770s are more expensive here, usually £300-£400 depending on OC/cooler/model. If they were the same price as 7970s here I'd be getting two of those. At more than £200 more for two 770s it's not really something I'm considering. Given that my gaming time is limited and often spent away from home on a GTX680M equipped laptop I can't really see myself spending more.
Upgrade itch time : HD5850 Crossfire to ?
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slh28
Posts: 1,703 +172
Great choice 
the games sell for a decent about on ebay so it will work out to be a very good deal.
the games sell for a decent about on ebay so it will work out to be a very good deal.Have you patched the drivers? Also try using 2 CF bridges across the cards. Pretty much everyone has reported 96+ Hz on those monitors.
GhostRyder
Posts: 2,151 +588
So you went ahead and ordered some 7970's, good choice and glad you went for it. 450 is not a bad price for the pair, and you wont be disappointed. Ive had the same problem not picking up some of those Devil 13 or non-Devil thirteen AX7990's on sale on newegg for 600 a piece. its been killing me inside that such a low price is there but im too hyped up now for the 290X cards to think about those 7990's for my rig. Im forcing myself to stick with my 6990's till those Dual GPU 290X cards! Good choice on the Twin Frozr's btw, I love the MSI coolers as they have such a sleek look to them like those new EVGA ACX coolers.Right. 2 x 3GB MSI Radeon HD 7970 Twin Frozr III/OC Boost Edition ordered. £450.
Now to stop watching information about the 290X and prices
6 Radeon Gold Reward coupons (average game price here £30-45), and see what I can get on ebay for the old 5850s.
O
Only using one CF bridge. Will try overclocking again once I get the new graphics cards installed. The pixel rate patch might be required as I'd installed fresh set of drivers. Probably the problem as I'd had 80Hz working fine before.Great choice
Have you patched the drivers? Also try using 2 CF bridges across the cards. Pretty much everyone has reported 96+ Hz on those monitors.
I read about the 7990's but scared by the frequent mentioning of coil whine, so in the end the 7970s got the edge in my evaluations. Figured that I don't want to go for 290X CF as it's more than I want to spend, so the 7970s will give me a better upgrade for the time being.
GhostRyder
Posts: 2,151 +588
Ehhhhhh as much as some reviewers mentioned the coil whine, others said the exact opposite. I found the coil whine was not too bad and seemed to only be in a couple of reviews as more said it was either not noticeable or non-existant. I also watched a lot of videos that were supposed to be showcasing it and honestly I felt it was not that big a deal. I prefer Dual GPU cards because my board does not have 4 PCIE spots so I cant run 4 individual cards (Though im still fighting myself over Ivy bridge-E) which if I did grab that setup, I will grab 4 290X cards.
Yea it was smart to go ahead and grab some 7970's, ive convinced so many people recently because of the price drop to $250 on some versions of the card in America because you just cant beat that price for such a powerful GPU (200 on the 7950 which is a steal).
My real concern for next Generation is the lack of the CFX bridge on the top of the line cards. Though I don't mind the idea of going through the PCI-E 3.0 like it was in the past because it will be fine, I personally don't have PCI-E 3.0 so im probably going to be forced into upgrading my board and CPU because of this if im wanting to stick with my CFX setup.
slh28
Posts: 1,703 +172
Yeah that's your problem, you need to re-patch the drivers after an update.
Happily gaming at 96Hz 2560x1440 with general fps over 70 in metro 2033 with very high details 4xAF, 4xMSAA. Although the fans only seem to go up to 50-60% speed and the temps have recorded up to 93c. Have adjusted the fan profile in Afterburner but gets quite loud at 70%+ speeds. I think my computer area is too warm (centrally controlled radiator behind my chair that can't be turned off individually. New 20cm Bitfenix fans(one of the few available in 2cm width) coming for the Corsair 600T which will hopefully improve airflow, plus some compressed air cans to clean it all out. The front of the case was chilled and top exhaust was getting close to to being too warm to touch
If the MSI Twinfrozer III is about 20c cooler than reference and quieter I'd have hated to have run a CF setup with reference cards!
If the MSI Twinfrozer III is about 20c cooler than reference and quieter I'd have hated to have run a CF setup with reference cards!
slh28
Posts: 1,703 +172
The MSI TF's aren't really the best coolers, and the 600T isn't a great airflow case either if you have the acrylic side window on. Using the mesh window with fans blowing onto the GPUs really helps but you lose some aesthetics.
