Cheapest Voltage Unlocked Reference 7970

[Above7heInfluence]

I have all the parts picked out for my new computer except for the graphics card. I will be buying a waterblock for it so the cooling won't be an issue. I read that most non reference cards are voltage locked there for can't be overclocked by a good amount. So my question is, is what is the cheapest reference 7970? I want to hit at least 1250mhz on the core for the overclock so if a reference 7970 can't, please link a 7970 that can. Thanks!

Processor: i7 3930k

Motherboard: Asus P9X79 Pro

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaw Z 16gb 2133mhz

Storage: 2x Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black

Water Cooling: XSPC Raystorm RX360 w/ D5 Vario Kit

Case: Corsair 900D

Power Supply: Corsair HX1050

[Above7heInfluence]

Anyone know of one?

[Nexus]

Where in the word are you/what websites are you buying from? Prices vary from area to area and it would be difficult to tell you the cheapest card in your area.

Personally i would recommend buying a card from MSI or ASUS based on my past experiences.

[NamelessTed]

Based on the spec you posted you seem to have a pretty serious budget for this build. Would you possibly consider the GeForce Titan when it comes out in a week or so? I obviously have no way of knowing how it will overclock but it is certainly going to be the fastest single GPU by a solid margin. Of course, you end up paying for it. Just a thought.

[Above7heInfluence]

Where in the word are you/what websites are you buying from? Prices vary from area to area and it would be difficult to tell you the cheapest card in your area. Personally i would recommend buying a card from MSI or ASUS based on my past experiences.

Thanks! I'm buying from the United States and its actually kind of ironic that you said MSI because I decided on the MSI Lightning 7970 but here is my question, I noticed the card doesn't have dual link DVI so how would I go about playing on 120hz? Would I get a mini display port to dvi or what?

[Above7heInfluence]

Based on the spec you posted you seem to have a pretty serious budget for this build. Would you possibly consider the GeForce Titan when it comes out in a week or so? I obviously have no way of knowing how it will overclock but it is certainly going to be the fastest single GPU by a solid margin. Of course' date=' you end up paying for it. Just a thought.[/quote']

Uhm, depending on how much it costs, possibly. Do you have any idea on how much its suppose to cost?

EDIT: I actually just googled it, and there is no way i could afford that if its $900+ sadly, I would honestly love to use it but that just puts me outside my budget :(

[Beeblebrox]

Honestly, since you're going with watercooling, its more going to come down to silicon lottery, then vendor. How well one 7970 overclocks to another alot of the time comes down to how well its cooler is designed, but since thats not an issue for you, it really is just going to come down to luck. However, I would say Sapphire or MSI are generally regarded as being consistently better overclockers. Stay away from Gigabyte, their newer revision cards are all voltage locked.

[Beeblebrox]

Where in the word are you/what websites are you buying from? Prices vary from area to area and it would be difficult to tell you the cheapest card in your area. Personally i would recommend buying a card from MSI or ASUS based on my past experiences.

Thanks! I'm buying from the United States and its actually kind of ironic that you said MSI because I decided on the MSI Lightning 7970 but here is my question' date=' I noticed the card doesn't have dual link DVI so how would I go about playing on 120hz? Would I get a mini display port to dvi or what?[/quote']

If you want to get 120hz, yes. You'll have to get a Mini Displaport to Dual Link DVI adapter. They run about $100 though.

Or, just get a different 7970. As long as it has "109-C38637-00" written above the PCI-E connector, which is usually visible from most retailers pictures, its a reference PCB.

[Above7heInfluence]

Where in the word are you/what websites are you buying from? Prices vary from area to area and it would be difficult to tell you the cheapest card in your area. Personally i would recommend buying a card from MSI or ASUS based on my past experiences.

Thanks! I'm buying from the United States and its actually kind of ironic that you said MSI because I decided on the MSI Lightning 7970 but here is my question' date=' I noticed the card doesn't have dual link DVI so how would I go about playing on 120hz? Would I get a mini display port to dvi or what?[/quote'] If you want to get 120hz, yes. You'll have to get a Mini Displaport to Dual Link DVI adapter. They run about $100 though. Or, just get a different 7970. As long as it has "109-C38637-00" written above the PCI-E connector, which is usually visible from most retailers pictures, its a reference PCB.

Alright thanks! I figured out that the monitor I'll eventually get, the Benq 2420T has a displayport on it so i assume i can somehow plug a minidisplay port in a adapter to make it a regular displayport and hopefully i do win the silicon lottery! :) Thanks for the help man

EDIT: Do you know of any Minidisplay to Displayport cables or adapters so i can get 120hz? Thanks

[Beeblebrox]

Don't need anything special for Mini Displayport to Displayport. Just a wire like one of these.

[Above7heInfluence]

Don't need anything special for Mini Displayport to Displayport. Just a wire like one of these.

Alright Thanks!