Best HD 7950 brand/model

I am researching graphics cards for my first build around christmas time. The Asus 7950 DC2 V2 seems like the most reliable one out of everybody and I heard if OC's good but that will void your warranty. 

MSI Twin Frozr

I heard that card has alot of failures.... Should I believe them because I don't want to get something that will crap out on me.....

I called asus for that question just for fun yesterday, evidently if you use asus'software and dont go beyond their limits it does not void the warranty. That was exactly what the guy who I waited 45minutes to talk to said. 

Asus makes really good cards, but you can also look into getting the HIS IceQx2 which is great. Very typical to get people who overclocked the thing to 1.3 GHz and with very good temps to boot. Very large card though... bigger than my Vapor-X 7970...

Wow! What would be the PSU requirements be? Also is the sapphire flex 7950 any good?

yes, if you want to overclock to the maximum possible limits, then I would go with the HIS iceqx2, check out the reviews, it usually hits 1150 at the lowest and it isnt impossible for it to hit 1300

If you are not building until christmas, dont bother about a 7950, wait for the new series to come out and make your mind after they come out

does sapphire vapor-x sit up there somewhere?

Hey,

      I have the XFX 7950 and I would recommend you stay away from it. I think it is the cheapest of the 7950's, (or at least it was on amazon when i bought it) but that's probably because it can't cool shit. The dual 90mm fans are crap, I often hit 85 degrees celcius plus when playing far cry 3 at ultra settings for about an hour. I know it's not my air flow either because i tested the temps with my mates ASUS 7950, which although is more expence, it does do a hell of a job at cooling. I know for a fact that lots of other people have had heat issues with the XFX 7950, because i posted on many different forums and everyone said the same thing. Hope this helped, I don't hate XFX, nor am i biased against it, i just think they did a poor job on the cooling design. 

 

Xfx fell down the shitter with the 7000 series, no offense to anyone who owns one

The Asus HD 7950 DirectCU II TOP V2 & HIS HD 7950 IceQ X² BOOST 3072MB are both excellent cards for the money.

Seen a few issues develop with the earlier MSI & Sapphire 7950s

His iceqx2 is the best 7950 with the asus right next to it, his seems to have better luck in getting better binned chips. asus has better customer support and a cooler that is just as good

which one has the best vrm's?

exactly the same as far as I know. 

The XFX 7950 is freaking fast, it just gets really hot. :/ 

Thats more than likely a case airflow problem not a card problem.

some manufactures employ better components and maybe utlize digital VRM's for better overclocking stability. not alot of sites talk about it tho :\

Yeah I would get the iceqx2. One of the best and one of the cheapest right now.

The xfx card cooling sucks, the reference is way better sadly

its not a case colling problem

Cooling*