Question over Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce

[Rusty0611]

I have not once changed my postion or attempted to add caveats after the fact.

I read your posts as being slightly contradictory but we can agree to disagree.

IUntil now, you never once mentioned that the WF 7950 was voltage unlocked in this thread.

Post #3. D'oh. It's kind of obvious from that, that I've said that they're unlocked.

Erm, that was my entire argument you can't start bring "if" and "buts" into it. Having a 7950 with a 7970 PCB is no guarantee of quality. We are agreeing on this point and yet you still argue. Regardless of this my entire argument is based on the fact that the WF 7950 is not guranteed to have voltage control.

Well you CAN bring "if's" into it. Having a card on the 7970 PCB DOES make it a better card overall, however, it doesn't do anything to help IF you get a bad chip. Although IF you get a good chip it WILL certainly help. Your argument was based on the negative side of this equation rather than positive side. I am dealing with both. Slightly short sighted really.

"Erm", also I never said that it is a guarantee of quality. It was a theoretical, "if all things were equal" argument then having a card on the ones above it PCB will be better. Hence the 7870/7950 example.

Again that was my point. The perception that higher asic, or PCB = better is not always true. Again you seem to be arguing with me yet agreeing at the same time.

Hence the "if all things were equal" argument above.

As NightSt@lk3r confirmed, they "can" be voltage lcoekd. My argument for better is based on the fact that currently, the MSI TF3 7950s are guranteed to have voltage control.

BE, yes. Non BE, no. Retailers should be advertising it if they're selling BE cards. I'd be bit angry if I bought a non BE card and then received a BE one. This is based on assuming they are indeed BE cards..... .

If they're not then I agree that they should be avoided. Although, it's still not the end of the world if they are voltage locked to 1.25V, it is a negative point due to the heat/noise issue mentioned previously. At least they aren't locked to stock volts.

Not labelled as a Boost Edition no.

The first Rev1 WF3's came at 900mhz core and unlocked voltage, GB later changed the BIOS to 1000mhz core and voltage soft locked at 1.25v and could be got round by flashing the older 900mhz BIOS on, but within the last week or 2 they seem to have released a Rev2 card that has a 7970 PCB and the voltage is hard locked.

But that said id still take a Rev2 7950 WF3 over the TF3.

Ah OK thanks for clarifying. So by getting a 6+6 pin GB WF 3x you're getting one that can be adjusted. The 8+6 pin ones can't be. Understood .

I've gone off MSI due to the problems they had with the heat on the V2 7950s so I would get a hard locked 7970 PCB version as well over the MSI ones. Although I understand the BE MSI TFIII has resolved this issue it did irritate me at the time.

 

[ICDP]

7970 GB WF 3x is locked as well so not the greatest one in the world.

It's only the Boost Edition 7950s which are locked but it's a high lock to 1.25V anyway.

Post 3 by you doesn't specifiy Gigabyte WF 7950 BEs, it just said 7950 BEs are voltage locked. Now you may have implied WF because you mentioned 7970 GB WF in the previous sentence but that is not a clear implication. When posting on a forum you need to be more specefic. That way we can avoid de-railing a thread with walls of text arguing over semantics based on a logical error.

 

[Tazzfalcon]

Basically they're both slightly compromised - the TFIII slightly more so in that it has an actual fault, although rectifiable.

The WF 3X is compromised in that it's been locked down and revised for reasons unknown (to those outside Gigabyte).

However, both cards are still a steal and the best bang for buck at the mid-high end GPU part of the market.

 

[Rusty0611]

Post 3 by you doesn't specifiy Gigabyte WF 7950 BEs, it just said 7950 BEs are voltage locked. Now you may have implied WF because you mentioned 7970 GB WF in the previous sentence but that is not a clear implication. When posting on a forum you need to be more specefic. That way we can avoid de-railing a thread with walls of text arguing over semantics based on a logical error.

It was clear to me reading it back. Obviously not to you though .

 

[RanxZy]

Not labelled as a Boost Edition no.

The first Rev1 WF3's came at 900mhz core and unlocked voltage, GB later changed the BIOS to 1000mhz core and voltage soft locked at 1.25v and could be got round by flashing the older 900mhz BIOS on, but within the last week or 2 they seem to have released a Rev2 card that has a 7970 PCB and the voltage is hard locked.

But that said id still take a Rev2 7950 WF3 over the TF3.

Can I ask why you would prefer a possible voltage locked 1.25v Rev 2 WF3 over a TF3?


To the OP between the WF 7950 and 7970 I would take the 7950 as I don't think it's worth the extra £60 for the 7970, in fact I've got a WF 7950 coming tomorrow.

Just keep in mind that the 7970s and very possibly the 7950 could come as voltage locked (and at 1Ghz instead of 900Mhz) which could be a problem with some extra heat/noise and might limit your max OC.

Overall pick any 7950 at about £240 or less with Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite and you're getting a great bang for buck, but don't hang around too much as OCuK started the offers on the Windforce/Twin Frozr just before the weekend so the prices could go back up any day now.

 

[Geo-Gamer]

im confused with the gigabyte 7950 situation as iv been reading around the forum and people mentioning that the 1ghz stock comes locked at 1.25 voltage. However, i recieved mine just under a month ago with the core set to 1000 and voltage at 1.25 but i can still move the voltage up and down? For example i just moved the voltage from 1.25 to 1.15 for my 1150mhz overclock on the core.

 

[nutpuk]

Thanks for all the posts on this guys...

I did get a bit lost in the middle though.

I'm still not 100% decided but thinking the 7950 maybe the best option.

Both are a really good deal coming with Bioshock and Crysis.

Would I really notice the difference between them..probably not. And then I could save the £60 for something else......

On a separate note the Overclockers price for next day delivery is a bit high.....

 

[nutpuk]

Went for the 7950....hope I made the right decision

 

[NightSt@lk3r]

You did make the right decision.