Best HD 7970 - Voltage Locked?

leoweisman

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Feb 24, 2013
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So I read a bunch of reviews online and had my heart set on getting the Gigabyte HD 7970 (non GHz), but today I was reading that the recent batch of cards was voltage locked, and could barely be over clocked. I previously regarded the Gigabyte 7970 to be the best value 7970 card, but I get the feeling its not now... If this voltage lock thing is true, what does it mean for the card's performance exactly, and what would a better 7970 be that has a good cooler and isn't locked? My preferred budget is $400 for the card, I can go up maybe $10-15, but something like a $450 is out of my range. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Build:

i5-3570k
ASrock Extreme4
Some 7970
8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
Corsair TX 650w v2
 

leoweisman

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Feb 24, 2013
101
0
10,680


So just to double check, can the Sapphire 7970 be overvolted or is it locked like the others?
 

pantherr

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Mar 27, 2013
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10,640
I think people read to much into this voltage locked stuff.Even if it were voltage locked you should beable to get solid overclocks out of them all.1100 mhz+ should be doable on just about all of them without touching voltage.I dunno why anyone with mess with voltage anyways it will just shorten the lifespan of the card.
 

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