1440p - Single GPU setup

Danger781

Hey folks, back again for a little more advice.

Currently building my computer, and I'm looking at buying the GPU next.

I've narrowed it down to the Sapphire Vapor-X I think, but the question is whther to go with the HD7970 or the HD7950.

HD7950 will cost me £238
HD7970 will cost me £328

The above two come with the Never Settle Bundle from Dabs.com

Is it really worth the extra cost of getting a 7970? There's about a £90 difference which is fairly substantial..

Note: I will be buying a mobo that will allow for a future possibility of crossfire

Thoughts? Counter arguments? Opinions? Anything?

glynf

First off, unless you are buying ex-Vat, I would avoid the UK-you will get rinsed with the current exchange rate.

Give a look at hardwareversand.de, factor in €30 for shipping-check this though, might be less.

Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X Cooler, 3GB GDDR5; €357.30

ASUS HD7950-DC2T-3GD5-V2, AMD Radeon HD 7950, 3GB; €304


Personally I would go for the 7970, as you can overclock it up to 1100 quite easily, and 3GB of VRAM will defo help you more at that higher resolutions.

amazon.de can have some great deals, worth keeping an eye on as well, if you have an amazon UK account, the will accept this.

witnessmenow

I am running a Catleap off a 7950

I haven't really tried to tax it to be honest, but It does seem to run everything at high settings at 1440p

I believe I didn't OC it (I cant remember!)

Gumbi

HWVS is 19 euro shipping.

Honestly, gaming on a single GPU isn't the best idea if you want to play high settings at that res (barring, perhaps the 780).

The 7970 hasn't got much on the 7950, certainly not 90 euro's worth more powerful.

Maybe look at what aria has, they have some cheap 7950s with games plus cheaper shipping.

Although I'd suggest SLI of mid-range cards for better performance at that res.

Danger781

glynf wrote: »

First off, unless you are buying ex-Vat, I would avoid the UK-you will get rinsed with the current exchange rate.

Give a look at hardwareversand.de, factor in €30 for shipping-check this though, might be less.

Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X Cooler, 3GB GDDR5; €357.30

ASUS HD7950-DC2T-3GD5-V2, AMD Radeon HD 7950, 3GB; €304


Personally I would go for the 7970, as you can overclock it up to 1100 quite easily, and 3GB of VRAM will defo help you more at that higher resolutions.

amazon.de can have some great deals, worth keeping an eye on as well, if you have an amazon UK account, the will accept this.

Dabs.com is the cheapest I have found even after factoring everything in, then the free games on top are a bonus! :pac:

Dabs: Sapphire Vapor-X 7950 = £238 + £0.99p shipping to NI = €280 + €3.50 Parcel motel charge = €283.50 + BioShock Infinite + Crysis 3 + Max Payne 3 + There was some mention of a free Zalman Gaming Mouse but I'm not sure if I'm entitled to both offers :P

Hardwareversand: The card here is the OC edition so it is a little better but it costs €293 + Delivery.. And no games!

Amazon.de = €305


Amazon.co.uk = €285

Gumbi wrote: »

HWVS is 19 euro shipping.

Honestly, gaming on a single GPU isn't the best idea if you want to play high settings at that res (barring, perhaps the 780).

The 7970 hasn't got much on the 7950, certainly not 90 euro's worth more powerful.

Maybe look at what aria has, they have some cheap 7950s with games plus cheaper shipping.

Although I'd suggest SLI of mid-range cards for better performance at that res.

I figured a single GPU likely wouldn't fair well on such a high res.. I know Crossfire can be quite a pain sometimes as well..

As for SLI - What do you suggest? My main reasoning behind going for the 7950's was the extra GB of VRAM. I figured it would come in handy with the high res.

indough

you do get the games at hwvs, you just have to ask for them. well i got them a week or so at least, and someone else said the same

Danger781

indough wrote: »

you do get the games at hwvs, you just have to ask for them. well i got them a week or so at least, and someone else said the same

Judging by their site it only seems to be on the 7790

Gbear

I have an OC XFX 7950 (so at the lower end of 7950's).

