7870 JokerTahiti LE vs 7950 Royalking

EoinHef

Will be purchaseing a 7950 unless the Joker 7870 is comparable. So jus wondering anybody got any opinions or experience with them,i know the Joker card is better than your average 7870 but is it comparable to a 7950?



The Sapphire 7950 vapor-x and HIS 7950 Iceq Turbo also seem to be good options
Would ideally like a free game or two aswell with these.
So thanks in advance for any help cheers

_Puma_

Who are you buying them off. If ya can go with a company that has an acceptable RMA process where they can get another card out to you as soon as possible. Had to get a 7870 RMA'd by the retailer due to a fault it developed after month and it is now going to take over a month for me to get the card back.

As far as I was concerned the 7870 was nice card until the fault occurred. I'm not sure if it is an underlying issue with the card or more to do with the specific brand of the card I had.

EoinHef

_Puma_ wrote: »

Who are you buying them off. If ya can go with a company that has an acceptable RMA process where they can get another card out to you as soon as possible. Had to get a 7870 RMA'd by the retailer due to a fault it developed after month and it is now going to take over a month for me to get the card back.

As far as I was concerned the 7870 was nice card until the fault occurred. I'm not sure if it is an underlying issue with the card or more to do with the specific brand of the card I had.

Im not 100% sure where ill be purchaseing,ive only used hws before but the €19 delivry is a little steep for one item:-(
Was gonna see how prices compare from the likes of hws,amazon,dabs etc once i decide which card.

If you dont mind me asking who took that long to RMA the card?
One month is a painfully long time!!
Also which brand card was that?

Gumbi

EoinHef wrote: »

Im not 100% sure where ill be purchaseing,ive only used hws before but the €19 delivry is a little steep for one item:-(
Was gonna see how prices compare from the likes of hws,amazon,dabs etc once i decide which card.

If you dont mind me asking who took that long to RMA the card?
One month is a painfully long time!!
Also which brand card was that?

Honestly, even with the 19 euro delivery, I expect HWVS has a good shot at beating the others for price.

marco_polo

I'd get it off amazon TBH, free delivery and they will not leave you waiting long if you have a problem. They are also around the pretty closely priced to HWVS for these particular cards.

You have only four choices if you are getting an 7870 XT as only Sapphire, VTX3d, Powercolor and Club3d have released versions of them, and 3/4 are available on amazon. VTX review here

I think the 7870 XT editions are a very good choice at a reasonable price, they overclock well and are within a few percentage point of stock HD7950 performance.

Not sure if they have a game bundle or not, I think all AMD cards should but the product description doesn't say. I'd shoot them off a mail to check.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Club-3D-HD7870-Graphics-Processors/dp/B00AAAFE7E/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=340831031&s=computers#productDetails

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VTX3D-Radeon-7870-Graphics-Card/dp/B00AM3A7JY/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1362583413&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11199-20-20G-CrossFireX-Multi-GPU-Technology/dp/B00AX2ONI0/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1362583413&sr=1-2#productDetails

The Sapphire is the same price delivered from OCUK and definitely comes with two games. But tbh for those prices I'd take the VTX or Club3D for sure.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-312-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

I think the VTX is the one _puma_ had trouble with, but I think it would maybe just edge it for me, if it were my choice over the Club3D or Sapphire.

EoinHef

Gumbi wrote: »

Honestly, even with the 19 euro delivery, I expect HWVS has a good shot at beating the others for price.

That is true,i have checked a few prices and it is the cheapest even with the delivery.
Was just hoping a deal may pop up somewhere.

EoinHef

marco_polo wrote: »

I'd get it off amazon TBH, free delivery and they will not leave you waiting long if you have a problem. They are also around the pretty closely priced to HWVS for these particular cards.

You have only four choices if you are getting an 7870 XT as only Sapphire, VTX3d, Powercolor and Club3d have released versions of them, and 3/4 are available on amazon. VTX review here

I think the 7870 XT editions are a very good choice at a reasonable price, they overclock well and are within a few percentage point of stock HD7950 performance.

