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7970 CF vs 7950 CF (A clock for clock comparison)

Soldato
Joined
3 Feb 2012
Posts
14,432
Location
Peterborough
Hi there,

Tonester and I have ran some benchmarks with 7970 CF vs 7950 CF at the same clock speed to try to quantify the difference in today's games while the two cards are at the same clock speed. As the 7970 GHz Edition and the 7950 have quite different clocks out the box it can distort the picture about the difference between the two cards in real terms.

Of course the 7970 is faster when both are clocked up but the common myth that a 7970 can clock further than a 7950 is quite false. The point of the comparison is to show you whether when you overclock your 7950/7970s is there any point in paying the extra for the 7970s. I won't offer any advice on this because to be honest, it's down to each person individually to have a look at the difference and determine what they want to do.

Game ran:

Hitman Absolution
Tomb Raider
Bioshock Infinite
Sleeping Dogs
DiRT Showdown
Metro 2033

Benchmarks ran:

3D Mark 11
Heaven Valley

My set up is in my signature as is Tonester's. My CPU was clocked to 4.4 GHz but the extra clock speed on Tonester's CPU is unlikely to affect the results that much other than in 3D Mark 11. All tests ran at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 will follow.

You can take the results as either a simple clock for clock comparison or as a guide to how the cards perform in 'x' game. It's up to you :).

7950 CF @ 1100/1500:

3D Mark 11:

q8RG40s.png

Bioshock Infinite:

99ZQFIN.png

DiRT Showdown:

fjofTLi.png

Heaven Valley:

eAhdvNO.png

Hitman Absolution:

o6anEtn.png

Metro 2033:

VdH7aDu.png

Sleeping Dogs:

K5vbwxY.png

Tomb Raider:

F0Jn7jQ.png

7970 CF @ 1100/1500:


So to compare the clock for clock difference (average FPS) are as follows:

Bioshock Infinite: 3.8%
DiRT Showdown: 2.2%
Hitman Absolution: 2.7%
Metro 2033: -1.7% (potential testing anomaly as the benchmark is a bit sketchy)
Sleeping Dogs: 3.8%
Tomb Raider: 4%
3D Mark 11: 5.8%
Heaven Valley: 4.7%
 
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And here are the 2560x1440 results:

7950 CF @ 1100/1500:

Bioshock Infinite:

IWFTBmn.png

DiRT Showdown:

FX1TyZi.png

Hitman Absolution: (actual minimum FPS was 44 - benchmark bugged out)

8NyiiGQ.png

Metro 2033:

1CuNWQL.png

Tomb Raider:

GtyPQlt.png

7970 CF @ 1100/1500:







Hitman Absolution: 1.9%
Tomb Raider: 5.6%
Bioshock Infinite: 3.8%
Sleeping Dogs: (Rusty unable to complete due to driver issue)
DiRT Showdown: 3.7%
Metro 2033: 9.4%
 
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Have you tried doing them higher? 1200mhz or 1300mhz ?

It's not going to make any difference is it? I can do 1200 on both or 1250 on one and 1200 on the other but I wouldn't expect the gap to widen significantly, if at all, if they were both clocked up to 1200.

On 13.3 beta's and this version of MSI AB I'm having real problems keeping even 1100/1500 stable :D. Need to clean it all out but I only run 1075/1450 for 24/7 really.
 
4.5Ghz 3770K 100/1500 7950 CF

I ran these the other night when I saw Tonesters results, slight difference from Rusty's but I have a quite a few background programs running and it may have an impact or not.

bd397d23795b9c1cc5cb5056947a5fd9.jpg


d29640f40157472c9d69e049b55faf4f.jpg


ac0768f3a930553f4b5200a62632055d.jpg

Regardless whether the 70 clocks better than a 50 or not-after a lot of use with both, I don't reckon the 70 is worth the extra over a 50 unless you love to bench or game on multi monitors.

I'm afraid I won't be able to do any others for some time as I have a lot on my plate right now. :(
 
Ah, im not really a gfx card OC person :P it was really really easy to get my 7970's to 1150 on stock volts, and only a tiny tweak for 1250.

I see the difference is small, so im guessing the only real benefit to 7970 is a higher possible max OC?
 
Ah, im not really a gfx card OC person :P it was really really easy to get my 7970's to 1150 on stock volts, and only a tiny tweak for 1250.

I see the difference is small, so im guessing the only real benefit to 7970 is a higher possible max OC?

A good 7950 will top out the same kind of points as a good 7970 will top out. The only difference will be the premium Lightning models really as they can go a bit further than normal. :)
 
If your talking about gaming fair enough, benching is another ball game for the 7970 v 7950, although the 70 has higher vram clocks in it's tank with higher grade chips.

The MSI 7970 OC is an unsung hero as well in regards to 7970's, sitting high up(if not the top) in the 79 BM's here-I'm sure Matt will have a few words on this at some point I imagine.:)
 
If your talking about gaming fair enough, benching is another ball game for the 7970 v 7950, although the 70 has higher vram clocks in it's tank with higher grade chips.

I don't think anybody serious at benching is really going to get a 7950 for that purpose though are they, Tommy :D.

The benchmark comparisons are there for reference.
 
2560x1440 results. Will update post #2 as well.

Had to skip Sleeping Dogs as on these drivers I can't get it to run at 2560x1440 when any overclock at all is applied so some issue there. :(

Bioshock Infinite:

IWFTBmn.png

DiRT Showdown:

FX1TyZi.png

Hitman Absolution: (actual minimum was 44 FPS but the benchmark bugged out upon completion)

8NyiiGQ.png

Metro 2033:

1CuNWQL.png

Tomb Raider:

GtyPQlt.png
 
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