Should I buy the 7990 or wait for the 9000 series cards?

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jedinegotiator

jedinegotiator

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I play a lot of battlefield and I am waiting for Battlefield 4 to come out. I want to be able to max out this game with 120+ Frames.

From what I have seen from recent benchmarks with Catalyst 13.10 beta the 7990 is able to get around 160FPS in BF3.

Specifically I am looking at this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131483

It is on sale right now for $599 after rebate which seems like a pretty good deal. It is has the best reviews and seems to have pretty good thermals.

The other option I have been considering is waiting for the 9000 series to come out. Two 9950s will likely be faster than a 7990 but they will likely cost more as well. Probabally $400 each.

What do you guys think? Should I buy the 7990?
 
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Roland Of Gilead

Roland Of Gilead

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the 7990 might be able to get 160fps, but it has issues. Frame pacing from AMD in particular is a problem. Although better with the release of the 13.8 beta drivers, its still a problem, and leads to a feeling when gaming of sluggish play, like and dropped frames. Toms has an interesting article just posted on it, the recommendation being go for the GTX690 instead for a single card double GPU solution. Saying that if you have a CF capable mobo and are insistant on AMD, two 7970's in CF is preferred, and cheaper than the 7990.

edit: just my two sense worth. there are a lot of posts lately, where people are wondering about future proofing and future game releases, and performance v's PS4/Xbox One. With a decent CPU, between 8-gb and 16gb or fast ram, a GTX770/780 single/sli - AMD 7970 CF or above your gonna have a kick ass system that will eat most everything thrown at it at 1080p and above. Unless your gaming across three monitors, any of those configs above will eat a console for breakfast.
 
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17seconds

17seconds

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Listen to the coil whine recording on this page and then rule out the 7990.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-review-benchmark,3486-15.html

If that's not enough, here's your reading list:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7990/31.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-geforce-gtx-690-frame-pacing,3599.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-crossfire-overheat,3539.html

Quote:
"When it launched, a generous eight-game bundle had me on the fence about the 7990’s prospects. But after spending time evaluating its thermals and acoustics (to say nothing about its crashes and performance hiccups in CrossFire, which could become a story unto itself), I can’t think of one reason to recommend 7990 to a friend. And, at the end of the day, that’s what this job is all about."
- Chris Angelini, Tom's Hardware Worldwide Editor in Chief
 
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jedinegotiator

jedinegotiator

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That bad huh?
Well I will be gaming on a single monitor. The Asus VG248QE to be exact, so it shouldn't be to hard to get the frames I am wanting with a good setup.

Two GTX 770s run at about $800.
Two 7970s look like they can be found for About $620.
What do you think of this 7970: http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Radeon-Graphics-Cards-H797QM3G2M/dp/B007LFV7RM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378579094&sr=8-1&keywords=HIS+Radeon+HD+7970+X+Turbo

It goes for $310 on Amazon and from the benchmarks it looks like a single card can get about 100FPS in battlefield.

So between two GTX 770s and two 7970s the 7970s look to be a better deal.

At this point do you think the 9000 series are worth waiting for?
 
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Drew010

Drew010

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You won't get 100+fps in a big map in BF3 with a 7970. Also I would recommend the Sapphire 7970 Dual-X OC on Newegg as it isn't voltage locked and overclocks like a monster well beyond Ghz edition cards and stays really cool. Personally I would wait until the 9000 (or R-200 as recently rumored) cards come out just to see what they are like.
 
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Hard Line

Hard Line

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This article from Tom's Hardware actually puts it on par with 690.. ( frame pacing is mostly resolved ) then add to that the newest beta 13.10 which fixed bf3 and skyrim for my 2 5870's in crossfire.. i no longer have microstutter in any games.. I can't speak for coil whine.. though it is most often caused by PSU...some combinations will show coil whine whiles others do not.. My word of course is not final. it is merely an opinion.


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7990-geforce-gtx-690-frame-pacing,3599.html
 
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Drew010

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No, the one on Amazon is a voltage locked one, the one on Newegg (model no. 100351SR is much better, custom PCB and power phase design as well as higher binned chips.)
 
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jedinegotiator

jedinegotiator

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But will the 9000 series be available before Battlefield 4 is launched? I definitely am getting BF4 on launch day.
I looked into the Sapphire HD 7970 OC w/ Boost. They have it on newegg for $305 after the rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-202-008&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

Seems like a good deal...

 
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Drew010

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The 9000 (or R-200) series is supposed to launch with BF4 at the latest.
 
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ihog

ihog

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I have the exact same card and the voltage can go up to 1.3V.
 
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Drew010

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If you're talking about the Amazon one, then yes it can only go to 1.3V, the Newegg one can go as high as you want it to.
 
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B

baner711

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this whole voltage locked thing is so overblown most of these cards will hit 1150 mhz without touching voltage so who cares about voltage locked cards
 
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ihog

ihog

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Eh, depends on if you need more than 1.3V.
 
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Drew010

Drew010

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Yeah you could need it if you live in a cold area, or use watercooling
 
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