7870 vs 7950

[BrokenShot]

I have ordered a HIS 7870 Iceq GHz edition GPU and was wondering if it was enough in 1080p gaming. It has 2gb of VRAM and the cooler helps keep it at good temps so I was going to over clock it to 1100mhz or more. I was wondering if it was enough for 1080p at 60hz or if a 7950 could deliver much better. Also if you could tell me if a 6300 is enough to suffice, it would be greatly appreciated. :-)

[Dave :)]

The 7870 will be able to play on decent FPS at 1080; i don't think it will be able to completely max out games; however it will be close. Obviously, the 7950 will perform better but then you do pay extra for that. Stick with the 7870 as it will be fine for you for just one monitor etc. The 6300 will be suffice - depending on how much performance you want, it's not as strong in gaming as the 8350, but then it's not top of the line like the 8350.

[BrokenShot]

I will be able to upgrade again in the summer so do you suggest getting the 8350 later on? Also I might be able to get a 7970 but would that be overkill? By the way thanks for the quick reply, I really love this forum and I hope Linus will be able to migrate quickly. :-)

[Dave :)]

If you want to stick with AMD then sure - the 8350 would be a great CPU upgrade. Having said that, Intel is releasing their Haswell generation of CPU architectures in the summer aswell, and these will inevitably have greater performance over the 8350 and anything else that is currently on offer. it would mean you having to also upgrade your motherboard aswell as CPU, but you would notice a much bigger performance increase switching. What are you looking to spend? The 7970 would perform the best out of the 3; some say it's overkill - yes; however, if you want the best of the best get that.

[that_one_kid]

Get a 7870 LE/XT. It's a 7950 with 95% of the performance for 70% of the price.

[BrokenShot]

I forgot about the haswell release thanks for reminding me. I would have to scrap the whole system however, but if it will deliver stellar performance, I would be okay with it. What do you suggest I do with this build? It costed about 900-1000 dollars and is coming in the mail about 3 days from now. I will have about 1000-1600 dollars during the summer so I can make a new build. What do you suggest I do? By the way did you participate in the prank on Linus during the live stream involving the oyster pizza? He did say it was from the mod team.

[TechFan@ic]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements, what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption.

Now, what I would personally recommend for playing the latest and most demanding games on 1920x1080 would be an HD 7950 paired with an FX 8320.

I tend to recommend the FX 8320 over the FX 8350 because it is exactly the same as the FX 8320 only slightly underclocked.

And it has been shown that the FX 8320 can achieve identical overclocks to the FX 8320 most of the time, but the upside is it's cheaper , so you can spend more money on your graphics card.

The reasons I also tend to recommend the AMD 8 cores over the intel quad cores, is because it's almost certain that all future games will utilize all 8 cores because of the next gen of consoles, another reason is because the AMD platform is generally less expensive, so again... you can spend more money on your graphics card, which is the key component in any gaming build.

For 1000$ I would suggest this

[TABLE=class: wysiwyg_table_box-table-a wysiwyg_table_featured_partlist]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

CPU[/TD]

[TD]

AMD 8 Core FX 8320

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

Combo or $164.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

CPU Cooler[/TD]

[TD]

Cooler Master 212 plus

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrb10212pg1[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$19.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Motherboard[/TD]

[TD]

Gigabyte 990FX-UD3

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga990fxaud3[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$129.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Memory[/TD]

[TD]

G.Skill Ripjawz X 2x8GB 1600

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl10d16gbxl[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

Combo or $109.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Storage[/TD]

[TD]

WD Blue 1TB

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$69.98[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

[/TD]

[TD]

Samsung 840 Pro 120GB

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7td120bw[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$94.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Video Card[/TD]

[TD]

Sapphire 7950 3GB Dual-X

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003523l[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$289.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Case[/TD]

[TD]

Cooler Master Storm Scout

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sgc2000kkn1gp[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$54.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Power Supply[/TD]

[TD]

Corsair 600W Bronze

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$59.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Dave :)]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote']

Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

You can expect CPU performance to increase by around 5 - 15% at the same clock speed as Ivy Bridge.

