Gigabyte 7950 3gb GV-R795WF3-3GD 1000mhz bios 3 free games - Best overall value card?

[LagunaX]

Upgrading an HD 6950 on a secondary rig and was looking at cards NOT in the Titan range.

Came across the Gigabyte 7950 3gb Windforce GV-R795WF3-3GD that ships with a 1000mhz bios now instead of the older 900mhz clock since January 2013.

Sells for $290 plus tax/shipping on Superbiiz:
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=GA-795WF3G

From what I understand, at 1000mhz and 3gb, this card should be neck in neck with the HD 7970 GHZ edition cards and outperform the 2gb and 4gb GTX 670's at 1920 or 2560 resolution gaming.

Outperform or equal, regardless cheaper than either a 7970, 7970 GHZ, or any GTX 670 at $290, right?

Please chime in if you find one cheaper or a coupon that works for Superbiiz!

 

[erocker]

I can't think of a better deal. After the games the card is about 150 bucks.

 

[Jstn7477]

I have one of these cards, and overall it is a great card. My sample overclocked rather crappy, so I took the Windforce cooler off it and put it on my reference 7970 and rigged up a small VRM heatsink to supplement it. Look for the Rev. 2.0 because it supposedly has a 7970 PCB, when mine purchased a month earlier was the standard 7950 but with the GHz BIOS.

 

[Jack1n]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1917611&CatId=7387

270$ after rebate,comes with bioshock infinite and crysis 3 (btw dont count on selling that coupon for much as lots of people are trying to sell them).

 

[Jstn7477]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1917611&CatId=7387

270$ after rebate,comes with bioshock infinite and crysis 3 (btw dont count on selling that coupon for much as lots of people are trying to sell them).

That was my first 7950, and I ended up spending $80 on an AC Accelero Xtreme 7970 just to keep it cool and not loud. Windforce 3X is superior out of the box. Sure, the XFX has a lifetime warranty, but I am doubtful many people will be using 7950s in 5 years.

 

[cadaveca]

I think my opinion of these cards is best shown with pictures:

Just gotta collect them all!

 

[LagunaX]

Are the games tied to the card or can I sell some of them?
I think I'm gonna pull the trigger soon and pick up that $26 32gb key USB drive for $21.

 

[cadaveca]

Are the games tied to the card or can I sell some of them?
I think I'm gonna pull the trigger soon and pick up that $26 32gb key USB drive for $21.

The games are not tied to the card, unless you buy from Newegg, and want to return the card. Newegg places a $170 or $180 value on the coupon, so if you do not return it with the card, you gotta pay for the coupon.

 

[Jstn7477]

I think my opinion of these cards is best shown with pictures:

http://img.techpowerup.org/130415/triplets.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/130415/pcie_plug.jpg





Just gotta collect them all!

I'm jealous of that Rev. 2.0 7950. How well does it clock?

 

[cadaveca]

I'm jealous of that Rev. 2.0 7950. How well does it clock?

Best of the bunch, at stock, but has no volt control. It's not reference 7970 PCB, but is still 7970 PCB, so this card very much clocks like a 7970, benching @ 1175, stable a bit lower than that, rock stable @ 1100 MHz.

So many bioses with these cards are interchangeable, 7950's can use 7970 BIOS, and vice versa.


I had seemed to be unlocking 7950-to-7970, even, with come BIOS flashes, as sometimes points increase with BIOS flash, and I have even seen 2048 shaders in GPU-Z with one card, and flashing back to stock BIOS, the increase remained. But it was still a bit slower than 7970, so something else must be going on.


I've really enjoyed playing with these Gigabyte cards, each and every one. Quite a few people have bought these cards here on TPU too, and pretty much everyone is pretty happy.

UFGY, however, seems to have got a DOA card.

 

[LagunaX]

Ok just placed my order.
Hopefully I get a rev. 2.0 card instead of an unsold one that has been sitting there for a year.
But from what I understand, the older cards can still be flashed to the newer bios.

 

[cadaveca]

Ok just placed my order.
Hopefully I get a rev. 2.0 card instead of an unsold one that has been sitting there for a year.
But from what I understand, the older cards can still be flashed to the newer bios.

