5870 To 7950 which card?

[flexbar]

Hey guys,

As the title says upgrading my gpu to a 7950 but not sure which card.

I'm after silence more than OC, Being able to OC would be a big bonus but need the card to be as quiet as possble

Cheers Guys

 

[Cutshaw]

The Vapor-x and IceQ are both quiet, with the former being the absolute quietest.

Iceq sound test
http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-hd-7950-iceq-turbo-review/9

Vapor-x sound test
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-hd7950-vapor-x-edition-review/21/

Kitguru closing thoughts on vapor x said it was the fastest and quietest 7950 on the market. In defence of the Iceq, it's perfect for crossfire, vents all the hot air out of the case and both sides of that radial fan can suck in air. You could tape the traditional side of the fan we see on most cards shut and it would still cool the card. Also OcUk handle the warranty.

I'm going to order one of these today, I think. Probably the IceQ. Cheaper, shorter turnaround on RMA, leagues ahead if you wanted to add another card later, more bundled games.

 

[tommybhoy]

I'm after silence more than OC, Being able to OC would be a big bonus but need the card to be as quiet as possble

Asus DCuII is the quietest followed by the His Ice-Q(but as pointed out above, the Ice-Q can vent all the air out the back) going by this handy video comparison:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7950-review-benchmark,3207-12.html

Play the DCuII first, then play another one on top for comparison, clear indication of noise levels.

 

[tommybhoy]

HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) with FREE Sleeping Dogs, Nexuiz, Dirt Showdown & CODMW2 PC Games @ £249.95 inc VAT

The World's first 28nm GPU. The revolutionary new GCN Architecture. Ready for DirectX 11.1. PCI Express 3.0. The AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 is your personal checklist for ground-breaking technology. The next generation of AMD Eyefinity technology is here, featuring all-new support for stereo 3D, universal bezel compensation and brand new display configurations. Face it: the best just got better. Armed with the new PCI Express 3.0 standard, multi-GPU configurations with AMD CrossFire™ technology are just another way to obliterate the competition with the revolutionary AMD Radeon™ HD 7950. Leave no performance behind. Get higher clocks and faster gaming with AMD PowerTune technology on AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 Graphics. Fold and mine faster than ever with AMD App Acceleration powered by the unprecedented 28nm GCN Architecture. The market isn't ready for 4K video, but Radeon™ is. With full support for 3GHz HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 is set for Quad HD.

This is the latest edition of AMD's Radeon 7950 GPU with Boost technology. What this means to the gamer is better FPS as the GPU automatically boost too 925MHz when underload to improve the gaming experience.

Features:-
- Core Clock: 850MHz (925MHz Boost)
- Memory: 3072MB GDDR5
- Memory Clock: 5000MHz (Effective)
- Memory Interface: 384-Bit
- Processing Cores: 1792
- Bus Type: PCI-Express 3.0
- Display Connectors: 1x Dual Link DVI, 1x HDMI & 2x Mini-DisplayPort
- HDCP Capable
- DirectX 11 Support
- OpenGL 3.2 Support
- ATI CrossFire Ready
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- Warranty: 2 Years
- Supplied with Dirt Showdown, Nexuiz & Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Games
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Was [£259.99] Inc. VAT

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Considering the games value, this makes these 7950's well under £200!!

That's the one to get imo.

 

[Cutshaw]

If it's of any interest I went with the HIS. Given how well that cooler stands up to the rest in noise and especially heat dissipation and blows it all out of the case, you could argue that it's the best cooler on the market just now.

About it's looks, I've spent a lot of time looking at it over the last few weeks. I've grown quite fond of it. I love the big sticky outy heatpipes(watch out for case clearance) and back end of the cooler being raised well up off the card is easy on the eyes, unique and interesting.

The bundled games come to £87.96 on steam. I'll be keeping Sleeping Dogs, but I have/don't want the others. I would be conservative and knock another £20 off the price of the card for those.

I'm really glad I talked myself out of the Vapor-x. It actually works out cheaper than my second hand 5870.

 

[thefogo]

I'd probably go with this:

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

 

[Cutshaw]

I'd probably go with this:

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

Depends on how highly you value an extra years warranty. It's the only thing it has over the IceQ BOOST.

 

[thefogo]

Depends on how highly you value an extra years warranty. It's the only thing it has over the IceQ BOOST.

£10 cheaper too
I'd go with the Gigabyte but both are great choices.

 

[Cutshaw]

£10 cheaper too
I'd go with the Gigabyte but both are great choices.

It's more expensive if you figure in the games bundled with the HIS. Slower. Dumps the hot air in the case. Hotter. Louder. RMA involves the manufacturer.

The extra year of warranty isn't insignificant and Gigabyte do have a great track record and from personal experience very easy to deal with.