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7950 vs 7970

the_director

the_director

the_director

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Joined
16 Apr 2011
Posts
1,069
Location
South Wales
I have put together the following system:

New components:
Asus Maximus Gene V Z77 motherboard
Corsair H100 CPU Cooler
Corsair Carbide 500R Case
16GB Samsung Green Ram
256GB Corsair Performance Pro SSD

Re-used components:

Corsair AX 850 Gold PSU
2 x HD5850 Extreme GPUS in crossfire

Obviously the two cards are going to sit nose to cheek in the new motherboard so I am thinking of changing to a single card solution. I game at 1920 x 1024 and I want as much as possible to play with settings cranked up as high as possible. I may crossfire in future, will see how my 5850s get on crammed together first.

I have been tempted by the 7950 / 7970 and as far as I can see there isn't a huge amount of difference in benchmarks, but a fair difference in price - with the VTX x-edition 7950 custom cooler on pre-order for £299 on here, versus £369 for the cheapest reference 7970.

To put this into some perspective: my 5850s cost me £99 each as i bought the extreme version on its relaunch before prices went up wildly. I am used to getting a lot of performance-per-pound which is why I still don't feel comfortable paying £400+ for a 680 / 7970 with decent cooling.

Any thoughts?
 
Cheers for that, seems like a good card. I will have to see how much I end up spending on a CPU. I have already spent more than I intended on the build (going for a bigger SSD etc).
 
it'll come with a factory overclock.... but you can OC it even more if you want .... hell yea :p it'll give you 50% more power than ref

i'm only on 1080p so it'll be ok for me..... all the after market 7950s ( twin fans) are about the same.

but if that 7970 drops in price yet again... i'll bloody have it this time, i wont fart around thinking about it :D
 
using 1920x1080 or so screen you dont notice difference between cards.
a fast single card is better than to use crossfire/sli any day.
 
Clock for clock there is only 3-4% real-world difference in perfomance. It does however seem that most 7970's overclock slightly better than the 7950's. The prices are close, but nowhere near as close as the performance if you intend to overclock both. At maximun overclocks for both, the 7970 will likely be 5-10% faster.

edit: The only worrying thing about buying a 7950/7970 now is that the GTX670 will arrive soon at a similar price to the 7950. It will likely run cooler and be a bit faster.
 
Last edited:
555BUK said:
Clock for clock there is only 3-4% real-world difference in perfomance. It does however seem that most 7970's overclock slightly better than the 7950's. The prices are close, but nowhere near as close as the performance if you intend to overclock both. At maximun overclocks for both, the 7970 will likely be 5-10% faster.

edit: The only worrying thing about buying a 7950/7970 now is that the GTX670 will arrive soon at a similar price to the 7950. It will likely run cooler and be a bit faster.
Click to expand...

yes it's best to wait a few weeks
 
Will do. My current OPUs are being badly bottlenecks by my CPU even at 3.5, so I'm going to enjoy a decent boost without upgrading for the time being.

Cheers. Here's hoping the 670 forces prices down again.
 
It should do but don't be surprised if nVidia release a slightly better performing card and price it a little above the 7950 :p

Could you consider selling your 5850's to raise some funds and go top end? Or is this already factored in? The 5*** series of cards were superb and would have no problems selling at its appropriate price point.
 
I'm in the same boat as the OP.

Got 2 x Sapphire 5850's in Crossfire which have given great performance but I fancy upgrading to a 7950 or 7970, especially with the 10% voucher I still have.

Shame I need to make a decision before Saturday as that;s when the voucher runs out.

Do I wait until the 670's arrive & forgo the 10% and hope the 7950 or 670 are reduced/priced at a similar price point to make the 10% off void?

Choices, choices....
 
Gazanimal said:
I'm in the same boat as the OP.

Got 2 x Sapphire 5850's in Crossfire which have given great performance but I fancy upgrading to a 7950 or 7970, especially with the 10% voucher I still have.

Shame I need to make a decision before Saturday as that;s when the voucher runs out.

Do I wait until the 670's arrive & forgo the 10% and hope the 7950 or 670 are reduced/priced at a similar price point to make the 10% off void?

Choices, choices....
Click to expand...
Most retailers offer similar pricing and there is always someone offering a 10% off or similar code. You also get the occasional great deal pop up (like the VTX 7970 @ £359), so probably best to wait until something really grabs your attention.

If you are undecided, wait until something arrives to make the choice a no-brainer.
 
I would wait untill the 670 comes out. Thats should even out the prices.

The 7950 (and the 7870) are still to high.

The 7870 is too close to the 7950 and the 7950 too close the 7970.

We need Nvidia to counter these prices.
 
opethdisciple said:
I would wait untill the 670 comes out. Thats should even out the prices.

The 7950 (and the 7870) are still to high.

The 7870 is too close to the 7950 and the 7950 too close the 7970.

We need Nvidia to counter these prices.
Click to expand...

the 7950 and 7970 are also close in performance too, i thought the gap was wider until i looked at the 7950 last night
 
555BUK said:
Most retailers offer similar pricing and there is always someone offering a 10% off or similar code. You also get the occasional great deal pop up (like the VTX 7970 @ £359), so probably best to wait until something really grabs your attention.

If you are undecided, wait until something arrives to make the choice a no-brainer.
Click to expand...

there are loads of great deals around, but these are risky as hell and cant be mentioned here... we all know where to look
 
I will sell my 5850s on eBay, I have good feedback so I always get good money for the stuff I sell. It is more a question of value rather than money. I get the impression that GPUs are just not good value right now.

I might just have some savings for the time and see what happens.. I have budget for CPU so perhaps see how much I flog my old parts (ram, CPU, motherboard, case etc) for and whether I have enough for a 'free' upgrade by the time I sell my old cards.

Problem is my 5850s spoilt me as they were so cheap and powerful.
 
Going to wait until the 670's arrive & see what price point they come in at.

If it causes the 7900 series to drop enough then it could turn into a no brainer.
Like the_director, the 5850's have been a cracking card & the price/performance is great, and still is :D

So it makes the decision to move on from them even harder :D
 
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