooler and unlocked voltage.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-7950BST

another good option is the his hd 7950 iceq x2 boost. its a massive card at 31.1 cm length. so if you can fit this card in your case its worth going. HD 7970 PCB with 8 + 6 pin. more power phases which allows for better stability and lower temps while voltage overclocking. good cooler with unlocked voltage.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/his_7970_iceq_xsup2_ghz_edition_7950_iceq_xsup2_boost_clock,3.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161429

if you definitely want to go for HD 7970 pick one of the sapphire cards. good cooler and unlocked voltage . the sapphire hd 7970 oc runs at 1 ghz boost while the hd 7970 ghz vapor-x runs at 1.05 ghz. the vapor-x has a higher stock voltage pf 1.25v and is easier to hit 1150 -1200 mhz even at stock voltage.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-H7970CB

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?p=AT-7970GHZ

you would be doubling the HD 5870 performance and sometimes even better in the latest DX11 games.

 

[iMica]

If you plan on WC (Which im not sensing) Just grab a Reference brand cheapest you can find, hell even used works lol.

If you watch ebay you can get a 7970 for 300-

Got mine for 295

 

[rageofthepeon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemical

Hi,

in a few weeks I'll be upgrading my aging 5870 to a 7970 but before I trawl through the reviews I wondered if you guy's would have a suggestion or two. I'll be gaming at 1920x1080, I'm not looking to go crossfire and run these specs:

FX8150 @ 4.3GHz (would be higher but need better cooling)
GA-990FXA-UD3
8GB XMS3 1333MHz
500GB RAID 0 (SATA2 Barracudas- This is also being replaced eventually with SSD)
600W OCZ ModXstream PSU

I love playing Crysis1,2, and 3 as well as Skyrim.

I did think about Nvidia but the 3Gb Vram offered with these cards does give a certain amount of future proofing IMO.
Depending on performance I might overclock but as with all things of this nature it depends on the card..

Thanks in advance.

Well if you want Vram future proofing then you would want something like the Sapphire 6gb or Nvidia 4gb options. By the time you need that much Vram though you're probably better off getting more powerful cards, lol.

I don't have much experience with card shopping but out of the 3 7970s I've owned (2 sapphire and 1 msi) only the MSI card had problems, producing artifacts at stock. Both Sapphire cards have been problem free. I would recommend Vapor-X (more expensive but better cooling / already comes oc'd / better pcb) or the Dual fan.

 

[kemical]

Much thanks for the input, there's nothing better than word of mouth..

My usual e-tailor seems short on Sapphire boards but this Gigabyte looks to be of the same spec as well as having decent reviews:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-gigabyte-radeon-hd-7970-6000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1100mhz-2048-cores-dl-dvi-i-hdmi-2x-mdp-plus-free

The only Sapphire they have in is this one:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-sapphire-radeon-hd-7970-dual-x-5500mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-925mhz-2048-cores-dp-2x-dvi-hdmi-plusfree-

It's going to be 6 weeks before I can afford the card so hopefully they'll have more in stock.

Thanks once again.