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Is the VTX3D HD 7870 for real?

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Hereford
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-013-VX

VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Core: 925MHz, Memory: 2048MB 6000MHz GDDR5, Stream Processors: 1536, DirectX 11 Support, ATI CrossFireX Ready, ATI Eyefinity, ATI Stream, ATI Avivo HD, ATI HD3D Technology, 2 Year Warranty.

Is this cards stats for real? It has a much faster RAM than any other 7850 or 7870... I understand it's a 'cut down' 7950, yet it has faster RAM than all of the 7950's listed too!

Core is ok, but understanding it runs hot, I'm guessing with a 3rd party cooler you could get 1GHz out of it with no thermal probs?

Stream Processors again great - more than any other 7870, 'only' 256 less than the 7950's (with 11 less TU's)

So my question really is... At this price point (£162) and performance, is it worth trying to clock this beasty upto 1GHz on air or do I stick to Sapphire (as I have done for many years) and know I'll have a card that lasts 6+ years without any thermal or performance issues with a slight clock?
 
It may have faster RAM, but it has 2GB/256bit compared to 3GB/384bit of the 7950 - which makes the 7950 much better in that respect. But the memory performance on a single 1080p screen isn't massively relevant. The 7870 LE at stock with boost will perform around the same as a non-boost 7950.

Someone posted here the other day with 1150MHz stable on one of these cards.
 
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I'm not even running at 1080p (yet)... 1440x900 for the time being while I sort my rig out...

Just looking at this 7870 as a replacement to my 4870 (served me very well after an RMA'd Asus) until I can (probably) upgrade to a 3570/4670.

I'm hoping with the 7870 I'll be ok running BF4 on my Q6600. If so I'll probably change monitor before upgrading CPU.
 
Yeah it's much as others have said. It's good but if you try going above 1080 or using multiple screens the performance does drop of a lot compared to a 7950. Also gets rather hot and fan is noisy but for bang for buck it's pretty hard to beat. Its basically the same performance as a stock 7950 at 1080 but for £60 cheaper, The 7950 is a better card overall if you are willing to spend that bit more but I certainly don't regret buying one.

edit. also the 7870 xt are voltage locked but most people seem to get the core up to 1200mhz fine on stock voltage. don't think you would really want to play with the voltage the way these cards cool anyway. The sapphire 7870 xt has much better cooling but costs that bit more so not usually worth it over a 7950
 
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They're not voltage locked. I would recommend undervolting with a custom fan profile.

The ram are 1500mhz chips

Depenging on how much you have; 670s are being cleared out of stock at outrageous prices and may be worth a look. Not sure what deals are still around......
 
sorry he is correct they aren't voltage locked. I couldn't adjust my voltage because I wasn't using the latest beta version of afterburner. The most recent non beta version doesn't have the 7870xt voltage control supported it seems
 
My budget is around the £150 mark so I was originally looking at the Sapphire 7870 (£190) and waiting for a price drop/deal to bring it more into my price range.

The VTX3D has better stats (on paper) than the Sapphire (faster RAM and more cores) but a slightly lower clockrate (easy clocked up) at an already affordable price point (before any deals/specials).

I've stuck by ATI/Sapphire since moving from NVIDIA many years ago, the only time I deviated (Asus 4870) I had heat and fan issues and had to RMA the card. OcUK returns sent me the Sapphire as a replacement which I'd taken as a sign to stay with Sapphire lol

Anyone with any inside knowledge about imminent Sapphire price drops let me know as I've pretty much made my mind up! ;)

Edit: byebye signature again, seems 2 lines and a graphic isn't allowed anymore!
 
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The 7870 LE beats a 7870 easily, no question.

It's a huge jump to the 7950s - £240-£260 - because there are no decent deals around.
 
My 7870 is MSI Black Knight @ stock it runs 1000/1200 I have mine @ 1150/1450 with stock voltage with no problems I got my card a couple of weeks back for £139 but it was on offer. I'm getting we'll over 100fps on bf3 @ high setting on a 19" monitor 1400x900
 
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My 7870 is MSI Black Knight @ stock it runs 1000/1200 I have mine @ 1150/1450 with stock voltage with no problems I got my card a couple of weeks back for £139 but it was on offer. I'm getting we'll over 100fps on bf3 @ high setting on a 19" monitor 1400x900

This one Gavin? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-MS

Higher stock clock than the VTX3D, slower memory, less cores... Fingers crossed my framerates will be similar (on my older system same resolution) ;)
 
He got the card for £139, which was a good deal. At its current price it's not worth it over the 7870 LE. The higher stock clock isn't relevant because it's a different GPU.
 
This one Gavin? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-185-MS

Higher stock clock than the VTX3D, slower memory, less cores... Fingers crossed my framerates will be similar (on my older system same resolution) ;)

Yeah that's the 1, I got my rig just to play BF4 and this should do the trick. My brother got his stuff yesterday for his more expensive rig and he got the VTX card, have yet to see what it's like
 
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He got the card for £139, which was a good deal. At its current price it's not worth it over the 7870 LE. The higher stock clock isn't relevant because it's a different GPU.

Yeah a great deal for £139! I know the differences teppic, just trying to figure out why there's not more LE's at the price point... Also doesn't explain why the standard 7870's are not priced more competitively?

Yeah that's the 1, I got my rig just to play BF4 and this should do the trick. My brother got his stuff yesterday for his more expensive rig and he got the VTX card, have yet to see what it's like

I'm gearing up for BF4, didn't do much for BF3 from my rig which was originally built for WoW... Just added an SSD! :)
 
£189 is too far the other side of £150 for me... I'd rather wait for the 7950's to drop to my price level, but upgrade bugs are biting so the 7870 LE seems to be the best choice (so far) for my price limit...
 
You'll lose out on the games I expect if you don't order quickly (I sound like I work for ocuk...) as it's only the first 250 orders.

The 7950 is still an excellent deal though.
 
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