The most taxing game is Crysis 3. I can run it at 25-30 frames fairly stably with AA turned off and everything else up full.

That's the very high end of games and will be for a while I suspect. Other games run fine. It won't be perfect, but it's probably the best you can do for the money.

indough

i got the reloaded bundle for a 7950 with crysis 3, bioshock and fc blood dragon. youd likely be screwed by theflat shipping rate in any case so maybe dabs wouldbe better in this case

Gumbi

Gbear wrote: »

I have an OC XFX 7950 (so at the lower end of 7950's).

The most taxing game is Crysis 3. I can run it at 25-30 frames fairly stably with AA turned off and everything else up full.

That's the very high end of games and will be for a while I suspect. Other games run fine. It won't be perfect, but it's probably the best you can do for the money.

Is that at 1440p? Not too bad, hav you overclocked at all? I understand the cooler can get loud, but I imagine clocking up to 1000 - 1050 mhz shouldn't be to bad.

Gbear

Gumbi wrote: »

Is that at 1440p? Not too bad, hav you overclocked at all? I understand the cooler can get loud, but I imagine clocking up to 1000 - 1050 mhz shouldn't be to bad.

Yeah I got a Shimian around February.

It's not the best 7950 but I get about 1000 Core 1300 Memory overclocked.


It does get fairly loud when the fans are at full blast so I play with headphones on. It's not like a jet-engine or anything though.

I'd imagine that Sapphire or MSI would be better in general - better overclocker and quieter. And apparently the Royal King is the best overcolcker.

So you could do a bit better. Or for seriously challenging games you could drop the resolution or fiddle with the settings if you weren't happy with the framerate. It was generally fine for me though. Much lower and it would be a bit jarring and every now and again there's a noticable drop but Crysis 3 is easily playable and the odd bit of twitching is more than made up for by the sheer beauty.

Gumbi

Gbear wrote: »

Yeah I got a Shimian around February.

It's not the best 7950 but I get about 1000 Core 1300 Memory overclocked.


It does get fairly loud when the fans are at full blast so I play with headphones on. It's not like a jet-engine or anything though.

I'd imagine that Sapphire or MSI would be better in general - better overclocker and quieter. And apparently the Royal King is the best overcolcker.

So you could do a bit better. Or for seriously challenging games you could drop the resolution or fiddle with the settings if you weren't happy with the framerate. It was generally fine for me though. Much lower and it would be a bit jarring and every now and again there's a noticable drop but Crysis 3 is easily playable and the odd bit of twitching is more than made up for by the sheer beauty.

Is it voltage locked?

Gbear

Gumbi wrote: »

Is it voltage locked?

No.

BloodBath

Go for the 7950, the 7970 is not worth €100 extra. There's 10% max difference between their performance at the same clock speeds.

Just get one with a good cooler.

Gumbi

Gbear wrote: »

No.

Up the voltage a bit and try get 1100? I suppose your fan is already loud is 1000 the highest you're stable at at your current voltage?

Just to keep it on-topic, I'd go with BB's advice. The VaporX on Sapphire cards is the best cooler AFAIK.

Gbear

Gumbi wrote: »

Up the voltage a bit and try get 1100? I suppose your fan is already loud is 1000 the highest you're stable at at your current voltage?

Just to keep it on-topic, I'd go with BB's advice. The VaporX on Sapphire cards is the best cooler AFAIK.

I've already upped the voltage. 1000 is sadly the best I can do.
So for the sake of a few quid you're probably better off going for the higher end 7950. I just literally didn't have the few quid.:)

Danger781

BloodBath wrote: »

Go for the 7950, the 7970 is not worth €100 extra. There's 10% max difference between their performance at the same clock speeds.

Just get one with a good cooler.

That's why I'm looking at the Vapor-X

Very much considering Crossfire :pac:

Danger781

Gbear wrote: »

So you could do a bit better. Or for seriously challenging games you could drop the resolution or fiddle with the settings if you weren't happy with the framerate. It was generally fine for me though. Much lower and it would be a bit jarring and every now and again there's a noticable drop but Crysis 3 is easily playable and the odd bit of twitching is more than made up for by the sheer beauty.

