7970 or 7950 or wait?

[pumaknight]

Hello all. Yeah really sorry one of those threads.
I have 2 x 6950 in cross fire in my current rig with a stock i5 2500K and a corsair 650W PSU. Works like a charm, but I recently bought a 1440 monitor so will need extra power to run at that resolution.

So, the options as I see it are:
1. Buy new rig entirely with faster CPU and more powerful PSU
2. Buy 2 x 7950 (great price)
3. Buy 2 x 7970 (also great price)
4. Wait until R9 comes out and see if 1 card will do.

Any input would be greatly receieved.

Thanks.

 

[Stas823]

im sure most people here would recommend grabbing 2 7950's considering they are at a really great price/performance point

 

[Uncle_Gravy]

Deal of the day, awesome performance for the price.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS

 

[Mean Mr Mustard]

I had practically the same setup as you (only difference being I have a 750W PSU) and was facing the same dilemma a couple of weeks ago.

In the end I went for 7950 crossfire and haven't regretted it for a second, performance is excellent at 1440p and is a huge improvement over that offered by 6950 crossfire. I do tell a lie though... my only regret is that I didn't get my IceQ 7950s for the £180 they're at today.

My only concern in your situation would be whether a 650W PSU could handle two 7950s. I think you may get away with it but there's not a lot of leeway there and if you overclock them you'll likely be asking too much of the PSU. I'd say two 7970s would probably be a no-no at 650W. Of course, going down the 290(X) route would cause no such problem.

I know we haven't seen how the 290 cards will perform yet but it's a pretty safe bet that a single 290(X) won't beat crossfire 7950s.

Given that the 290 cards are likely to be going for upwards of £400 and that you could get two 7950s today for £360 with free shipping I'd take that option.

 

[rolypolyman]

^^^That.

 

[shadow_boxer]

Crossfire 7950's as above. Great price today too.

 

[Mal X]

i'd go for cheap twin 7950s and just upgrade the PSU, then OC it all slightly.

i wouldn't do a full upgrade yet though, not until the end of next year....no need to yet.

 

[los]

The R9 280X is already out which is the 7970 replacement.
Yeah those 7950's are a great deal, although the 7970's keep coming up cheap too!
There's been a lot of deals on 7950's/7970's lately, its upto you if you want to wait or not, personally I get impatient lol

 

[Mal X]

The R9 280X is already out which is the 7970 replacement.
Yeah those 7950's are a great deal, although the 7970's keep coming up cheap too!
There's been a lot of deals on 7950's/7970's lately, its upto you if you want to wait or not, personally I get impatient lol

yea but the R9 is no good for me right now, because i wont be building a new rig for another year yet and by then the R9 will be History

 

[Panos]

One more vote for 2x7950s as best value for money.

They will serve you well for the long run and no need to change until there is a single GPU that will be able to beat them. (nothing at the horizon)

They are cheap and cheerful at ~£340-£360 range at the moment (BOTH), and most of them good clockers to 1000 core at least. (1100 core 1500 mem more often that not at around 1.175v)

If I had ~£500 thought, I could get two R9 280X Toxic, but ~£150 is a lot of money nowadays. Rather get a better PSU (since you going to need it) and maybe something else. (or beers).


Rule of thumb 2x7950s need around 450-480W (together), and 2 7970s need 520-550W (together).

 

[pumaknight]

Thanks all. Ordered 2 x 7950. get them tomorrow. Cannot wait. Fingers crossed the PSU can handle it, otherwise another minor upgrade will be required