Can I run a 7970?

[PH4NT0MBL4DE]

Hello. My current system is as follows

I5 ivy bridge running at stock ( no oc )
8 gb ram
Hd 7850 2gb
Ssd
Ocz 650w psu

My 7850 handles all the games I play on ultra really well on what I feel are playable frames. However I would like to upgrade my card for when bf4 and Gta 5 come out and would like a 7970.

I have a few questions to ask. So here we go:

Can my psu run the 7970?
Will my CPU bottleneck the 7970 since I haven't overclocked my CPU?
How long do you think the card will last until I would need to upgrade?

Thanks.

 

[Rusty0611]

Can my psu run the 7970?

Yes.

Will my CPU bottleneck the 7970 since I haven't overclocked my CPU?

You should overclock it as it could bottleneck in some games.

How long do you think the card will last until I would need to upgrade?

Probably until 9000 series.

 

[PH4NT0MBL4DE]

Ok thanks for you help. Is the i5 easy to overclock? Will I notice much improvement over 7850 to 7970? And do you think the price will come down anytime soon as don't want to pay over £300 and then a week later it's dropped by quite a lot lol.
Thanks

 

[DaleTheWhale]

Cards wont be dropping their price anytime soon, why not wait for BF4 to be released, as it will most likely be shipped free with AMD graphics cards come then.

 

[Rusty0611]

Ok thanks for you help. Is the i5 easy to overclock? Will I notice much improvement over 7850 to 7970? And do you think the price will come down anytime soon as don't want to pay over £300 and then a week later it's dropped by quite a lot lol.
Thanks

Yeah very easy to overclock. Check that particular sub forum for advice. 4.4 GHz is an easy enough target and will help your game performance

 

[deFiniLoGy]

all yes

 

[PH4NT0MBL4DE]

Ok looks like I'm going to have to purchase a new CPU cooler then. Any recommendations that are cheap and easy to fit and will allow me to overclock to 4.4ghz? Also are any of the 7970s voltage unlocked? If I buy a non unlocked one is it possible to unlock the voltage using a program like on the 7850?
Thanks