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two 7970's two different manufacturers

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  • MSI
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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August 4, 2013 7:58:58 PM

ok, So im buying my second 7970 in a couple of days; (small victory dance);
and have a couple of questions:


Firstly my original 7970 - (msi r7970 2pmd3gd5/oc; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...)
has a 1010mhz coreclock


Secondly; the second 7970 - (GIGABYTE GV-R797TO-3GD; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...) has an 1100mhz core clock.

Just to confirm my understanding: since the msi technically has the lower clock, (1010), this means that the two cards would run @ 1010 correct?

Of course this is assuming that I am infact able to run the two 7970's without any errors/complications on account of them being from different manufacturers....?

My understanding is that I am able to run different graphics cards so long as they are both the same chip set; i.e. 7850 & 7850; 7950 & 7950.
- Is that correct?

what are the pros and cons?

More about : 7970 manufacturers

August 4, 2013 8:03:48 PM

Yep, the higher clocked one will downclock to the lowest GPU.
And you'll be able to run different brands just fine, lots of people do it.
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August 4, 2013 8:07:47 PM

First off, I hope you have an adequate PSU.

Second you are correct about the Xfre compatibility. However an HD7970 will run with any Tahiti card, meaning HD7950, HD7970, HD7970 GHz and HD7870 LE/XT.

Now with Xfire its better to match both the memory speeds and clock speeds manually on each card with something like MSI afterburner.

So this leaves you with 3 choice, either OC the MSI card to match the other, or underclock the Giga to match the MSI, or have them meet in the middle.

Pro : VERY damn powerful.

Cons : Not all games will run both cards.
A LOT of heat produced.
Use a lot of power.
Microstutterting has barely been fixed in Cat 13.8
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August 4, 2013 8:09:17 PM

1: AFAIK, the faster card will operate at it's faster clock speed, regardless. EDIT: Maygentria may be right... anyways, the difference in fps would be negligible.

2: Yes, you can run 2 cards from different manufacturers as long as their the same chipset.


Pros: Possibly better value, but...

Cons:
-You need a mobo that supports it
-You need to have a sufficient PSU
-You need good airflow/cooling in your case
-As of right now, Crossfire is kind of buggy (in the sense that there is alot of microstuttering...). This will (hopefully) be fixed soon with a driver update, but the issue has been around for a while now...
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August 4, 2013 8:12:46 PM

Novuake said:
First off, I hope you have an adequate PSU.

Second you are correct about the Xfre compatibility. However an HD7970 will run with any Tahiti card, meaning HD7950, HD7970, HD7970 GHz and HD7870 LE/XT.

Now with Xfire its better to match both the memory speeds and clock speeds manually on each card with something like MSI afterburner.

So this leaves you with 3 choice, either OC the MSI card to match the other, or underclock the Giga to match the MSI, or have them meet in the middle.

Pro : VERY damn powerful.

Cons : Not all games will run both cards.
A LOT of heat produced.
Use a lot of power.
Microstutterting has barely been fixed in Cat 13.8


makes me wonder if there are more updates to come?

My specs:
fx8320
h100i
crosshair v formula z
corsair dominator platinum 2133 8gb
nzxt 410
evga 750w gold certified.

should be sufficient enough huh?

with next to no heat coming off the cpu; (h100i)
and the msi 7970 using its cooling technology to move air from inside the case to outside; wouldn't it be safe to assume that the heat coming off the gigabyte card wouldn't hurt me to much if not at all?

two 120mm intakes on front; two 120mm intakes on top coming from the rad;
exhaust on the back; exhaust on the bottom; and exhaust on the side....
good enough?

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August 4, 2013 8:18:51 PM

The only thing you should "perhaps" worry about is the case, since it's kinda small to manage all that heat. I would more likely check out a full size... but if you game in a AC'd and very cool room, and you have good fans on your case, I suppose it's doable.

Edit: If you're a heavy overclocker, that PSU has a chance of being insufficient... but you'll need to upgrade cooling first if you're overclocking that much!

EDIT 2: Yeah, I'd think you're good to go!
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August 4, 2013 8:28:47 PM

Johnny_C13 said:
The only thing you should "perhaps" worry about is the case, since it's kinda small to manage all that heat. I would more likely check out a full size... but if you game in a AC'd and very cool room, and you have good fans on your case, I suppose it's doable.

Edit: If you're a heavy overclocker, that PSU has a chance of being insufficient... but you'll need to upgrade cooling first if you're overclocking that much!

EDIT 2: Yeah, I'd think you're good to go!


all of my fans are after market.
I have a cpu/nb slight overclock just so I can run my 2133mhz ram.
My cpu is oc's to 4.2 (.7 ghz over stock) - I would assume this wouldn't be an issue; and if it is, I have no problem putting cpu back to stock while maintaining my little nb overclock.

I have 5 aftermarket fans running to a bitfenix recon fan controller; and I have 2 or 3 more running to the case fan controller.

Not much heat comes off the cpu as it is liquid cooled;
and not much heat comes off the gpu since its cooling system acts more as an exhaust than an intake.

And I read somewhere that cpus these days are advertised by "constant current" rather than "max current"
This is what I read, and is not my opinion- but said that I could pull up to 850-900w out of the wall.
How true is that?
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August 4, 2013 8:35:59 PM

I agree with you that a .7 ghz OC shouldn't be too taxing on your PSU.

However, maybe just to be safe you should check on a PSUcalculator site to check all your components. Specifically, you have alot of fans running in there, and I'm not sure how much watts these things pull. You should be able to find a free one if you google it. It should be fine, but just to make sure, right?

As for the max current thing - I haven't got a clue... sorry!
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August 4, 2013 8:40:12 PM

Seems OK, Seasonic PSUs delivers more than rated wattage.

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August 4, 2013 8:53:16 PM

Novuake said:
Seems OK, Seasonic PSUs delivers more than rated wattage.



Im buying the card for $280...used.
I just am looking for the red flag you know? seems to good to be true.
either way; thanks a lot guys for the help;
ill select best answer on Wednesday- after I get the video card in my rig.

and a psu calculator put me @ 685watts @ 90% load....WITH my oc.
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