HD7970 worth it?

[rayzorz]

I'm seriously considering purchasing a HD7970 but all this talk of driver issues etc. makes it feel really risky.

I'm using a GTX580 now and it's been working well but I want a more powerful card to get a bit higher framerates. 7970 is the only card that seem worth it performance-wise to me but I don't want to waste my money on something that doesn't work.

Is it really that unstable like some say?

[Frohman0905]

Can't answer that question since I don't own one but the 580 is still a very good card. I would wait and see what Nvidia/AMD next generation has to offer. If you really don't want to wait, I've heard that the driver issues are more related to crossfire setups.

[Lowki]

Now if I had a 580 I would probably consider sli. Like right now I have a 7970 and when the next gen comes out I am going to hold onto this and crossfire and still beat out the.newer.cards. some people will aY its worth it but in reality most games that are comic.g out are console ports anyway. 7970 is a great card but so is a 580 still.

[Agent-A01]

No wait until something better comes out. Oc that 580

[bc_tileguy]

yeah the 7970 is a awesome card , wouldn't worry about the so called driver issues , like other members stated the 580 is still a good card , may add a second one , but if your 580 is a 1.5 gig model and your running out of vram , ( e.t.c using multiple monitors, or 2560x1600) a 3 gig 7970 may be a good option for ya

[lucidus]

If you must buy a new card, a single 7970 will be fine. A better option would be to wait just a bit more or simply SLI the 580.

[The Goose]

no big issues here but if you can get another 580 to sli might be better,also given the price drops of the 7970 that would be well worth too

[XBEAST]

Originally Posted by rayzorz

7970 is the only card that seem worth it performance-wise to me

What about GTX 670? Same performance.

[main_shoby]

should i ask, which game you are having problems with? or you just grew bored with your good ol' 580 and want something new ?

[GhostXL]

Originally Posted by rayzorz

I'm seriously considering purchasing a HD7970 but all this talk of driver issues etc. makes it feel really risky.

I'm using a GTX580 now and it's been working well but I want a more powerful card to get a bit higher framerates. 7970 is the only card that seem worth it performance-wise to me but I don't want to waste my money on something that doesn't work.

Is it really that unstable like some say?

If you pick up a 7970 Ghz Edition you'll love it. Single card GPU issues are almost none.

Crossfire DOES have bugs, but you can get past then with D3D Overrider etc.

It's your choice, but you can't go wrong.

If you want Physx/CUDA though, then you may as well get a GTX 670/680

[main_shoby]

Originally Posted by XBEAST

What about GTX 670? Same performance.

choosing between 670, 680 and 7970 is very difficult. lol

[rayzorz]

Originally Posted by main_shoby

should i ask, which game you are having problems with? or you just grew bored with your good ol' 580 and want something new ?

Can't play Shogun 2, Arkham City, Crysis, Hard Reset etc. maxed out with a framerate I'm satisfied with. They all drop below 30 fps in certain situations which I find really annoying and thats not even maxed out.

Originally Posted by XBEAST

What about GTX 670? Same performance.

I don't like the lack of compute performance, the low memory bandwidth and the tendency to struggle when it gets tough (with exceptions of course) according to reviews I've read. I don't really care much if I have 120 or 135 fps, it's more important in more demanding games and 7970 appear to be much stronger in those games like Crysis(1 and Warhead), Metro 2033 etc and seem to lose less performance with AA.

[---TK---]

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

No wait until something better comes out. Oc that 580

this. theres only 1 card that would show a huge improvement and thats a $1000 690.

[GhostXL]

Originally Posted by rayzorz

Can't play Shogun 2, Arkham City, Crysis, Hard Reset etc. maxed out with a framerate I'm satisfied with. They all drop below 30 fps in certain situations which I find really annoying and thats not even maxed out.



I don't like the lack of compute performance, the low memory bandwidth and the tendency to struggle when it gets tough (with exceptions of course) according to reviews I've read. I don't really care much if I have 120 or 135 fps, it's more important in more demanding games and 7970 appear to be much stronger in those games like Crysis(1 and Warhead), Metro 2033 etc and seem to lose less performance with AA.

A 7970 will do fine, just make sure it's a Ghz Edition. Kind of no point buying an original. You can flash them to the Ghz Edition, but its hit and miss it seems. Mine hit dead on at least.

