Wait for MSI 7950 to restock or get another brand 7950/7970?

[rlg5150]

I rarely get any responses here but I'll try my question anyway....


After getting my second 7950 and seeing that it runs 20* cooler with 25% LESS fan speed I sent my first MSI 7950 TFIII back to Amazon for exchange. Only problem is they didn't have any in stock so all I'll get is Amazon credit. They currently do have a couple in stock but they're not sold by Amazon and they're nearly $400 instead of $319. If Amazon doesn't get any more in at the normal price should I just go ahead and buy a different brand? Sapphire maybe?

Also, there's a Sapphire 7970 for only $390 so I'm thinking about getting that instead. Aesthetically, the Sapphire + MSI wouldn't look very good, though. Are there any specific issues I might run in to running 7950/7970 CrossfireX? Or is it no different from running 7950 Crossfire? (I know the 7950/7970 will be faster but I'm wondering if there are any other kinds of issues with CrossfireX that you don't run in to with regular Crossfire)

Or should I just wait it out and get the MSI TFIII when the price goes back down for aesthetic reasons?

 

[omnisome]

Aesthetics, only you can decide.

Yes, you shouldn't have any problems running a 7950 and a 7970 in CrossFireX

 

[rlg5150]

Also the Sapphire 7970 OC with Boost is about the same price as the Sapphire 7950 Vapor X. Any reason the 7970 is so cheap compared to other 7970s? The Vapor X version of the 7970 is over $500.