Which 7950?

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Since the deal on the MSI 7950 Twin Frozr III on the previous This Week Only, I've been getting tempted by one (to replace the GTX570 currently in my 2nd PC).

Obviously that deal has finished but now we have:
Today Only:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-313-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

This Week Only:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

Are either of these worth considering? Neither seem to have the best RMA service.
Are either/both reference design (in case I need a waterblock)?

Should I wait a bit longer and see if AMD do another Never Settle bundle?

Of course I don't really need to get either, it's only for my 2nd PC, the rig in my sig is fine for anything more demanding that the 570 struggles with. But still, what does 'need' have to do with anything...

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

same, but to replace my 5870, ended up ordering a gigabyte windforce 3 thismorning that comes with crysis 3 and bioshock infinite + 3 year warranty,
i read a lot of people complaining about locked voltage but im not fussed about overclocking it that much

I thought they stopped the Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite package? or is it just OcUK that have stopped that?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

hmm, think I've found that Gigabyte WF card for the same price as the ones in the OP, apparently they come with the 2 games too. Would that be a better option than the HIS?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

It may be voltage locked but it should do 1050-1100MHz anyway, but the 2 games(actually it's 3 with the FC3 Blood Dragon thrown in as a bonus) and better rma would make up for it.

I mentioned noise in my post but you won't be any the wiser having not compared them.

Also, I've had WF3 cards before (GTX 670s) which seemed good on a single card, not quite so good on SLI and was the reason I sent back the 3rd card as caused issues in Tri-SLI!

It is very tempting and I'm not too worried about extreme overclocking. Looks like that might be the card for me, just a pity it's not from OcUK.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Does anyone know if it's worth contacting AMD if I bought a 7950 from OcUK and didn't get the codes?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Also, can I just double check that people are saying the HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST (not the X2) is quieter than a Windforce card?
If so that'd be great. It'd be nice to have a cool and quiet card that exhausts out the back of the case.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

If it was me i would wait a few weeks and see if the 780GTX/770GTX that are coming out in May shake up prices a bit.

Are you sure they're coming out in may?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Ah well, may get them to replace my 670s. Wanted to try an AMD solution (not had AMD since they were ATI and I had a 5870).

Would a Phenom II 1055T @ 3.5GHz bottleneck a 7950?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

Well, I went with the HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB.

Now, what's the best software to use to overclock it and set a custom fan profile?