Yes, they can. If you need any help on what BIOSes to use, let me know, I have pretty detailed infos, and some BIOSes that aren't widely available, too.


There are two "best" bioses for my config, vF43 for 900 MHz clocks, and vFY1 for 1000 MHz. vFZ1 seems popular on other forums, but has 1.5 V for ram vs 1.6V with vFY1.

You can also flash new cards back to older BIOSes. This is good for cards that have BOOST BIOS, but throttle under load @ 1000 MHz.

 

[Jack1n]

I think my opinion of these cards is best shown with pictures:

http://img.techpowerup.org/130415/triplets.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/130415/pcie_plug.jpg





Just gotta collect them all!

Now im jelly...

 

[cadaveca]

Now im jelly...

Ha!


Tri-Fire has it's issues right now, game playback is smooth, so to speak, but I found that the cards aren't fully being utilized. Playing with each card alone though...LOTS of fun.


The older 2x6-pin cards have full voltage control, both GPU and memory, newer cards, no voltage control at all, but they clock pretty good. My 1325 MHz GPU card is the "D5" PCB.

 

[Jack1n]

Ha!


Tri-Fire has it's issues right now, game playback is smooth, so to speak, but I found that the cards aren't fully being utilized. Playing with each card alone though...LOTS of fun.


The older 2x6-pin cards have full voltage control, both GPU and memory, newer cards, no voltage control at all, but they clock pretty good. My 1325 MHz GPU card is the "D5" PCB.

Mine is one of the very first to come out but it lacks adequate cooling, i was thinking of getting an Accelero extreme 7970 for it.
it DOES manage to do 1050 on the core with 1043mv being actually delivered under load.

 

[cadaveca]

Mine is one of the very first to come out but it lacks adequate cooling, i was thinking of getting an Accelero extreme 7970 for it.
it DOES manage to do 1050 on the core with 1043mv being actually delivered under load.

Sounds like my early cards, too. Try another BIOS, you should get higher clocks! vFy1 should be nice to you!

 

[Jack1n]

Sounds like my early cards, too. Try another BIOS, you should get higher clocks! vFy1 should be nice to you!

Could you perhaps provide me a link where i could attain said BIOS please?

 

[cadaveca]

Could you perhaps provide me a link where i could attain said BIOS please?

Which one? Many are here in the TPU BIOS database, but I have some others that aren't for 24/7 use as well, and I will not upload them(they force 3d clocks 24/7).

Also, check Gigabyte website product pages for FX1, FY1, and F43, they are all available in the download section for the HD7950 Windforce.

F3 and FZ1 aren't "publically" available as well, but I gots dem!

 

[Jack1n]

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4121&dl=1#bios

Second one from top?

 

[cadaveca]

Yessir, I used that one exactly.

F43, F3, FZ1, I got via Gigabyte's @BIOS tool. Gigabyte made a mistake and had F3 LN2 BIOS up on their page for some time. . Now F3 is removed fully from listings, and I'm not sure why, might be an issue, I dunno.

 

[digibucc]

i've got 2x rev 2s, and though i'm not happy with crossfire atm i absolutely love the cards. couldn't be happier. i've tested some basic OCs in CCC, no issues. but I don't generally run OCd.

 

[Jack1n]

Flash successful,will update if it does any thing.

Edit:This bios does not let me modify voltage....

 

[cadaveca]

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/13/04/24/un.png

Flash successful,will update if it does any thing.

Edit:This bios does not let me modify voltage....

Hmm, using Sapphire Trixx to adjust voltages? That BIOS may not have proper support for the voltage controller, I've had no issues like that, except with one card. That card simply doesn't offer voltage control, but the other two cards I have do.

 

[Jack1n]

Tried both MSI AB and Sapphire Trixx and both keep me at the stock voltage of .993 (before v-droop).

 

[cadaveca]

Tried both MSI AB and Sapphire Trixx and both keep me at the stock voltage of .993 (before v-droop).

Did you do a reboot after flash, or shut down? How are you flashing the BIOS?


Voltage controller won't use new BIOS stuff until hard reset is done. Voltage should be 1.25V with those FX1/FY1/FZ1 BIOSes, what was it with your previous BIOS?