from a 7950 960 4GB or 970

[deadeye22]

Hi i currently have a 7950 which is turning 4 years old now and its almost ''dead'' since its been crashing and acting weird so im looking for an upgrade. I have a coolermaster silent pro gold 600W PSU so i excluded the 390 for my purchase. I cant get any 960 for 250 euros and for 970's i really want the FTW+ which is 420 euros... Strix versions and G1 are 390 euros. My question is will it be an upgrade or a downgrade to go for the cheaper choice which is the 960. It quite a difference in moeny so i am really considering it.

 

[pete_101]

The 960 will perform about the same as your 7950, so not an upgrade. The 970 is quite an upgrade, but at a much higher price, so you'll need to decide if you can afford it.
Are you saying you can't get a 390 because of your PSU? I run a 290X on a 600W PSU and have no issues. Your PSU is an OK model and would handle a 390.

 

[MarkW]

Would you keep the 7950 if you could get it working smoothly again?

If the answer is yes, download DDU (icon below will take you to the download page), run it, and it will ask if it can go into Safe Mode. Select Yes. The computer will restart and go into Safe Mode, and then offer you 3 choices. Choose the top choice (recommended), and let it clean up the bits and pieces of video drivers and their settings out.

When it is done, restart the computer, and when it gets back to the desktop, download and install the latest AMD video drivers.

See if that resolves the crashing problems for you.

 

[deadeye22]

the answer is probably no because at any given moment the card's temp sensor goes 0 and fans go 100% manually controlling them is ok but when i play a game after this happens it randomly crashes and gives me a black screen. I tried the cleanup tool from AMD 10000 times and it never worked. As for the psu im on a tier 1 psu, its ok but i got a 3570K @ 4.2Ghz and most people told me not to get a 390 because its going to stress it A LOT

 

[pete_101]

the answer is probably no because at any given moment the card's temp sensor goes 0 and fans go 100% manually controlling them is ok but when i play a game after this happens it randomly crashes and gives me a black screen. I tried the cleanup tool from AMD 10000 times and it never worked. As for the psu im on a tier 1 psu, its ok but i got a 3570K @ 4.2Ghz and most people told me not to get a 390 because its going to stress it A LOT

I've got a 4690K @ 4.2Ghz with my 290X. I also have a meter that I can measure power consumption with. In a normal gaming situation I'm using around 350W input to my PSU. If I stress everything to the max, the most I've ever seen was just on 500W.
BTW, your old 7950 is a 200W GPU and the 390 is 275W, performance wise, the 390 uses less power than the 7950 to get the same performance.

 

[pete_101]

I don't know if you are even considering the 390, but in case you are, just to back up what I said about power consumption, the following is for several cards and shows WHOLE SYSTEM power consumption http://www.techspot.com/review/1019-radeon-r9-390x-390-380/page7.html

 

[deadeye22]

Ok if you guys are sure that my psu can handle it then lets put that on the table as well. So its 385 euros for MSI and Strix 390's. Still which of the 3. 960 for 250 euros or 135 more for the 390 or 170 more for the FTW+ 970. Im not good with psu's so i ruled it out because of recommendations and you know i just want to be sure for this purchase

 

[pete_101]

Ok if you guys are sure that my psu can handle it then lets put that on the table as well. So its 385 euros for MSI and Strix 390's. Still which of the 3. 960 for 250 euros or 135 more for the 390 or 170 more for the FTW+ 970. Im not good with psu's so i ruled it out because of recommendations and you know i just want to be sure for this purchase

When it comes to what size PSU you need, everyone likes to play it safe and recommend something way bigger than what you actually need, that way there is no danger of not having enough power, also some cheaper PSUs can fail when pushed anywhere close to their rated wattage.
However if you have a good make of PSU, which you do, then it's safe to run them close to the rated wattage. I'm confident that you would have no issues running a 390. As for a 390 vs 970 performance wise, it all depends on what games, most benchmarks have the 390 ahead. Check out some youtube videos, there are plenty of the 390 vs 970.

 

[MarkW]

DDU is not from AMD, but I wondered before I posted if you had not already made up your mind to buy a new card... and it seems you have.

 

[deadeye22]

No no i havent... I am just not that confident. I will try to revive my 7950 first and if the problem is still there, then i will get the 390... Im just a bit scared for my psu since its just tier 1 i think

 

[pete_101]

No no i havent... I am just not that confident. I will try to revive my 7950 first and if the problem is still there, then i will get the 390... Im just a bit scared for my psu since its just tier 1 i think

If it was tier 1, then usually that's the top end. Yours is tier 3 on this list http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html Which is acceptable, certainly not complete crap 🙂

 

[deadeye22]

Sooo, it will definetly be fine to run my rig? ASUS z77 v deluxe a 3570KJ @ 4.2Ghz the STRIX OC 390 with 2HDD's and an SSD as well as 8GB of 1600Mhz DDR3

 

[maxalge]

Sooo, it will definetly be fine to run my rig? ASUS z77 v deluxe a 3570KJ @ 4.2Ghz the STRIX OC 390 with 2HDD's and an SSD as well as 8GB of 1600Mhz DDR3

your power supply is tier 3 and:

that is why a GOOD ( tier 1 or 2 unit ) 650w+ is recommended for a 290(x)/390(x)

 

[pete_101]

that is why a GOOD ( tier 1 or 2 unit ) 650w+ is recommended for a 290(x)/390(x)

Yeah, not going to argue with you there. But in this case where he already has a tier 3 600W PSU, what are your thoughts on how it would handle those spikes in power consumption?
Given the capacitors aren't total crap in that PSU, plus the fact even with an OC i5 the spikes aren't going to make the system even reach 600W (and the graph was for a 290, not the 390 which as a lower TDP), I think it's not a major issue. Also I've been running this setup myself (with a 290X) and haven't had any issues....my PSU is a Zalman and was listed as a tier 2 on an older list, now I can't even find it on the lists.

