Generique 7970?

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 21:12

Been looking at 7970's to replace my 480 and came across the brand generique. Now, is this some cheapo knock off? Or just an OEM brand? Sounds suspicious to me.

Dom86 · 21 Mar 2013 at 21:42

Looks like a reference design, not a bad cooler but not a great one, but never heard of them untill now.
Theres a sapphire on special this week and it comes with a 2 year warranty instead of the 1 on the Generique

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 21:50

Don't really want to pay over £300 and I'd rather have an OEM cooler that exhausts the heat out the back of my case.

The XFX ones seem cheap, but I hear worrying stories of poor quality coolers and bad customer service.

spoffle · 21 Mar 2013 at 21:52

If cost is an issue, it'd be much more sensible to get a 7950 and clock it up a bit, you'll never notice the difference a 7970 would provide.

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 21:55

Well cost isn't really an issue, more like value for money and a decent improvement over my 480

I could go and buy a Titan but don't feel it's worth anything like what it costs

Diagro · 21 Mar 2013 at 21:59

Sounds like an EU brand lol, Well if they offer a warranty and they are selling the 7970 for a decent price then i don't see the issue.

Though i would spend a little more and get a good brand

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:00

Think I will wait until OCUK have a good one for around £300

spoffle · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:07

IvanDobskey said:
Well cost isn't really an issue, more like value for money and a decent improvement over my 480

I could go and buy a Titan but don't feel it's worth anything like what it costs

Well with a 7970, you'll never get the best value for money as 7970s offer about 5% more performance at the same clock speeds, for £60+ more money.

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:16

It's a tough one, as I don't feel the 7950 offers quite a big enough improvement over my 480.

And i'm not one for overclocking video cards.

spoffle · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:26

If you feel the 7950 doesn't offer enough, a 7970 won't either. Though it has to be said, having a 7900 card and not overclocking is quite a waste, as it's very easy, they overclock well and it's as simple as moving a slider in software for conservative overclocks.

Something like this, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-098-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

Knocked up to 1Ghz core, and you'll struggle to see any difference between it and a 7970 GE.

arc@css · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:35

IvanDobskey said:
It's a tough one, as I don't feel the 7950 offers quite a big enough improvement over my 480.

And i'm not one for overclocking video cards.

Since I've been gaming, very often when looking at graphics card benchmarks, I can't say that I remember being all that impressed with an overclocked model's results over the reference design, however, this is not true of the 7000 series. I don't think I can recall any series being such ludicrously good overclockers.

Imo, It would be a waste to buy one of these cards and not overclock it when you need the extra frames.

tommybhoy · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:36

IvanDobskey said:
It's a tough one, as I don't feel the 7950 offers quite a big enough improvement over my 480.

And i'm not one for overclocking video cards.

spoffle said:
If you feel the 7950 doesn't offer enough, a 7970 won't either. Though it has to be said, having a 7900 card and not overclocking is quite a waste, as it's very easy, they overclock well and it's as simple as moving a slider in software for conservative overclocks.

I've had 6 different 79's now and the worst clocker out them all hit 1100MHz stable, it's criminal not to clock a 79 tbh, and if it's not for benching or high res, the 7950 is the one to go for, especially for 1080p, there is zero difference when gaming when you clock it up imho.

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:41

I just feel video cards are much more easily damaged by overclocking. I'll happily overclock my CPU as I know the things are pretty much indestructible these days.

tommybhoy · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:49

I think gpu's are just not as tough in general, my 7970 OC was good for just over 1200MHz/1850MHz under a modded AC Extreme, but was running@1100MHz/1350MHz-stock voltage in CrossFireX unless I had a quick bench or 2, and it just died.

I'm not one of the crazies that do suicide runs btw when I done the odd benchmark either, if it had as much as a sparkle, it was aborted.

Gregster · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:50

spoffle said:
Well with a 7970, you'll never get the best value for money as 7970s offer about 5% more performance at the same clock speeds, for £60+ more money.

I agree with this. I have just spent a good hour trying to find clock for clock comparisons (apples to apples) and can confirm that the highest the 7970 was ahead of the 7950 was just over 6% in Shogun 2 and generaly, the gains from a 7970 averaged around 3%

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/34761-amd-hd-7950-vs-hd-7970-clocks/

It works the same for the 680 Vs 670 debates as well. No more than 5% difference clock for clock.

Proto · 21 Mar 2013 at 22:55

Yeah, agree with tommybhoy and arc@css. You are looking at a 30% overclock on average.

Having said that, no one can say how much a lower model card will overclock. If you have the money it's generally better to go for the faster card, even if it is a reference model.

In addition, I also have a different view on the lower card model with better cooling argument, because, once you start to overclock, the noise and temps will go up and you will likely be no better off than having bought a higher clocked reference model, however, there will likely be larger overall power usage with overclocking the lower model as you will have gone further out of design specification and overall power usage is proportional to the square of the voltage applied.

The last part is again based on average expected clocks and voltages, of course.

tommybhoy · 21 Mar 2013 at 23:09

Gregster said:
I agree with this. I have just spent a good hour trying to find clock for clock comparisons (apples to apples) and can confirm that the highest the 7970 was ahead of the 7950 was just over 6% in Shogun 2 and generaly, the gains from a 7970 averaged around 3%

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/34761-amd-hd-7950-vs-hd-7970-clocks/

It works the same for the 680 Vs 670 debates as well. No more than 5% difference clock for clock.

The only problem with the hexus results greg was it's from Feb 2012, the driver improvements between the 70/50 have been a mixed bag all the way through driver revisions with the 70 pulling way ahead of the 50's up until 12.8's-12.11's iirc and that was when the 50 clawed back ground on the 70's.

IvanDobskey · 21 Mar 2013 at 23:13

I guess if I could get a 7950 for close to £200 then sold the 480, it won't have cost me much more than £100.

Drangueos · 21 Mar 2013 at 23:15

always people say that 7950 and 7970 at same clocks have 5% difference... but you need to remember that the memories on 7970 probably will overclock more than the 7950... and maybe the GPU too because of better pcb.

7950 memories by default are 5000mhz ddr5
7970 memories by default are 6000mhz ddr5 (even the non-ghz editions use 6000mhz memory chips clocked at 5500mhz)

Gregster · 21 Mar 2013 at 23:26

tommybhoy said:
The only problem with the hexus results greg was it's from Feb 2012, the driver improvements between the 70/50 have been a mixed bag all the way through driver revisions with the 70 pulling way ahead of the 50's up until 12.8's-12.11's iirc and that was when the 50 clawed back ground on the 70's.

I wouldn't argue with that Tommy but I couldn't find anything that used clock for clock. That was the only review that showed it.

It would be handy for people to see what it is now and the same for the 670's and 680's. People can save money just by noting these small things.