Prefered AMD manufacturer brands

[joshjaks]

I'm gonna really try to get the fight started this time. JK! Which radeon graphics cards brands do you guys prefer. I've liked sapphire because of my 7 year old x1950 pros that are still running in my first build. I also like the xfx lifetime warranty. The reason longevity matters is I had two evga 8800 gt's that both burned out right after the 3 year mark, conveniently right after warranty. The problem was, where I was at in life, I was stuck without graphics for over a month and when I got my replacement, it was a radeon 5670. I have never been happy with a card that has had less than a 256 bit interface, and it wasn't long before I upgraded to the 6870 that I love.

I'm looking for either 2 7850's or 7870's. Let me know what you think because I've seen some good deals on some other manufacturers that have some good core and memory clocks. Don't be afraid to recommend performance, even if it means sacrificing some longevity. I do have a better job now! =D

[Doctor_Death]

Newegg has a sale right now on the XFX 7970 DD for $359.99 with a $30 rebate and a game coupon with a value of $169.99
This is a very good deal for a 7970, if you have the cash, you should jump on it before they sell out.

[SamCR3]

Stan is right about that deal on the XFX 7970. You are better off with one strong card versus two lesser cards. You could always add another 7970 down the road and really have some serious GPU power. As for brands, I prefer Sapphire and XFX. Great cards, service, warranty and performance. Keep in mind that XFX now offers lifetime warranties on ONLY their Black Edition cards. Otherwise it's two years.

[joshjaks]

Will that one card run dual monitors at 1920x1080 better than 2 7870's? It was hard to find any single high end card comparisons to budget crossfire setups. I've been torn because I could do that one high end card now and have a good shot at a second one around april. Some thoughts seemed to line up to crossfire being better for multiple monitors, but I do like this idea of doing the 7970. I was still kind of thinking of doing something like that.

Btw, is it too risky to wait till mid wednesday when the component black friday sales start? Ah, could always cancel or return order too if something better comes up. *shrug

[Solara2xb]

One single card is nice if you can get the higher end card. I would much rather have a 7970 then 7870 in crossfire.
I am holding out right now for a higher end GPU also. Looking to get a black edition 7970 or GTX680 SC.

I've seen allot of good deals in the last week and have been tempted to pull the trigger also, but my brain is telling me to wait see what cyber monday brings.

Also I use allot of XFX cards. I've owned about 10+ of those cards and all have been great. I also have Sapphire that has given me no problems and MSI as well.
I have a MSI GTX660 for my Intel Bench.

I also have had good luck with Zotac and Visiontek. But the ones I prefer are XFX, Sapphire and MSI ATM.

[realneil]

The XFX lifetime warranty isn't so on all of their cards anymore. But I still buy the brand, mainly because I trust them to be good cards. The XFX cards with "DD" in their name have dual fans on them, and they cool better. XFX cards are wicked looking too.

Sapphire also makes some great cards. Many of our users are happy with this brand.

Also, Gigabyte and ASUS are both great choices. (they make NVIDIA and AMD based cards)

I took a chance on an inexpensive card last year, (PNY XLR8 GTX-570) and I have been pleasently surprised with it's performance. So now I can say that I trust them too.

Look at these too.

[joshjaks]

Awesome. Yeah I'll skip the 7870's then. I might have to upgrade a power supply too, but I'm not sure. I have a seasonic gold rated power supply at 750w. Newegg's little calculator is saying for 2 of the 7970's I would need close to 1000 watts. Are they pretty close to right or could they be a little out there. The recomendation for 1 is only 635 watts so I know I'm good for now.

[realneil]

No, a 750 should work for you. Seasonic delivers power at it's rated output, unlike some other lesser brands.
They don't know if you have a crap PSU or not, so they recommend more power to compensate, just in case you're using a no-name PSU.

[joshjaks]

Awesome. Yeah I'll skip the 7870's then. I might have to upgrade a power supply too, but I'm not sure. I have a seasonic gold rated power supply at 750w. Newegg's little calculator is saying for 2 of the 7970's I would need close to 1000 watts. Are they pretty close to right or could they be a little out there. The recomendation for 1 is only 635 watts so I know I'm good for now.

Oh, I think I answered my own question. At the xfx site they recommend a minimum of 650 for crossfire. I think the newegg thing is a gimick to make money sadly.

[Solara2xb]

Yea, 750watt, Esp Seasonic is ok.. Running 2 will be ok as well, but depending on how much other stuff you have installed.
The newer cards now run much lower power rating so these massive PSU units aren't need, but its more of a nice to have kind of thing..

[joshjaks]

No, a 750 should work for you. Seasonic delivers power at it's rated output, unlike some other lesser brands.
They don't know if you have a crap PSU or not, so they recommend more power to compensate, just in case you're using a no-name PSU.

lol. Or I could've just refreshed the page or looked at my email tab and saw that. Oh well, double verification never hurts! =D

[SamCR3]

A single 7970 will run dual monitors no problem but heat may be an issue. I hooked dual monitors to my 7970 and it increased my idle and load temps about 10 degrees. I would recommend water cooling or a stout aftermarket aircooler if you are going to run more than one monitor with any card. Arctic cooling makes a liquid cooling unit for a 7970 if you don't want to go with custom water (although I recommend custom water). Newegg.com - ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid 7970 VGA Cooler. With the right case, you could install the Arctic cooling unit in the rear 120mm fan slot and a Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme in the top of the case. Newegg.com - Thermaltake CLW0217 Water 2.0 Extreme/All-In-One Liquid Cooling System. Would make for a nice (but expensive) all in one liquid cooling set up. Of course, for about the same money you could go custom water and get even better cooling performance.