Not sure if they have a game bundle or not, I think all AMD cards should but the product description doesn't say. I'd shoot them off a mail to check.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Club-3D-HD7870-Graphics-Processors/dp/B00AAAFE7E/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=340831031&s=computers#productDetails

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VTX3D-Radeon-7870-Graphics-Card/dp/B00AM3A7JY/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1362583413&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11199-20-20G-CrossFireX-Multi-GPU-Technology/dp/B00AX2ONI0/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1362583413&sr=1-2#productDetails

The Sapphire is the same price delivered from OCUK and definitely comes with two games. But tbh for those prices I'd take the VTX or Club3D for sure.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-312-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

I think the VTX is the one _puma_ had trouble with, but I think it would maybe just edge it for me, if it were my choice over the Club3D or Sapphire.

Hey marco,cheers for the info. Very informative.
I can see why not many manufacturers are making these cards,they would have a hard time selling the 7950's.
The power consumption during gaming is a little worrying though,i game a lot.
I have a 650w psu and the extended specs on the joker card on Hwvs state a 700w is required?
Id imagine it would be the same for the others as the reviews state high power consumption.

Also when it states how close it is to a 7950 they use a reference 7950 so would i be right in saying thats a bog standard 7950?
If i were to purchase say the Club3d 7950 and overclock it would the gap in performance be wider?

BloodBath

An overclocked 7870 or 7950 will use 200-250w max so you're fine with a 650w psu.

The 7950 will overclock 30-40% over base clocks, depending on model, in most cases so you will be looking at around that much extra performance.

marco_polo

650W is plenty for one of them. I don't really get the high power consumption comment in the review TBH, its pretty much what would be expected from any Tahiti GPU clocked to the same level.

The base clocks for a reference HD7950 are 800MHz where as the Club3D 7870XT for example comes at 975MHz out of the box, which is why it would have higher power consumption (I presume the core voltages are a bit higher to get there).

That it exactly matches the HD7970 GHz edition on the performance/watt graph should have been a hint to the reviewer that it really isn't anything out of the ordinary.

If you get a good chip, it should overclock to about the same level as most HD7950/7970s which would be in the region of 1150-1250ish depending on how lucky you get.

EoinHef

marco_polo wrote: »

650W is plenty for one of them. I don't really get the high power consumption comment in the review TBH, its pretty much what would be expected from any Tahiti GPU clocked to the same level.

The base clocks for a reference HD7950 are 800MHz where as the Club3D 7870XT for example comes at 975MHz out of the box, which is why it would have higher power consumption (I presume the core voltages are a bit higher to get there).

That it exactly matches the HD7970 GHz edition on the performance/watt graph should have been a hint to the reviewer that it really isn't anything out of the ordinary.

If you get a good chip, it should overclock to about the same level as most HD7950/7970s which would be in the region of 1150-1250ish depending on how lucky you get.

Hmmm,this makes it all the more difficult to choose weather the HD7950 is worth it??

I just wish they had released the improved Tahiti Gpu for the HD7870 at the start of the year when i built my system!
I had a HIS HD7870 Iceq X Turbo (which ive now sold for a good price) which which worked well the short time i had it,especially for the price, but i reckon i should have stretched the budget for the HD7950 at the time.

But as soon as i decided to bite the bullet and get a HD7950 the HD7870 Tahiti comes along to give me a headache:(

BloodBath

The 7950 is going to kick the crap out of any 7870.

It costs around 30% more and should perform around 30% better when both are overclocked.

It's all down to how much you want to spend.

EoinHef

Ive decided to go with the HD7950.
With games like Arma 3 coming up i hope it'll prove worth the extra cash in the long run.

Id like to get the HIS oc version but it seems to be priced at a premium everywhere or out of stock.

Anybody suggest a different model?
Was also looking at the Sapphire HD7950 vapor x edition,does well in most reviews ive seen.

Also would my power supply have the right connectors for one of these cards,it is a Super Flower 650w 80p:
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/600+-+700+Watts/24479/Super-Flower+Amazon+80Plus+650W.article

BloodBath

Get the Club3D RoyalKing. They have proven themselves to be strong overclockers.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/3072+MB/66982/Club+3D+Radeon+HD+7950+royalKing%2C+3GB+GDDR5%2C+AMD+Radeon+HD+7950%2C+PCI-+Express.article

Yes your psu will be fine.

EoinHef

BloodBath wrote: »

Get the Club3D RoyalKing. They have proven themselves to be strong overclockers.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/3072+MB/66982/Club+3D+Radeon+HD+7950+royalKing%2C+3GB+GDDR5%2C+AMD+Radeon+HD+7950%2C+PCI-+Express.article

Yes your psu will be fine.

