HD7970

[FairladyZ]

Yesterday a friend of mine offered to sell me his VisionTek HD7970 (blower cooler) to me for 75 bucks. I went to buy the card today, and I got it.

 

I thought it was going to be like a reference 200 series card from AMD, extremely noisy and hot running, but not really. The blower does whine a little, but the temps cap at 77C, I was genuinely surprised by that. I haven't tried to do any overclocking, but 1050MHz on the core and anything I can get on the memory is my goal. Despite having the H100i in the Carbide Air 240, and the card apparently being too long to work with the H100i in the front, it still fits, but it's a little tricky to take the card out, because you have to clear the plate that the tool-less PCI bracket thing clamps down onto. The noise level isn't bad when wearing headphones or when speakers are at low volume.

[iamdarkyoshi]

I keep getting distracted by your profile pic.

[Octavialicious]

Great deal, the 7970 is basically an R9 280X so it still has a lot of power

[arvark]

*280x

[harrynowl]

Great deal, the 7970 is basically an R9 280 so it still has a lot of power

R9 280X* so even better

[Octavialicious]

R9 280X* so even better

meh, I always get confused whether it's closer to the 280/285/280X Thanks for the correction!

[Hero7750]

Its a decent card that will get the job done.

[Tacitus]

A steal for $75. Enjoy

[BOT Edward]

Nice one,

 

I picked up my 7870LE for $100 AUD, which was pretty good considering around my area a 480 sells for $140+ for some reason.

Although being a PCS+ Myst edition it's noisy as f*ck

[Tacitus]

Nice one,

 

I picked up my 7870LE for $100 AUD, which was pretty good considering around my area a 480 sells for $140+ for some reason.

Although being a PCS+ Myst edition it's noisy as f*ck

 

They must have come on a long way. My two 290x PCS+ cards are absolutely amazing.

[BOT Edward]

They must have come on a long way. My two 290x PCS+ cards are absolutely amazing.

The design of the heatshrink+shroud has completely changed, although keep in mind it is a MYST edition.

I'll be cutting up the shroud and putting a couple more 80mm fans on it to make it less loud and hopefully run a bit cooler...

 

[Tacitus]

The design of the heatshrink+shroud has completely changed, although keep in mind it is a MYST edition.

I'll be cutting up the shroud and putting a couple more 80mm fans on it to make it less loud and hopefully run a bit cooler...

 

 

 

 

Yep, the bottom card is what I have... two of them. Don't be scared to go for one down the line, it's a fantastic cooler.

[BOT Edward]

Yep, the bottom card is what I have... two of them. Don't be scared to go for one down the line, it's a fantastic cooler.

The top image was my card

To show the difference in the cards

[PudgyAstronaut]

Yep, the bottom card is what I have... two of them. Don't be scared to go for one down the line, it's a fantastic cooler.

 

I have the 290 version, love the cooler, but can't recommend it for mATX... It's good to keep your options open for crossfire. I did not. Also fans spin faster due to low clearance. Still a good card though.