How "future proof" is the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950??

thepattyv · Jun 28, 2013

By future proof, I mean 3-4 years, possibly 5. I plan on playing games such as: rome total war 2, battlefield 4, watch dogs, fifa 14, nba 2k14, arkham origins, possibly assassin's creed 4 and gta 5 when it comes out on PC. I'm plan on buying the Sapphire HD 7950, since my current GPU is not cutting it. I'm pairing it with the i7 3770k 3.4 ghz.

I want to play the future games on at least high settings.

chesteracorgi · Jun 28, 2013

You are better off with a GTX 760 for about the same price. The 7950 will be able to play most modern games at good fps, and will probably be good for most games for the next 2-3 years, but it is not assured against obsolescence. AMD will launch its 8000 series late fall or early winter. But, again, the GTX 760 is a better card and will (for about the same price) give you better fps.

wdmfiber · Jun 28, 2013

The 7950 (and 760) will be obsolete in terms of manufacturing process by the end of the year. Their both made by TSCM (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) on a 28nm (nanometer) process dating back to late 2011. Yields are great now and prices down; but the tech is old and needs to die!

20nm will be a generation jump. More power per watt. So a 7950 burning 200+ watts will be graphically weak(& wasteful) compared to a new 20nm GPU at 200+ watts.

You definitely won't be good for 3-4 years. Heck, even 20nm will be obsolete by then.

Check out the little chart in the top right corner. Chip process tech since 1971 (mainly CPU fabs, Intel is currently at 22nm).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22_nanometer

Ah, fond memories of my old 180nm Pentium 4 (well... not really

thepattyv · Jun 28, 2013

wdmfiber :

The 7950 (and 760) will be obsolete in terms of manufacturing process by the end of the year. Their both made by TSCM (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) on a 28nm (nanometer) process dating back to late 2011. Yields are great now and prices down; but the tech is old and needs to die!

20nm will be a generation jump. More power per watt. So a 7950 burning 200+ watts will be graphically weak(& wasteful) compared to a new 20nm GPU at 200+ watts.

You definitely won't be good for 3-4 years. Heck, even 20nm will be obsolete by then.

Check out the little chart in the top right corner. Chip process tech since 1971 (mainly CPU fabs, Intel is currently at 22nm).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22_nanometer

Ah, fond memories of my old 180nm Pentium 4 (well... not really

So maybe the 7970??

wdmfiber · Jun 28, 2013

Well the 7970 was released in January 2012. So anyone who got one early will have got the most life out of that card. We're almost at a transition point so any purchase now is a tough call. Production of the 7970 will be nearing it's end and you want the max # of years out of a GPU...

Personally I'd cheap out and get a 7850(or 7770, if that will hold u over), then dump it on eBay once the 8950/70 is released (you'll want a new 20nm card!). The only way to keep up with technology is to not overspend, so you can buy new and not feel like you flushed a bunch of money down the drain on your last build. And it also helps to time the real tech generations. Like the 760 is not new, it's just a refresh/name change(for example).

Current tech is just too old and stale. There is no way it will last 3-4, years. You need to hold out till AMD and nVidia release the next generation GPU's.

thepattyv · Jun 28, 2013

wdmfiber :

Well the 7970 was released in January 2012. So anyone who got one early will have got the most life out of that card. We're almost at a transition point so any purchase now is a tough call. Production of the 7970 will be nearing it's end and you want the max # of years out of a GPU...

Personally I'd cheap out and get a 7850(or 7770, if that will hold u over), then dump it on eBay once the 8950/70 is released (you'll want a new 20nm card!). The only way to keep up with technology is to not overspend, so you can buy new and not feel like you flushed a bunch of money down the drain on your last build. And it also helps to time the real tech generations. Like the 760 is not new, it's just a refresh/name change(for example).

Current tech is just too old and stale. There is no way it will last 3-4, years. You need to hold out till AMD and nVidia release the next generation GPU's.

Lets say I get the 7950, I know I won't be able to max out games 3-4 years from now. But maybe play them on high settings?

Diamond-HP · Jun 28, 2013

Honestly it'll be fine, technology always moves quicker than the games market.

When it comes to gaming it's actually the console market which is where games developers have to toe the line and they are coming out this year and that will be it for 4+ years, for example games have been held back from using true multi core threading because the Xbox 360 and Sony only used dual core, most of us have had x4 -x8 cores for ages now and still are not seeing the true benefit until now because the new consoles are 8 cores.

We as PC owners are always "Ooooh DDR4 is coming out need that" "Ooooh the new line of GPU's is coming out need that" where as the console market stay's static.

Unless your willing to wait for ages for the new line GPU's get the card you want or can afford and enjoy.

aqibzahid11 · Aug 25, 2013

Diamond-HP :

Honestly it'll be fine, technology always moves quicker than the games market.

When it comes to gaming it's actually the console market which is where games developers have to toe the line and they are coming out this year and that will be it for 4+ years, for example games have been held back from using true multi core threading because the Xbox 360 and Sony only used dual core, most of us have had x4 -x8 cores for ages now and still are not seeing the true benefit until now because the new consoles are 8 cores.

We as PC owners are always "Ooooh DDR4 is coming out need that" "Ooooh the new line of GPU's is coming out need that" where as the console market stay's static.

Unless your willing to wait for ages for the new line GPU's get the card you want or can afford and enjoy.

Agree with you get what you can afford and which please

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How "future proof" is the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950??

thepattyv

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wdmfiber

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thepattyv

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