MSI HAWK vs HIS IceQ

the hawk is a better model imo, his graphic cards are less stable than msi imo, but thats just me, that powersupply is at the limit,

What card series? And is the HIS ICEQ with the reference design cooler?

hes talking about the msi hawk and the his icq something. but what card he dint say

7870 and the HIS with the (blackhole?) Cooler.

Also how much do you think I can OC the HAWK with my PSU? MSI recommends a 550 so I'm kind of iffy.

eh you got any money to buy a better powersupply and how much could u spend, i could recommand something decent

No I only have around $250 and I'd like to put it all in the GPU.

well im gonna say it right here, ur putting it thin with that powersupply, but if you must keep it, id say go with the msi imo

Actually the black hole runs cooler. This is the 7950 test but should cool about the same. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7950-revi...

Sometimes TH does bad reviews.I think some of the reviews are way off.


The MSI Radeon HD 7870 HAWK is the MSI Lightning's smaller brother. It uses the company's signature Twin Frozr II dual-fan cooler. MSI has also increased the clock speeds of the HD 7870 HAWK to 1100 MHz GPU and 1200 MHz memory.It can be overclocked like a beast i would go with it.

Although HIS base models can be fairly shoddy, with noisy fans and weak coolers, the IceQ Turbo coolers have been consistently good since their introduction.
MSI probably overclocks better, but the HIS cooler is better.
With a Corsair V2 Builder (made by CWT with some inferior Samxon capacitors), trying for high overclocks is probably not a good idea. If you might eventually replace the PSU, and want to overclock a lot then, get the MSI. If overclocking isn't that big a deal, and/or you don't plan to replace the PSU at all, get the HIS; it will be quieter, cooler, AND it exhausts its heat out of the case (particularly good for the sake of the PSU).

i think it comes down to opinion but voltage and cooling is better on the hawk in my opinon, go with what u prefer at this point

You're both right. Which is why I'm debating.

My specs aren't power hungry at all. I'm drawing about 155w without a GPU right now. It's the amps I'm worried about. I only have 38 on a +12v rail.

That's plenty. P=IE so you've got 456W available on +12V. If you're drawing 155W now, that's probably <130W after efficiency losses. A HD7870 uses nowhere near 326W; it only has power connections for a max of 225W. I don't have the link to GPU power usage here at work, but I think it's actually not much over 150W (just enough to need the second PCIe power connector); and its TDP is 175W.

Alright sweet I think ill get the HAWK but just not OC until I get a better PSU.

even at stock its mad fast, u dont need to overclock it for a while. enjoy that badboy