Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card (11199-03-20G) $185 after $15 Rebate + Free Shipping

Quote from Masejoer : 10? Try closer to 50%. My 7950 can do 1200/1900, up from 800/1200 stock.

I was being super conservative, not everyone is going to oc that much (I would personally oc to that much). The 7950 is beast mode at ocing though, that's no joke. I just lowball because i'm sick of the nvidia fanboys coming out and talking shit about how u have to oc it by 30-50% to get 680 level of speed.

with all the recent graphic card, ssd, motherboard and case deals.. i feel like i wanna build a new computer ..

Quote from BestJinjo : You can create a custom fan curve in MSI Afterburner. You can lower it to 1% if you want but you'll fry the card. If you want a silent gaming card, only fanless cards would work. Also, do you play without sound? There is no way you'll hear this GPU even at 40% fan speed if you play videogames with sound on in your living room, sitting 6-10 feet away from where HTPC connects to the TV.

fan will/should be on normally when playing game. i meant rest of the time when the htpc is just on for recording shows. is it bad to set the fan to like 10-20% speed during those time of simple tasks (web browsing, recording shows with display off)?

Quote from dn3g3l : fan will/should be on normally when playing game. i meant rest of the time when the htpc is just on for recording shows. is it bad to set the fan to like 10-20% speed during those time of simple tasks (web browsing, recording shows with display off)?

Oh ok, got your question. Ya you can set the fan to a lower percentage like 20%. I have my GPU at 20% in idle / 2D desktop mode / when watching Youtube, etc. Depends on your ambient room temperature and case airflow, it could work with 10, 15 or 20%. I can't tell you as you'll have to test it for yourself. In idle the GPU runs at 150 Mhz. You may need to disable "Enable Hardware acceleration" in Adobe Flash in Youtube if you don't want the GPU to spike to 500mhz and offload the 1080P video usage to the CPU. Otherwise youtube videos will be accelerated via the GPU which means running in-between idle and 3D clocks. Just make a custom fan curve where you specify that the fan rises to keep the GPU below a certain threshold, you can make that 70*C and that way it'll only run at 20% unless it reaches 70*C.

Quote from reccax626 : I was being super conservative, not everyone is going to oc that much (I would personally oc to that much). The 7950 is beast mode at ocing though, that's no joke. I just lowball because i'm sick of the nvidia fanboys coming out and talking shit about how u have to oc it by 30-50% to get 680 level of speed.

GTX680 is 23% faster [techpowerup.com] on average compared to an 800mhz HD7950 at 1080P.

This version is 925mhz or 15% faster than the stock 7950. You are already within 10% of 680's performance. At only 1025mhz HD7950 ~ GTX680 in BF3 [techpowerup.com] with old drivers.

Even at just 925mhz, HD7950 is just 2 fps slower than GTX680 [techspot.com] is in games like MOH:W with Catalyst 12.11s. That means you need a 12-15% overclock from 925mhz to match a GTX680. Anything above 1050mhz is faster than a 680/7970.

... need new graphics card for new i5 -3570k build... should prolly wait... can't decide... wasting too much money already... only have 1920x1080 screen and already promised myself wouldn't spend over 150 for a card but... gaaaahhh!! Can't decide, someone tell me what to do!

Quote from reccax626 : I was being super conservative, not everyone is going to oc that much (I would personally oc to that much). The 7950 is beast mode at ocing though, that's no joke. I just lowball because i'm sick of the nvidia fanboys coming out and talking shit about how u have to oc it by 30-50% to get 680 level of speed.

I haven't had a Nvidia card in 5 years due to the value that the AMD cards have offered since the 4000 series. Before that, they were mediocre going back a few years until you hit the 9500 and 9700 era, where again ATI was on top. All the other years and in-betweens, Nvidia has been the goto-company.

Other than the price differences, they both have the same levels of performance for anything but the bleeding edge, build quality, and even drivers. Both companies of late have had some pretty awful driver releases.

The question is WHY do people argue about these things? It's dumb...and it's not like performance differences that were noticeable of the 80's and 90's. Going from 20fps to 30fps back then meant a ton. Hell, even 14 to 18fps on the initial 3d cards was a huge improvement. I'm looking back to my Riva 128 benchmarks when Nvidia was the king of value when compared to 3dfx (who was in a different league altogether) and only second best compared to the competitors :p

Quote from noblerinthemind : promised myself wouldn't spend over 150 for a card but... gaaaahhh!! Can't decide, someone tell me what to do!

