7970 Lightning, worth the premium?

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 18:30

Yeah I heard about that, any official word from Asus on the matter? At least there is a chance it will be adjustable in the future.

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 18:53

Martini1991 said:
Another guy asked Asus about it, and they said use another program. I assume they've changed VRM's, so another program would have the same problem. I'm hoping they do something about it in GPU Tweak 3.0, and I'm past my DSR time-frame.
The only solution I see is a modified BIOS with 1.3v under load, but I can't think of any programme that allows for BIOS modifying that works with the 7970's?

I'll have a dig about for the bios thing tonight, sure I stumbled upon something for AMD cards while looking for Nvidia bios modding tools.

psychas said:
so what would i need to get it to 120 hz dual dvi adapter ? is it included with the card ?

You need one of these...

Alternatively if your monitor already has displayport connectors then you just need a MDP > DP cable.

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 19:14

You do indeed need that adaptor....I would know I have the exact same monitor

Luckily enough I have a 680 waterblock heading back to OcUK for DSR valued at £80, so I'll grab the adaptor with that money.

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 19:24

psychas said:
i dont think they will make waterblocks for sapphire one , as someone said in here they making for lightning , as i planing in future to get sivlerstone ft-02 with 560 rad and watercooling everything.

The Sapphire OC is reference PCB (with an extra phase I believe). Standard 7970 full cover blocks will fit as a result

Agree with Martini though, outside of the Lightning (and possible an un-crippled DCII) if your going for WC just go for the cheapest reference model with the best warranty. The standard MSI 7970 is currently £359.99, along with the HIS being the cheapest ref cards on OcUK at the moment. Or wait for them to come on a today/week/weekend only deal for ~£330.

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 19:25

Cleeecooo said:
Problem is I can't find any MSI 7970's wth black PCBs

This not a black PCB?

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 19:30

I think you are correct, looked black at first, must have been the shadow on the picture.

pgi947 · 26 May 2012 at 19:34

Cleeecooo said:
nope, Samsung 2S7A750D and 950D

A man who thinks before he buys

Wish I could say the same for my self. Might head over to the MM see if anyone wants a trade.

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 12:28

Darujhistan said:
No, you're being dazzled by a shiny new card that's not worth the extra money.

At £450 you're spot on, but at £379 it has plenty of appeal

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 15:42

Not sure cleee, not seen a picture of one yet, would be hopeful of some press release for the blocks inside the next few weeks.

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 16:19

Cleeecooo said:
Hopefully within the next 2 weeks.

They have it penned for release in 'Early June', but was told they are about to move premises and could delay the release by a week or two giving me an estimate of 3-5 weeks on worldwide distribution. They hinted that the block is ready and they have the final design and everything but just waiting for mass production, so no reason why we won't see a press release soon

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 21:09

I've just had a thought...I won't be able to pick the card up until Friday

In 6 - 18.30 monday to thursday then 8 - 16.30 on friday and 7 - 12 on sat.

I wouldn't trust it to get delivered to my place of work, too many under-payed rather angry people work in our R&D

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 21:37

Cleeecooo said:
Get it delivered home and then collect from depot?

Depot is the other side of town from work (half hour drive) or from home its about 15mins in a car, but the depot closes at 7pm, I finish at 6.30pm and use public transport (the mrs drives).

Will have to get sweet talking my neighbour.

The irony of it is the guy upstairs is a delivery driver for DPD, but is a grade-A douch

.

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 21:40

The usual guy that delivers to me is spot on, the guy upstairs acts like the world owes him something cos' he delivers parcels all day?

pgi947 · 27 May 2012 at 21:44

They can do PO drop offs?

I did not know that! my local PO is a stones throw from me too

Will give DPD a ring once I have a tracking number etc... and ask if they can drop it off there if no-one is home to collect.

pgi947 · 28 May 2012 at 15:09

Still showing item as pre-order, don't think we'll be seeing these dispatched today.

pgi947 · 28 May 2012 at 16:20

Must have gone before your order processed.

Wouldn't be surprised as they only had 8 or so in stock on Friday morning.

pgi947 · 28 May 2012 at 17:50

Added to my order too, as well as the 3 free games, think I'll give Deus EX HR away, after the amount of give-away with components that game had last year it isn't worth anything. To think I shelled out a little extra for the 'Augmented edition' as well

pgi947 · 28 May 2012 at 18:50

CraigN said:
I've still got one 6970 in my system to keep me running till these arrive. Just means i cannot play BF3 until they do.

Lucky you, I'm restricted to a 13" macbook with a beefy 320M for company

pgi947 · 28 May 2012 at 19:09

PCM2 said:
How did you add the games to your order? I ordered a 7950 last week (received on Friday) but didn't get any code for the free games. I thought this was automatically emailed after purchasing or something? If it is then how long do I have to wait?

I just looked at my order invoice, it says:

1 x MSI HD7970 Lightning £379.99
1 x MSI Grenade Screwdriver £0.00
1 x **AMD 3 for free etc...** £0.00

Edit: They were added automatically, the only thing I physically clicked to buy was the GPU.

pgi947 · 28 May 2012 at 19:36

Yup back up at £450, should give me plenty of time to save up another £380 for the next offer.

Currently trying to convince the mrs we need to refurbish the living room so I can fit a big desk + eyefinity in