Which 7950 to fit my 7950 water block?

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 11:48

Which 7950 to fit my 7950 water block?

Currently I have a HIS (non boost) 7950 under water but I have horrific coil whine so I getting shot of it, so which better quality boards will still fit my water block?

Cleeecooo · 26 Dec 2012 at 11:51

www.coolingconfigurator.com (EK blocks only)

If your current card is reference, any other reference card should fit

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:01

Thanks, it looks like they pretty much all fit.

So, which would you say has the better components, the DirectCU II Top, Winforce X3 or the Twin Frozr III?

Rusty0611 · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:24

MSI TFIII IMO.

The TFIII is on the 7970 PCB though so you will need a different block AFAIK.

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:24

Not according the EK website, it says it's compatible.

Cleeecooo · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:27

Personally, I'd go for the Windforce due to CS. However, if the blue PCB isn't to your taste, then MSI gets my vote as a very close second.

I wouldn't even consider Asus.

E: I think Rusty's right, the MSI TF3 ones that OcUK have are listed as V2 and the coolingconfigurator cards are V1

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:32

Blue will be fine as it'll match my coolant and motherboard. The configuration also has the option for the V2.

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:32

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist?gpu_gpus=775

Cleeecooo · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:33

Ah, fair enough then.

In that case, the first bit of my post stands

Rusty0611 · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:47

Interesting. Thought the PCBs for 7950/7970 were different physically. I suppose they may be but the block fits both

.

The MSI TFIII 7950 is as I said on the 7970 PCB and takes an 8 pin and a 6 pin power connection in. While watercooled this should help your maximum attainable overclock so.... as it's cheaper than the Gigabyte WF and should in theory overclock further I would go for this one the MSI card.

The warranty situation on the Gigabyte side is slightly better (UK returns as opposed to Netherlands) but you have to weigh up the costs/benefits of:

MSI

Greater potential overclocking ability
Cheaper

Gigabyte

Slightly better warranty situation

Note MSI are hardly bad for returning things to if needs be it'll just cost you more as it's EU.

Cleeecooo · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:51

Something's wrong.

7950 ad 7970s have different PCBs and require different waterblocks. TheV2 can't use a 7970 PCB and fit a 7950 block, and if it has an 8 pin, then maybe the picture EK have is wrong as the bottom card (the 7950 "V2") has 2x 6 pin.

Rusty0611 · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:55

Yeah the MSI TFIII (V2) definitely has an 8 pin and 6 pin.

Cleeecooo · 26 Dec 2012 at 12:56

Maybe EK listed the same pic twice, as the V1 and "V2" on their CC have exactly the same pic.

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:00

According to the pictures of Tech Power Up the V2 has 2x 6 pin PCI-E and also many other sources.

bru · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:43

Ok now im no expert or anything but dosn't it seem completely stupid to pay £50 more for a card with a better cooler over the cheapest 7950 when the intention is to remove the cooler anyway.
You will be able to test for coil whine and overclockability before you remove the cooler anyway, and your probably kissing goodbye to the warranty as soon as you remove the cooler so why pay nearly 25% more.

Cleeecooo · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:45

bru said:
Ok now im no expert or anything but dosn't it seem completely stupid to pay £50 more for a card with a better cooler over the cheapest 7950 when the intention is to remove the cooler anyway.
You will be able to test for coil whine and overclockability before you remove the cooler anyway, and your probably kissing goodbye to the warranty as soon as you remove the cooler so why pay more.

Well, some of the "lesser" brands are the sort that'll get out of a warranty claim in any way they can. However, brands like MSI and Giga have been known in the past to be more forgiving to those who take the cooler off, presuming there's no physical damage at all. Basically, should something go wrong, as long as you can't tell the cooler's been taken off, your warranty is preserved so it may still be worth paying extra for a faster turnaround.

Rusty0611 · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:55

Princey said:
According to the pictures of Tech Power Up the V2 has 2x 6 pin PCI-E and also many other sources.

I've had two of them and I can tell you that it's definitely 8 pin and a 6 pin.

So your many other sources are a bit wrong

.

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:56

My HIS never had any seals or stickers to crack when removing the heatsink, you'd never know it's been removed.

Princey · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:57

Rusty0611 said:
I've had two of them and I can tell you that it's definitely 8 pin and a 6 pin.

Maybe so but there are threads of Tech Powerup, Hexus and Overclock3D showing some users with 2x 6 pins.

Gregster · 26 Dec 2012 at 13:58

Cleeecooo said:
Well, some of the "lesser" brands are the sort that'll get out of a warranty claim in any way they can. However, brands like MSI and Giga have been known in the past to be more forgiving to those who take the cooler off, presuming there's no physical damage at all. Basically, should something go wrong, as long as you can't tell the cooler's been taken off, your warranty is preserved so it may still be worth paying extra for a faster turnaround.

Agreed and just slap on some TIM (make sure you do a bad job) and put the HS back on. I say "All over the place" because recent reads seem to have TIM just slapped on with no care or attention.