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Another HD7950 or HD7970 thread

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Joined
6 Oct 2012
Posts
9
Hi

I am new to this forum, so bear with me ;)
I got a good secondhand deal with a friend of mine on a Alphacool NexXxoS ATXP ATI 7970/50 Serie V2 gpu block, so now I just need a card to go with it.
I have been looking at the following cards :

Gigabye HD7950 OC windforce x 3

Powercolor HD7970 V2

As far as I can tell the alphacool block will fit on both these cards?
At the store where I buy my hardware there is aprox 55 euro difference between the 2 cards, so please help me decide....

Thanks
 
Clock for clock there is around 5% difference in performance.
It's down to you if you want to play the lottery or not.

Is 55quid more worth maybe 5-10% extra grunt (possibly more if it doesn't clock as hoped)
 
That block (like most) will fit on any reference 7950/70 pcb.

You'd only be paying more for a non-reference air cooler which you'd be removing anyway. :)
 
The V2 at the end of the block name just threw me off, so I checked a lot of cards to make sure that the block seemed compatible.

I am leaning towards the gigabyte card because of he 3 year warranty and the lower cost, but I can't make sure that it will oc enough to level the playing field.
 
I just checked coolingconfigurator and for instance the sapphire ref hd7970 doesn't look compatible with this block?
 
Ok, I see the slight difference in board layouts.

Tbh, without being able to put the block next to the board in person, it's difficult to know how it'll fit.
I guess you'll have to carry on checking board layouts and price checking the ones that match the description.
If you can afford it, go for the 7970. If not, you'll still have a great time with a 7950.
Overclocking potential is a lottery so I won't even go there :)
 
If I look at the boards of the powercolor and gigabyte they both look similar and when compared to the block it looks like it will fit, someone correct me if I am wrong here?
 
I took my Sapphire cooler off today as you may have noticed and there weren't stickers or anything.
I reckon the only way they can tell is if they take it off themselves and check that the stupid amount of thermal paste is still there.
Removing/replacing the stock heatsinks is probably a dead giveaway too even if you put them back.
Depends how much they care I guess.
 
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Depends who's testing.


I doubt when OcUK sends back 20 gubbed gpu's at a time that the whole lot of them even get tested never mind dismantled to see if someone has taken the cooler off, especially if Roys in the middle of Minecraft.;)


At the end of the day it all depends on how careful you are in removing the heatsink in the first place(unless it's an XFX job with the void stickers), if you jump in and chew the screws with the wrong sized screwdriver, then you only have yourself to blame.
 
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