Deciding on a new GPU. Have a few links.

[AndroidMachete]

Hello everyone.

I recently sold my GPU and am now in the market for a new one. At the moment i have a few in mind but i am really not sure which one to pick. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I will post the few GPU's i am currently looking at below

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5736415&CatId=7387

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2555843&CatId=2306

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=75201&vpn=N660TI%20PE%202GD5%2FOC&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1366

Out of the 3, the 7970 seems like the best deal.

I mostly use my computer for gaming.

 

[Novuake]

What resolution do you game at?
What is your budget?
What games do you play?
What PSU do you have?

 

[Novuake]

The HD7970 is BY FAR the best choice between those, its a great price for a card that can outperform a GTX680 if you OC just a little. PLUS you get 3 free games and 20% of on another.

BUT I would not get that XFX. Those coolers are not great and are quite loud...
Try and find an HD7970 Sapphire Dual-X or Vapor-X version. But I doubt it will match that price, its damn good.

 

[Daedalus12]

Between those three, go for the 7970. It's only $20 more than the 670, you get three great games with it. My 670 is great, but at that price, the 7970 is definitely the best bang for the buck.

 

[AndroidMachete]

What resolution do you game at?
What is your budget?
What games do you play?
What PSU do you have?

I game at 1920x1080
My budget is roughly 400-450$ after tax
I play Far cry 3, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, fairly demanding games
I have a 750w Cooler master PSU

 

[AndroidMachete]

The HD7970 is BY FAR the best choice between those, its a great price for a card that can outperform a GTX680 if you OC just a little. PLUS you get 3 free games and 20% of on another.

BUT I would not get that XFX. Those coolers are not great and are quite loud...
Try and find an HD7970 Sapphire Dual-X or Vapor-X version. But I doubt it will match that price, its damn good.

None of the other deals they have on 7970's really come close the the XFX one. None that aren't out side of my budget that is. So im assuming (based on the 2 responses i got so far) that the 7970 XFX would be the better purchase in my price range?

 

[Novuake]

I game at 1920x1080
My budget is roughly 400-450$ after tax
I play Far cry 3, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, fairly demanding games
I have a 750w Cooler master PSU

Cool then above applies.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=75181&vpn=FX797GTDFC&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1366

There is a GHz Edition thats even better AND cheaper.

 

[JJ1217]

XFX 7970's with DD cooling (Including Black and GHZ editions), are like the Sapphire 7870's and the HIS 7850's, they seem to have high failure rates. I don't recommend XFX 7970's, although their other cards are perfectly fine. Not to mention their fans are ridiculously loud for non reference cooling.

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea I don't like how the way the XFX cards are setup cooling. I would go with something like Sapphire's cards as they seem to be a bit more ventilated as well as maybe even ASUS's cards if you can muster the cash for that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008

 

[Novuake]

Yea I don't like he the way the XFX cards are setup cooling. I would go with something like Sapphire's cards as they seem to be a bit more ventilated as well as maybe even ASUS's cards if you can muster the cash for that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008

^+1.

 

[Isaiah4110]

XFX 7970's with DD cooling (Including Black and GHZ editions), are like the Sapphire 7870's and the HIS 7850's, they seem to have high failure rates. I don't recommend XFX 7970's, although their other cards are perfectly fine. Not to mention their fans are ridiculously loud for non reference cooling.

That's rather surprising... I bought a DD model XFX card (6850) for a build I did a couple months ago for a friend using stock cooling on all other parts in a MicroATX Case. While I didn't run the PC through any sort of GPU stress testing, the whole build was virtually silent when assembled. XFX also includes a lifetime warranty on all their GPUs, so they certainly are willing to stand by their quality... They are also known for decent quality PSUs (though those are built by Seasonic)...

Where are you seeing all the bad information (high fail rates, loud cards, etc) on XFX cards?

 

[JJ1217]

That's rather surprising... I bought a DD model XFX card (6850) for a build I did a couple months ago for a friend using stock cooling on all other parts in a MicroATX Case. While I didn't run the PC through any sort of GPU stress testing, the whole build was virtually silent when assembled. XFX also includes a lifetime warranty on all their GPUs, so they certainly are willing to stand by their quality... They are also known for decent quality PSUs (though those are built by Seasonic)...

Where are you seeing all the bad information (high fail rates, loud cards, etc) on XFX cards?

Well, I'm talking strictly for the 7970's, not any other XFX card. Did you not read that I said *although all their other cards are perfectly fine*? Whats the point of a lifetime warranty? The card wouldn't be that great for gaming after 3 years, and near useless after 5.

They're not really making decent quality PSU's, if its made by Seasonic and then them slapping a sticker on it. Its like me selling a rebadged Ford and calling it my own brand.

Its not really information, its from deducing from the high amount of threads concerning the XFX 7970's, especially ones with DD cooling on it. There are at least 100+ threads on these forums for XFX 7970 issues, and on other forums too.

 

[Novuake]

Well, I'm talking strictly for the 7970's, not any other XFX card. Did you not read that I said *although all their other cards are perfectly fine*? Whats the point of a lifetime warranty? The card wouldn't be that great for gaming after 3 years, and near useless after 5.

They're not really making decent quality PSU's, if its made by Seasonic and then them slapping a sticker on it. Its like me selling a rebadged Ford and calling it my own brand.

