MSI Twin Frozr 7950 RMA'd, Which Now?

[Archmage]

Hi,
I've recently RMA'd my MSI 7950 due to a common fan speed problem, caused by a leaky diode. The fans would run at full speed when not needed to.
I now have a dilemma; do I plump for an identical card, go for a different brand of 7950 or leap back to a comparable NVidia card?
I have a £300 budget, but don't need to spend it all
I originally spent £250 on the 7950 but also RMA'd some poor memory, so could stretch to a silghtly more expensive card.
Other hardware is i7-3770K on an MSI MPower motherboard, 8Gb G.Skill Ripjaws Z 2400 and a Corsair HX750 PSU.
I'm on a single monitor 1920 x 1080 and I use it for everything from gaming to 2D/3D design to Controls Engineering (mainly under VMWare).

I notice that some retailers are listing their MSI 7950 Twin Frozr as being "The new batch, without the fan controller problem". This tells me lots of the first batch have had problems. I could stretch to a 7970 now or possibly switch to a GTX670, though would most probably lose out on ram size (3Gb down to 2Gb).
Thanks for your help.
Anthony

 

[alienware]

I guess it comes down to how well the card worked in games. Numerous people I know are desperate to get rid of their 79xx cards and switch to Nvidia just literally down to the huge issues they have. One guy I know can't even load F1 2012 and Metro crashes at the same point. Then another guy I know says that the DX9 support is completely buggered in the newer drivers so he gets triangles and rectangles all over the place.

I do know a good few people with 79xx cards who don't have any issues though so if your games worked well then stick to what you know.

The 670 has been showing signs of dropping in price lately so is becoming slightly more attractive by the day.

This card is quite good value...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...ds/nvidiagtx670keplerseries/zt-60304-10p.html

Infact it's even better now it comes with a decent game.. It also uses a 680 PCB and cooler so it would be pretty quiet and well behaved

 

[Archmage]

Thanks AlienALX,
I've only tried a handful of games at the moment; Crysis3, Bioshock Infinite and Far Cry3. Not looked at my Steam back-catalogue yet.
I may have to spend my money with Scan, not sure how their credits work. With that said, they've been very helpful so I've no problem giving them the repeat business.

 

[alienware]

The new games tend to work well tbh. It's the older ones they break. Mind you saying that I do have an issue with Fallout 3 in SLI but on one card it's fine

Sadly the 670s on Scan don't seem to have been subject to the recent price drops. They'll probably issue you some sort of credit note.

 

[Archmage]

I was maybe considering the EVGA GTX 670 FTW Signature Ed 2 and unbelievably, it's 10 quid cheaper on Amazon, though no free Metro or Ass Creed 3.

 

[alienware]

I love that card. So classy.

 

[Lakers]

Hey there.

It all depends on if you was satisfied with that card. If the manufacturer has noted the problem, then surely it has to be fixed. Now being somewhat of an Nvidia fanboy, I'm inclined to say a GTX 670, although it's a couple quid over the desired amount of spending money, and as you said saving a couple quid would be favored. So, you could drop down to an EVGA 2GB 660 Ti, (Personally I like EVGA as they always have decent money back/RMA policies)

670: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...15mhz-boost-980mhz-cores-1344-2x-dl-dvi-dp-hd

660 Ti: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...-980mhz-boost-1059mhz-cores-1344-2x-dl-dvi-dp

Or even a 3GB version if desired:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...gddr5-gpu-1046mhz-boost-1124mhz-cores-1344-hd

But take away my fanboyism, and assuming that a GTX 670 is out of the question, I'd say go with another 7950. However, if you wouldn't mind spending the tail end of your £300, then again I'd say go with a GTX 670. And perhaps another thing to bare in mind is that a 7950 also leaves you with £40-60.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-...hz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-hdmi-mini-dp-plusc

P.S. Scan, eBuyer, AriaPC (I think you even get free shipping for being a member on here, don't hold me to it though) Are all good places to shop. Preferably I like Scan because they seem to have everything, and the site's well displayed.

P.P.S. 2GB's will be fine, especially considering you're only running a single monitor, so don't make judgement on that factor.

 

[Archmage]

Thanks Lakers.
I've ended up plumping for the EVGA GTX 670 FTW Signature 2 edition
Tbh, it looks like there's been more that a few of the Frozr 7950 cards failing, as Scan didn't even bother offering a replacement, the just went straight for a refund. The added bonus now is that with the new deals, I've got Metro and Assassin's Creed III as well.
Scan have been really good. Their prices are pretty competitive and I've been looked after well with my RMA's. I do also get free delivery, but I think mine is, *cough* gifted by AVF*rums, so maybe I have it twice

 

[alienware]

Oddly enough the Palit Jetstream is on special right now for £275 but the Sig II has a 680 PCB which is nice

 

[Archmage]

I haven't really pushed it hard, since it's already overclocked, but the fans aren't loud at all and the GPU temp was sat around 60°C ish while running 3DMark11 and Bioshock Infinite, so I'm pleased.
It was a nice bonus for me that the EVGA Precision X util drives my G15 keyboard display too.

 

[alienware]

Nice !

One day soon I will be reunited with my TACTX keyboard and my beloved Razer Boomslang 2007 ltd ed

 

[Lakers]

You're welcome bro. Although I happily do it, it's nice to get a thanks for the time I spend linking people components. So, thanks back at you for thanking me.

Yeah Scan are pretty decent. Not many, but some of their components are a little more expensive than say eBuyer or Aria, but their website is easily accessible and they have so many parts. Hope all goes well, enjoy that bad boy