Thanks,just e-mailed HWVS to see if the never settle bundle is available with the card.
If it is i reckon i might go with them.
Be just under €300 includeing delivery.

BloodBath

The vapor-x on scan is also a great card and has the games for sure for around the same price.

http://www.scan.ie/products/3gb-sapphire-vapor-x-radeon-hd-7950-5000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-850mhz-1024-cores-dp-dvi-hdmi

EoinHef

BloodBath wrote: »

The vapor-x on scan is also a great card and has the games for sure for around the same price.

http://www.scan.ie/products/3gb-sapphire-vapor-x-radeon-hd-7950-5000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-850mhz-1024-cores-dp-dvi-hdmi

Cheers,not a bad price for it there.
Any review ive seen this card and the HIS version have been fairly close.

Its huge though so ill have to get the measureing tape out when i get off work!!

You advised me to get a 7950 when i built my pc,should have stretched the budget then,lot less hassle it would've been!

BloodBath

It's a 3 slot card. Shouldn't be a problem as long as you aren't going crossfire.

EoinHef

Emailed scan.ie to see when the card was back in stock,got the following reply:

"At the moment there is no ETA from the suppliers on the 7950 Vapor-X.

These have been filtering through in small amounts when the suppliers have had stock (they've been filtering through in pairs) and this is down to the fact AMD have moved all the production of their chips for the graphics cards over to TSMC. TSMC are giving nvidia priority and qualcomm as they've been longer customers so this is why there are stock issues with quite a few of the AMD cards"

Checked around and found for roughy the same price on amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0091MFBZC/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1362657046&sr=8-1&pi=SL75
No mention of any games with it though:(

EoinHef

BloodBath wrote: »

It's a 3 slot card. Shouldn't be a problem as long as you aren't going crossfire.

Wont be using crossfire for a year or two at least if i buy this.
Its a long term goal to crossfire but current mobo only has a 4x second pci-e and dont plan on getting anymore upgrades for awhie

EoinHef

The Sapphire card came back into stock on Scan.ie so went with that:
http://scan.ie/products/3gb-sapphire-vapor-x-radeon-hd-7950-5000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-850mhz-1024-cores-dp-dvi-hdmi

It has gone up in price since,i got it for EUR 290,EUR312 with 2 day shipping.


Came with 2 game keys Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite.

Arrived yesterday and i installed it last night and promptly played the Arma 3 alpha for about 3 hours and worked a treat!
Although i think Arma 3 at this stage is about as optimized as Arma 2,badly:mad:
It is in Alpha though i guess.

Just wanted to say cheers for the opinions and information on here when chooseing this card,was all very helpful:)

Snowie

BloodBath wrote: »

The vapor-x on scan is also a great card and has the games for sure for around the same price.

http://www.scan.ie/products/3gb-sapphire-vapor-x-radeon-hd-7950-5000mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-850mhz-1024-cores-dp-dvi-hdmi

Thats the card I'm getting, but didnt know i could get one free games thank you kindly sir!:cool:

EoinHef

Snowie wrote: »

Thats the card I'm getting, but didnt know i could get one free games thank you kindly sir!:cool:

No problem man,haven oc'ed it and haven really had it long enough to let you know what performance im getting in games but so far so good.

Quite a good looking card,it does have a white led light on it though just incase you case is colour coded and is quite large at 10.5 inchs so id measure your case just to be sure it'll fit

TerrorFirmer

Pixmania are always great value for graphics cards, they're my go to guys for the last 20 or so cards I've bought! Nearly always cheaper than everyone else.


7950 3GB, 244.99.

EoinHef

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Pixmania are always great value for graphics cards, they're my go to guys for the last 20 or so cards I've bought! Nearly always cheaper than everyone else.


7950 3GB, 244.99.

There not the same cards though,that looks like a reference card. Cheap as chips though for a 7950.

Heres the card i bought from scan at pixmania prices:
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/12781961/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-7950-vapor-x-3.html

Think there bout the same,mine cost £247(EUR283) on scan but also came with 2 games that i dont think pixmania will give you.

I bought the scan installation insurance aswell by mistake so cost me an extra £10 so suppose the card cost me £257:-(
The insurance actually requires that you opt out rather than in and requires two mouse clicks to opt out,i missed the second click:-(