Gigabyte vs MSI 7950

[Flash]

I'm trying to decide between

MSI Radeon HD 7950 Twin Frozr III 880MHZ 3GB 1250MHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2xMini DP DX11 PCI-E Video Card

and

Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 900MHZ 3GB 5GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XDP PCI-E Video Card


Here are my points (please take into consideration I live in Canada):

-I will be buying an MSI Z87 GD65 motherboard. Not sure if having a MSI brand GPU makes any difference

-MSI has a RMA center in Vancouver. It means if my card goes belly up I could just drive there, rather than having to pay shipping costs, and to the US if going with Gigabyte.

-From newegg reviews, it looks like the Gigabyte has more failure rates.

-Gigabyte is voltage locked. However, it seems it's 1,25v, so it's already pretty high.

-Both cards seem to be able to overclock at the same scale?

-Using MSI afterburner on an MSI GPU would allow for better overclock-ability?

-Gigabyte is cheaper. Atm it's 245 vs 260 after rebate. It was the same situation last week

-Gigabyte apparently has a better cooler (quieter and lower temps)



So taking the above points into consideration, and your own, if you were to buy one of these two cards, which one would you go for?

Which in general makes better quality products and has better and easier warranty support?

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I do not think either of those cards are voltage locked. cadaveca has 2 or 3 of the gigabyte windforce cards, and im not quite sure I recall him saying the voltage was locked on them.

 

[shovenose]

I'd recommend a GTX 770 instead.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I'd recommend a GTX 770 instead.

I would not, they are not even in the same price segment. GTX770s are ~$400. 7950s are ~$300 $250. It would make more sense to recommend the 760, but id still take 7950s over one.


EDIT: Scratch that. had to check benchmarks again. 760 is indeed faster then the 7950s. So I would get one of those over the 7950 now actually.

 

[ruff0r]

I'd recommend a GTX 770 instead.

he probably meant GTX 760.

 

[suraswami]

used 7950 might be another option?

 

[kn00tcn]

you buying from ncix?

what's wrong with a reference card? (to move the hot air outside of the case)

 

[Pixrazor]

gigabyte for the value
and don't care about benchies, I have a 7950 and it is awesome, I don't think that a gpu (gtx 760) with a fewer TMU will perform better than one with greater (96 vs 112). it's like saying that the 7870xt is more powerful than a 7950, or 7950 than 7970, 670 than 680, ...

 

[Flash]

you buying from ncix?

what's wrong with a reference card? (to move the hot air outside of the case)

They are the only option available?