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[SincereCorn]

i'm currently looking at these 2 graphics cards:
http://www.newegg.co...ID=3938566&SID=
and
http://www.newegg.co...ID=3938566&SID=
(this one is actually $170 on NCIX)
but which one should i get?
I have an amd phenom ii x4 black edition processor, im going to be upgrading next year to 8150 or 8350. i also want to make sure im not bottlenecking the processor as of right now.

[Prophet0fLies]

What type of games do you play? If you play graphically intensive games then it might be worth it to spend the 20-30 extra dollars so that it will last a little bit longer. It also depends on how much money you have to spend.

[BKrenz]

Are you looking at the 7950 and the 7970?

Or the 7850 and the 7870?

I'm guessing the latter as those are the ones you provided.

Grab the 7870 if you have the money.

[jppk1]

I'd stay away from powercolour cards with reference cooler designs, they're really loud. A card with a better cooler would be a better choice:
HIS 7850/Sapphire 7850/HIS 7870

[SincereCorn]

first, whats "reference cooling". second im not too much concerned about the fan noise, i have like 5 other fans running, it is a loud computer. but iif you ever had a powercolor, really how loud is it? your irl opinion might change my mind. third. is it really worth the upgrade for the $30 or $20 extra? also if i do spend it for the his 7870, it comes with farcry 3 and medal of honor right?

[jefe]

SincereCorn, on 15 November 2012 - 01:11 AM, said:

first, whats "reference cooling". second im not too much concerned about the fan noise, i have like 5 other fans running, it is a loud computer. third. is it really worth the upgrade for the $30 or $20 extra? also if i do spend it for the his 7870, it comes with farcry 3 and medal of honor right?

Reference cooling is when a company just uses the "base" AMD design/cooling for the card.  Most companies redesign the cooling.

I've use a Powercolour reference card in the past (5870) and I didn't really run into any major sound issues (though to be fair my computer was already fairly loud...)

[SincereCorn]

so, jefe, you think the his is the way to go or powercolor? i mean 28db for the HIS id pretty quiet and its only 10$ extra because of shipping. also if you believe i should get this HIS is the 7870 worth the extra 30$?

[danielhep]

SincereCorn, on 15 November 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

so, jefe, you think the his is the way to go or powercolor? i mean 28db for the HIS id pretty quiet and its only 10$ extra because of shipping. also if you believe i should get this HIS is the 7870 worth the extra 30$?

Why do you directly ask jefe instead of addressing all of us? And definitely stay away from power color.

[SincereCorn]

I'm sorry Daniel I wasn't trying to be rude. I just tent to say peoples names. Even in real life. Again sorry danielhop and all others.(after re reading this it sounded sarcastic, it's really not supposed to be sarcasict)

[danielhep]

SincereCorn, on 15 November 2012 - 02:54 AM, said:

I'm sorry Daniel I wasn't trying to be rude. I just tent to say peoples names. Even in real life. Again sorry danielhop and all others.(after re reading this it sounded sarcastic, it's really not supposed to be sarcasict)

Lol, I wasn't suggesting you were being rude at all, sorry if it came across that way. I was just curious.

[Borkefer]

I would get the radeon 7870 hawk from MSI. It has amazing overclocking features and can easily be overclocked to a 7950 level.

[mcurry]

I have the 7650M in my laptop and I can run most games on medium graphics, getting either of those cards will most likely work without much of a difference in the performance of the graphics, naturally, the 7870 will be able to take more heavy processing, but I can't see a kid who doesn't know which one of them is worth it needing that sort of power, go for the cheaper one, chances are, you probably don't need the extra power.

[jppk1]

mcurry, on 15 November 2012 - 09:07 PM, said:

I have the 7650M in my laptop and I can run most games on medium graphics

On a potato screen with a fairly new GPU.

Borkefer, on 15 November 2012 - 04:55 PM, said:

I would get the radeon 7870 hawk from MSI. It has amazing overclocking features and can easily be overclocked to a 7950 level.

Not really worth it for the $40 higher price than the other 7870's with decent coolers. The features don't make the card 20% faster when overclocked when compared to the other overclocked cards. It's not really that great when you could now get a XFX 7870 for $190.

[SincereCorn]

yea i dont overclock my components. and jppk1 that xfx 7870 looks fantastic i think im going to get that one. and daniel, sorry i took it the wrong way. i just like to keep a good reputation around the forums.

[Razeredge]

Just go with the 7950. You can overclock it past 7970 levels really easily. I'm running mine at 1100MHz and it's performing a few hundred 3DMark11 points below the stock GTX 680.

[SincereCorn]

idk i really dont want to risk a computer part because im running it past its expected use. plus $20 more for a 100-250 mhz increase, i dont really mind.

[Razeredge]

SincereCorn, on 16 November 2012 - 01:24 AM, said:

idk i really dont want to risk a computer part because im running it past its expected use. plus $20 more for a 100-250 mhz increase, i dont really mind.

You aren't risking the part as long as you don't over volt. I would expect to hit the ~1000MHz range without overvolting, which should still outperform the 7970.

[Milikeny]

Razeredge, on 16 November 2012 - 01:40 AM, said:

You aren't risking the part as long as you don't over volt. I would expect to hit the ~1000MHz range without overvolting, which should still outperform the 7970.

And overvolting just increases the chances of overheating, which can easily be countered with a colder room tempeture (yes I said colder room temp. it actually does help.)

[Razeredge]

Milikeny, on 16 November 2012 - 02:33 AM, said:

And overvolting just increases the chances of overheating, which can easily be countered with a colder room tempeture (yes I said colder room temp. it actually does help.)

Yes, but not quite.

The additional voltage running through the chip WILL lower its lifespan regardless of temperature. Even if you aren't overheating, it's best to keep the voltage as low as possible.

[lolpierandom]

jppk1, on 15 November 2012 - 10:41 PM, said:

On a potato screen with a fairly new GPU.
Not really worth it for the $40 higher price than the other 7870's with decent coolers. The features don't make the card 20% faster when overclocked when compared to the other overclocked cards. It's not really that great when you could now get a XFX 7870 for $190.

Once I saw the HAWKs go for cheaper then reference. It was crazy good of a deal.