[rayzorz]

Originally Posted by GhostXL

A 7970 will do fine, just make sure it's a Ghz Edition. Kind of no point buying an original. You can flash them to the Ghz Edition, but its hit and miss it seems. Mine hit dead on at least.

If I buy a 7970 it would be the original version, either Sapphire Dual-X or Gigabyte Windforce. They are €320-350. The GHz edition isn't released here yet and will most likely be much more expensive. I could probably get €120 for the GTX570 I have in my other pc.

[GhostXL]

Originally Posted by rayzorz

If I buy a 7970 it would be the original version, either Sapphire Dual-X or Gigabyte Windforce. They are €320-350. The GHz edition isn't released here yet and will most likely be much more expensive. I could probably get €120 for the GTX570 I have in my other pc.

Okay well, just be warned if you try to flash it with the Ghz Edition BIOS. Not all cards accept it. If you do try, back up the original first.

Btw where is here exactly? Your profile doesn't give a location?

[Lowki]

Originally Posted by Lowki

Now if I had a 580 I would probably consider sli. Like right now I have a 7970 and when the next gen comes out I am going to hold onto this and crossfire and still beat out the.newer.cards. some people will aY its worth it but in reality most games that are comic.g out are console ports anyway. 7970 is a great card but so is a 580 still.

lmao this is how you guys can tell im posting on my phone

[Lowki]

Originally Posted by GhostXL

Okay well, just be warned if you try to flash it with the Ghz Edition BIOS. Not all cards accept it. If you do try, back up the original first.

Btw where is here exactly? Your profile doesn't give a location?

xfx core edition takes the flash very nicley we should make a sticky of confirmed flashes.

[GhostXL]

Originally Posted by Lowki

xfx core edition takes the flash very nicley we should make a sticky of confirmed flashes.

That is a good idea.

You can add MSI Reference 7970's to that list.

[main_shoby]

but is it really important to flash a ghz bios ? besides the boost function, wont a normal 7970 when OC'ed and GHZ edition will perform the same ?
my oc are just fine, i can go 1200\1650 (which is max in MSI AB if i do authorized oc) ...

[Puer Aeternus]

Jus' tossing in my two cents. Ive had my 7970 for a bit now and have seen improvements w/ the drivers, no complaints here. Ive read that O/Cing a vanilla 7970 will bring it close to a ghz edition....and they OC well (Ive left mine at stock as no games are challenging my video card ATM).
I upgraded from a 5870, I try to get a better bang for my buck and upgrade only when I see a substantial gain, your 580 is still a kick ass card...given MY budget, id wait for a next gen card but if you have money to blow a 680 is a tad faster and a 670 is about on par w/ the 7970. The 7970 oc'ed will bring you closer to 680 and speed past the 670. or just get the ghz edition

[Nichtswisser]

@rayzorz

Whenever it's worth it depends on how much money you have to spend. When money isn't an issue at all, why not? Otherwise I would probably rather wait for the next generation of cards, or better still consoles. Most games these days are either console ports made for long since outdated hardware or indie games which do not demand a lot when it comes to hardware.

My old card was a 3 years old 5850. The 7950 is more than twice as fast so in my case the upgrade was worth it.

[DummyPLUG]

Both ATI and nVidia driver have bugs, just depends on if you can live with it.
for example, the nVidia TRD bug in the past ( dunno if it fixed with the 6 series), and ATI DXVA/DXVA2 bug, and the dual monitor bug which fix in 12.6, and better check if you CPU will limit the performance of these new card.

[BrightCandle]

A lot of love for AMDs card. But if you frequent this and the AMD forums you'll see a lot of people have problems. For crossfire and multiscreen users I would say go NVidia, because having owned 2x 7970's and then 2x680's I can say for certain that NVidia's cards are workable where AMD's aren't (well that is unless you don't care about the image moving smoothly).

AMD has its issues but the issues with a single card and screen probably wont make you regret the purchase. Depends how sensitive to smooth frame rates you are, because alas the 7970 isn't very smooth in comparison to previous generations of AMD cards and alas in that regard is quite a lot worse than NVidia's cards. Personally I think smooth delivery of frames is critical but as you can see a lot of other people don't value it much at all.

[rayzorz]

I'll probably keep my card and OC it as far as it will go. There just isn't any other decent options right now it seems. Nvidia's offerings aren't good enough and AMD's drivers scares me.

The next "gen" is so far away though.