Get 7970 or wait for 8970?

[timnswede]

So I ordered a Sapphire 7970 Vapor-x Ghz edition a couple days ago, but it hasn't come yet, so I can still return it. I was just wondering if it is worth waiting for the non-reference 8970s to come out. I'm gaming at 1920x1080, so I was wondering if it would even make a difference.

 

[sam_p_lay]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/387065-15-worth-waiting

Wait for GTX700. Even if you're a dedicated AMD loyalist and wouldn't buy a GeForce in a billion years, it's still worth waiting so that GTX700 drive down Radeon 8000 prices by competition. When the 7000 series launched, they were overpriced (7970 especially) until nVidia delivered their 2012 competition.

 

[vmem]

what are you currently running? if you're happy playing with what you've got now, I would wait. but understand that you'd be waiting a while. the line is being delayed due to all the management change in AMD last year

 

[vmem]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/387065-15-worth-waiting

Wait for GTX700. Even if you're a dedicated AMD loyalist and wouldn't buy a GeForce in a billion years, it's still worth waiting so that GTX700 drive down Radeon 8000 prices by competition. When the 7000 series launched, they were overpriced (7970 especially) until nVidia delivered their 2012 competition.

There's that too... I remember paying an arm and leg for my 7970 last year only to see a $100 drop about 6 weeks after I bought it thanks to the GTX 680

I desperately needed a new system at that time though, as I had just finished a busy work project and had about 2 months to myself

 

[timnswede]

I am running a 6870 right now, and I am not a AMD fanboy at all, I just found the 7970 to be better since the 670 and the 7970 cost about the same now. I just really don't like my 6870 because it idles at 50 degrees with fans at 50%, so either my air flow is terrible (with five exhaust fans) or my card is dying or something lol.

Money is not an issue, the only reason I would wait for the 8970 is if it is significantly quieter or more power efficient.

 

[renz496]

just get 7970 and help amd to clear their inventory. 8k series suppose to come out Q4 last year but was posponed to Q2 this year so they can flush any remaining stock .

joking aside i don't think there will be much improvement for the 8k series compared to 7k series. and amd might price 8k series a bit high first so they can sell any remaining 7k series.

 

[timnswede]

just get 7970 and help amd to clear their inventory. 8k series suppose to come out Q4 last year but was posponed to Q2 this year so they can flush any remaining stock .

joking aside i don't think there will be much improvement for the 8k series compared to 7k series. and amd might price 8k series a bit high first so they can sell any remaining 7k series.

Ya, I'm thinking I might as well keep the 7970 and upgrade again when they make new architecture, which will hopefully mean a more significant improvement.

 

[wdmfiber]

Ya, I'm thinking I might as well keep the 7970 and upgrade again when they make new architecture, which will hopefully mean a more significant improvement.

agreed!

The OEM Radeon 8970 was released 2 days ago(prob because CES is on). It is a 7970 GHz edition, identical... But the OEM's get to advertise a flashy name.

The retail version of the 8970 will be a different GPU and will have more graphical processing power. But like renz says, it's months away. Plus yes, you'll want the new architecture of "Volcanic Islands " 20nm GPU in ~2014 anyway, not a 28nm refresh.

If you want info on the OEM 8970 just google it. There are nine 8000 OEM series cards, as far as I've read anyway. You really have to research these to know what they are. Example: Radeon 8350 OEM is an old 40nm 5450.

 

[timnswede]

I saw that OEM stuff, basically what I got from it was that it's basically a rebadge, but the actual 8000 series will be an improvement. I just don't know if the improvement is worth the wait. Really want to mod skyrim more and play bf3 on ultra I'm just going to go ahead and get the 7970. It already maxes everything I play anyways.

 

[renz496]

i heard 30% performance improvement but some said 15% is more likely. i think they can archive that 30% mark if they increase their die space more (there are already rumors about 8970 will have 2500SP). but i think one of major bullet point for the next series will reducing the power consumption while enabling the chip to clock much, much higher at the same time compared to current parts

 

[timnswede]

Would I even be able to tell the performance difference on a single 1080p monitor though? It seems the 7970 maxes almost all games at 60 fps.

 

[renz496]

i think not.

 

[sam_p_lay]

i think not.

You think he won't notice a difference or you think that the 7970 can't do that? Looking at Far Cry 3, I'd agree with the latter. And I strongly doubt it will max Crysis 3 at 1080p either. Of course most games are less demanding and will max at 40+ easy.

 

[timnswede]

Best answer selected by timnswede.