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Which ATI 7950 and waterblock

Curlyriff

Curlyriff

Curlyriff

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2012
Posts
4,482
Location
Oxfordshire
Hey everyone.

I have decided since I am upgrading my waterloop when stuff arrives I want to upgrade my graphics card and water cool accordingly to try out some overclocking.

Now I have been looking at the different 7950 card available but not sure which I am meant to choose. I assume the reference cards are these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-153-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-049-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

If that is the case that is fine. I am not going for the pre done block by overclockers because it doesn't include the games package, it is £10 more and thermal paste I already have anyways so can do it myself.

Anyone know if I should be selecting anything different?

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
Check ek's cooling configurator for compatibility, reference isn't restricted to reference cooler its restricted to pcb, many oc editions with different coolers are still reference pcb :)
 
Im assuming you could get a 7970 waterblock and it would fit the newer 7950's that have the 7970 PCB? Dont quote me on that though.
 
Oh that is why. If you actually type HD7950 the config. only finds the 3No. Asus listed.

Have to know the code of the block first to get the full list. A little backwards when first checking and since they use reference fc7950 not hd7590 I wasn't getting any results.

Looks like I am good to go then. Any reason I shouldn't just choose the cheapest 7950 if I am overclocking and water cooling myself?

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
If that is the case then the actual 7950 block would be wrong anyways. Don't suppose anyone knows when they switched the PCB over tot he 7970 model?

This makes it even harder to sort. Do you think if I phone overclockers they would be able to check this out?

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
i have been meaning to get 1 for ages, but cant quite decide if I need to keep a 7970 when I think I want a smaller card for a smaller case
 
Link won't load bud. Anyway's does anyone know when the PCB changed and if so which ones overclockers are stocking?

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
If I were you OP, I'd only buy from MSI or Gigabyte due to warranty and customer services.
(See thread stickies at top of graphics cards subsection)

I suggest maybe asking OcUK if they'd include the games package with their tech labs card as that will be the cheapest option with the best warranty
 
Cheers Cleeecooo.

I understand that and have never found issues with powercolor previously when I have spoken with them although they seem to have a bad rep according to peeps on here. I don't know anything about HIS though.

Will give Overclockers a buzz tomorrow to see if they will include the games package otherwise I will just go for the powercolor and EK block. It appears certain models are only HD7970 pcb and can be googled accordingly (fortunately) rather than updates of old models.

Thank you all for the help.

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
I'm currently trying to decide the same thing, However i'm begining to be swayed into paying the extra for a 7970 pcb'd 7950 as i beleive they are more likely to overclock better.

But as paying that premium closes the gap to a real 7970 maybe i should just buy the cheapest 7970!?

to many choices!
 
It appears overclockers only has one card that is MSI and no Gigabyte plus it shouldn't really matter as overclockers are the people looking after the warrenty side. After 28 days they should be shipping a new card if anything did happen.

The pcb apparently doesn't overclock any better between the 7950 and 7970 so I don't see it being a factor. Especially as you are looking at an extra £40 for it. On that note the card that definitely comes with the 7970 pcb is the MSI TFIII and is still £50 cheaper than the cheapest 7970 or £60 cheaper to the MSI 7970. That equates to £110 more than the cheaper 7950.

So yeah. That is why I thought the best option would be one of the cheaper 7950's and just put the waterblock on. They are essentially the same cards for the OcUK, HIS and Powercolor with different graphics after a good google. All other options shown on overclockers appear to be paying for after market cooling and/or pre overclocking.

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
OK spoke to overclockers.

They are happy to provide the games package with their pre watercooled HD7950 so have ordered that accordingly.

Getting anything else sorted would take longer I am actually waiting for the Samsung SSD 840 Pro to be in stock as they has been on order for a while now.

So new parts of build that are ordered are looking like this:

  • Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD256BW)
  • XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel)
  • Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Stealth 240
  • Mayhems Pastel - Blueberry Blue Coolant 2L
  • Prolimatech PK-3 Nano Aluminium Thermal Paste
  • 8No. Bitspower Premium G1/4" Black Sparkle High Flow 1/2" Compression Fitting (For Tygon 1/2" ID)
  • XSPC HighFlex Hose 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD, 19/12.7mm, 2m
  • Arctic Silver ArctiClean Thermal Material Remover and Surface Purifier - 60ml Kit
  • OcUK Tech Lab H2O Custom HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5
  • Mayhems Dye, Deep Blue - 10ml
  • 3No. Akasa AK-TK-02 Cable Tidy Kit

I know some people say the 1/2" ID tubing is large but I am hoping the case will suit it and show the curves better. Will have to see once it is on but the pics I have seen online I like the larger diameter tubing.

Total towards this build is £750 so far.

Parts I am using from my current build (Decemer 2008) Antec 1200 case, XSPC Dual bay res/pump, Tagan BZ 1300w power supply, 2No. Samsung HDD 750GB, Asus P6T Deluxe Motherboard, i7 920 overclocked @ 3.8GHz for 24/7 runnuning and LG Blu-ray optical drive.

End November/early December time will be new motherboard, processor and ram. Looking at Intel i7-3820, ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard and the Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 32GB 2133MHz Quad Channel kit but that alone is around £840

Xmas/New Year I need to consider a different PSU as the Tagan is rather dated and not modular although it will at least run the system fine. Thought was the Seasonic 1000w 80 Platinum. It is a great piece of kit and is only 160mm long rather than the 200mm length of the Corsair 1200i. That would be around £200.

All in all the build cost would be £1790.

The case I am unsure on really at the moment. I keep changing my mind but I have the current twin rad and want to add a triple to the loop at a later date so need a case that would take both.

Thoughts and trying to keep build under 2k if possible.

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
I am wanting to darken the pastel blue a little so that is why I am using the dye since most of the lighting is darker in the case.

I know the res/pump isn't great but at this time and until I get my case all sorted I am not changing the res as I will probably go for a tube res anyways with a D5 most likely. But the one you linked is deffo the one I would choose if I went bay res again.

The reason I have used these rads before that was my comfort zone really. I know I can watercool my cpu & gpu without worries even with high overclocks with this rad. Sayin that though I have another week till anything will be delivered so may take another look since the SR1 would be probably the better option.

I am not going for any xspc rad as I found the quality rather poor on the last two I had especially since they are more expensive.

Thank you for the input though as it has given me time to reflect on the reasons so far. The rad is really the one I don't know at the moment.

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
EK may be another choice as well. I don't know too much about the EK rads. Will take a gander.

That res. looks pretty spot on. May well just at that to this order to get it now and the loop up in one go without changing it all in a few months.

Thank you for the link and help Cleeecooo

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
Thanks for the link. I get the gist of what is said but not sure how usefull all the resualts are considering the different sizes they tested against one another. Although the SR1 certainly seems like a good option.

Kind Regards,

Adam
 
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