 

[maxalge]

that is why a GOOD ( tier 1 or 2 unit ) 650w+ is recommended for a 290(x)/390(x)

Yeah, not going to argue with you there. But in this case where he already has a tier 3 600W PSU, what are your thoughts on how it would handle those spikes in power consumption?
Given the capacitors aren't total crap in that PSU, plus the fact even with an OC i5 the spikes aren't going to make the system even reach 600W (and the graph was for a 290, not the 390 which as a lower TDP), I think it's not a major issue. Also I've been running this setup myself (with a 290X) and haven't had any issues....my PSU is a Zalman and was listed as a tier 2 on an older list, now I can't even find it on the lists.

they are the same exact gpu, nothing has changed.

just overclocked at the factory, that overclocked 290 should behave exactly the same as a 390.



if it was a tier 2, then it should have had mostly jp capacitors, with maybe rarely some cheap chinese stuff.
not surprised it runs, but I would not raise an eyebrow if running the 290x on it seriously shortens it's life.

 

[MarkW]

No no i havent... I am just not that confident. I will try to revive my 7950 first and if the problem is still there, then i will get the 390... Im just a bit scared for my psu since its just tier 1 i think

[strike]Tier 1 is the best of the best.

I cannot say there is no issue with your power supply, as any electronic device can fail, but that sits in the elite tier.[/strike]

It is in Tier 3... not Tier 1.

 

[maxalge]

No no i havent... I am just not that confident. I will try to revive my 7950 first and if the problem is still there, then i will get the 390... Im just a bit scared for my psu since its just tier 1 i think

Tier 1 is the best of the best.

I cannot say there is no issue with your power supply, as any electronic device can fail, but that sits in the elite tier.

his psu is tier 3

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

7950 to 960????

Agreed, try and figure out what's wrong with your current graphics card OP, before doing anything else.

 

[MarkW]

I updated my earlier post... Now I need to wake up... 😛

 

[deadeye22]

Sooo its a no no for the 390 huh.... I was getting hyped. Will check on the 7950 when i get home on monday but i was really getting hyped that i can get the 390

 

[pete_101]

Sooo its a no no for the 390 huh.... I was getting hyped. Will check on the 7950 when i get home on monday but i was really getting hyped that i can get the 390

You do realise that if you don't plan to overclock it, you can still get the 390. The other members here aren't saying it wouldn't work, just that with your PSU you do run a risk that it may fail one day.

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

That PSU is fine, even for overclocking it...

Also, I'm trying to figure out whether or not the link above shows total power consumption from the wall, or if efficiency is already included.

Wouldn't surprise me if the above chart's max would be around 300W. Infact, the R9 390 would run just fine on a 550W PSU, or even lower than that...

 

[maxalge]

That PSU is fine, even for overclocking it...

.

it is a tier 3 unit, not a very good idea with the kinds of spikes those r9's will give it



"This high-resolution measurement shows why power supplies can be overwhelmed unless they have ample output headroom. Even if a PSU's specs suggest it should be able to handle a given card, some very brief (often less than 10 ms), but very high peaks can cause a power supply's protection circuitry to engage."




And if you have ever seen the posts on this very website when it comes to these cards, you would see just how big of a problem this is.

Because they were told that a 500w or 550w power supply was enough.

Especially when they have tier 3 or worse units...




Black screens, restarts, bsod's, low performance etc etc

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

The spikes cannot harm a PSU, that's crazy talk. Those are spikes that go above the max the PSU can handle, and even then. It's very hard to break a PSU that way. Any PSU can fail, regardless what components went into it. People use the same argument for the CX series, yet how many are experiencing no issues with decent builds? Ridiculous. Yes, it's one thing to stay on the safe side, but these arguments are just ridiculous.

 

[maxalge]

The spikes cannot harm a PSU, that's crazy talk. Those are spikes that go above the max the PSU can handle, and even then. It's very hard to break a PSU that way. Any PSU can fail, regardless what components went into it. People use the same argument for the CX series, yet how many are experiencing no issues with decent builds? Ridiculous. Yes, it's one thing to stay on the safe side, but these arguments are just ridiculous.

if they have cheap chinese capacitors/are underbuilt/have no protection, it can totally cause damage to itself and other components.

Cheap units BLOW when you try to get their rated wattage, sudden surges beyond their pathetic range will take them out.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6snWfd1v7M&index=3&list=PLM9iYLWR9Bv1K3CdZHxurFPkyYcfeGctt


On top of the other issues improper shutdowns cause.

"Any PSU can fail, regardless what components went into it." LOL

A good unit may fail, a human built it.

A bad unit is BOUND to fail AND it will take something else with it.


CX units are bound to fail, why risk it at all when there are better units?
Are you really ok putting a revolver to your system and pulling the trigger everyday on your hard earned components???