Returning a defective XFX 7950, should I switch to green?

[GIJoeMyGoodness]

I've never had a problem with ATi and AMD. I've used them since the Rage 128 and loved them. My Alienware laptop (i7-3820, NVidia 650m) performs without any issue and stability is very important.

My new XFX 7950 Double-D card had nothing but BSODs and problems. It seems to be common with that specific card so I'm returning it for a refund and have the choice to pick anything else out. I have a complex question that has probably been asked before, but I wanted to get the Tom's people opinion.

PLEASE NOTE: I run 3 ASUS gaming monitors (1920x1080). The Eyefinity works just ok for me and I bounce between Eyefinity and single screen gaming depending on the game. Combined resolution is 5760x1080 (~5990x1080 with bezel compensation)

Should I switch to a different manufacturer's AMD 7950 because this was isolated and it's still one of the best bang for your buck cards?

Is the NVidia GTX 670 worth the extra money for Physx, CUDA, and driver stability? I don't mind spending more if I need to. Stability is very important to me. Because of the triple screen, should I get the 4GB version for the increased support, even though the memory bus is somewhat narrow?

With price drops, am I better off to just get the Radeon 7970 GPU?

 

[GIJoeMyGoodness]

Just in case this matters, I'll list my other hardware to eliminate question as to my other hardware supporting a graphics card like these.

Core i7-3770K @ 4.5Ghz
16GB GSkill PC-1600
Plextor 256GB SATA3 SSD
2x WD Black 1TB HDDD
700Watt Xion 80 Plus Gold PSU (58A Rail)
Windows 7 Pro x64

 

[bystander]

Wait a couple days and see how the Nvidia 700 series looks like.

 

[GIJoeMyGoodness]

If the GTX 770 comes up close the 680 and performs better, I will likely make the switch. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm on a time crunch so I'm hoping to receive a card fairly soon. I do a lot of gaming, reviews, and programming, so this machine can't be down for too long.

 

[smeezekitty]

The XFX high end cards have issues with VRM cooling.
Personally I wouldn't give up on team red so easily. Consider trying a different brand first.

 

[dalewb]

The Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X is really good. I purchased one and it's been doing just fine. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003 I read the reviews and there have not been very many returns reported. I just had a thought - did you read any customer reviews before purchasing? I did when I was in the market for a 7950 a couple months ago - and I steered clear of the XFX "double d" cards for that reason - lots of returns.

 

[GIJoeMyGoodness]

The Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X is really good. I purchased one and it's been doing just fine. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003 I read the reviews and there have not been very many returns reported. I just had a thought - did you read any customer reviews before purchasing? I did when I was in the market for a 7950 a couple months ago - and I steered clear of the XFX "double d" cards for that reason - lots of returns.

I bought it somewhat towards the beginning of their release when it was pushing 4 stars or higher on multiple sites. Because my previous card was the XFX 6870 and I loved it, I wanted to stay with them. The reviews started to drop over the past few months and at that point it was too late. Luckily the vendor was willing to return the card for full refund WELL outside of the return policy. All the research I do shows the AMD cards spanking Nvidia on the 300-400 price range. NVidia is doing really well under $200 but the 4GB GTX 670 is so over priced.

I've considered the Nvidia only because of how well the GT650M worked on my Alienware and the new project Shield (which looks to be a total flop before it's even out). For most of my current games, and the need of super high resolution rendering, the AMD 7900 series still seems tough to beat.

 

[dalewb]

For most of my current games, and the need of super high resolution rendering, the AMD 7900 series still seems tough to beat.

Tough to beat - for sure, but Nvidia has some great cards out there too. Just be sure they can drive the number of monitors you want them to - older series (400, 500) could only drive 2.

 

[GIJoeMyGoodness]

Currently because I've been open to try something now and have been very impressed with drivers on my Alienware laptop, I've been favoring the GTX 670 with 4GB of ram. I run three identical screens so I think a GTX 680 with 2GB would perform below a 670 with 4GB. If anyone wants to chime in on that assumption I'm all ears. Thanks!

At this point the 7950 is out. I'll either be picking up the 7970 (non Ghz edition) or the 670/680.