Do you mean playing at 1080p on the 1440p screen? Is the difference noticeable? I think I'm fully set on getting myself the 1440p.. I've talked them up enough.. unless they have cheap 1080p panels too?

NTMK

Danger781 wrote: »

Do you mean playing at 1080p on the 1440p screen? Is the difference noticeable? I think I'm fully set on getting myself the 1440p.. I've talked them up enough.. unless they have cheap 1080p panels too?

one game on a 1440p and you'll consider 1080p pixelated SD crap.

Danger781

NTMK wrote: »

one game on a 1440p and you'll consider 1080p pixelated SD crap.

I figured so :P But that doesn't answer the question!

If some game is struggling at 1440p to maintain decent FPS, could I reduce it to 1080?

NTMK

Danger781 wrote: »

I figured so :P But that doesn't answer the question!

If some game is struggling at 1440p to maintain decent FPS, could I reduce it to 1080?

id* reduce as many settings as youre happy to lower and then maybe drop the res

(* i wouldnt really, i would just not eat for a few weeks and buy a second GPU because im a res snob :pac:)

Gumbi

Danger781 wrote: »

I figured so :P But that doesn't answer the question!

If some game is struggling at 1440p to maintain decent FPS, could I reduce it to 1080?

A 7950 is probably the best budget option for 1440p. Best leave the res as 1440 and cut down on the settings. You should be able to have most on high? Though to be honest, just not blazingly high FPS is all.

Adding a second 7950 down the line will add greatly to the power then And hopefully Croasfire will be "fixed" by then.

Danger781

Would you recommend just going ahead and purchasing the 7950 now? I can't see the prices dropping all that much in the near future. With the £20 off at Dabs.com it as well as the Never Settle Bundle it is a pretty decent deal in my eyes.

Could just sell the keys from Never Settle and save a bit more.

I know people tend to recommend SLI over XFire but I would imagine the 3GB vs. 2GB at this res would have an impact.

Gumbi

The 3GB isn't a big deal as if now, but irks likely to become more important as time goes on.

How much is the 7950 on Dabs?

Danger781

Gumbi wrote: »

The 3GB isn't a big deal as if now, but irks likely to become more important as time goes on.

How much is the 7950 on Dabs?

Sapphire Vapor-X 7950 = £238 + £0.99p shipping to NI = ~€280 + €3.50 Parcel motel charge = €283.50 + BioShock Infinite + Crysis 3 + Max Payne 3 + There was some mention of a free Zalman Gaming Mouse but I'm not sure if I'm entitled to both offers

Gumbi

Danger781 wrote: »

Sapphire Vapor-X 7950 = £238 + £0.99p shipping to NI = ~€280 + €3.50 Parcel motel charge = €283.50 + BioShock Infinite + Crysis 3 + Max Payne 3 + There was some mention of a free Zalman Gaming Mouse but I'm not sure if I'm entitled to both offers

Ya, that's a good deal either way. Know what you're getting into though with Crossfire, it does have issues. Hopefully those that do exist will be ironed out I the coming months.

Danger781

Gumbi wrote: »

Ya, that's a good deal either way. Know what you're getting into though with Crossfire, it does have issues. Hopefully those that do exist will be ironed out I the coming months.

This is also part of the reason I feel the 7950 is a better investment over an Nvidia card. Worst comes to worst and I run on a single GPU instead it sounds like the 7950 will still be more than usable, even at 1440p.

I've heard stories about issues with Crossfire but haven't researched too much into them. Main complaint seems to be a microstuttering that I more than likely won't even notice. Even if I do I doubt it will bother me at all. Especially coming from a computer that can't play games at all. Anything else I should know about? I would look into it now but I'm in work so don't want to spend too much googling stuff. Feel free to provide links I'll read them if I find time. :P

Danger781

Ended up going with a single 7950 Vapor-X..

All my parts are now on the way to me except for my monitor which I haven't ordered yet..

