Looking for Graphics Card ~$250

[Gamebrain]

Hi,

I'm currently looking for a GPU at around the $250 price point, preferably at that price or less. After doing my own research, I narrowed down my choice to the GTX 760 and found the MSI GeForce GTX 760 Hawk Twin Frozr (for $260). I also found the XFX Radeon HD 7950 Dualfan 925MHZ 3GB (for $240).

Should I go with the GTX760 or the Radeon 7950, or are there better options at this price range.

I was also wondering what's the difference between:
http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=88961&vpn=FX-795A-TDKC&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1284
http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=67748&vpn=FX795ATDFC&manufacture=XFX

Please note that my region is Canada, so US price/sales don't always apply to me.

Thanks for any input!

 

[chumly]

Get the R9 270X. It gets the same performance as the 7950 for less money.

There are a lot of reviews on the different models on guru3d.com
I like this one: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_270x_gaming_review,1.html



The aftermarket coolers by the different manufacturers make all the difference (cooling and noise).

 

[corvetteguy1994]

+1 /\

 

[baner711]

Get the R9 270X. It gets the same performance as the 7950 for less money.

There are a lot of reviews on the different models on guru3d.com
I like this one: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_270x_gaming_review,1.html



The aftermarket coolers by the different manufacturers make all the difference (cooling and noise).

no it dont the 7950 is faster the 270x is equal to a 7870

 

[chumly]

Get the R9 270X. It gets the same performance as the 7950 for less money.

There are a lot of reviews on the different models on guru3d.com
I like this one: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_270x_gaming_review,1.html



The aftermarket coolers by the different manufacturers make all the difference (cooling and noise).

no it dont the 7950 is faster the 270x is equal to a 7870

The 7950 BOOST is clocking about 10% higher than the 270x. However, a ref 7950 is scoring slightly lower. In some games, like Tomb Raider, the 270x is outperforming both 7950's: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_270x_gaming_review,13.html

Most instances, the score is almost exactly the same.

 

[baner711]

ya but you overclock both its no contest

 

[ingtar33]

seriously? people are now claiming a ghz edition 7870 is faster then a 7950?

it's no contest. lets not give bad advice people. The 7950 is 10%-15% faster, without overclocks. A majorly overclocked 7870/270x might match a stock 7950... but once you give that 7950 a little push on the numbers it's game over.

the 7950 is a superior gpu in every aspect. god. next people will claim a 7970/280x is faster then a GTX 780. The speed difference between the two is about the same as the difference between the 7870/270x and a 7950.


as to the OPs question, the 7950/760 are about equal... the 760 is a little faster out of the box, the 7950 will overclock better and probably will be a little faster at the top overclocks. either way it's mostly a wash. At the $250 pricepoint you won't find a better card out there.

As for which to get, i think it's more a matter of taste. Personally i'd take the 7950 because of the 3gb of vram which would make it more attractive to me because of the possibility for xfire down the road, and i enjoy tweaking overclocks, and that card has been a champ since it's release. If I was building a tight box with poor airflow and was concerned about power consumption i would go for the 760. Either way they're both outstanding cards with tremendous performance for very little cash.

 

[chumly]

seriously? people are now claiming a ghz edition 7870 is faster then a 7950?

it's no contest. lets not give bad advice people. The 7950 is 10%-15% faster, without overclocks. A majorly overclocked 7870/270x might match a stock 7950... but once you give that 7950 a little push on the numbers it's game over.

the 7950 is a superior gpu in every aspect. god. next people will claim a 7970/280x is faster then a GTX 780. The speed difference between the two is about the same as the difference between the 7870/270x and a 7950.

7950 and 270X are both Tahiti. 7870 is Pitcairn. 7870XT (GHZ) is Tahiti as well. Seeing the benchmarks pretty much the same, I would go with the cheapest.

 

[ingtar33]

seriously? people are now claiming a ghz edition 7870 is faster then a 7950?

it's no contest. lets not give bad advice people. The 7950 is 10%-15% faster, without overclocks. A majorly overclocked 7870/270x might match a stock 7950... but once you give that 7950 a little push on the numbers it's game over.

the 7950 is a superior gpu in every aspect. god. next people will claim a 7970/280x is faster then a GTX 780. The speed difference between the two is about the same as the difference between the 7870/270x and a 7950.

7950 and 270X are both Tahiti. 7870 is Pitcairn. 7870XT (GHZ) is Tahiti as well. Seeing the benchmarks pretty much the same, I would go with the cheapest.

wrong. 270x is picairn.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-3.html

and even if it was tahiti (which it is not) the 7870xt was never as fast as the 7950... overclocked it would pace a stock 7950 but that's all you could get from it.

 

[chumly]

seriously? people are now claiming a ghz edition 7870 is faster then a 7950?

it's no contest. lets not give bad advice people. The 7950 is 10%-15% faster, without overclocks. A majorly overclocked 7870/270x might match a stock 7950... but once you give that 7950 a little push on the numbers it's game over.

the 7950 is a superior gpu in every aspect. god. next people will claim a 7970/280x is faster then a GTX 780. The speed difference between the two is about the same as the difference between the 7870/270x and a 7950.

7950 and 270X are both Tahiti. 7870 is Pitcairn. 7870XT (GHZ) is Tahiti as well. Seeing the benchmarks pretty much the same, I would go with the cheapest.

wrong. 270x is picairn.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-3.html

and even if it was tahiti (which it is not) the 7870xt was never as fast as the 7950... overclocked it would pace a stock 7950 but that's all you could get from it.

you're right, i'm reading wrong things on other sites. all this dumb tahiti LE BS. even tom's has said it's tahiti LE before.

 

[Gamebrain]

Thanks for all your responses! I'll go with the 7950 as ingtar33 suggested, unless there are any new significant price drops with this coming Black Friday. I'll be using 550 W PSU, so I assume that will be enough. I know that I'll need to upgrade it if ever I want to cross-fire.

Thanks again!

 

[ingtar33]

should be good enough for a 7950.