Which 7950 ?

[paulstung]

I'm looking into buying a new GPU in a week or so and have it narrowed down to 3 . What are peoples thoughts on : HIS HD 7950 IceQ X² BOOST
MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition
Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X OC
I was looking at the 7970's but for the price to performance difference are they worth it ? I'm leaning toward the HIS for the sexyness of it more than anything but you can't base a buy on looks alone . Although it is purdy.....
Just a quickie is my PSU up to the job Coolermaster CX550 ?

 

[arc@css]

Most 7970's are voltage locked. Personally, I'd go for this Gigabyte 7950 :

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

Fast turn around should the worst occur.

I'm not too sure about the psu, though I should imagine you'd be cutting it too fine. See what others say on that.

 

[paulstung]

I've just watched a youtube vid on the 7950 from linus focusing on the sapphire , and they have really low power consumption some kind of AMD technology . How true in real life though is another thing . The first thing I ever changed in a pc about 3 years ago (shop bought) was the GPU , and I RMA'd 2 . I can't remember the model . I went with a Nvidia in the end . So I'm a bit put off by them now , even though that is the card everyone seems to be recomending at the moment .

 

[arc@css]

I think 500w is the minimum, but as I say, 550 is cutting it pretty fine.

The models you've listed are all good choice, though I'd say you'll be waiting quite a while if the HIS or Sapphire cards go pop (overseas rma - hence my suggestion of the Gigabyte model). MSI, I believe, won't take too long either - maybe a week or two.

As far as I know, the HIS model is very quiet at idle and load, and I should imagine the Sapphire / MSI cards are more or less the same. The Gigabyte cooler is silent at idle, though probably a little louder than the HIS at load (same cooler on my card). However, I still consider it quiet and efficient at load.