That's what I said not too long ago. Things change. Cards are still tons cheaper than they were 15 years ago by going off the value of the dollar. I think my price points which used to be $100, then $150, then $200, it is now up in the $200-300 range for worthwhile upgrades. You can also watch craigslist locally for other deals. A few weeks ago there was a 6970 here posted at $100. Rare find that was, but other cards pop up that are still pretty good, all in the $100-120 price range.

BF is a no-brainer... pulling the trigger now ~ you need an appointment at the psych doctor

Sapphire cards are great cards. I own (2) 5870 2Gb and (1) 5870 1Gb
2 clan mates also have the newer 3Gb 7950's running x-fire

Awesome price points as well as free games tossed in

I used to only purchase Nvidia as a builder, but no longer adhere to that rule of thumb.

Quote from Masejoer : That's what I said not too long ago. Things change. Cards are still tons cheaper than they were 15 years ago by going off the value of the dollar. I think my price points which used to be $100, then $150, then $200, it is now up in the $200-300 range for worthwhile upgrades. You can also watch craigslist locally for other deals. A few weeks ago there was a 6970 here posted at $100. Rare find that was, but other cards pop up that are still pretty good, all in the $100-120 price range.

I agree. I'm also in the $150 range but find myself stepping into the $200 range. Now that I have a 2560x1440 monitor I tell myself that I need to be able to run comfortably at this resolution. I will probably still hold off until black friday and just take whatever I see around then.

Craigslist can be decent. I found a 7950 locally for $160 because the guy wanted quick cash to get a 7970. Sold in an hour. Best deal I've ever seen.

Quote from kyriostrife : I agree. I'm also in the $150 range but find myself stepping into the $200 range. Now that I have a 2560x1440 monitor I tell myself that I need to be able to run comfortably at this resolution. I will probably still hold off until black friday and just take whatever I see around then. Craigslist can be decent. I found a 7950 locally for $160 because the guy wanted quick cash to get a 7970. Sold in an hour. Best deal I've ever seen.

What makes you think deals will be better on BF? I'm debating on pulling the trigger or waiting, and most forums I've seen say that computer components don't really go down much on BF.

Got the HIS iceQ 7870 for $200. Zero regrets! Built it with a 970 and it can run most anything I can throw at it with max settings. Grab one!

Quote from Mothakes : What makes you think deals will be better on BF? I'm debating on pulling the trigger or waiting, and most forums I've seen say that computer components don't really go down much on BF.

You won't find a "steal" on bf but you will see similar deals as this with an occasional one slipping through with a low price. I'm just waiting until BF because I can wait a couple weeks. And there will be plenty with more game deals. I wouldn't be surprised to see this for $160 after rebate somewhere on BF though. It's more of the fact that you'll have plenty of deals to choose from. But it seems like almost every other day the past few weeks we're seeing something show up a little cheaper and it hasn't stopped.

If you want to pull the trigger now go ahead. You won't regret it.

You could always wait 3 weeks and then pick up whatever you see then. It's not like prices are going to go up. Just a matter of if you need it now or not. I'm waiting for the game releases and benchmarks to show up. I've also only been searching for the past 2-3 weeks or so and have yet to pull the trigger since there have been constant deals. Can't wait forever though. I will buy something in a few weeks for sure.

Quote from kyriostrife : You won't find a "steal" on bf but you will see similar deals as this with an occasional one slipping through with a low price. I'm just waiting until BF because I can wait a couple weeks. And there will be plenty with more game deals. I wouldn't be surprised to see this for $160 after rebate somewhere on BF though. It's more of the fact that you'll have plenty of deals to choose from. But it seems like almost every other day the past few weeks we're seeing something show up a little cheaper and it hasn't stopped. If you want to pull the trigger now go ahead. You won't regret it. You could always wait 3 weeks and then pick up whatever you see then. It's not like prices are going to go up. Just a matter of if you need it now or not. I'm waiting for the game releases and benchmarks to show up. I've also only been searching for the past 2-3 weeks or so and have yet to pull the trigger since there have been constant deals. Can't wait forever though. I will buy something in a few weeks for sure.

Makes sense, thanks!

Quote from Caeruleas : Got the HIS iceQ 7870 for $200. Zero regrets! Built it with a 970 and it can run most anything I can throw at it with max settings. Grab one!

I picked up a HIS for $200 too and could not be more satisfied. It overclocks well and runs every game in ultra without any fuss. I highly recommend the HIS 7870.