Upgrade advice to HD 7970 or 7990

[ArchetypeNine]

So I'm looking to upgrade my system one piece at a time. I'm an on and off avid gamer and my current set up is:

Intel Core i7 860 @ 3.0
Biostar TP55 mobo (Fry's deal)
Diamond HD5850
4GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual HY (2x2GB)
OCZTech 750W Quad ATX PSU

I want to start with my graphics card and i'm looking at either the HD Radeon 7970 or the 7990. I'm willing to spend the $$ because i don't want to have to upgrade for a while. In the next year or so i'll probably swap out the i7 860 and mobo for something that's not going to make upgrading so difficult. I'll probably stick with a single monitor set up so i'm not sure if i'll need the HD7990 but i'll pay the extra 300 bucks or whatever to double the performance. I can't seem to find if there will be any compatibility issues with my current set up so any recommendations would be super.

-n00b

 

[aeonoscence]

get a 7970 and save the rest for a future upgrade. Unless u play to game in 3d/triple monitor/tv (like i'm doing) u might as well just get a 7950 (read the forums, they all say 7950 > 7970 in terms of price.) Save around $400-$500 to buy a new cpu/mobo and extra ram.

 

[hellfire24]

i am sure like every AMD/dual gpu,7990 is also going to be a fast but loud and hot running gpu.you better go with 7970.it can max out any game at 1080p.anything more is a waste IMO.

 

[ArchetypeNine]

get a 7970 and save the rest for a future upgrade. Unless u play to game in 3d/triple monitor/tv (like i'm doing) u might as well just get a 7950 (read the forums, they all say 7950 > 7970 in terms of price.) Save around $400-$500 to buy a new cpu/mobo and extra ram.

I hadn't thought of the 7950. I'll check that out. And you recommending adding RAM? Currently, i'm playing Skyrim and Crysis 2. Are games beginning to utilize more than 4 GB?

 

[ArchetypeNine]

i am sure like every AMD/dual gpu,7990 is also going to be a fast but loud and hot running gpu.you better go with 7970.it can max out any game at 1080p.anything more is a waste IMO.

Thanks! That'll be good to keep in mind. Do you think the 7970 will "upgradeproof" me better than the 7950 (like aeo was talking about)? Also, would the 7970 require more RAM than i have (4GB)?

 

[hellfire24]

7950 and 7970 both are good.you can squeeze more with overclocking.if you can get a custom cooled 7950 for $50 or more less than the price of 7970 that it's a great deal,otherwise stick with 7970.you won't regret it.and for ram yeah 8gb is good for better multitasking.for example you can run antivirus while you are gaming
it's very cheap now.

 

[megamanx00]

If you're going to spend the money then get a 7970 rather than waiting for the 7990. If you need more power you can just add a second 7970 to run in CF. The 7990 would essentially be two downclocked 7970s so two 7970s in CF should be faster. It's the same pattern we've seen with the 6990 and 5970.

 

[aeonoscence]

Get a 7950. Upgrade ur ram, get 16gb (ram is very cheap.) 7970 is expensivefor its performance compared to a 7950 atm, and i'm sure you cant use up the power. Almost all 7950s on the market stray from the reference design anyway and cool better. Use the money you have saved instead of wasted to buy more ram, a better cpu and a better mobo.

The point of the 7990 or 7970 is aimed at the more enthusiast gamers who bench or game in 3d in VERY high definition. As an ON AND OFF avid gamer, a 7950 is more than enough. If you download MSI Afterburner, you can achieve a better performance than 7970 if you overclock your 7950. Seriously, save some money and upgrade to 1155 instead of getting a 7990 and wasting 1k for a bottlenecked performance.

I'm on a 3960X with quad 7970s waterblocked and still get bottlenecks. No doubt 7970 will get bottlenecked by your current system.

 

[hellfire24]

Get a 7950. Upgrade ur ram, get 16gb (ram is very cheap.) 7970 is expensivefor its performance compared to a 7950 atm, and i'm sure you cant use up the power. Almost all 7950s on the market stray from the reference design anyway and cool better. Use the money you have saved instead of wasted to buy more ram, a better cpu and a better mobo.

8gb should be fine.spending money on P55 platform isn't a good idea you know.the reason i suggested 7970 cause it can go 1ghz+ easily,more horsepower,overall better.and main reason is that he can spend and it's gonna be worth it.by going with 795 he will hardly save $100.and he can not change ram,cpu and mobo.

