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7970 Lightning, worth the premium?

No its single link so need Startech Mini DisplayPort to DVI Dual-Link Active Adapter or similar and they are about £80 to £100 on top of buying the card if you want to use it on hazro monitor m8.
 
I'll have a fish for it tonight :)

And the adaptor is £74 and as I mentioned earlier it's not always required even on a 1440p monitor.

Don't forget if your monitor has displayport connectors you can natively use high res and refresh without the need for driver mods.
 
Nope my Hazro only has the dual-link DVI as an input option...

Seriously gutted aboot this tbh. All this wait and now the card I really wanted from the start (680) has come down in price enough to buy anyways. Not really prepared to spend another £80 on this Lightning.

Of course, I fully appreciate it is my own fault for assuming the Lightning would have dual-link (should have checked!). Is there any good reason for this btw? It's 2012 for goodness sake?!!
 
pgi947 said:
Read back a few pages, Vega found a driver modification that allows you to push higher resolution and refresh rates over the single link DVI - I have done so and currently running full 120hz from the single link socket. iirc Vega is running his monitors at native res (1440p I think) @ 110hz.
Click to expand...

Last time I checked Vega was using the DP ports on his 4 Samsung 750Ds and the DL-DVI port on another 700D which is where he uses the single link dvi with the modified .sys file to tighten the timings to achieve 120z over single link cable for his 5x1 1080 120hz setup.
 
He said he was having problems with the 5x1 Catleaps in portrait so I'm guessing he's ditched the idea for now which is a shame but 5x1 1080 portrait is still mind blowing!

Using the adapters the highest you can go with the Catleaps is around 109hz according to Vega as its not native connectivity.

hughythomas said:
Of course, I fully appreciate it is my own fault for assuming the Lightning would have dual-link (should have checked!). Is there any good reason for this btw? It's 2012 for goodness sake?!!
Click to expand...

If you're looking to stick with one high res monitor like the hazro which only has the dl-dvi connection then go with another card like the ASUS hd7970 DC edition. Could even go for the 680 lightning assuming that card has a dl-dvi port. I've seen some pretty good benches with them
 
Fairly sure the 680 version does have dual link, waterblock in the works for that too.

You may be right about his monitors, it was a while back :)
 
theCrim said:
If you're looking to stick with one high res monitor like the hazro which only has the dl-dvi connection then go with another card like the ASUS hd7970 DC edition. Could even go for the 680 lightning assuming that card has a dl-dvi port. I've seen some pretty good benches with them
Click to expand...

Do we know whats faster once overclocked these days?

680 or 7970?

Or is it still the case that the 680 is better at 1080p and the 7970 better at 2560+?

Annoyingly, I run both res as I have the Hazro and a Samsung 51" plasma hooked up (for controller/couch games). TBH, 1080p performance is just as important if not more for me atm cos of Skyrim.

680 better option for me?
 
Personal preference imo, the 670, 680 & 7970 all perform within 5% or so of each other. Yes the gap is larger in the odd game but its at irrelevant frame rates, it may be 2-3 fps in some games, maybe 5-10 fps in others but all above 60fps unless you're going nuts with the aa.
 
Both are great cards and it's hard to tell as each 7970/680 card overclocks differently.

680 2GB will be fine for your 51" 1080p and 27" 1440p for 60fps+

Not entirely sure which card Skyrim favors but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the 680

I've seen 3dmark extreme scores of above 4k with the 680 lightning and like pgi said there are water blocks in the works for them
 
OK lads thank you for the information.

I am going to keep this 7970 I think and carry on waiting for these waterblocks to arrive in stock.

The deciding factor for me after much thought was actually the amount of RAM! My Skyrim is heavily modded and the cheapest 4GB GTX 680 is £499 on here. Thus, I would only be able to afford the 2GB edition. Not to mention the cost of waterblock etc for both.

Sad times regarding the single link DVI thought. Right kick in the balls tbh.
 
We would but the blocks have been overdue for stock for near 3 weeks now!!

@hughy, keep an eye on the mm, have a feeling the adaptor you need may be for sale soon ;)
 
pgi947 said:
@hughy, keep an eye on the mm, have a feeling the adaptor you need may be for sale soon ;)
Click to expand...

Sweet man are you selling one?

I need one but ideally El Cheapo! £80 for an adapter? I hope it bloody comes all singing all dancing and with the ability to pimp my kettle for a steller cuppa?!
 
hughythomas said:
Sweet man are you selling one?

I need one but ideally El Cheapo! £80 for an adapter? I hope it bloody comes all singing all dancing and with the ability to pimp my kettle for a steller cuppa?!
Click to expand...

It cost me £74 and will be selling it for a lot less once I get chance to list it :)
 
hughythomas said:
OK lads thank you for the information.

I am going to keep this 7970 I think and carry on waiting for these waterblocks to arrive in stock.

The deciding factor for me after much thought was actually the amount of RAM! My Skyrim is heavily modded and the cheapest 4GB GTX 680 is £499 on here. Thus, I would only be able to afford the 2GB edition. Not to mention the cost of waterblock etc for both.

Sad times regarding the single link DVI thought. Right kick in the balls tbh.
Click to expand...

Yeah was thinking about that card myself
 
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