From Here

[BrokenShot]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote']

Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

You can expect CPU performance to increase by around 5 - 15% at the same clock speed as Ivy Bridge.

From Here

I did remember the increase from sandy to ivy bridge, however it didn't seem that significant to my, in my opinion. Sure ivy bridge did improve pcie 3.0 performance, but not by much

[BrokenShot]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements, what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption.

Now, what I would personally recommend for playing the latest and most demanding games on 1920x1080 would be an HD 7950 paired with an FX 8320.

I tend to recommend the FX 8320 over the FX 8350 because it is exactly the same as the FX 8320 only slightly underclocked.

And it has been shown that the FX 8320 can achieve identical overclocks to the FX 8320 most of the time, but the upside is it's cheaper , so you can spend more money on your graphics card.

The reasons I also tend to recommend the AMD 8 cores over the intel quad cores, is because it's almost certain that all future games will utilize all 8 cores because of the next gen of consoles, another reason is because the AMD platform is generally less expensive, so again... you can spend more money on your graphics card, which is the key component in any gaming build.

For 1000$ I would suggest this

[TABLE=class: wysiwyg_table_box-table-a wysiwyg_table_featured_partlist]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

CPU[/TD]

[TD]

AMD 8 Core FX 8320

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

Combo or $164.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

CPU Cooler[/TD]

[TD]

Cooler Master 212 plus

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rrb10212pg1[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$19.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Motherboard[/TD]

[TD]

Gigabyte 990FX-UD3

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-ga990fxaud3[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$129.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Memory[/TD]

[TD]

G.Skill Ripjawz X 2x8GB 1600

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl10d16gbxl[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

Combo or $109.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Storage[/TD]

[TD]

WD Blue 1TB

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$69.98[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

[/TD]

[TD]

Samsung 840 Pro 120GB

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7td120bw[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$94.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Video Card[/TD]

[TD]

Sapphire 7950 3GB Dual-X

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003523l[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$289.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Case[/TD]

[TD]

Cooler Master Storm Scout

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-sgc2000kkn1gp[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$54.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_heading]

Power Supply[/TD]

[TD]

Corsair 600W Bronze

www.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m[/TD]

[TD=class: wysiwyg_table_price]

$59.99[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Thanks for the effort in giving me a new build, I really appreciate it, however, I already have chosen all my parts so in the summer I guess I will upgrade my CPU and GPU and get a ssd.

[BrokenShot]

Get a 7870 LE/XT. It's a 7950 with 95% of the performance for 70% of the price.

I did know about the 7870xt, however, I heard that some people had problems with it and that turned me away from it

[TechFan@ic]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote'] Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

In reality, the improvements from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge are also just in integrated graphics and power consumption.

Per clock performance doesn't matter one bit, since Sandy Bridge can achieve much higher clocks, making those performance/clock improvements utterly useless.

And why did Ivy Bridge CPUs hit a lower clock wall than Sandy Bridge ? it's because of the much larger GPU die, so guess what !! Haswell will have a GPU die that's more than twice as big as Ivy Bridge, gimping its overclocking potential even more.

All unlocked intel quad cores from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge will have the same performance when overclocked on the same cooler, leaving you with nothing other than power saving and integrated graphics improvements.

www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-4770k-haswell-performance,3461-6.html

[Dave :)]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote']

Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

You can expect CPU performance to increase by around 5 - 15% at the same clock speed as Ivy Bridge.

From Here

It was 10-15% increase; it won't be noticeable in every day useage as it's not normal for a program to utilize 100% CPU.

[Dave :)]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote'] Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

it's because of the much larger GPU die, so guess what !! Haswell will have a GPU die that's more than twice as big as Ivy Bridge, gimping its overclocking potential even more.

It's been speculated (again no one knows for sure) that Haswell will a much better overclocker than both SB and IB. A recent Q&A (AMA) by an Intel Engineer on Reddit certainly alluded to the fact that Haswell will be a beast overclocker aswell - make of that what you will, i'm just stating what i've researched..

[TechFan@ic]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote'] Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

it's because of the much larger GPU die, so guess what !! Haswell will have a GPU die that's more than twice as big as Ivy Bridge, gimping its overclocking potential even more.

