What 7970 GHz edition should I get/power consumption of the card

[davedavidson1987]

i was thinking between these 2 due to the fact I wish to overclock the cards because i have quite a well cooled case:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-062-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-303-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

also how will the power consumption of these cards compare to my current 2 way crossfire setup. Here are my current cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372

 

[Rustyy117]

Hi

Why pay so much for a card that comes with a custom cooler and a factory overclock when you can do the same for less money

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-048-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-Xtreme-Graphics/dp/B0074VVK52

Power consumption with a single HD7970 will be less than HD6950 CF

Take a look here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=515
I know its 6990 vs 7970 comparison but the 6990 is basically 2 HD6970 cores downclocked to HD6950 speeds so should give you a good ball park figure to go off.

 

[davedavidson1987]

Hi

Why pay so much for a card that comes with a custom cooler and a factory overclock when you can do the same for less money

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-048-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-Xtreme-Graphics/dp/B0074VVK52

Power consumption with a single HD7970 will be less than HD6950 CF

Take a look here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/508?vs=515
I know its 6990 vs 7970 comparison but the 6990 is basically 2 HD6970 cores downclocked to HD6950 speeds so should give you a good ball park figure to go off.

That looks like a brilliant idea, however the one thing i will say is that on my previous cards when i tried to edit the bios to allow higher clocks on the card, the card wouldn't even boot up, and i had to go into command prompt to reapply the old bios. I personally think if you're going to buy a cooler like this, then you want to be able to edit the bios, so that you can achieve higher clocks, otherwise it is pointless, because most cards cap the over clock rate quite low due to poor coolers, and this card has quite a poo cooler, therefore I can imagine that the gpu overclock rate is capped quite low on this card, to avoid the user damaging it.

 

[Rustyy117]

Well I cant comment on the reference card's BIOS limits, however if there is a low overclocking limit that cannot be overcome with software like Afterburner then, what I would do is to make a backup copy of the BIOS (Using GPU-Z), make another copy of the BIOS and edit it with RBE (if the HD7970 is supported) to allow higher clocks, put both files on a Bootable USB stick, then if the flash goes tits up you can always flash back to the original providing you have a spare card kicking around (or borrow a friends).
Or you could download a better 7970 BIOS from techpowerup's BIOS archive, though this is more risky IMO due to the difference in Venders.

Anyway its up to you, just suggesting a cheaper option (albeit with more "risk" involved).

 

[davedavidson1987]

Well I cant comment on the reference card's BIOS limits, however if there is a low overclocking limit that cannot be overcome with software like Afterburner then, what I would do is to make a backup copy of the BIOS (Using GPU-Z), make another copy of the BIOS and edit it with RBE (if the HD7970 is supported) to allow higher clocks, put both files on a Bootable USB stick, then if the flash goes tits up you can always flash back to the original providing you have a spare card kicking around (or borrow a friends).
Or you could download a better 7970 BIOS from techpowerup's BIOS archive, though this is more risky IMO due to the difference in Venders.

Anyway its up to you, just suggesting a cheaper option (albeit with more "risk" involved).

Yeahhh and i really appreciate the suggestion, i just think the risk greatly outweighs the gains in this case :lol:

 

[Rustyy117]

Yeahhh and i really appreciate the suggestion, i just think the risk greatly outweighs the gains in this case :lol:

Fair enough

Just a few more suggestions: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-297-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-007-VX&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938