Best 7950 for overclocking?

[benjanini61]

Hey guys, i recently received my Achieva Shimian 1440p monitor and i now would like to upgrade my GPU.

My specs;
Phenom 965 BE 4ghz
msi twin frozr III 6950 2gb
4gb ddr 1333mhz ram
windows 7 ultimate 64
1tb barracuda 7200
asrock 970 extreme 3
600w corsair builder series C2

The games i play will consist of Crysis 3, farcry 3, BF3, BLR, Skyrim (including ENB and mods), PS2.
After a fair amount of research ive come to the conclusion that the 7950 will serve best for the price. I just want some more insight on the different versions of the card and especially which one overclocks best/easiest. I hope to hit 1200mhz so i get 680 speeds. Ive heard good things about the MSI 7950.
If anyone with there own 7950 could put how far they got the clocks to go would be a great help!

Thanks!

 

[TheBigTroll]

you will want to upgrade the CPU to stop bottlenecks. the psu can use a upgrade too if its older than 4 years, given the builder series are low quality compared to other offerings

this is the 7950 to go with. its the cheapest and pretty much the best
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[benjanini61]

My CPU wont be a bottleneck as its 4Ghz and has the NB OC to 2600mhz from 2000mhz+ that PSU is less than 1 year old and is easily enough for the 7950.
Otherwise thanks for the link.

 

[Novuake]

Yes your CPU will bottleneck a little in CPU intensive games like Skyrim and BF3 MP. But not that much

The Sapphire HD 7950 Dual-X is the best in my opinion. Both of mine is at 1180 with no Voltage increase.

Forget the big troll... Even if your PSU is not the best. Its more than enough for the HD7950. And besides the builder series is pretty good anyway.

 

[Novuake]

Yes your CPU will bottleneck a little in CPU intensive games like Skyrim and BF3 MP. But not that much

The Sapphire HD 7950 Dual-X is the best in my opinion. Both of mine is at 1180 with no Voltage increase.

Forget the big troll... Even if your PSU is not the best. Its more than enough for the HD7950. And besides the builder series is pretty good anyway.

 

[TheBigTroll]

yeah. its still going to bottleneck. overclocking mildly increases performance. doesnt get rid of bottlenecking. you are best to match the same gen of video card to the same gen of CPUs.

let say the 980 BE (3.7ghz) is compared to a 3570k from intel. the intel will perform miles better than the 980 BE. your choice if you want the upgrade or not.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/362?vs=701

 

[TheBigTroll]

you can get a seasonic xfx 550w for 53 bucks and it would be more efficient, more reliable, quieter, and supply steadier power

 

[benjanini61]

Ye i realise there is a bottleneck but as u said its only in very CPU intensive games and negligible compared to paying for a new CPU.

Yer i always thought that PSU was good quality.

Thanks for the recommendation and nice clocks Whats your memory clock at?

 

[benjanini61]

you can get a seasonic xfx 550w for 53 bucks and it would be more efficient, more reliable, quieter, and supply steadier power

I dont need a new PSU........

 

[Novuake]

Ye i realise there is a bottleneck but as u said its only in very CPU intensive games and negligible compared to paying for a new CPU.

Yer i always thought that PSU was good quality.

Thanks for the recommendation and nice clocks Whats your memory clock at?

1400. I can push it more but don't wanna add to much voltage voltage...

 

[benjanini61]

How about this?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-098-GI
Id rather not spend more than £250 so this fits my budget well.

 

[TheBigTroll]

I dont need a new PSU........

i was referring to a psu that you could have purchased instead

 

[TheBigTroll]

the cheapest 7950 i can find in the UK is this. not as good as sapphire but still on level with gigabyte.
http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-amd-radeon-7950-hd-800mhz-3gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-8B07.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

gigabyte is cheaper by 24 cents here
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-gigabyte-radeon-hd-7950-windforce-3x-5000mhz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-dual-link-dvi-i-hdmi-2x-min

 

[benjanini61]

i was referring to a psu that you could have purchased instead

Ahh i misunderstood sorry

 

[benjanini61]

the cheapest 7950 i can find in the UK is this. not as good as sapphire but still on level with gigabyte.
http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-amd-radeon-7950-hd-800mhz-3gb-pci-express-3-0-hdmi-8B07.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00

gigabyte is cheaper by 24 cents here
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-gigabyte-radeon-hd-7950-windforce-3x-5000mhz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-dual-link-dvi-i-hdmi-2x-min

Those prices are awesome thanks!

 

[Novuake]

The Gigabyte has known noise issues. It has coil whine. The XFX has a really bad cooler and will not OC near as much as you would want.

Those are LITERALLY the only HD7950s that I would not buy. LOL

MSI Lightning is great 2...

 

[Novuake]

If you want to be able to OC well, the rule i not to go cheap. You need robust PCB and chip, the cheaper cards are cheaper for a reason...

 

[benjanini61]

Would this card OC well? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7950-double-d-black-ghost-hcell-5500mhz-gddr5-900mhz-1792-cores-hdmi-mini-dp

 

[TheBigTroll]

my gigabyte is dead quiet but has a bit of coil whine during 100% loads

the xfx has a pretty good cooler. not sapphire level but still pretty good. the black edition is the same as the double dissipation but with a different pcb and a binned chip

 

[benjanini61]

or maybe this would be better
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd7950-twin-frozr-oc-be-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-mdport-plus-free

 

[TheBigTroll]

the msi is pretty good. just a little on the louder side

 

[Novuake]

or maybe this would be better
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd7950-twin-frozr-oc-be-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-mdport-plus-free

Yes thats better. But the lightning version is better.

 

[benjanini61]

Cant find anywhere thats selling it.

 

[Novuake]

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-asus-radeon-hd-7950-directcu-ii-top-28nm-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-900mhz-1792-cores-2x-dl-dvi-hdmi-disp

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

 

[Novuake]

Those 2 are the only ones I would ever consider on that site.