Radeon 7950 & 7970

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Nikkeftw

Nikkeftw

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
25
0
10,540
Hello!

Im looking at 7950 and 7970 for reasons. But almost everywhere I look, the 7950 is advertised to have 6000mhz memory speed, and the 7970 5800mhz, often even lower.

Can someone explain this to me?

I am aware that the two cards or near identical, and that it doesnt matter much at all. But Im curious.

Thanks!
 
Solution
Eximo
Each manufacturer will set the default clocks on their cards a little differently. The 7970 will be a little faster due to having more stream processors. You can also find those cards as the R9-280 and R9-280x.

Since AMD re-used the same GPU a few times they made improvements in clock speeds.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,781
4,131
139,340
Each manufacturer will set the default clocks on their cards a little differently. The 7970 will be a little faster due to having more stream processors. You can also find those cards as the R9-280 and R9-280x.

Since AMD re-used the same GPU a few times they made improvements in clock speeds.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Nikkeftw

Nikkeftw

Honorable
Jul 19, 2013
25
0
10,540
I just looked through my browser history, and it seems I mave missread the 6000mhz. Its 5000mhz on the 7950 everywhere. Sorry for wasting your time, ill delete this thread in a minute.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Eximo

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
May 27, 2010
25,781
4,131
139,340
Memory speed is only one of six major characteristics.

GPU Architecture (GPU)
GPU Core Count (as compared to other GPUs of the same architecture)
GPU Clock Speed
VRAM Amount
VRAM Effective Frequency
Cooling/Power Delivery

A 7950 has 1792 stream processors
A 7970 has 2048 stream processors, so even with a lower memory speed it has more raw processing power. Ideally you would get one of of 7970 or R9-280X with a CPU clock at or near 1000Mhz, and the fastest memory available.

Or look at more contemporary cards like the R9-380 or RX470 as a suitable replacement.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

dontlistentome

Glorious
Sep 5, 2016
5,979
19
43,415
For future reference I'll also mention that you should start by looking up official AMD reference specs for each model. Then, when you are looking at specific models and see their specs, you can see how much higher or lower they are.

This can be important because companies like Asus/Msi/etc can sometimes make special models for niche markets. For instance, you might find a lower clocked version meant for people who want a card that uses less power. There might be versions super overclocked right out of the box. You might not realize the significance of the differences if you didn't know the base specs to start with.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom