Radeon HD 7950 Owner's Thread

[hyrule4927]

Anybody reapply thermal paste to their 7950? My 7950 is pretty dust free but it gets loud when overclocked. I'm wondering if it'll help.

Changing the paste cooled mine down by maybe 3 degrees C. If you want to see significant improvements in temperatures and noise, you'll need one of these. The Accelero cooled mine down by 10 to 15 degrees C and it is pretty much silent even at max fan speed. Had to throw the Twin Frozr back on my 7950 to fit my PhysX card under it though . . .

 

[PPB]

Hi guys, I'm wondering which 7950 to get. At a first glance I was delighted with the HIS x2 one, but sadly it went from 240 to a whopping 305, making it (for the moment, ima still camp it till it comes to a better price) a no-buy for me.

So I'm kinda stuck with 2 options: MSI TF3 and Windforce x3 from Gigabyte. MSI seems to have both unlocked volts and better binned cards overall (judging by OC scores from it's owners across several forums). The WF x3 seems to be a better cooler for the GPU but I have read it's kinda weak with the VRM cooling. Right now the TF is at 244 on egg and the x3 at 264. Which one would yo pick?

 

[Smartazz]

Changing the paste cooled mine down by maybe 3 degrees C. If you want to see significant improvements in temperatures and noise, you'll need one of these. The Accelero cooled mine down by 10 to 15 degrees C and it is pretty much silent even at max fan speed. Had to throw the Twin Frozr back on my 7950 to fit my PhysX card under it though . . .

I was also thinking of maybe trying the h60 mod. I'm surprised no one here has tried it. Some forum had a huge thread about it.

 

[raghu78]

Hi guys, I'm wondering which 7950 to get. At a first glance I was delighted with the HIS x2 one, but sadly it went from 240 to a whopping 305, making it (for the moment, ima still camp it till it comes to a better price) a no-buy for me.

So I'm kinda stuck with 2 options: MSI TF3 and Windforce x3 from Gigabyte. MSI seems to have both unlocked volts and better binned cards overall (judging by OC scores from it's owners across several forums). The WF x3 seems to be a better cooler for the GPU but I have read it's kinda weak with the VRM cooling. Right now the TF is at 244 on egg and the x3 at 264. Which one would yo pick?

consider the sapphire HD 7950 card with dual x cooler.925 mhz and unlocked voltage. 2 versions. one is 27 cm. does not have VRM temp sensors

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202026
here are the card pics
http://www.overclock.net/t/1367119/sapphire-100352-3l-hd7950-stripped-for-your-viewing-pleasure

the other is 29 cm. has VRM temp sensors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202007

Gigabyte HD 7950 . 1 Ghz stock clocks and locked voltage. 1100 - 1150 mhz is quite easy on stock voltage.

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?...82E16814125414
here is user feedback on the card
http://www.overclock.net/t/1416711/gigabyte-windforce-gold-standard

 

[hyrule4927]

I was also thinking of maybe trying the h60 mod. I'm surprised no one here has tried it. Some forum had a huge thread about it.

I had planned to do that. Bought one of dwood's brackets and an H60, but there wasn't really any good way to position the radiator in my case (Antec 1100) which is why I ditched that idea and went with the Accelero.

 

[Face2Face]

Hi guys, I'm wondering which 7950 to get. At a first glance I was delighted with the HIS x2 one, but sadly it went from 240 to a whopping 305, making it (for the moment, ima still camp it till it comes to a better price) a no-buy for me.

So I'm kinda stuck with 2 options: MSI TF3 and Windforce x3 from Gigabyte. MSI seems to have both unlocked volts and better binned cards overall (judging by OC scores from it's owners across several forums). The WF x3 seems to be a better cooler for the GPU but I have read it's kinda weak with the VRM cooling. Right now the TF is at 244 on egg and the x3 at 264. Which one would yo pick?

If the HIS not available, then go with the MSI TF3 7950. Great warranty and good all around cards.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I was wondering if this one a good one, no reviews for it. Is under $200 so I love that, and the next best one is $219. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127737

 

[Jaiguru]

Since the prices have dropped I'm finally in the market for another 7950 to Crossfire with my MSI Twin Frozr.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

That price was unbeatable but I missed out and they're now out of stock. So I'm wondering if there would be any down side to pairing my MSI card with another brand instead.

 

[3DVagabond]

I was wondering if this one a good one, no reviews for it. Is under $200 so I love that, and the next best one is $219. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127737

The cooler is weak on that design. If you O/C it will get real loud... fast. If you are going to run stock, that's fine, but you'll be wasting a lot of potential performance.

Since the prices have dropped I'm finally in the market for another 7950 to Crossfire with my MSI Twin Frozr.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127667

That price was unbeatable but I missed out and they're now out of stock. So I'm wondering if there would be any down side to pairing my MSI card with another brand instead.

You can use different brands in crossfire just fine. If you wait a week or so the MSI will likely go on sale again, somewhere.

 

[sberganini]

Hello All ... I have been away for a year and am now planning my next build and plan to use a Sapphire 7950 (Yep, I am convinced this is the best brand, despite other folks' disagreement) with the intention of overclocking it, along with the CPU and RAM. I hope I'm not out of line chiming in on this thread, but I would appreciate any input. Here's the planned basic configuration: AMD FX-8350 CPU (Liquid cooler to be determined), ASUS M5A99FX Pro R2.0 or Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Rev 4.0 mobo, 16GB 1866 RAM. Of course I'll want the capability to monitor performance, thermals and fan speeds on the CPU, GPU (and RAM)

My basic question is, given there are at least five different Sapphire 7950 models, which has the best potential for overclocking? I have read that the model 100352-3L does not have VRM temp sensors, but the 100352 FLEX2 does have VRM temp sensing. Also, I have read that the "Rev 2.0" version of some models are on the 7970 PCB, while others are not. Also, of all the Sapphire HD 7950 models, does the 100352VXSR (Vapor-X) have the best stock cooling? Finally, will the description at the beginning of this thread be the best overclocking process for the Sapphire card, or ...?

I am currently running a Sapphire HD 7850 over clocked to 1150/5500 with stock cooler and, in my opinion it is a great value. So, I'd appreciate your feedback on the best Sapphire 7950 for me.

 

[Smartazz]

What is the maximum power draw of a Boost 7950 if you set the power limit to 20%? My rig uses 360 watts when gaming and I'm curious how much of that is the GPU.

 

[Goresplattered]

Leaving this here....

 

[psolord]

Hey guys. Hope's everyone doing ok.

Sorry for the bump, but I found out something really strange, more than a full year after I got my Gigabyte WF3 CFX with FW0 bios.

All this time, I thought that both my cards were running at 1.169V, because this is what MSI Afterburner was showing for the first card. Didn't really bother to check the second at the time.

At some point, I disabled ULPS so I can monitor the second card and then I saw that the second card was running at 1.250V when at load.



I though that this was a glitch of MSI AB so I upgraded to the latest version and saw the same thing. I then switched the cards, putting the bottom card on top and the top at the bottom. Surprisingly the program did indeed show that the voltages had switched as well, which indicates that indeed one card runs at 1.250V and the other at 1.169. GPUz also agrees.



I have verified this with overclocking, since the 1.250V card can run happily at 1150Mhz and maybe more, while the other crashes instantly at that frequency and barely manages to keep steady at 1100Mhz. I remind everyone that these cards come at 1000Mhz stock speed and are voltage locked.

My next step was to extract both BIOSes and view them in VBE7. Both BIOSes show the same stuff, but I went ahead and flashed the 1.250V one's BIOS to the 1.169V one. Nothing changed, the card keeps running at 1.169.

So can someone please explain to me why is this happening and if there's a way to go around it? I am perfectly happy with what the 1.250V card can do and I'd like the second one to do the same.

 

[Mcdovin]

I have an HIS 7950 ref. model I believe
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814161400

and I was wondering if getting 86-87*C in a game like Far Cry 4 was okay, with everything except AA maxed?

I ran Furmark for about 3 minutes at a 1000mhz core OC and it went up to 87*C which worried me. Should I go with an aftermarket cooler like an AC one, can I get a different model 7950 like an ASUS one or should I just wait and get a GTX 970 or similar when I have the cash?

I could buy a 7970 for about 130-150 off Kijiji here in Edmonton, but I've also heard if you CF 7950's they actually beat a single 970 in most situations and it only costs sub 150 to get another one.

Other than the temps and noise of fan, I love the card and it's a big upgrade from my old GT 640 and 6870.

Thanks and hopefully you guys can help me out.

 

[h9826790]

I have a Sapphire ref model. 87C is not a problem at all.

In my extreme test (OC + custom lower fan speed + no air conditioning in hot summer), the card won't crash until 95C. In fact, I intentionally let my card run up to 88 (to reduce noise) for few months (when loaded, not 24/7), no problem at all.

If you really concern about it. You may:

1) Reduce OC
2) Lower the voltage a bit if available
3) Get an after market cooler and install it by yourself

I agree that the noise is very annoying for ref 7950. And I am now mainly gaming on XB1 (look to build a 4K gaming PC in 2015). So, I readjust the card back to it's stock frequency, and lower the voltage to 0.956V. This give me a good performance card for most of the time, and very quiet fan even under full load (~31% fan speed, and 78C).

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I have an HIS 7950 ref. model I believe
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814161400

and I was wondering if getting 86-87*C in a game like Far Cry 4 was okay, with everything except AA maxed?

I ran Furmark for about 3 minutes at a 1000mhz core OC and it went up to 87*C which worried me. Should I go with an aftermarket cooler like an AC one, can I get a different model 7950 like an ASUS one or should I just wait and get a GTX 970 or similar when I have the cash?

I could buy a 7970 for about 130-150 off Kijiji here in Edmonton, but I've also heard if you CF 7950's they actually beat a single 970 in most situations and it only costs sub 150 to get another one.

Other than the temps and noise of fan, I love the card and it's a big upgrade from my old GT 640 and 6870.

Thanks and hopefully you guys can help me out.

If you are running high 80's now adding another card in crossfire is only going to make the situation worse.

NCIX is running a special on 290x for $250.- after rebate. Might have a similar deal up in your neck of the woods. Sell your 7950 for $100.- and you have upgraded for around $150.- the same price as a second card. No crossfire hassles or support issues. New card with warranty.

 

[RussianSensation]

If you are running high 80's now adding another card in crossfire is only going to make the situation worse.

NCIX is running a special on 290x for $250.- after rebate. Might have a similar deal up in your neck of the woods. Sell your 7950 for $100.- and you have upgraded for around $150.- the same price as a second card. No crossfire hassles or support issues. New card with warranty.

Wow, that's a hot deal on a 290X. I would definitely sell the 7950 and grab that instead of adding a 2nd 7950.

 

[tbob18]

I'm a little confused about my WF3 rev2 with FX1 bios. I got it used about 6-7mo ago.

From what I understand it should be locked at 1.25v but GPU-Z shows 1.113v.
Msi Afterburner won't even display the voltage (tried reference, standard, extended settings).

I'm able to get pretty good clocks out of it as-is.

Maybe the previous owner changed the bios for a modded one with lower voltages?