What 7970 should I buy?

[stalgrim]

Which of these 7970s would you recommend?

XFX-7970 base, £283
Gigabyte- 7970 1GHz 3xWindforce £308.40
Asus - 7970 DirectCU II £319.99

I have no plans on increasing voltage, I may fiddle with the OC slightly. Just not sure which to get, any suggestions?

 

[blazorthon]

I usually recommend the gigabyte WindForce x3 7970. It's cooler supposedly has the best cooling to noise ratio and it's factory overclock is high enough to put it a decent cut above most other models, especially considering its very low price considering the fact that it's one of the best 7970s despite being priced along with the cheaper models.

 

[stickmansam]

asus one if you're willing to give up 3 slots
gigbayte one if not and xfx on budget

 

[stalgrim]

Is there a performance difference between the 3? If I do some OCing without voltage increase will there be a difference between the 3 cards? Is one any more stable than the others?

 

[blazorthon]

There isn't a significant performance difference between them, although the Gigabyte does have a slight edge at stock. For overclocking without voltage increase, they'd all do about equally, although the Gigabyte and Asus might pull slightly ahead of the XFX. With voltage increase, the Asus would probably win with the Gigabyte close behind and the XFX a little behind the Gigabyte, but none of these are guarantees, just estimations. Exactly how well they overclock will depend mostly on the individual card's luck.

 

[stalgrim]

So if I JUST go for OC-ing without voltage, I don't think the Asus would be worth the investment.

Is the Windforce worth £20 more than the XfX on the assumption that it may OC slightly better?

 

[blazorthon]

It's worth more in that it's cooler will be able to run more quietly than the XFX's cooler despite cooling better. Any chance of overclocking advantage without voltage increase would probably not be significant.

 

[stalgrim]

It's worth more in that it's cooler will be able to run more quietly than the XFX's cooler despite cooling better. Any chance of overclocking advantage without voltage increase would probably not be significant.

For various reasons sound is not an issue to me anywhere near as much as performance is, does that change things at all?

 

[blazorthon]

Not really. I'd say that the Gigabyte is worth buying over the XFX, just don't expect the difference to be big.

 

[stalgrim]

Not really. I'd say that the Gigabyte is worth buying over the XFX, just don't expect the difference to be big.

Cool.

 

[anubis44]

Another vote for the Gigabyte. I have the Windforce 7950, and between the dual bios and the practically silent triple fan design, with excellent heat sink, you can't go wrong.

 

[stalgrim]

Another vote for the Gigabyte. I have the Windforce 7950, and between the dual bios and the practically silent triple fan design, with excellent heat sink, you can't go wrong.

Is the 3X THAT much better?

 

[blazorthon]

Again, it's not a huge difference, but it's a difference nonetheless

 

[stalgrim]

Again, it's not a huge difference, but it's a difference nonetheless

What sort of % would we be talking about at base voltage?

 

[zpwslayer]

I just bought the sapphire dual x oc 7970, and I absolutely love it. It over clocks well and plays every game I play on ultra. Its never gotten hotter than 60c and its really quiet. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new gpu (in that price range of coarse).

 

[blazorthon]

What sort of % would we be talking about at base voltage?

I can't say because that'll depend on the individual card. Going by model can only give a very general guideline of chances at best.

 

[blazorthon]

I just bought the sapphire dual x oc 7970, and I absolutely love it. It over clocks well and plays every game I play on ultra. Its never gotten hotter than 60c and its really quiet. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new gpu (in that price range of coarse).

Sapphire is very good too, but lately I haven't seen extraordinary pricing on their 7970s.

 

[zpwslayer]

Sapphire is very good too, but lately I haven't seen extraordinary pricing on their 7970s.

I just paid 409us on mine, Ive been playing with a gpu that was 4 years old so it was time to bite the bullet :lol:

 

[Jay-Z]

A mate and I agonised over this same decision (also between 670/680). We chose the Gigabyte 7970 simply because of it being a good all-round card for a great (comparative) price. A couple months on and my mate is very happy in terms of both noise and performance. If I had the money, this would be the card I would get form y own PC.

There is also the GHz version with the Gigabyte cooler available for a higher price. This version would be better absolute overclock speed.

 

[stickmansam]

load temps it seems like gigabyte wins

ASUS is slightly quiter though by 3db

 

[stalgrim]

Hmmm...sound doesn't really matter to me so I guess it WILL have to be the windforce.