The point of the 7990 or 7970 is aimed at the more enthusiast gamers who bench or game in 3d in VERY high definition. As an ON AND OFF avid gamer, a 7950 is more than enough. If you download MSI Afterburner, you can achieve a better performance than 7970 if you overclock your 7950. Seriously, save some money and upgrade to 1155 instead of getting a 7990 and wasting 1k for a bottlenecked performance.

+1

I'm on a 3960X with quad 7970s waterblocked and still get bottlenecks. No doubt 7970 will get bottlenecked by your current system.[/qoute]

you got a sexy rig pal .if the 860 is at 3.0ghz then yes there's gonna be bottlenecks but if he gives a good overclock to 4ghz then i am sure it can keep up with 7970.

 

[hellfire24]

Get a 7950. Upgrade ur ram, get 16gb (ram is very cheap.) 7970 is expensivefor its performance compared to a 7950 atm, and i'm sure you cant use up the power. Almost all 7950s on the market stray from the reference design anyway and cool better. Use the money you have saved instead of wasted to buy more ram, a better cpu and a better mobo.

8gb should be fine.spending money on P55 platform isn't a good idea you know.the reason i suggested 7970 cause it can go 1ghz+ easily,more horsepower,overall better.and main reason is that he can spend and it's gonna be worth it.by going with 795 he will hardly save $100.and he can not change ram,cpu and mobo.

The point of the 7990 or 7970 is aimed at the more enthusiast gamers who bench or game in 3d in VERY high definition. As an ON AND OFF avid gamer, a 7950 is more than enough. If you download MSI Afterburner, you can achieve a better performance than 7970 if you overclock your 7950. Seriously, save some money and upgrade to 1155 instead of getting a 7990 and wasting 1k for a bottlenecked performance.

+1

I'm on a 3960X with quad 7970s waterblocked and still get bottlenecks. No doubt 7970 will get bottlenecked by your current system.

you got a sexy rig pal .if the 860 is at 3.0ghz then yes there's gonna be bottlenecks but if he gives a good overclock to 4ghz then i am sure it can keep up with 7970.

 

[ArchetypeNine]

Get a 7950. Upgrade ur ram, get 16gb (ram is very cheap.) 7970 is expensivefor its performance compared to a 7950 atm, and i'm sure you cant use up the power. Almost all 7950s on the market stray from the reference design anyway and cool better. Use the money you have saved instead of wasted to buy more ram, a better cpu and a better mobo.

The point of the 7990 or 7970 is aimed at the more enthusiast gamers who bench or game in 3d in VERY high definition. As an ON AND OFF avid gamer, a 7950 is more than enough. If you download MSI Afterburner, you can achieve a better performance than 7970 if you overclock your 7950. Seriously, save some money and upgrade to 1155 instead of getting a 7990 and wasting 1k for a bottlenecked performance.

I'm on a 3960X with quad 7970s waterblocked and still get bottlenecks. No doubt 7970 will get bottlenecked by your current system.

Thanks Aeo. I should have clarified that even though I am an on and off gamer (i.e., grad student), I am not satisfied playing games on my PC unless the graphics are maxed out. And i'm leaning more towards the 7970 because in a year or so I plan to upgrade to a cpu/mobo that'll take advantage of the 7970, like the 1155 you mentioned.

 

[ArchetypeNine]

8gb should be fine.spending money on P55 platform isn't a good idea you know.the reason i suggested 7970 cause it can go 1ghz+ easily,more horsepower,overall better.and main reason is that he can spend and it's gonna be worth it.by going with 795 he will hardly save $100.and he can not change ram,cpu and mobo.

Good stuff hell, I'm curious about the RAM upgrade though. Couldn't i get RAM to work with my current platform that i could later swap to a 1155 when upgrading? Would you guys suggest 8GB of DDR3 1600mhz? I usually stick to one task at a time when gaming so i'm not sure if it'd be necessary for me to go 16gb yet, but could admittedly be wrong.

 

[ArchetypeNine]

Another question i have is which 7970 you guys would recommend. It seems like I hear differing recommendations depending on where i'm looking. I may have narrowed it down to a couple XFX's (one's the black edition), an Asus, or a Sapphire. Any pointers?

 

[hellfire24]

your Ist answer-
yes 8gb DDR3 1600mhz is highly recommended.
IInd-
XFX DD is great cooler and so is gigabyte 3x windforce.i am huge fan of twinfrozer but unfortunately they are not out.