Stuck between these two 7870s.

[nmwido]

Hello, I'm building a new gaming/media creation PC soon and all the parts are already here save the motherboard and GPU.

If it may help, the specs to be are:
i7-3770k
g.skill sniper 8gb (might upgrade to 16gb later if i feel 8 is insufficient)
ASRock z77 extreme4 (still waiting for it)
Seasonic M12lII 520w
OCZ Vertex 4 128gb
WD Caviar Blue 1TB

Now I'm trying to decide between these two 7870s
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JCNOY6/?tag=pcpapi-20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131466

Links are for reference only, they're not exactly where I'm buying them from. I'm not even in the US. 😛
The price difference between the Powercolor and the Sapphire is around $35 when converted to USD, so I'm curious if there's any reason I should go for the Sapphire over the Powercolor? I've also been reading a lot that Sapphire 7870s seem to have BSOD, sound loop, etc issues. Dunno if there's any truth to them or if ever it was fixed already.

Thoughts?

 

[JJ1217]

That Sapphire 7870 issue with BSOD and whatever problems I believe was fixed in the latest revision. It was an issue with one of the components, and Sapphire fixed it quickly and offered a replacement to ALL original revision owners.

Look, if you tell us a budget and where you are from, it can be really helpful. The 7870 Hawk from MSI is cheaper than the Sapphire on Amazon, is clocked higher, and has a better cooler. The 7870 Hawk shares the highest factory clocked 7870 title with the Powercolor one that you listed, except it has a much better cooler. Have a look at that one.

 

[Sumukh_Bhagat]

I Would recommend you this card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127681

And if you haven't yet bought the i7. I would suggest you to get a i5 3570k.
There is hardly any difference between them in Gaming.
And with the saved money, get a better gpu.

 

[JJ1217]

I Would recommend you this card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127681

And if you haven't yet bought the i7. I would suggest you to get a i5 3570k.
There is hardly any difference between them in Gaming.
And with the saved money, get a better gpu.

"Hello, I'm building a new gaming/media creation PC soon and all the parts are already here save the motherboard and GPU."

It might help to read the first post.

 

[unksol]

I normally fully endorse sapphire, BUT ths is the card with problems and it doesn't sound good

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202010

Honestly though... When I has a rare card out of production for a year die due to my cat, not them, their warranty department had.a new one in my hands in 2 weeks. I highly suspect they have fixed it, and it wouldn't worry ME because i KNOW if there is a problem they'll take care of it.

But there are others close enough in price that its probably not worth the hassle

 

[nmwido]

That Sapphire 7870 issue with BSOD and whatever problems I believe was fixed in the latest revision. It was an issue with one of the components, and Sapphire fixed it quickly and offered a replacement to ALL original revision owners.

Look, if you tell us a budget and where you are from, it can be really helpful. The 7870 Hawk from MSI is cheaper than the Sapphire on Amazon, is clocked higher, and has a better cooler. The 7870 Hawk shares the highest factory clocked 7870 title with the Powercolor one that you listed, except it has a much better cooler. Have a look at that one.

I'm from the Philippines.

Unfortunately, MSI video cards isn't very prolific here, you'll find little to nothing of any MSI GPU - let alone a 7870.

There's an ASUS DirectCU but it's heavily overpriced to around P16,000ish($400~)

The only AMD cards you'll see going around here would be Sapphire, Powercolor, and AFOX. I have never really heard of AFOX 'til this morning, lol.
XFX, I noticed, is slowly getting into the country. Been seeing increasing amounts of stores that have them, though still fairly bit overpriced.

@Sumukh_Bagat - Yeah, I'll be doing some video rendering and 2D/3D animations too. Not really heavy, just for school work, but I'd like the HT.

@unksol - Thanks for that, are you sure this is the only one? This particular model seems like a new model from Sapphire, and fortunately(?) it hasn't reached my country yet.

I take it I should just get the cheaper but slightly higher OC'd Powercolor? Or should I just take my chances on the Sapphire since it has a better cooler? I see a Powercolor 7870 Vortex II around the same price as the Sapphire too, but looking at Newegg reviews, the custom cooler doesn't seem to perform any better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131476

 

[DRosencraft]

Well since everyone's commented on the Sapphire side (my 6950 and soon to be 7950 are from Sapphire btw) I'll comment on Powercolor. They aren't a very popular brand, but they have been in the game a while and from what I know have always made decent quality stuff that doesn't bite the dust quickly or easily. Admittedly this is more on the server/professional graphics side.

I think either will be fine if you can get them. Normally once I set a price target, I target the one with the higher clocks and least problems. Hope that helps.

 

[nmwido]

Thanks to everyone, I decided to get a Powercolor 7950 instead. :lol:

 

[nmwido]

Best answer selected by nmwido.