It's been speculated (again no one knows for sure) that Haswell will a much better overclocker than both SB and IB. A recent Q&A (AMA) by an Intel Engineer on Reddit certainly alluded to the fact that Haswell will be a beast overclocker aswell - make of that what you will, i'm just stating what i've researched..

I'm aware of the engineer's statement, I flat out don't believe him, I strongly believe that we will see the exact same thing we saw from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-overclocking-core-i7-3770k,3198.html

[Umeshwarnath]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote'] Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

it's because of the much larger GPU die, so guess what !! Haswell will have a GPU die that's more than twice as big as Ivy Bridge, gimping its overclocking potential even more.

It's been speculated (again no one knows for sure) that Haswell will a much better overclocker than both SB and IB. A recent Q&A (AMA) by an Intel Engineer on Reddit certainly alluded to the fact that Haswell will be a beast overclocker aswell - make of that what you will, i'm just stating what i've researched..

I'm aware of the engineer's statement, I flat out don't believe him, I strongly believe that we will see the exact same thing we saw from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-overclocking-core-i7-3770k,3198.html

when they say it is gonna overclock like mad......we keep our fingers crossed and wait!

[Dave :)]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote'] Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

it's because of the much larger GPU die, so guess what !! Haswell will have a GPU die that's more than twice as big as Ivy Bridge, gimping its overclocking potential even more.

It's been speculated (again no one knows for sure) that Haswell will a much better overclocker than both SB and IB. A recent Q&A (AMA) by an Intel Engineer on Reddit certainly alluded to the fact that Haswell will be a beast overclocker aswell - make of that what you will, i'm just stating what i've researched..

I'm aware of the engineer's statement, I flat out don't believe him, I strongly believe that we will see the exact same thing we saw from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-overclocking-core-i7-3770k,3198.html

But no one made comments about IB being a good overclocker like Haswell has been rumored to be...it wasn't exactly a shock that IB didn't overclock as well as SB

[BrokenShot]

Anyways, thanks everyone for helping me solve this problem, I have decided that I will upgrade my GPU and cpu this summer instead of changing to haswell. :-)

[GamerDude]

Anyways' date=' thanks everyone for helping me solve this problem, I have decided that I will upgrade my GPU and cpu this summer instead of changing to haswell. :-)[/quote']If you're upgrading to an FX8350, I do hope that you have a better than average mobo, and that it is a 990FX chipset mobo. The FX8350, which starts at 4ghz, can be OC quite easily, I have mine @4.45ghz at stock voltage and combined with 2x GTX670 in SLi, it hasn't let me down in any of the games I've thrown at it.....and I've thrown basically all the games I have at hand (Dead Space 3, Crysis 3, TR, DmC, RE6, just everything I have INCLUDING the kitchen sink!). BTW, if the FX6300 OCs well and can handle the games you play......I don't see a need for you to go FX8350.

[Vaoh]

Haswell doesn't provide any meaningful CPU performance improvements' date=' what it brings is pretty much more of the same, better integrated graphics and lower power consumption. [/quote'] Source? It is expected that there will be the same general performance increase of 7-15% like SB -> IB..

In reality, the improvements from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge are also just in integrated graphics and power consumption. Per clock performance doesn't matter one bit, since Sandy Bridge can achieve much higher clocks, making those performance/clock improvements utterly useless. And why did Ivy Bridge CPUs hit a lower clock wall than Sandy Bridge ? it's because of the much larger GPU die, so guess what !! Haswell will have a GPU die that's more than twice as big as Ivy Bridge, gimping its overclocking potential even more. All unlocked intel quad cores from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge will have the same performance when overclocked on the same cooler, leaving you with nothing other than power saving and integrated graphics improvements. www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-4770k-haswell-performance,3461-6.html

IB hit the lower clock wall because of the thermal interface between the die and heat spreader, that's why IB gets very hot when you apply what would be considered moderate voltages for Sandy. It had nothing to do with the GPU die, just Intel skimped on the TIM for the heat spreader. And the fact that Intel doesn't seem to acknowledge this makes me very doubtful for Haswell and IB-E.