Or you could just get a gaming headset and set up a very aggresive fan profile, that's what I do obviously doesn't cut out the noise for other people in the room though...
Or you could just get a gaming headset and set up a very aggresive fan profile, that's what I do
obviously doesn't cut out the noise for other people in the room though...Not the best but usually reasonably decent, bested by ACX/DirectCU/Windforce coolers. Surprised they weren't a little better than they are.
I have the non windowed original 600T. Will see how the better intake and exhaust fans help out. But already game wearing some wireless headphones, so the noise isn't that much of a problem. Just thought they would be quieterOr you could just get a gaming headset and set up a very aggresive fan profile, that's what I do
I see from your profile you have the 600T white so have experience running CF 7970s in much the same environment. What are your max temps?
GhostRyder
Posts: 2,151 +588
MSIs coolers are a bit shall we say over hyped for what they are (the cards IMHO are also overpriced) but they do a decent job so long as you supply some fresh air in.
Personally, while I like aftermarket coolers, I have always liked blower style cards a little more when running in SLI/CFX even if that's a bit weird mostly because they are more likely to keep the temps down without much of a need for help from airflow/the case. Personally I would go with an ACX cooler, that new Asus Matrix cooler, or gigabyte when going for the aftermarket area.
If you have a 600T original, you can get some decent air pressure moving through the system, I have a 800D case and its a pain to get air moving through that case and I was able to keep the 6990s happy when they were on their fans. Just get some fans like These if your not too concerned for noise and need a little bump in pressure.
Personally, while I like aftermarket coolers, I have always liked blower style cards a little more when running in SLI/CFX even if that's a bit weird mostly because they are more likely to keep the temps down without much of a need for help from airflow/the case. Personally I would go with an ACX cooler, that new Asus Matrix cooler, or gigabyte when going for the aftermarket area.
If you have a 600T original, you can get some decent air pressure moving through the system, I have a 800D case and its a pain to get air moving through that case and I was able to keep the 6990s happy when they were on their fans. Just get some fans like These if your not too concerned for noise and need a little bump in pressure.
slh28
Posts: 1,703 +172
Depending on ambient temperatures, around 85-90C for the top card and 75-80C for the lower one. The fan profile is from 20% at 50C up to 80% at 90C (I.e. silent during normal usage and very loud when gaming).
Both are reference designs and only a double slot width on the motherboard between them. I have a Scythe GT zip tied to the HDD rack blowing air towards the back. This really helps with the blower designs since they exhaust out the back, before I added the fan the top card would get up to almost 100C.
dividebyzero
Posts: 4,840 +1,271
I'm not looking.
I'm not looking.
I'm not looking.
Ok. I looked.
Think I'm still happy with my CF decision. And have one of my AMD never settle game vouchers kept in hope that BF4 is one of the games they add to the game selection.
512bit memory bus is of interest but other than that I'm happy with the 7970s.
dividebyzero
Posts: 4,840 +1,271
So you should be. Judging by the price (if its legit. If the pre-order is going ahead, everyone will know tomorrow), people will be paying for that BF4 package. Looks as though they've lumped in the expansions and DLC packs into the price!
Even at $US600-700, the card doesn't stack up particularly well against your CFX choice. This is by some way, the weirdest lead up to a launch I've seen for quite some time. The cherry on the top will be if NDA expiration doesn't bring reviews and Day 1 (r)etail availability.
780 Classy's on order? (or now waiting to see 780i/785?)
dividebyzero
Posts: 4,840 +1,271
On pause at the moment. I've been offered a vanilla 780 with waterblock which is quite appealing (especially as it's a ton under the Classy's price), but since it won't be until his Lightning arrives I have a week or so to decide- and as is standard, I'll probably still be shy a few days before the 290X's launch which will likely devalue it further!
GhostRyder
Posts: 2,151 +588
Yea, the price of CFX 7970s right now just cant be beat, ill be waiting to for those to come down in price since BF4 is running surprisingly well on my current system. Though I have a new CPU im about to put in this weekend and cant wait to spend some time playing with it.
I would not hold my breath though with those never settle vouchers, I don't think BF4 will be added to the list at least for awhile since its a brand new game. Just make sure they don't expire before you decide to use them.
