[GPU] Unable to decide between brands

[mAz]

So the time has come to upgrade my rig, usually I would wait until what I had is really out of date but because I actually won this one in a competition, I have a reasonable amount of money to throw at it so I have decided to get a new GPU.

I currently have an nVidia GTX 580 DCUii and although I can't complain about the performance (I can run everything on ultra with no problems at all, it's great) I don't particularly like the idea of it hanging down due to it's weight. I recently bought a "Ninja wire" from KustomPCs and it worked well and looked pretty sharp to say the least but now I have completed my GFs build and I want to put the 580 in that.

I decided to go for the AMD 7970 as it has a pretty good set of reviews on various websites and it does beat the 580 on quite a few tests too, plus I am also in the process of constructing my own desk for an Eyefinity setup and OFC, I don't want to have to buy a second 580 just to run 1 extra monitor when I am looking at buying a GPU anyways.

I searched the internet and have finally narrowed the choices down to 2 brands but I can't find any reviews of individual cards so I thought I would ask on here to see if someone would be able to help me out? Here are the ones that are in the finals:

http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/R7970-Lightning.html

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1157&pid=1497&psn=&lid=1&leg=0

I have had amazing products from both of these companies over the years and I know a few people who feel the same way as me with this decision too. If you have either of these and can give me a few +/-'ives about them then please do!

Dan

[Photekq]

Get an Asus Direct CU II card. It has a better cooler than the Sapphire or MSi. I know you only wanted feedback on the Sapphire/MSi but look into the Asus. It's a great card.

[mAz]

Get an Asus Direct CU II card. It has a better cooler than the Sapphire or MSi. I know you only wanted feedback on the Sapphire/MSi but look into the Asus. It's a great card.

I looked into it and I know that they run a lot cooler but I have a massive issue with the weight of the card, I don't know if I am being a bit OTT with it but I did read a few weeks ago, a blog of someone who had a DCUii and over time, the card had apparently bent some of the pins on the motherboard and weakened the slot. I can't vouch for how legitimate that post was but it definitely got me thinking about what might potentially happen.

[Photekq]

Get an Asus Direct CU II card. It has a better cooler than the Sapphire or MSi. I know you only wanted feedback on the Sapphire/MSi but look into the Asus. It's a great card.

I looked into it and I know that they run a lot cooler but I have a massive issue with the weight of the card, I don't know if I am being a bit OTT with it but I did read a few weeks ago, a blog of someone who had a DCUii and over time, the card had apparently bent some of the pins on the motherboard and weakened the slot. I can't vouch for how legitimate that post was but it definitely got me thinking about what might potentially happen.

Weight doesn't necessarily mean it will slant. I have two EVGA 560ti 448 Classifieds and one of them slants, but the other doesn't. It's more to do with the way it's been fastened and possibly to do with the slot. I don't often hear about people having their Direct CU cards slant.

[mAz]

Get an Asus Direct CU II card. It has a better cooler than the Sapphire or MSi. I know you only wanted feedback on the Sapphire/MSi but look into the Asus. It's a great card.

I looked into it and I know that they run a lot cooler but I have a massive issue with the weight of the card, I don't know if I am being a bit OTT with it but I did read a few weeks ago, a blog of someone who had a DCUii and over time, the card had apparently bent some of the pins on the motherboard and weakened the slot. I can't vouch for how legitimate that post was but it definitely got me thinking about what might potentially happen.

Weight doesn't necessarily mean it will slant. I have two EVGA 560ti 448 Classifieds and one of the slants, but the other doesn't. It's more to do with the way it's been fastened and possibly to do with the slot. I don't often hear about people having their Direct CU cards slant.

Don't get me wrong, the slant is only very very minimal and I have checked it more than once to make sure that it is fitted correctly too but maybe I notice it more because i know it has a small slant? I might end up with the DCUii 7970 TBH because I really can't fault the temperatures that the 580 gets to but I would love to find some info about the others too.

What GPU do you have Photekq?

[Photekq]

Get an Asus Direct CU II card. It has a better cooler than the Sapphire or MSi. I know you only wanted feedback on the Sapphire/MSi but look into the Asus. It's a great card.

I looked into it and I know that they run a lot cooler but I have a massive issue with the weight of the card, I don't know if I am being a bit OTT with it but I did read a few weeks ago, a blog of someone who had a DCUii and over time, the card had apparently bent some of the pins on the motherboard and weakened the slot. I can't vouch for how legitimate that post was but it definitely got me thinking about what might potentially happen.

Weight doesn't necessarily mean it will slant. I have two EVGA 560ti 448 Classifieds and one of the slants, but the other doesn't. It's more to do with the way it's been fastened and possibly to do with the slot. I don't often hear about people having their Direct CU cards slant.

Don't get me wrong, the slant is only very very minimal and I have checked it more than once to make sure that it is fitted correctly too but maybe I notice it more because i know it has a small slant? I might end up with the DCUii 7970 TBH because I really can't fault the temperatures that the 580 gets to but I would love to find some info about the others too.

What GPU do you have Photekq?

Like I said in the last post I have two EVGA 560ti 448 Classifieds.

[mAz]

So you did, sorry! I was posting from my phone so I was having to remember your posts so I could reply  )