Worthy upgrade to a 7970 from a 5970?

[Tanquen]

Originally Posted by Outback Bronze

5970 is a great card but u cant go past a 7970. Like somebody said if u can sell the 5970 for a decent price then maybe its worth while.

You can “go past a 7970” just find a used 5970 for half the cost of the 7970 and you’ll have a faster card.

[Outback Bronze]

Originally Posted by Tanquen

You can “go past a 7970” just find a used 5970 for half the cost of the 7970 and you’ll have a faster card.

True. But it wont overclock like stink and he can always get another 7970 when they become cheaper!

[Tanquen]

I’ve not messed with the overclock yet but it looks like the 7970 would still be slower. Your paying twice the price for almost (maybe) the same speed of an almost 2+ year old card. The only real advantages I see would be no more crossfire issues that the 5970 has. Some games crash or are slower and it’s a pain to disable the 5970 crossfire. I still may have something wrong in my setup as all the reviews made it sound so fast. Like trading blows with the 6990 fast. So I’m surprised that it a bit slower than my old 5970.

[Black Panther]

Not on a 19" monitor.
The 5970 still rocks at 2560x1440 resolution even bottlenecked with an E8400.

[boduke]

Just thought i'd post my views.

I've owned a 5970 for the last year and it is a fantastic card, very very fast. However the recent games 'Battlefield3, deus ex etc' it was really struggling for me at the higher resolutions (mostly use an eyefinity setup of 5040x1050).

Last week I took the plunge and bought a single 7970 and the difference at these resolutions up to 5760x1200 is enormous. I can have almost full detail in battlefield and deus ex at the max resolution and there is no problem (with minimal AA mind you) with very smooth frame rates.

Although on paper the speeds of both cards are very close as you push the resolution up the difference is great.

[Huddo93]

going dual 5970 is probably not a great option, it is going to get seriously hot, and chew up alot of power. In the long run, single 7970 to possible dual in the future is a better upgrade path and the increase from the 7970 to the 5970 is still fairly decent!

[Tanquen]

I’ve done some more testing with my new setup and the CPU is not an issue. In Batman AC and a few other titles I have to down clock the 3930k to below 2GHz before the frame rates start to drop. So my old Q9450 was just fine and I think Black Panthers E8400 would be just fine as well. Even with I OC the 3930k to 4.5GHz the 7970 is no faster than on my old Q9450. The 7970 is just slow compared to a 5970.

I think a new platform with a 7970 is a total waste unless you are doing some very specific things/games or you have single GPU 5XXX or older. Maybe with eyefinity or 4 7970s in crossfire but I’ve seen reviews were the second card can give a 50-90% bump the third only give around 20%. If you have a 5970 wait for the 8970 or maybe the 7990 I’m staying away from dual GPUs if I can help myself. Just too many issues with the 5970 over the last two years that were crossfire and or specifically 5970 related. Most games were fixed at some point but I’ve got three games right now that I have to boot into XP or run in a window (disabling the internal 5970s crossfire) to run stable because of bad Windows 7 5970/crossfire drivers.

[QueueCumber]

I felt compelled to join and post since there seemed to be a lot of erroneous speculation concerning the performance between these two cards.

I have two 5970s in xfire and two 7970s in xfire. I tested both with 3DMark 11. Here are the results:

7970 CF --> X5576 & P14743

5970 CF --> X3459 & P9231

I can tell you from first hand experience using both cards with Skyrim that the 7970s are much much better. I can max out all the settings and play in 1920x1080 HD3D without a hitch. With the 5970s I have to use much lower settings to play Skyrim, and you can forget about HD3D with the 5970s on Skyrim...

The 3DMark 11 differences are a 60% increase in performance! That is congruent with the change in my in-game experiences. I couldn't even come close to maxing all settings in Skyrim with the 5970s. This is without overclocking the card, and as people know the 7970 is a card that is easily an 18%+ overclock.

My system (as per the test results above):

Intel 2600k @ 5GHz (Megahalem heatsink)
Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen-3
8 GB 2133 DDR3
2x Corsair Force GT RAID0

[Tanquen]

Originally Posted by QueueCumber

I felt compelled to join and post since there seemed to be a lot of erroneous speculation concerning the performance between these two cards.

I have two 5970s in xfire and two 7970s in xfire. I tested both with 3DMark 11. Here are the results:

7970 CF --> X5576 & P14743

5970 CF --> X3459 & P9231

I can tell you from first hand experience using both cards with Skyrim that the 7970s are much much better. I can max out all the settings and play in 1920x1080 HD3D without a hitch. With the 5970s I have to use much lower settings to play Skyrim, and you can forget about HD3D with the 5970s on Skyrim...

The 3DMark 11 differences are a 60% increase in performance! That is congruent with the change in my in-game experiences. I couldn't even come close to maxing all settings in Skyrim with the 5970s. This is without overclocking the card, and as people know the 7970 is a card that is easily an 18%+ overclock.

My system (as per the test results above):

Intel 2600k @ 5GHz (Megahalem heatsink)
Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen-3
8 GB 2133 DDR3
2x Corsair Force GT RAID0

Ok, but… 3DMark scores are not worth much.

