Vapor-X CFX with Z77 Extreme4

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packerfanatic

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Will I be able to Use Crossfire with 2x 7950 Vapor-X with the Asrock Z77 Extreme4 Motherboard? The Vapor-x's are really large, and some people complain about motherboard space... Can someone clarify this for me?
 
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Vapor-X is not as good as people say. First of all, it has quite questionable VRM temps of a card of this nature (The 7970 Vapor-X doesn't have this issue. VRM temps are important as these are the things that control the voltages. If these things remain cool, you can add more voltage which *can* equal more overclocking.). To fix this issue, it appears Sapphire...

JJ1217

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As long as they are less than three slot cards should be perfectly fine. I have tried two three slot DC2 coolers on my board once for a test and although they were sandwiched, they fit.

Just remember the 7950 Vapor-X, according to others on other forums, has bad VRM cooling and is currently (The newer models) voltage locked. So putting them in CFX, makes the heat from the top card hit the back of the PCB on the second card, possibly increasing the heat. Good ventilation should prevent this however.
 

packerfanatic

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Thanks for the reply.
So you're not recommending the vapor-x's for crossfire use?
 

JJ1217

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Depends. Do you already have one Vapor-X? Or you are considering buying two? If you don't have any cards yet, go for two MSI 7950's or some standard Dual X 7950's from Sapphire. Both are overclocking beasts, and are quiet and have low temps. Not to mention the 7950 Dual-X has one of the best VRM cooling systems (Thus you can increase voltage and get better clocks)
 

packerfanatic

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I don't own any of the cards yet. I am to buy one later today though. I'm only buying 1 card now, but I wan't the option to crossfire later on.
I hear a lot of people recommending the vapor-x, because of it's amazing temps and quite handling, but you'd rather buy the dual-x's (which is older)? Does it have equivalent temps and does it overclock as well as the vapor-x? :)
 

JJ1217

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Vapor-X is not as good as people say. First of all, it has quite questionable VRM temps of a card of this nature (The 7970 Vapor-X doesn't have this issue. VRM temps are important as these are the things that control the voltages. If these things remain cool, you can add more voltage which *can* equal more overclocking.). To fix this issue, it appears Sapphire said "nope." and just removed voltage control all together. If you're looking to overclock, this is something to avoid.

The Dual-X is an amazing cooler. Its cheap, effective, looks good, two slots, and its practical. It does everything its designed to do and more. It has the best VRM cooling I've seen on a 7950 (The MSI one is also basically the same). Cool VRM's = most of the time better cooling.

A better question would be if the Vapor-X overclocks as well as the Dual-X. The better system overall is why you normally see the dual-X more expensive than the Vapor-X. Vapor-X is a joke on the 7950.
 
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packerfanatic

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You're a lifesaver, buddy!
Though I'm majorly confused now... I get that I should avoid purchasing the vapor-x, so far so good, but there is SO MANY different Dual-x 7950's and MSI TF3 7950's... Which one should I buy? MSI or Sapphire, and no matter which brand- which of the billion versions should I go for? :eek:
 

packerfanatic

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I've pretty much narrowed it down to two MSI cards..
Msi 7950 Twin Frozr III OC Boost Edition
&
Msi 7950 Twin Frozr III OC/V2

The boost edition just got released yesterday and the OC/V2 have been around since june... They're pretty much alike, though the OC/V2 has the 7970 PCB with 8 pin / 6 pin connectors, and I'm not sure whether the boost edition has it or not... I can't find anything about on the internet, probably because it's still a fairly unknown card.

You're welcome to suggest other cards ;)

It's a danish website, so just use the search bar and type; msi 7950, to get a list of all the msi cards available for an example.
www.computersalg.dk

PS: I'm not buying from that site, but the one I'm buying from would literally be impossible for you to navigate through.
The boost edition is a little bit cheaper than the OC/V2... Approximately whats equivalent to 20-25 $.
Thank you :)

PSS: The site I'm actually buying from and the one I've linked, pretty much have the same assortment.

 

packerfanatic

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Alright. Do you happen to know if the new boost edition has 8-pin/6-pin connectors?
Either way, you don't think I should go for the newest one (boost edition), which also is a little cheaper?

3-slots is a no go, since I want the option to CFX later on :)
 

JJ1217

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I am not sure sorry, its rather recent news, and I haven't seen much of it. Remember if you buy the MSI 7950 you are not guaranteed to get the 7970 PCB, as you might get an older PCB from the store you buy it from.

Go for what ever is cheapest, I didn't see the boost edition thing, so go for that if you want.
 

packerfanatic

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Damn... Is it randomized? what the... :heink:
 

JJ1217

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If you mean the PCB, not really. What I mean is, they are randomly going to distribute the cards, what MSI did was change the PCB but have the same model number, so you can get a 7950 from MSI, and either get two 6 pins or a 6 and a 8 pin. Also note, having a 6 and 8 pin doesn't guarantee higher overclocks, just means you can use more power. The highest overclocked 7950 (Windforce 3) was with two 6 pins.
 

packerfanatic

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So just get the cheaper model, which in this case also is the newest?
 

JJ1217

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Sure, go ahead if you want to and it fits your price bracket. There is such little variance between them anyways, if you want a boost model you could easily just set the clocks yourself. Imo, boosting is just a gimmick, but its nice to have anyways, sort of like PhysX.

 

packerfanatic

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Ya, I'll be overclocking it anyway.. :)
 

JJ1217

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Yeah, so when you get to this point (Remember basically with 7950's if you don't at least get 950-1000 MHZ on stock voltage you've gotten a dud card), where clocks don't really matter, just go for the looks, cooler performance, and noise. I also find VRM temps extremely important.
 

packerfanatic

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yeah, I'm basically choosing the 7950 card, because of it's insane overclocking..
I'll be going for the slightly more expensive version, to get the 7970 PCB. I was at the store today, and they said the boost edition was 6+6 pin and the oc/v2 was 6+8 :)
Thank you so much for your time and help! :)
 

packerfanatic

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I'll do that, but if I order it and it isn't 6+8, then I'll just go panther on their asses, since they advertise for 6+8 on their website...! :D
BTW; how do I select a "best answer"? Can't find it anywhere... New guy:(
 
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