Its not really information, its from deducing from the high amount of threads concerning the XFX 7970's, especially ones with DD cooling on it. There are at least 100+ threads on these forums for XFX 7970 issues, and on other forums too.

I can vouch for this, I have seen many threads regarding these cards fail and overheat too.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5314/xfxs-radeon-hd-7970-black-edition-double-dissipation-the-first-semicustom-7970
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/10/30/xfx_double_d_hd_7970_ghz_edition_video_card_review/
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4511/xfx_hd_7970_black_edition_double_dissipation_3gb_video_card_review/index.html

There are a few reviews. Keep in mind they are from just after the HD7970 was released, compared to other products(Asus and Sapphire) the temps and noise numbers are disapointing.

 

[bigshootr8]

If you look at the cooler you can completely understand how it would happen. It looks like a reference card with added methods of cooling.

 

[Novuake]

So OP now you have 3 people agreeing, all of us reasonable experienced on this forum.

 

[DarkSable]

Yeah, XFX is in the middle of the pack. They aren't Zotac, but they sure aren't Sapphire.

That being said, OP, I highly HIGHLY recommend that you don't buy anything.

The 700 / 8k series video cards will be coming out soon, and they're going to have fairly significant performance boosts over what we have now, and will be priced competitively.

You don't want to buy a shiny new video card and then realize you could have waited a month and gotten 30% better performance.

That being said, if you fell like you HAVE to buy something now, get either a reputable 7970 (Sapphire, MSI, or Gigabyte) or a reputable 670 (Galaxy, ASUS, or EVGA.)

 

[AndroidMachete]

Yeah, XFX is in the middle of the pack. They aren't Zotac, but they sure aren't Sapphire.

That being said, OP, I highly HIGHLY recommend that you don't buy anything.

The 700 / 8k series video cards will be coming out soon, and they're going to have fairly significant performance boosts over what we have now, and will be priced competitively.

You don't want to buy a shiny new video card and then realize you could have waited a month and gotten 30% better performance.

That being said, if you fell like you HAVE to buy something now, get either a reputable 7970 (Sapphire, MSI, or Gigabyte) or a reputable 670 (Galaxy, ASUS, or EVGA.)

Hmm...you know i never even considered that option. Would you happen to have a rough idea of when the next gen of cards will be released? A few months? I really don't have an idea. That is sounding like a better alternative to purchasing a 400$ card right now.

 

[Novuake]

Hmm...you know i never even considered that option. Would you happen to have a rough idea of when the next gen of cards will be released? A few months? I really don't have an idea. That is sounding like a better alternative to purchasing a 400$ card right now.

Second quarter... April/may.

Keep in mind you would be paying A LOT more for the same class of card when they have just released since there will be no Nvidia competition at first.

 

[AndroidMachete]

So OP now you have 3 people agreeing, all of us reasonable experienced on this forum.

Thank you for the responses. I appreciate the input. Looking at reviews on XFX has made me uneasy about purchasing one. As DarkSable said, i might just want to wait. At this point in time i think i may benefit from waiting rather than dishing out money for a new GPU asap.

 

[bigshootr8]

Its hard to tell when these cards will come out its said q'2. It's also hard to tell where the pricing will be the pricing between the 500 and 600 series cards was a lot different it felt this time around so If you are unsure at the present moment whether you should wait or buy I would wait and be sure you want to buy what you want to buy never buy on impulse it can result into remorse.

 

[Isaiah4110]

Well, I'm talking strictly for the 7970's, not any other XFX card. Did you not read that I said *although all their other cards are perfectly fine*? Whats the point of a lifetime warranty? The card wouldn't be that great for gaming after 3 years, and near useless after 5.

They're not really making decent quality PSU's, if its made by Seasonic and then them slapping a sticker on it. Its like me selling a rebadged Ford and calling it my own brand.

Its not really information, its from deducing from the high amount of threads concerning the XFX 7970's, especially ones with DD cooling on it. There are at least 100+ threads on these forums for XFX 7970 issues, and on other forums too.

My apologies. I had somehow missed the "although all their other cards are perfectly fine" phrase.

I get the impression you may have gotten the feeling I was attacking you in some way and, if that was the case then I am sorry it came across that way. I have been recommending XFX brand cards for a while due to their warranty and my personal experience with their quality and was a bit disconcerted to hear a decent quantity of people negatively talking about said quality. This, coupled with my misunderstanding that you were speaking specifically with regard to the 7970 models, was what prompted me to ask for some more clarification. I'm not someone who tries to get into heated battles on internet forums.

In any case, I can't speak from personal experience to the quality of XFX's 7970 model GPUs, so that's pretty much that.

 

[Novuake]

My apologies. I had somehow missed the "although all their other cards are perfectly fine" phrase.

I get the impression you may have gotten the feeling I was attacking you in some way and, if that was the case then I am sorry it came across that way. I have been recommending XFX brand cards for a while due to their warranty and my personal experience with their quality and was a bit disconcerted to hear a decent quantity of people negatively talking about said quality. This, coupled with my misunderstanding that you were speaking specifically with regard to the 7970 models, was what prompted me to ask for some more clarification. I'm not someone who tries to get into heated battles on internet forums.

In any case, I can't speak from personal experience to the quality of XFX's 7970 model GPUs, so that's pretty much that.

Respect...