of these two: Which to buy????? 7950 Gigabyte or 7950 Sapphire Dual-X (3L)

[glenquagmire]

I am picking one of these two 7950's

Gigabyte is volt locked but OC'able
Sapphire Dual X is not volt locked

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A266449&bop=And&CompareItemList=48%7C14-202-026%5E14-202-026-TS%2C14-125-414%5E14-125-414-TS&percm=14-202-026%3A%24%24%24%2438%24%24%24%3B14-202-007%3A%24%24%24%2438%24%24%24%3B14-125-414%3A%24%24%24%2438%24%24%24

 

[Gam3r01]

In just about anything AMD sapphire is the way to go. So I would go with the sapphire. They have great coolers and customer service. If you have the money the Vapor-x is even better, but more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Video+Cards+-+AMD/ATI-_-Sapphire+Tech-_-14202003

 

[glenquagmire]

In just about anything AMD sapphire is the way to go. So I would go with the sapphire. They have great coolers and customer service. If you have the money the Vapor-x is even better, but more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Video+Cards+-+AMD/ATI-_-Sapphire+Tech-_-14202003

I just bought the Gigabyte 7950 and here's why....

Even though it may be voltage locked, its CORE default is 1000 and 5000+ on the memory. I am okay since I never OC'ed a GPU before to start small and not fry the darn thing. I see OC'ing the speed and memory gets folks to 1200/1500+ without going over the voltage max. I like that and at least know I wont need to water cool it. I can also get another one later and really help our the FPS.

It was close and was very much leaning to the Sapphire Dual-X but just didnt feel confident that I would kill the card and also I really wanted the 2L, but they dont make them anymore.

Thoughts?????

 

[Gam3r01]

It was still a great buy, you can OC that card higher without changing voltages. The sapphire would be able to get to higher speeds but its still not as good as the gigabyte at locked voltages. Either way, its still a great card overall. Overclocking isnt the largest factor in buying a card anyway.