**AMD GPU PRICE DROP: AWESOME CARDS @ AWESOME PRICES!!**

[George Hincapie]

Well coming from a 4870 surely a 7850 is a good buy? Right now it's really 7850/7870/7950 for bang per buck.

Really? I haven't followed the tech for years now so have no idea how they perform comparatively. I have a Sapphire 4870 now so will see if I can stretch to a 7870.

Thanks.

 

[DanUre]

Debating whether to get the sapphire or the Twin Frozr III. Any reason why one is better than the other. I prefer the look of the msi for some reason...

 

[Cutshaw]

Anyone care to give advice on which card I should buy?

MSI Twin Frozr 3 7950
Sapphire OC 7950

Both same price, which is best bet?

Sapphire has the fastest clock and quieter cooler but shorter warranty and RMA to Hungary. MSI has 3 years warranty and a RMA to the Netherlands.

The difference in noise levels isn't massive and I would be stunned if you couldn't just bump the clock up to 900mhz on the MSI. I would rather the faster out of the box speed and looks of the Sapphire, but MSI would give me some peace of mind.

 

[nocturnal1974]

I went for the last one. Apparently the IV cooler is a improvement over the III, and for an extra £8 I thought it was worthwhile.

This is what it says on the product description.

I went for the last one too (MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB).

So I'll not be eating out until next year and the postage was £10.80p AND I won't get it until next Tuesday

ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[matt1]

The cooler looks similiar, is the fan diameter on the IV slightly larger?

I wouldn't believe the dust removal hype for a second! How would that work? LOL

£8 is a beef curry and a portion of spring rolls!

Most fans look similar but perform very differently.

I'm trying to watch my waistline so would rather stick that curry on a cooler

I went for the last one too (MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB).

So I'll not be eating out until next year and the postage was £10.80p AND I won't get it until next Tuesday

ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Mine arrives tomorrow, you'll get the free next day delivery soon(ish) if you stay active on the forums. Good incentive.

 

[Gibbo]

Check this week only, some great deals there on 7xxx series

 

[pestt]

After 18 months without any graphics card I might order this tonight!

My good quality OCZ StealthXStream 400W should do OK with it, this 7850 has around the same draw that my old card 6850 had until it gave up after 4 months (I didn't replace it!)

I'm looking forward to digging the flight controls out for FSX again and I don't plat BF3! Did like a bit of Crysis 2 though.

This cards idle low noise performance is very important for me! I use the headphones when gaming

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_7850_Power_Edition/26.html

Interesting. I am thinking about a 7850 too but was worried my 460W PSU wouldn't be enough. The min spec for the card says 500W? I have been running a 5850 with no problems and that also states it needs 500W though.

 

[Rusty0611]

It's because the power requirements are overstated due to the cheap PSU's which don't supply anywhere near the stated number of watts.

 

[Marine-RX179]

The cards prices are now roughly:
7850 £155-£180
7870 £200-£220
7950 £230-£260
7970 £300-£360

Am I the only one look at the price got the feeling of "Finally! Sanity has been restored!" (shame that it took nearly 9 months for that to happen and now only around may be one quarter away from the next gen cards).

If only these were the prices at launch

 

[HeX]

GAH!

I need £160 for another TFIII for CF right now >_<

Time to find stuff to sell!

 

[IC3]

after 2-3 months the price of 660ti should drop by a bit. Bur at the moment AMD is better for budget build.

 

[NZB]

after 2-3 months the price of 660ti should drop by a bit. Bur at the moment AMD is better for budget build.

Probably, but not by much. Most people check places like yahoo answers when asking which GPU and not the sensible places like this, 660ti is being recommended all over the net atm lol. I'm sure Nvidia will milk it for all it's worth (or not as the case me be).

 

[nocturnal1974]

Mine arrives tomorrow, you'll get the free next day delivery soon(ish) if you stay active on the forums. Good incentive.

Not if you live in a foreign country like N.Ireland you don't!!!

Ah well that was only 2 beef curries worth for postage!

 

[nitram100]

Just got my MSI Twin Frozr III 7950, absolute beast. I am bottlenecked right now but it's still a huge improvement over my 5850.

Quick question though, in the 7950's I look at on the net, even this same MSI model it has 2 x 6 pin PCIE connectors but mine has 1 x 6 pin and 1 x 8 pin, does this mean it will draw more power from my PSU? Bit worried as my PSU is right on the recommended limit.

 

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Bah, confuzzled!

I will be ordering one tomorrow, but no idea which one.

Battlefield 3 smoothness is needed. Hmmm

 

[psychodil]

Just got my MSI Twin Frozr III 7950, absolute beast. I am bottlenecked right now but it's still a huge improvement over my 5850.

Quick question though, in the 7950's I look at on the net, even this same MSI model it has 2 x 6 pin PCIE connectors but mine has 1 x 6 pin and 1 x 8 pin, does this mean it will draw more power from my PSU? Bit worried as my PSU is right on the recommended limit.

No mate that means you got one of the newer batch with the 7970 PCB
What is your PSU?

 

[nitram100]

No mate that means you got one of the newer batch with the 7970 PCB
What is your PSU?

Sweet

My PSU is an old Hiper 530watt

 

[Marine-RX179]

Just got my MSI Twin Frozr III 7950, absolute beast. I am bottlenecked right now but it's still a huge improvement over my 5850.

Quick question though, in the 7950's I look at on the net, even this same MSI model it has 2 x 6 pin PCIE connectors but mine has 1 x 6 pin and 1 x 8 pin, does this mean it will draw more power from my PSU? Bit worried as my PSU is right on the recommended limit.

Generally with cards that uses custom PCB, manufacturers would sometimes use PCI-E higher than reference, so people can actually providing more power for overclocking thus more likely to be able to use higher voltage for stabling higher overclocks. If it is on the same clock speeds and voltage, I doubt it would consume much more power than reference cards.

 

[nitram100]

Generally with cards that uses custom PCB, manufacturers would sometimes use PCI-E higher than reference, so people can actually providing more power for overclocking thus more likely to be able to use higher voltage for stabling higher overclocks. If it is on the same clock speeds and voltage, I doubt it would consume much more power than reference cards.

Ok awesome mate, thanks for clearing that up. So basically once I get a better PSU I can give it a nice overclock Can't believe the temps on this thing though, didn't exceed 55c on BF3 64 player Caspian Border with fan speed at around 35-40%, great card and really quiet.

 

[psychodil]

You should be able to easily clock it up to 1000/1600 without altering the voltage, and this will barely require any more power draw.