Personal computing discussed

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piecerad
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which 7950 to get.....

Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:05 pm

Hi all,
I recently bought a 27in monitor (yeah one of those cheap Korean 2560x1440, which I highly recommend) and I'm about to upgrade my old 5850 to the 7950. I'm in the UK and prices are about the same as the 660ti and I figure its the best choice for the resolution. My question is which one to buy;
the £251 ($407) MSI [http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd-7950-twin-frozr-3gd5-v2-oc-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-2x-mini-di]
or the £257 ($416) ASUS [http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-asus-radeon-hd-7950-directcu-ii-top-5000mhz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-dual-link-dvi-i-hdmi-2x-mini]

Anyone have much or any experience with the coolers? I don't mind the ASUS being Triple slot as I doubt I will ever use Crossfire, and my 5850 was the ASUS DCU1 model which I loved. Also, any difference in OC expectations between the two? I do intend to OC but want to maintain low noise under both idle and load. I would also appreciate advice regarding any other non-reference 7950s which will suit my needs.

Thanks, Charlie.
 
Damage
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:10 pm

The MSI 7950 performed exceptionally well for me. See here:

http://techreport.com/review/23527/nvid ... cs-card/10

I have a couple of 7970 cards with that Asus cooler, and it's also good. It seems like overkill for the 7950, though, and it will eat up a third slot in your PC. Frankly, I don't see the need.

I'd go to the MSI. You seriously can't go wrong with that cooler.
Scott Wasson - "Damage"
 
piecerad
Gerbil
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:22 pm

Excellent, thanks Scott! I was kinda leaning that way. On a side note, I emailed listener mail just before last podcast regarding the weird compatibility issue I was getting with the 5850. have you used a 7950 on the 27in 'first' panel you reviewed at all? It would give me a bit of piece of mind to know before I buy that its not gonna happen with the new card too.

Thanks again!
 
Damage
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:44 pm

Yeah, I did all of my testing for the past couple of GPU reviews on that panel. No issues with the 7950 at all.
Scott Wasson - "Damage"
 
piecerad
Gerbil
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Fri Sep 14, 2012 5:50 pm

Ideal. I will purchase ASAP, been looking forward to this upgrade for a while now.

Thanks again for your help, I love the site and I look forward to the podcast, Charlie.
 
brute
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:49 pm

dont get the 7950 GX2
 
Chrispy_
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:30 pm

I have a Sapphire 7950 at home with a similar cooler to the MSI. It's quiet, and runs at 900MHz just fine

The Asus is in a machine behind me at work. Overkill is the word, the box it came in is equally ridiculous, and it'll make a big case feel cramped.
Congratulations, you've noticed that this year's signature is based on outdated internet memes; CLICK HERE NOW to experience this unforgettable phenomenon. This sentence is just filler and as irrelevant as my signature.
 
yogibbear
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:41 pm

Don't get the 7950GT...
Core i7 4770K | eVGA GTX1080 FTW ACX 3.0 | 16GB DDR3 2133mhz | Asus Z87-PLUS | Corsair HX650 | Fractal Define R4 | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB | Windows 10 x64
 
XTF
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:26 am

What about the Sapphire 950mhz edition? Higher default clock and the HSF seems good.
 
appaws
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:51 pm

My first post here....

I love my Gigabyte 7950. Runs super cool and quiet all the time. I've OCed it to 1100mhz....never got above 61C using Furmark and the fan never went over 40% when set on auto.
i5 3570k @ 4.2ghz / Gigabyte 7950 / 8gig G-skill Ares / Hyper 212 Evo+ / Corsair TX650M / Corsair Carbide 400R / Samsung F3 1TB / Driving Force GT Wheel / Cheap Logitech Keyboard/Mouse
 
cynan
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Re: which 7950 to get.....

Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:19 pm

A second for the Gigabyte coolers. The Windforce coolers they put on their higher end cards are pretty good on the cooling/noise ratio. It's got 3 fans instead of 2, and still comes in a dual slot config. At least as good as the MSI, I would think.

Between the Gigabyte and the MSI, I would just go with whichever is cheapest.

On the other hand, some HD 7950s come with a bios with a boost clock (like this Sapphire). Don't think the Gigabyte or MSI cards do. If you don't like manually fiddling with overclocking, may be a good idea to grab one of those - though you'll likely be able to push any of the above significantly higher than the boost setting with a bit of tinkering, sort of making the boost functionality pointless if you do overclock.

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