First build graphics card

[smeehee]

go easy on me its my first post but the wife has just left her job and ive been using her laptop as the house computer but now have to sort my own out. so im making my first built for years (10 i think) so am completely out of touch

reet now you know where im at, ive seen a XFX DD hd7970 for £265 and i am thinking this is a great deal but have read reviews about it and some are not so good.

my previous front runner was the Gigabyte windforce x3 7950 for £245

Silly question i know but is it worth the extra 20 quid as i have read that it is a poor overclocker and i have read that Gigabyte is a good brand but nothing on the quality of XFX

any advice more than welcome as i need to get a PC sorted ASAP

Cheers

 

[SavageCupcake]

The xfx coolers aren't the best and most of them are voltage locked from what I have heard. I would go for the 7950 depending on what games you want to play.

 

[Feronix]

The xfx coolers aren't the best and most of them are voltage locked from what I have heard. I would go for the 7950 depending on what games you want to play.

This. I've also heard a lot of stories where people wanted to watercool and bought a 'reference' card from XFX, but it appeared that they weren't reference at all.

AMD cards tend to be good overclockers, as long as they aren't locked

 

[smeehee]

The xfx coolers aren't the best and most of them are voltage locked from what I have heard.

Yeah thats exactly what i have heard hence this post.

As far as games go im currently playing FPS (COD, BF3 <-fave) and racing/driving games (GT5, Forza3, Grid)

Oh and it must be able to play BF4 with good frame rate as that will be my main game next year

 

[SavageCupcake]

Well my 7870 will near enough max out bf3 and i can't imagine bf4 will be a massie step up. The 7950 should handle it fine, if not you could add another once they fix xfire mind.

 

[NeverBackDown]

I would only recommend a 7970ghz edition, or a GTX 770. either are superb cards.

Brands i would get are MSI,EVGA,Gigabyte, or Asus(if priced right).

 

[smeehee]

cheers for the help, the 7970 is outside what im willing to pay and therefore the 770 even more so. just the XFX card that was a good price.

soo the decision is now 7950, more specifically - MSI frozr or Gigabyte windforce...

both same price but i have now heard that the Gig has a locked voltage, am i right, and if so is the MSI unlocked and therefore the best for overclocking?

cheers

 

[SavageCupcake]

If you want to overclock then the MSI will probably be better if it's a power edition or something similar. Which cards are you specifically looking at?

 

[iBeInspire]

Doesn't the Giga card have a blue PCB..?

Big no in my book

 

[TheRamJam]

go easy on me its my first post but the wife has just left her job and ive been using her laptop as the house computer but now have to sort my own out. so im making my first built for years (10 i think) so am completely out of touch

reet now you know where im at, ive seen a XFX DD hd7970 for £265 and i am thinking this is a great deal but have read reviews about it and some are not so good.

my previous front runner was the Gigabyte windforce x3 7950 for £245

Silly question i know but is it worth the extra 20 quid as i have read that it is a poor overclocker and i have read that Gigabyte is a good brand but nothing on the quality of XFX

any advice more than welcome as i need to get a PC sorted ASAP

Cheers

I you can find another £34, I would go with this

Club3D HD7970

 

[NeverBackDown]

Club3d as mentioned from what i know are the best overclocking cards out there. That's what i would get if i had it available in the US. Other than that the MSI TF3 card is unlockable in afterburner(have to change settings) and can be overclocked quite high. I haven't done any intensive benchmarking with my 7950(TF3) and got it stable at 1150core from 960 stock at only 1100vcore(from stock 1050vcore). I'm sure i can get the card volts down more but i can't be bothered to do so

On the other hand GB cards should also be able to be unlocked through AB. Unless the bios on the card restricts it.