[joshjaks]

A single 7970 will run dual monitors no problem but heat may be an issue. I hooked dual monitors to my 7970 and it increased my idle and load temps about 10 degrees. I would recommend water cooling or a stout aftermarket aircooler if you are going to run more than one monitor with any card. Arctic cooling makes a liquid cooling unit for a 7970 if you don't want to go with custom water (although I recommend custom water). Newegg.com - ARCTIC Accelero Hybrid 7970 VGA Cooler. With the right case, you could install the Arctic cooling unit in the rear 120mm fan slot and a Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme in the top of the case. Newegg.com - Thermaltake CLW0217 Water 2.0 Extreme/All-In-One Liquid Cooling System. Would make for a nice (but expensive) all in one liquid cooling set up. Of course, for about the same money you could go custom water and get even better cooling performance.

Good to know. Right now I just have the one monitor so heat won't be an issue. I'm definately headed for dual though in the next couple to few months. I'm tired of alt tabbing all the time at the very least. If I'm lucky I might be throwing in my second card with the monitor too. I also like more excuses to go with custom liquid because I really want to play with that next year.

[grumpydaddy]

XFX? Really? Do you remember when they had a "Lifetime Warranty"?

When I tried to use it I got this:

Hi, thanks for the extra information, in these circumstances, if the card is faulty, we can offer you a discount off a new product in part-exchange for your card. You can use your support login at : http://www.xfxsupport.co.uk/upgrade/ The discount we can offer on your product is : 87 GBP. Please read the terms and conditions, and please note that prices and discount values are subject to change. Many Thanks.

They didn't offer a full list to px from either: (When reading this list consider that I just bought an ASUS HD7950-DC2T-3GD5 for £230 )

Code Description Stock Price
HD-697A-CNFS HD 6970 880M 2GB DDR5 Dual MiniDP HDMI Dual DVI PCI-E 31 £199
HD-687X-CNFC XFX Radeon HD 6870 900M 2GB DDR5 MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI 13 £139.99
HD-695X-ZDDC XFX Radeon HD 6950 830M 1GB DDR5 MINIDP HDMI DVI XXX 6 £139
HD-695X-ZDFS XFX Radeon HD 6950 800M 1GB MINIDP HDMI DVI PCI-E 2 £139
HD-695X-ZNDC XFX Radeon HD 6950 830M 1GB DDR5 MINIDP HDMI DVI XXX 10 £139
HD-695X-ZNFS XFX Radeon HD 6950 800M 1GB DDR5 MiniDP HDMI DVI PCI-E 9 £139
HD-687A-ZHFC XFX Radeon HD 6870 900M 1GB DDR5 DUAL DP DUAL DVI HDMI 22 £116
HD-685X-ZCFC XFX Radeon HD 6850 775M 1GB DDR5 MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI 10 £101
HD-685X-ZCFS XFX Radeon HD 6850 775M 1GB DDR5 MiniDP HDMI DVI PCI-E 42 £101
HD-685X-ZDFS XFX Radeon HD 6850 775M 1GB DDR5 MiniDP HDMI DVI PCI-E 11 £101
HD-577X-ZHLC XFX Radeon HD 5770 850M 1GB DDR5 MINI HDMI DUAL DVI 6 £85
GX-260X-ADJA XFX GeForce GTX 260 576M 896MB DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E 2 £80
HD-577X-ZNLC XFX Radeon HD 5770 850M 1GB DDR5 HDMI DVI VGA PCI-E 9 £79.99
HD-677X-ZNLC XFX Radeon HD 6770 850M 1GB DDR5 HDMI VGA DVI PCI-E 10

So, lets summarise: XFX card broke, that's OK, stuff happens, but instead of repair or replace as stated in the blurb back then they say spend a good deal more cash with us to get anywhere near the standard of card you had and no you are not being offered current series of cards.

Except to maybe sell on ebay ...why would you???

Incidentally, contrary to everything one reads about what companies offer by way of warranty I also got this:

There is no lifetime warranty with the product within Europe, lifetime warranty only applies to certain cases within North America. The warranty within Europe is the sole responsibility of the reseller

Suffice to say I am not a fan

[realneil]

XFX? Really? Suffice to say I am not a fan

I wouldn't be either if they had treated me the same way. But they did replace a 6870 for me when it died, and it took no time at all to happen. I was impressed by the RMA process at the time.

[Solara2xb]

yea, never had a issue with XFX when I had to RMA a card, but it can be because we are in the US and your in the UK.
XFX is only 10 mins from me and last time for RMA I just drop to the warehouse and dropped off.

also XFX had allot of cards with lifetime warranties.. but when the new 7XXX series cards released they only made it on the black edition cards.
I have 8 cards still currently and ALL have lifetime warranties.