7950 or 7970 is the extra £100 worth it ?

paulstung · 25 Mar 2013 at 18:55

As above really , I'm going to order a new gpu in the morning , buyt can't decide between the 7950 / 70 . From reviews and vids the 7950 performs better when oc'd than a stock 7970 . The problem i have with that is the 7970 is at stock . Also am I right in thinking the 7950 is just basically a cut down 7970 ? ( not sure of the right phrase )

so my question is . Is the extra £100 ish worth it ? If the Gigabyte 7970 was still £299.99 it wouldn't be a problem , but it had gone back up to £349.99 .

My choices are the HIS 7950 for £233.99 or the HIS 7970 iceQ x2 for £323.99 . Or any inbatween , but needs a reference pcb . So there is a big difference in price , can it be justified ?

Doomedspeed · 25 Mar 2013 at 19:29

This will give you a vauge idea of comparison at the same clocks:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/645?vs=508

The 7950 can overclock higher and i guess the reason you need a reference is to put it under water right? If so it can overclock a lot higher..

d_brennen · 25 Mar 2013 at 19:31

It's not always £100, sometimes as little as £60 difference... Though I haven't checked lately. I'd get a 7950 every time myself, there just isn't enough in it IMO

spoffle · 25 Mar 2013 at 19:34

If you're going to overclock, it's not really worth it, save the money and put it towards something else.

Those full stop spaces are confusing my eyes when reading your post.

Minstadave · 25 Mar 2013 at 19:38

Voltage unlocked 7950, clock the nuts off it.

Uncle Petey · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:02

Had both and I'd say it's not worth the extra cash unless you're a benchmark freak.

I only went for the higher card on the second go round because I needed the 7970 ref PCB for a specific vrm heatsink, otherwise I'd have got another 7950 if cards like the TF3 V2 were still easy to get hold of.

paulstung · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:29

That's my dillema i don't think there is enough in performance to justify the price difference . Yes it is going under water . One thing to note is if i go for the 7950 , I can get everything to add it to my loop straight way, with the 7970 I'll have to wait for a refund from RMA'ing a soundcard . The price difference is a lot the cheapest 7950 is the HIS @ £234 and the cheapest 7970 is the HIS hd 7970 IceQ X2 @ £324 . They are both on the weakly offer . So, a good time to buy .

Those full stop spaces are confusing my eyes when reading your post.

[/QUOTE]

I can't win , I never used to use full stop spaces , But got told by some members to use more paragraphs and spaces next to stops and commas lol :confused:

whyscotty · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:30

Minstadave said:
Voltage unlocked 7950, clock the nuts off it.

^^^
This

Minstadave · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:33

Spaces come after the full stop and commas, you don't need one before.

And get a 7950.

Uncle Petey · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:43

If you're putting it underwater, get the MSI 7950 and revel in an untainted warranty

spoffle · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:46

paulstung said:
That's my dillema i don't think there is enough in performance to justify the price difference . Yes it is going under water . One thing to note is if i go for the 7950 , I can get everything to add it to my loop straight way, with the 7970 I'll have to wait for a refund from RMA'ing a soundcard . The price difference is a lot the cheapest 7950 is the HIS @ £234 and the cheapest 7970 is the HIS hd 7970 IceQ X2 @ £324 . They are both on the weakly offer . So, a good time to buy .

Those full stop spaces are confusing my eyes when reading your post.

Spaces come after the punctuation, not before!

like this:

I can't win, I never used to use full stop spaces, But got told by some members to use more paragraphs and spaces next to stops and commas. lol

The HIS 7950 at £234 is a good price and choice.

Drangueos · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:57

Short answer: NO
Long answer: Maybe

I just upgraded from 2x His 7950 Reference to 2x 7970 His IceQ X2 Ghz...

The problem with the 7950 reference is that they get really hot if you overclock over 1000mhz, but if you are going to run on water it's perfect.

spoffle · 25 Mar 2013 at 20:58

Drangueos said:
Short answer: NO
Long answer: Maybe

I just upgraded from 2x His 7950 Reference to 2x 7970 His IceQ X2 Ghz...

The problem with the 7950 reference is that they get really hot if you overclock over 1000mhz, but if you are going to run on water it's perfect.

What sort of temps were you getting?

Drangueos · 25 Mar 2013 at 21:06

spoffle said:
What sort of temps were you getting?

1100mhz with 1.1v (max 92C)
1000mhz with 1.037v (max 82C)
960mhz with default voltage 0.993v (max 77C)
this was for the top card, the 2nd one was around 5C lower.

spoffle · 25 Mar 2013 at 21:10

Oh wow that's bad, I didn't realise the reference coolers were so bad for overclocking, and that's just 1.1 mV!

I get 49-50c at 1300Mhz and 1.3 mV, though mine are watercooled.

Rusty0611 · 25 Mar 2013 at 21:20

1.3 mV wow that IS an impressive clocker!!!

Gregster · 25 Mar 2013 at 21:27

spoffle said:
Oh wow that's bad, I didn't realise the reference coolers were so bad for overclocking, and that's just 1.1 mV!

I get 49-50c at 1300Mhz and 1.3 mV, though mine are watercooled.

Imagine what it can do on 1.3V if it does those clocks on 1.3mV

paulstung · 25 Mar 2013 at 21:53

Problem solved, then, 7950 it is.Cheers guys. . , , , .. ,,, ..

spoffle · 25 Mar 2013 at 22:04

Rusty0611 said:
1.3 mV wow that IS an impressive clocker!!!

Gregster said:
Imagine what it can do on 1.3V if it does those clocks on 1.3mV

It's not that, I just whacked them up, I haven't had the time to do proper testing with them, I've played around with them a bit.

They did 1200 on air without touching the volts with the aircoolers.

Gregster · 25 Mar 2013 at 22:14

spoffle said:
It's not that, I just whacked them up, I haven't had the time to do proper testing with them, I've played around with them a bit.

They did 1200 on air without touching the volts with the aircoolers.

You said you use 1.3mV which is 0.0013V.