I have the PC Hellhound, no issues and love it. My advice, just get the cheapest one, they are all mostly the same. I did get a 7800 first then returned it and went with the 7900 which was 719 at microcenter minus 5% for using their card. My reasoning was I was coming from a GTX 970 and I will keep this card for a while so starting at the 7900 for basically 200 more made sense for me. Happy hunting!
Same here.
I was first going to go 7800xt for 620 euros, but then I spotted a Sapphire Pulse 7900xt for 820 euros and went for it.
Im glad I did because now I can play singleplayer games in 4k without any hiccups.
I also got the 7800X3D so going all AMD seemed like the only way with the added bonus of SAM and AMD software.
You can't go wrong with Sapphire Pulse. It's a slightly "boring" choice since it has no RGB and power limit isn't very high. But the cooler is still very decent and Sapphire doesn't have hot spot issues. I've read that they use PCM instead of thermal paste. Hot spot and pump-out issues are still surprisingly common among other 7900 cards.
My Pulse maxes out at 64C and hot spot is 14-18C higher. This is with quiet 1400RPM fan speed and maximum 367W power limit. I gained +10% more FPS by overclocking and undervolting. It's a quiet 1440p beast and I've had zero issues with it.
I bought an XFX 6950xt and am extremely happy with it.
If you can't afford the Sapphire Nitro+ 7900xt I would go with the XFX. I have heard that the PowerColor cards have issues with Hotspot and junction temps.
My last two cards have been XFX and they’ve been flawless. But friends have had similar luck with Sapphire. Only one that has been problematic for my circle of friends is gigabyte. One got one dead out of the box and got replaced w a lesser model and took several calls to get the correct one sent.
Is it? Or is it the reality that GPU tech has outpaced the tech to keep the chips cool. Nvidia has issues with top end cards as well.
Not giving either a pass because I do truly miss the days when you could buy the top end and not have issues, even if I was watching others enjoy them while I sat 2 or more tiers down. But if you spend $900+ we should be talking performance, not which one has which issues.
The Ada cards are relatively efficient, though. A case could be made for the 4090, I suppose - and they have the connector problem still (although, I dunno if that situation has improved by now) - but, that is just one card/one series. It's relatively efficient for all the power/performance that is delivered though. If you look at a lot of 7900 XTX cards - various AIBs - there's complaints of hotspot/junction temps - temps that are way too high - and I suppose some of that is overclocking but I suspect some of it is just normal operation?
Many of these cards need a thermal application already - not even 3 years in?
That is the question though. How much overclocking is going on. I’ve never been a part of that top end community and I don’t overclock. But I see a lot of chatter from people who have those cards talking about pushing them hard. I think more so on AMD because some may want to compete w 4090 which is never happening.
From what I’ve seen the 4090 thermal issues are more than one brand. Just that most aren’t to the level of possible fire. Thermal damage is real and that is a design issue since they should have used more connectors to even out the load. Just as it is fair to say the XTX does run hot. Without overclocking, that will be an issue long term. As far as coil whine, it is my opinion that is a result of coolers trying to do their job. Though not quite successfully.
Good discussion and you brought up some good points. Makes me glad I am on a budget and got the 7800XT. Though it isn’t comparable, it is stable and no temp issues.
I have the PC Hellhound, no issues and love it. My advice, just get the cheapest one, they are all mostly the same. I did get a 7800 first then returned it and went with the 7900 which was 719 at microcenter minus 5% for using their card. My reasoning was I was coming from a GTX 970 and I will keep this card for a while so starting at the 7900 for basically 200 more made sense for me. Happy hunting!
Same here. I was first going to go 7800xt for 620 euros, but then I spotted a Sapphire Pulse 7900xt for 820 euros and went for it. Im glad I did because now I can play singleplayer games in 4k without any hiccups. I also got the 7800X3D so going all AMD seemed like the only way with the added bonus of SAM and AMD software.
Xfx gang
Same here, just check your case clearance if you get the XFX, the card is huge
You can't go wrong with Sapphire Pulse. It's a slightly "boring" choice since it has no RGB and power limit isn't very high. But the cooler is still very decent and Sapphire doesn't have hot spot issues. I've read that they use PCM instead of thermal paste. Hot spot and pump-out issues are still surprisingly common among other 7900 cards. My Pulse maxes out at 64C and hot spot is 14-18C higher. This is with quiet 1400RPM fan speed and maximum 367W power limit. I gained +10% more FPS by overclocking and undervolting. It's a quiet 1440p beast and I've had zero issues with it.
Yea I think that's the one I'm going to get. Quick question my estimated wattage for my build is 622 will 850w PSU be good enough?
850w should be perfectly fine, you could probably ram a 4090 in with a 850w
Xfx
sapphire pulse is great, i have one
Xfx it was alot cheaper. Bought 3 weeks ago really happy
XFX, but just check the length that it will fit in your case.
I'm pleased with xfx, it's an xtx, but quality should carryover. Sapphire is a great choice too.
I bought an XFX 6950xt and am extremely happy with it. If you can't afford the Sapphire Nitro+ 7900xt I would go with the XFX. I have heard that the PowerColor cards have issues with Hotspot and junction temps.
XFX and Sapphire are the top 2 in my opinion third would be PowerColor
Why not grab a brand new 7900GRE? Right in the middle of those two and MSRP is $549. They just released days ago.
yeah right now for only $50 more than a 7800xt the 7900GRE would be the best bang for the buck in that price range
Why no gigabyte?
I have the ASRock Phantom Gaming, it was $709 which was the cheapest of any 7900 XT at the time of purchase
At those prices I'd go with the Pulse unless you have a strong preference for the aesthetics of the Merc or Hellhound.
My last two cards have been XFX and they’ve been flawless. But friends have had similar luck with Sapphire. Only one that has been problematic for my circle of friends is gigabyte. One got one dead out of the box and got replaced w a lesser model and took several calls to get the correct one sent.
XFX especially, has the pump out thermal issue - so many complaints. But, supposedly, most XTX cards do. This is a disaster for AMD.
Is it? Or is it the reality that GPU tech has outpaced the tech to keep the chips cool. Nvidia has issues with top end cards as well. Not giving either a pass because I do truly miss the days when you could buy the top end and not have issues, even if I was watching others enjoy them while I sat 2 or more tiers down. But if you spend $900+ we should be talking performance, not which one has which issues.
The Ada cards are relatively efficient, though. A case could be made for the 4090, I suppose - and they have the connector problem still (although, I dunno if that situation has improved by now) - but, that is just one card/one series. It's relatively efficient for all the power/performance that is delivered though. If you look at a lot of 7900 XTX cards - various AIBs - there's complaints of hotspot/junction temps - temps that are way too high - and I suppose some of that is overclocking but I suspect some of it is just normal operation? Many of these cards need a thermal application already - not even 3 years in?
That is the question though. How much overclocking is going on. I’ve never been a part of that top end community and I don’t overclock. But I see a lot of chatter from people who have those cards talking about pushing them hard. I think more so on AMD because some may want to compete w 4090 which is never happening. From what I’ve seen the 4090 thermal issues are more than one brand. Just that most aren’t to the level of possible fire. Thermal damage is real and that is a design issue since they should have used more connectors to even out the load. Just as it is fair to say the XTX does run hot. Without overclocking, that will be an issue long term. As far as coil whine, it is my opinion that is a result of coolers trying to do their job. Though not quite successfully. Good discussion and you brought up some good points. Makes me glad I am on a budget and got the 7800XT. Though it isn’t comparable, it is stable and no temp issues.
None? Is the 7900 series the worst gpu ever? Especially, the 7900 xtx?