Radeon HD 7970 which one?

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

Which one is better graphics and reliability (as in it won't die for a long time or arrive dead)?

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7970 3GB
SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB
GIGABYTE Radeon HD 7970 3GB

Maximum price is very low $400s.

Intel God · Jun 25, 2013

thenoobpunisher :

Gigabyte for the simple fact that its cooler is amazing

slomo4sho · Jun 25, 2013

You can't beat the $310 price of the Sapphire card. Go with it.

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

slomo4sho :

Price isn't a determining factor for me.

iiTzzDeFuze · Jun 25, 2013

slomo4sho :

Then the GIG

jerreece · Jun 25, 2013

Hands down:
Sapphire 7970 GHz Edition Vapor-X $349
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

The Vapor-X cooler is well respected for keeping things cool. And the GHz Edition is faster than the regular 7970. If price isn't your deciding factor get the best card.

Reviews on that card:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2058/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/09/24/sapphire_vaporx_radeon_hd_7970_ghz_edition_review#.Ucob35zheu0

slomo4sho · Jun 25, 2013

thenoobpunisher :

Then go with a GTX 780

iiTzzDeFuze · Jun 25, 2013

slomo4sho :

+^1 or even how about 4 Titan?

or

EVGA 770- $419
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921

jerreece · Jun 25, 2013

iiTzzDeFuze :

If the OP is open to nVidia cards I do personally like the EVGA GTX 770 ACX cards better. But based on the three cards the OP listed I'd say the Sapphire Vapor-X GHz Edition.

I'm assuming that "price isn't the determining factor" is not the same as "budget is unlimited".

slomo4sho · Jun 25, 2013

jerreece :

Either your budget is restricted or it isn't. If there are restrictions, then price should be a determining factor as you could potentially use the savings on other components. OP can pickup a $35-40 water cooler and replace the stock cooler with the water-block and have the $310 card run cooler and overclock better than the other two. Then again, that requires some insight

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

jerreece :

Exactly.

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

iiTzzDeFuze :

slomo4sho :

I know that I said, "Price isn't a determining factor," but the guy down below was right when he said that it doesn't mean unlimited pricing. Next thing I know you guys will be suggesting NVIDIA Quadro for me. :lol: I prefer AMD but I'll keep an open mind. Nice profile picture by the way.

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

slomo4sho :

jerreece :

Either your budget is restricted or it isn't. If there are restrictions, then price should be a determining factor as you could potentially use the savings on other components. OP can pickup a $35-40 water cooler and replace the stock cooler with the water-block and have the $310 card run cooler and overclock better than the other two. Then again, that requires some insight

Max $400 or barely over.

smeezekitty · Jun 25, 2013

I think the Sapphire card is a killer deal. GPUs have dropped significantly in price with the launch of the GTX7XX

slomo4sho · Jun 25, 2013

thenoobpunisher :

The $310 Sapphire + custom water cooler is still the best option

http://www.overclock.net/t/1203636/official-amd-ati-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-red-mod

iiTzzDeFuze · Jun 25, 2013

GIGABYTE 770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462

jerreece · Jun 25, 2013

smeezekitty :

It's good for business!! I picked up a GTX 770 myself. Which is cheaper than the old 680's used to be. And faster to boot. My brother picked up the Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 GHz Edition and is awaiting delivery right now. It was stretching what he really wanted to spend but the deal was fantastic and the 4 games are good games that he wants to play anyhow! So it was fairly win/win.

GPU prices have constantly gone up over the last few years. Any time when some competition drives deals like right now is good in my book.

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

iiTzzDeFuze :

I'll be getting the graphics card after I get my desktop, so if I can spare an extra $300 the GPU after that I'll look into getting the GTX.

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

slomo4sho :

thenoobpunisher :

The $310 Sapphire + custom water cooler is still the best option

http://www.overclock.net/t/1203636/official-amd-ati-gpu-mod-club-aka-the-red-mod

Water cooling is great and all, but I'd rather stick with fan cooling. I don't want to mess around with water cooling either. This GPU is for a build and I've just really gotten into hardware (beginner).

slomo4sho · Jun 25, 2013

What does the rest of your build look like and have you already purchased the components?

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

slomo4sho :

Haven't bought anything yet and I'm still making some tweaks but here it is so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/thenoobpunisher/saved/1Juv.

smeezekitty · Jun 25, 2013

Will this be used for anything intensive other then gaming? If not, then you could drop to an I5 and save some money.

jerreece · Jun 25, 2013

thenoobpunisher :

I agree with smeezekitty. If you're not going for world record benchmark results, compiling lots of data, I wouldn't waste the money for a $350 i7 CPU.

Do this instead:
i5-4670K (overclockable) $239.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899

You could also save money on your Power Supply by getting this:

Corsair TX 750W $109 - $30 MIR = $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

thenoobpunisher · Jun 25, 2013

smeezekitty :

Yes it will. I know that i5 is good enough from gaming, but I'll probably end up doing video editing/rendering and web stuff (multimedia).

iiTzzDeFuze · Jun 25, 2013

[strike]16GB, you are just gaming right? Not doing any memory intensive task? If so 8GB is more than enough. [/strike]

NVM just saw your other comment.

Radeon HD 7970 which one?

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