Possible custom HD 7970 on (or near) release?

[3DVagabond]

XFX 7970 overclocked customized card on its way for evaluation right now....

A quote from [H] forums. Looks like we won't have to wait for custom cards.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

A quote from [H] forums. Looks like we won't have to wait for custom cards.

Do you mean non reference?

 

[Don Karnage]

You couldn't pay me to buy XFX after the things i've read. Go with Asus or MSI

 

[3DVagabond]

Do you mean non reference?

:\

You couldn't pay me to buy XFX after the things i've read. Go with Asus or MSI

I'm not selling anything. Besides, I don't think XFX will be the only manufacturer to make custom designs. I just found it interesting that non reference (better T_Yamamoto? ) designs are in the wild already. Not that it was XFX.

 

[Don Karnage]

MSI HD 7970 Lightning should be interesting

 

[3DVagabond]

MSI HD 7970 Lightning should be interesting

Agreed. As should the Asus DCII (III?). To be honest though, the XFX Black XXX Editions are pretty sweet cards as well.

A lot of people buy the cheapest, most cut down designs and then complain about it because it's not as good as they had hoped. Most people who buy the above mentioned models are pretty wrapped with their cards.

 

[Grooveriding]

MSI HD 7970 Lightning should be interesting

:thumbsup:

This is the card I am waiting for.

 

[Don Karnage]

I just want reference versions. While i like the TFIII cooler and the DCII cooler i want air exited out the back of my case plus i'll probably go water down the road

 

[3DVagabond]

:thumbsup:

This is the card I am waiting for.

Well, looks like you might not have to wait too long. Just curious, how many would you buy? You've got a lot of GPU horsepower now.

 

[Grooveriding]

Well, looks like you might not have to wait too long. Just curious, how many would you buy? You've got a lot of GPU horsepower now.

Two! I want less than three cards, it's too much noise and heat. I did the math for what a 7970 should deliver at 1300core going on what it puts out at 1125. Two of them should be about 20-30% faster than what I have now at those speeds.

There are some games now I dial back settings in; BF3, Witcher 2, SC2 (AA) and even Crysis still gives me slow downs. Hopefully 2xOCed 7970 will do the trick.

I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see how everyone's cards overclock come Monday.

 

[blackened23]

Well, looks like you might not have to wait too long. Just curious, how many would you buy? You've got a lot of GPU horsepower now.

Nothing to lose though I plan on selling my 580s once aftermarket cooled 7970s hit the market (MSI lightning i'm looking at you), if you sell at just the right time you can usually do it with minimal loss to your initial investment.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

just to clarify, i know it as non reference and reference...

people call it custom?

cant wait for GPU prices to fall after the release of the 7xxx series

 

[Don Karnage]

Two! I want less than three cards, it's too much noise and heat. I did the math for what a 7970 should deliver at 1300core going on what it puts out at 1125. Two of them should be about 20-30% faster than what I have now at those speeds.

There are some games now I dial back settings in; BF3, Witcher 2, SC2 (AA) and even Crysis still gives me slow downs. Hopefully 2xOCed 7970 will do the trick.

I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see how everyone's cards overclock come Monday.

An AX1200 should be able to handle 3 7970's overclocked to 1300 core right?

 

[notty22]

just to clarify, i know it as non reference and reference...

people call it custom?

cant wait for GPU prices to fall after the release of the 7xxx series

That's correct.
There was never a reference gtx 460 for example. So that validates the term, custom cooling by manufacturer.

 

[Dark Shroud]

An AX1200 should be able to handle 3 7970's overclocked to 1300 core right?

From your listed specs you should be good for at least two cards. Remember these cards use less energy than the GTX 580 with all their performance power. So OCing them shouldn't hurt too badly.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Who generally makes the highest quality overclocked cards, MSI, ASUS, Sapphire, Gigabyte, etc?

 

[INGlewood78]

Who generally makes the highest quality overclocked cards, MSI, ASUS, Sapphire, Gigabyte, etc?

MSI I believe.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I just want reference versions. While i like the TFIII cooler and the DCII cooler i want air exited out the back of my case plus i'll probably go water down the road

my case already is designed for ventilation, I don't need a sub par cooler designed for terribad cases and cable management

 

[3DVagabond]

Who generally makes the highest quality overclocked cards, MSI, ASUS, Sapphire, Gigabyte, etc?

IMO the MSI Lightnings and 3 slot Asus DCII's are the best in the high end cards and are about equal. The Sapphire Toxic Editions are probably the best that exhaust outside the case.

 

[blackened23]

IMO the MSI Lightnings and 3 slot Asus DCII's are the best in the high end cards and are about equal. The Sapphire Toxic Editions are probably the best that exhaust outside the case.

This. MSI lightning is the best GTX 580 overclocker per the database over at OCN, i'm thinking it will be the 7970 to get.

 

[blackened23]

IMO the MSI Lightnings and 3 slot Asus DCII's are the best in the high end cards and are about equal. The Sapphire Toxic Editions are probably the best that exhaust outside the case.

This. MSI lightning is the best GTX 580 overclocker per the database over at OCN, and matches my experience (I get 950 with minimal voltage increase). I'm thinking it will be the 7970 to get.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm very happy with the temp and the noise (or lack thereof) on my Gigabyte UD Windforce GTX460 1GB OC. So much so, that I think I would prefer them again, if they make a custom OC 7970.

 

[Quantos]

my case already is designed for ventilation, I don't need a sub par cooler designed for terribad cases and cable management

Hear hear!

I don't see the point of buying a $500+ card and going with the reference cooler, which is in fact worse for the card itself. Yes, it's a bit more temperature in the case, but if you've got funds to buy a $500 card in the first place, surely you have the funds to have proper case cooling as well. Besides, the 7970 even with the reference cooler doesn't run that hot. Sure the custom coolers will only dissipate more heat, but it shouldn't be that critical.

 

[3DVagabond]

Hear hear!

I don't see the point of buying a $500+ card and going with the reference cooler, which is in fact worse for the card itself. Yes, it's a bit more temperature in the case, but if you've got funds to buy a $500 card in the first place, surely you have the funds to have proper case cooling as well. Besides, the 7970 even with the reference cooler doesn't run that hot. Sure the custom coolers will only dissipate more heat, but it shouldn't be that critical.

Why settle? Why not have one that does everything? Cooler, quieter, and exhausts outside the case? Heat shortens the lifespan of electronics and adversely effects stability. There have been a couple of examples. His IceQ turbo and EVGA's 580 Classified come to mind. More work should be done in this direction, IMO.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Like they did with the previous cards. They were using Samsung ns 1 DDR5 which is 1GHZ stock. Nvidia/AMD downclock it to around 700-800 depending on the range card then its of to the reference designers. So they just push it back up closer to that default 1GHZ stock and call it a Super Overclocked card. Oh dont forget the kewl cooler they throw on it to give your PC that airport feeling and sound of jet engines revin up