We know crossfire don’t scale at 100% and is radically different from game to game and from video card series to series. When you run two 7970s that is the sweet spot, 2 GPUs and you can see a 50-90% bump in some games. When you run 2 5970s your running 4 GPUs and that is nothing but trouble. The 5XXX cards don’t scale as well as the 7XXX cards. I don’t even know if Skyrim supports, 3 or 4 GPUs properly but even if a game does the scaling drop off at the 3rd and 4th GPU is usually really, really, really bad.

If you spent $500-$700 on your single 5970 is a single 7970 at another $500-$700 worth it? For me no, all but one of the games I have run faster on the 5970. I originally had the 7970 in my old system and was told by many that it the old slow RAM and old slow CPU holding the 7970 back. But now it’s in my new supper fast system and the frame rates are the same. The 5970 in the old system is still faster.

Sure the 7970 can be faster if you have 2 of them but that’s like $1200.

[Super XP]

From used to used, but mint condition. The HD 5970 is selling from $300 to $500 on e-Bay.
It all depends on how much you can get for your card. The benefit for getting the newer HD 7970 is you can always go CrossfireX later on as a further upgrade path.

For me, I usually skip a generation and just Crossfire my current card to keep up.

Good Luck,

[QueueCumber]

I overclocked the 7970 xfire and got it to X6248 without having to increase the voltage:

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2933964

I'm sorry, but every game I have been playing has been magnitudes better with the 7970s. But I play the newest cutting edge games with all the bells and whistles, perhaps that is why the 5970s can't even come close to the 7970s in my experience.

I'll be selling my HIS 5970s soon on EBay...

[Tanquen]

Originally Posted by QueueCumber

I overclocked the 7970 xfire and got it to X6248 without having to increase the voltage:

http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2933964

I'm sorry, but every game I have been playing has been magnitudes better with the 7970s. But I play the newest cutting edge games with all the bells and whistles, perhaps that is why the 5970s can't even come close to the 7970s in my experience.

I'll be selling my HIS 5970s soon on EBay...

It's like I did not even post.

[Goodman]

Originally Posted by khanman125

is it worth it to upgrade from a 5970 to a 7970? i am really on the fence about it, its been 2 years for my 5970....not sure...

Don't buy the 7970 keep your 5970 & upgrade your monitor first for an 24-27"
You'll be happy that you did & amaze of the difference it's gona make as a 19" is way to small to really enjoy games now a days

[jaredpace]

I would upgrade from a 5970 to a 7970. Less power, single gpu, more overclocking, more headroom, dx11 tech, more ram, more speed, better performance, no crossfire problems, and the highest potential when both are at max oc

[Goodman]

Originally Posted by jaredpace

I would upgrade from a 5970 to a 7970. Less power, single gpu, more overclocking, more headroom, dx11 tech, more ram, more speed, better performance, no crossfire problems, and the highest potential when both are at max oc

Thing is , that the 5970 has to much power for an 19" monitor it would be better on an 24"+ monitor , i would definitely invest in a bigger monitor first , specially if it's an old 4:3

[jaredpace]

Ah didnt realize he was using a 19" 4:3 LCD. That sux

[erocker]

There's only one thing you need to ask yourself. Are you happy with the 5970? Meaning, does the 5970 work correctly with the programs/games you use? With either card working optimally performance is around the same. If you experience "dual GPU issues" and have the cash to burn, the 7970 may be a good choice.

Originally Posted by jaredpace

Ah didnt realize he was using a 19" 4:3 LCD. That sux

Oh... Get an awesome monitor. It would be a way more realistic and satisfying purchase.

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by Tanquen

It's like I did not even post.

I read it, but you are just wrong when it comes to newer games with DirectX 11. A single 7970 gives significantly better performance over a single 5970. I feel bad that your setup didn't work out well for you, but I can only assume that you set the system up incorrectly, or you run old games. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt!

Of course if you are using dinky resolutions, then that is likely another reason why you see no differences. I run 1920x1080 or higher!

[qubit]

Kepler's round the corner. Wait for that before deciding.

[radrok]

Originally Posted by qubit

Kepler's round the corner. Wait for that before deciding.

I agree with qubit, it makes no sense to drop the bomb now, even though, I have to admit that myself, the 7970 DCII is tempting me so much

[Goodman]

Originally Posted by qubit

Kepler's round the corner. Wait for that before deciding.

Originally Posted by radrok

I agree with qubit, it makes no sense to drop the bomb now, even though, I have to admit that myself, the 7970 DCII is tempting me so much

Guys! guys! he got an 19" monitor...

[QueueCumber]

Originally Posted by radrok

I agree with qubit, it makes no sense to drop the bomb now, even though, I have to admit that myself, the 7970 DCII is tempting me so much

I bought the XFX Black Editions. I have it overclocked to 1125 GPU clock and 1575 memory right now. I haven't played around with anything beyond stock voltage yet...

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Goodman

Guys! guys! he got an 19" monitor...

Then it sounds like he might not need an upgrade at all. Still, if he wants to buy a new card anyway, then waiting is the right thing to do.

[Live OR Die]

The 7970s have to many driver bug trust me i sold both of mine, I guess they will get better over time but AMD is slow on fixing bugs.