Will cost about €1500 total so it's the same as I originally planned but I managed to get better parts for the same money Or at least I think I did anyway :P

I will post up the complete build later so it can be critiqued

marco_polo

Danger781 wrote: »

This is also part of the reason I feel the 7950 is a better investment over an Nvidia card. Worst comes to worst and I run on a single GPU instead it sounds like the 7950 will still be more than usable, even at 1440p.

I've heard stories about issues with Crossfire but haven't researched too much into them. Main complaint seems to be a microstuttering that I more than likely won't even notice. Even if I do I doubt it will bother me at all. Especially coming from a computer that can't play games at all. Anything else I should know about? I would look into it now but I'm in work so don't want to spend too much googling stuff. Feel free to provide links I'll read them if I find time. :P

The released a protoype driver in April to some reviewers that did appear to improve things alot, according to a tweet last night this is due for public release on the 31st of July so everything should be back to proper order by then.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-AMD-Improves-CrossFire-Prototype-Driver

Danger781

marco_polo wrote: »

The released a protoype driver in April to some reviewers that did appear to improve things alot, according to a tweet last night this is due for public release on the 31st of July so everything should be back to proper order by then.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Frame-Rating-AMD-Improves-CrossFire-Prototype-Driver

Interesting.. Might look into Crossfire at that stage then

EoinHef

I got a Vapor X 7950 at the start of the year and I have to say im very happy with it.
Ive overclocked it to 1100 on the core and 1500 on the memory without touching the voltage, its at default.
The temp never goes over 62C on the card either at them clocks and the fans max out at 43% at which there actually inaudible, I can only really hear one case fan so its very quiet.

It did overclock to 1120 and 1550 on stock voltage but at that clock,the fans started to get a little loud, they become audible about 48%, so I decided to stick with 1100 and 1500. But the fan noise was the only reason I stopped, it could definitely go further if fan noise wasn an issue for me.

I dont know about 1440p but at 1080p I can run any game ive come across at max settings except for AA which I usually turn down a bit depending on the game. On the likes of Crysis 3, Far Cry 3 i usually put it to 2x or 4x
and get a fairly solid 50-60 fps

Sorry forgot to mention thats with a i5 3570k at 4.2GHz

BloodBath

You can set your own custom fan profiles with most overclocking software like MSI afterburner.

The default ones are often over aggressive.

EoinHef

BloodBath wrote: »

You can set your own custom fan profiles with most overclocking software like MSI afterburner.

The default ones are often over aggressive.

Ive been meaning to have a look at that, thanks.

Ive got lazy cause it handles everything ive thrown at it at the moment, im sure that will change over time though or if I was to get a higher res monitor.

Id be interested to see what fps the op gets at 1440p

Gumbi

With the VaporX you can afford to do so. It doesn't need to ramp up sharply until about 65 onwards. And you're not reaching this at the moment even.

BloodBath

This is how I have my profile atm. My temps rarely go above 62-65.

EoinHef

I see, so the profile gets a bit more aggressive around 60C.

Would a good way to test this be if I left the clocks at what there at now but with the different profile and see the max fan speeds?

Sorry but forgot to ask what clocks that at bloodbath?
Think I saw you post you had a 7970 at 1200 and 1600?

BloodBath

You can have it fairly relaxed up until around 70-80c. I don't mind my cards peaking at 70-80c for short periods. They are designed to run that hot.

When I record temps in gaming though the peak is always only about 65- 70c which keeps the fan quiet. I am back to 1100/1500 on a 7970 though. 1200 was pushing the fan too high.

EoinHef

Cool, id say thats pretty beastly at them clocks anyway.
Ill definitely be looking into the custom profiles, cause if I could keep the fan noise down even a few more % could possibly get it to 1150 and still be quiet enough for me.
Sorry for hijacking the threaded op, but hopefully this will be useful to you as your getting the same card.
There is a thread in the overclocking section where the lads helped me overclocking the card, cant link it cause im on my phone but ill link it later if you want

Danger781

So.. turns out Dabs.com won't ship to parcel motel so I'm back at square one Got a cancellation email yesterday morning!

Gonna have to look into this again..