[SOLVED] Is HD 7970 Still Good In 2019?

Solution
It's almost 2020, some newer games might not even run on 7970.

Might not run particularly well, but a 7970 supports DX12 etc, and you won't find a single game that'll fail to at least 'run' on a 7970 for a good while yet.

you should be able to get a R9 290 4Gb for about the same money, give or take and I also have one of them and its about the same performance as the RX 570. I would however suggest the R9 390 8Gb?? but you will find its double the cost of the HD7970 but its about half its age.

I would not 'upgrade' to a 290 or 390 from a 7970.

While the R9 290 and 290X were 'new' cards opposed to reworked rebrands.
From memory, a 290X was something like ~20% faster than a 280X..... And the 290 a little short...

yullbarez

Commendable
Jan 17, 2019
201
3
1,585
I agree you would have to try. However what’s the rest of the pc spec? Those games require a strong modern cpu and ideally 16 go RAM.
Specs:
CPU:Intel Xeon X5492 4.00 GHz OC. @1.39V
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP45T Extreme P45 Chipset
RAM: G.Skill Ripjamsz 16GB (4GBX4) DDR3 1866MHz RAM
GPU: Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP 3GB GDDR5 384-Bit
SSD: Samsung EVO 860 500 GB(OS)
HDD: Samsung HD155UI 1.5 TB 5400 RPM
PSU: Corsair TX650M 650W 80+ Gold
OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (1903)
Case: Thermaltake View 28
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
A 7970GHz Edition was rebranded as a R9 280X and the 7950 became the R9 280.
The 7970 (non-GHz edition) sits right in between a 280 & 280X.

The card should still do around 40-50FPS average BattlefieldV at Medium settings 1080p..... When paired with an appropriate CPU.

However you are pairing it with a Xeon that pre-dates the entire Core-I series CPUs... Albeit overclocked.
I would imagine that is more likely to be where you'll see issues, opposed to the GPU itself.
 

yullbarez

Commendable
Jan 17, 2019
201
3
1,585
A 7970GHz Edition was rebranded as a R9 280X and the 7950 became the R9 280.
The 7970 (non-GHz edition) sits right in between a 280 & 280X.

The card should still do around 40-50FPS average BattlefieldV at Medium settings 1080p..... When paired with an appropriate CPU.

However you are pairing it with a Xeon that pre-dates the entire Core-I series CPUs... Albeit overclocked.
I would imagine that is more likely to be where you'll see issues, opposed to the GPU itself.
When compared to RX 570 how much difference on performance? I've managed to play BF1 without issues. BF1 ran very well at 1080P ultra settings around 50-55 FPS. I'd say it could run BF5 at high-medium settings.
 

Dreamevil55

Honorable
May 4, 2016
192
46
10,690
Is HD 7970 Still Good In 2019? Is that enough to play Battlefield 5 and RDR2 at 1080p? Thanks.
No sir it is not. I had a R9 380 up until last year, played games like Witcher, Tomb Raider etc with mid to low settings at 1080p with ease (40-60fps). But when I tried to play AC Odyssey, even at low it gave me headache. At that moment I realized, I needed an upgrade (1660 Ti). It's almost 2020, some newer games might not even run on 7970.
 

Stewart_2

Distinguished
Oct 28, 2015
19
1
18,525
Just sold mine and upgraded to the RX 570 why ?? cos my HD 7970 was 8 yr old and the RX570 8Gb cost me £100 exchange at CEX. The HD 7970 is a SUPERB card for the money absolute steal but its old now and you should be able to get a R9 290 4Gb for about the same money, give or take and I also have one of them and its about the same performance as the RX 570. I would however suggest the R9 390 8Gb?? but you will find its double the cost of the HD7970 but its about half its age. The 7970 can get seriously loud under load. The R9 290 4Gb is a nice card but the RX 570 has 8Gb and from CEX is a great price if its a good model
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
It's almost 2020, some newer games might not even run on 7970.

Might not run particularly well, but a 7970 supports DX12 etc, and you won't find a single game that'll fail to at least 'run' on a 7970 for a good while yet.

you should be able to get a R9 290 4Gb for about the same money, give or take and I also have one of them and its about the same performance as the RX 570. I would however suggest the R9 390 8Gb?? but you will find its double the cost of the HD7970 but its about half its age.

I would not 'upgrade' to a 290 or 390 from a 7970.

While the R9 290 and 290X were 'new' cards opposed to reworked rebrands.
From memory, a 290X was something like ~20% faster than a 280X..... And the 290 a little short of that.
290X became 390X, 290 became 390 with some clock/efficiency improvements.

A 7970, with an overclock, will match a 280X, so you're looking at (maybe) 20ish% gains in some cases, typically less, and investing in a 5-6 year old card.

Yes, there's gains in both performance and power efficiency with something like an RX570 - and newer game compatibility, optimization will be benenficial.

Personally though, I'd look to a minimum RX580/590 or 1660Super (maybe a 1660) as the minimum upgrade, provided the 7970 remains functional.

Looks like a 7970 can be sold for ~$50 +/- these days, which could offset a little bit of the cost.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=7970&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1


I still think the 11 year old Xeon is likely to be more of an issue in modern titles than a 7970....
 
Solution