getting a 7950

[tYSON2295]

is this 7950 good and is the voltage locked? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131458

[iSuzak]

Yep, you will be able to overclock fine and the voltage is unlocked

[Art Vandelay]

I've heard this cooler is one of the better ones:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161420&Tpk=7950%20iceq&IsVirtualParent=1

it also is a blower style, which are nice because they exhaust out of your case.

[tYSON2295]

art i have a corsair 300r and im going to fill all the fan slots and put exhaust fans on the side panel :)

[ericlee30]

In my opinion go with the XFX DD 7950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150588 or the Sapphire boost edition 7950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003, I have both of and they both have the voltages unlocked.

[tYSON2295]

yeah nty on the xfx

[ericlee30]

yeah nty on the xfx

LOL, just asking, why not the XFX?

[tYSON2295]

because it heats up alot

[TechFan@ic]

I've heard this cooler is one of the better ones:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161420&Tpk=7950%20iceq&IsVirtualParent=1

it also is a blower style, which are nice because they exhaust out of your case.

It is actually the best one in terms of cooling & noise levels.

[TechFan@ic]

because it heats up alot

I agree the double dissipation cooler is disappointing .

[tYSON2295]

yeah only reason i stayed away from it so im either going with the Powercooler or maybe the sapphire dual-x probably going with the Powercooler since its almost silent matches my build of blue and black and ocs pretty good

[ericlee30]

because it heats up alot

To be honest with you, I just don't see why everyone dislikes the card,I have 3 7950's all together, 2 of them are the XFX DD 7950's 1 of them is the Black Edition and the other is the none black edition, and I have 1 Sapphire boost edition 7950, all 3 of them run very cool, all 3 of them oc very well. I do like the XFX ones more, they overclock better then the Sapphire card. The black edition oc's to 1200 on the core and 1700 on the memory, the none black edition oc's 1200 on the core and 1645 on the memory. The Sapphire on is the one I'm disappointed about out of all 3. The Sapphire one I have oc's 1200 on the core but only goes to 1545 on the memory and it is the only one of the cards that as 2 8pin PCI-E connectors instead of the 2 6pin connectors every other card comes with. I do want to clarify something though, the XFX cards do not get hot at all and the temps for them on full load is around 54C-60C , the Sapphire one is around the same temps as well.

[TechFan@ic]

because it heats up alot

I don't dislike the card, it's fantastic and a beast overclocker with lifetime warranty, but its cooler is mediocre .

[tYSON2295]

because it heats up alot

don't hate the card hate the cooler :)

[ericlee30]

because it heats up alot

I guess I can see your point on the cooler, The sapphire cooler is future space looking. I do like the sapphire coolers looks better when it comes to raw looks, it also has smoked little windows everywhere on the card so you can see more of the heatsink, I just like the XFX ones better because they just have this slick looking classy look to them, if that makes any since. All in all I just think the 7950 series is just the greatest bang for your buck no matter which one you choose. They are just outstanding cards.

[Quantum]

I would say either Sapphire's Dual X 7950 or MSI's Twin Frozr III 7950 because they both have great coolers. Try and find cards with the 7970 pcbs. From recent reviews, some people have gotten 7970 pcbs which will allow you to overclock more. However, some people haven't so it's pretty much a 7970 pcb lottery unfortunately.

[WhiskyHunter]

I would say either Sapphire's Dual X 7950 or MSI's Twin Frozr III 7950 because they both have great coolers. Try and find cards with the 7970 pcbs. From recent reviews, some people have gotten 7970 pcbs which will allow you to overclock more. However, some people haven't so it's pretty much a 7970 pcb lottery unfortunately.

And both have unlocked voltage control unlike the gigabyte 7950.

[Art Vandelay]

I've heard this cooler is one of the better ones:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161420&Tpk=7950%20iceq&IsVirtualParent=1

it also is a blower style, which are nice because they exhaust out of your case.

That's impressive for a blower cooler. Why can't any reference designs be that good?

[TechFan@ic]

I've heard this cooler is one of the better ones:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161420&Tpk=7950%20iceq&IsVirtualParent=1

it also is a blower style, which are nice because they exhaust out of your case.

Because that blower fan is really huge lol .

[hadesjoy]

Take a look at this one....it has the brown PCB. Only one in the 7950 lineup with Sapphire. OC'd to 950....gonna get two and see what they can do...IMO XFX did great on the 7700 and 7800 series. They are having a little trouble with the 7900s and that is sad as they generally build a quality card (cooler and all).

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-PCI-Express-version-Graphics-11196-10-40G/dp/B0082D58P4/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1364160438&sr=1-3&keywords=sapphire+7950

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1551&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

[TechFan@ic]

Take a look at this one....it has the brown PCB. Only one in the 7950 lineup with Sapphire. OC'd to 950....gonna get two and see what they can do...IMO XFX did great on the 7700 and 7800 series. They are having a little trouble with the 7900s and that is sad as they generally build a quality card (cooler and all).

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-PCI-Express-version-Graphics-11196-10-40G/dp/B0082D58P4/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1364160438&sr=1-3&keywords=sapphire+7950

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1551&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

Not worth the 60$ premium for a bit extra overclocking umph in my opinion, especially that the vapor-x runs for around 330$.