How to select a 7950?

[statis]

I've made the decision to enter the mining community, and I'm planning on building a 2x 7950 rig, but I'm slightly puzzled about how to go about picking a specific card.

I've heard good things about Gigabyte, MSI and Sapphire, but are there appreciable differences them? Between the specific cards offered by each brand? Are some just intrinsically better at mining than others?

My current choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&Description=7950&bop=And&CompareItemList=48%7C14-202-003%5E14-202-003-TS%2C14-202-026%5E14-202-026-TS%2C14-202-007%5E14-202-007-TS%2C14-125-414%5E14-125-414-TS%2C14-127-667%5E14-127-667-TS&percm=14-202-003%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-202-026%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-202-007%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-125-414%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B14-127-667%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24

[hendo420]

I have the Sapphire 7950HD (11196-16-20G)

It can do 690-700kh/s at 1175/1600 1.15-1.2v with the right settings in cgminer.

Xfx is great for the warranty but suck for hash speeds. I have 3x Xfx 7950s that only do 630kh/s and clocks only reach 1075/1375 locked voltage at 1.25v
I will never sell the XFX cards, they will go in my gaming computer eventually. The lifetime warranty is unbeatable.

[inspireweb.ro]

I recomand you the Sapphire HD7950 Vapor-x OC with BOOST , i have one , all voltage are unlocked (i have the one with 8+8 power pin) , low temps (mine stays at 63C with fan locked at 48% ) and low noise.

[BlazinBeaches]

I also vote Sapphire.  Voltage unlocked, very fast, quiet. 

[statis]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Sapphire it is.

I have the Sapphire 7950HD (11196-16-20G)

It can do 690-700kh/s at 1175/1600 1.15-1.2v with the right settings in cgminer.

Xfx is great for the warranty but suck for hash speeds. I have 3x Xfx 7950s that only do 630kh/s and clocks only reach 1075/1375 locked voltage at 1.25v
I will never sell the XFX cards, they will go in my gaming computer eventually. The lifetime warranty is unbeatable.

It looks like you have this one- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202026 ? Since you quoted the hash rate in kh/s, I'm assuming you're LTC mining? 

[statis]

I recomand you the Sapphire HD7950 Vapor-x OC with BOOST , i have one , all voltage are unlocked (i have the one with 8+8 power pin) , low temps (mine stays at 63C with fan locked at 48% ) and low noise.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'm leaning towards this one. Is this it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003 ?

Also, what kind of hash rates do you get with yours?

[inspireweb.ro]

Now i have set it to GPU voltage 0.993V @ 1080Mhz and mem 1.5v @ 155Mhz with this settings in cgminer -g 1 -w 256 -I 10 i get 555Mh/s ,if i set the I to 13 i get 575Mh/s , in scrypt with the right settings i have mined with 620Kh/s, but this is enough for me i have aside this an Sapphire Dual-x HD7870 Xt (has core voltage unlocked , i have set it to 1.01V and 1070Mhz core , 155Mhz mem,same settings in cg miner as 7950 and i get ~470Mh/s  ) ,i mine with both at 1025Mh/s with 385Watt/hr power consumption @ wall.

[statis]

Now i have set it to GPU voltage 0.993V @ 1080Mhz and mem 1.5v @ 155Mhz with this settings in cgminer -g 1 -w 256 -I 10 i get 555Mh/s ,if i set the I to 13 i get 575Mh/s , in scrypt with the right settings i have mined with 620Kh/s, but this is enough for me i have aside this an Sapphire Dual-x HD7870 Xt (has core voltage unlocked , i have set it to 1.01V and 1070Mhz core , 155Mhz mem,same settings in cg miner as 7950 and i get ~470Mh/s  ) ,i mine with both at 1025Mh/s with 385Watt/hr power consumption @ wall.

Thanks for sharing

[kinitex]

Check this table:

GPU Mining Comparison

[inspireweb.ro]

This is more complete https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison#AMD_.28ATI.29

[statis]

This is more complete https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison#AMD_.28ATI.29

Agreed, great resource. Only four 7950s listed, though, which is why I felt the need to ask.

[firefop]

So I recently bought a selection of 7950s... and ended up returning most of them... except for a pair which I kept (and another pair which I've since sold, because I missed the return date).

The one's I kept were the vapor-x from sapphire absolutely the best card out there.

HIS w/ iceQ is the close runner up.

reference is 3rd best.

Gigabyte is ok... but don't expect to mine with them in a case. These guys need aftermarket cooling on the backside or extender cables so they don't cook whatever happens to be near them.

avoid everything else unless you're planning on watercooling.

[statis]

So I recently bought a selection of 7950s... and ended up returning most of them... except for a pair which I kept (and another pair which I've since sold, because I missed the return date).

The one's I kept were the vapor-x from sapphire absolutely the best card out there.

HIS w/ iceQ is the close runner up.

reference is 3rd best.

Gigabyte is ok... but don't expect to mine with them in a case. These guys need aftermarket cooling on the backside or extender cables so they don't cook whatever happens to be near them.

avoid everything else unless you're planning on watercooling.

This is the kind of stuff you can't learn from a spreadsheet hardware comparison.. thanks.

Was it mostly disappointing hash rates that disqualified the other cards?

[HellDiverUK]

Gigabyte is ok... but don't expect to mine with them in a case. These guys need aftermarket cooling on the backside or extender cables so they don't cook whatever happens to be near them.

I run a pair of them, and an Asus 7850 in a single case.  7950 are in top and middle slots, the 7850 is bottom.  The top card does run about 10C hotter than the middle one, probably because it's drawing heat off the back of the middle card.

The 7850's cooler sucks (single fan DirectCU II), and it runs hottest, despite having the best ventilation.  And it gives crap performance.  It's rubbish.

[chungenhung]

So I recently bought a selection of 7950s... and ended up returning most of them... except for a pair which I kept (and another pair which I've since sold, because I missed the return date).

The one's I kept were the vapor-x from sapphire absolutely the best card out there.

HIS w/ iceQ is the close runner up.

reference is 3rd best.

Gigabyte is ok... but don't expect to mine with them in a case. These guys need aftermarket cooling on the backside or extender cables so they don't cook whatever happens to be near them.

avoid everything else unless you're planning on watercooling.

Are you serious about the HIS IceQ as the close runner up?
I had 5 of them, and they easily hit 100C with 100% fan speed. All default clock and voltage.

[firefop]

So I recently bought a selection of 7950s... and ended up returning most of them... except for a pair which I kept (and another pair which I've since sold, because I missed the return date).

The one's I kept were the vapor-x from sapphire absolutely the best card out there.

HIS w/ iceQ is the close runner up.

reference is 3rd best.

Gigabyte is ok... but don't expect to mine with them in a case. These guys need aftermarket cooling on the backside or extender cables so they don't cook whatever happens to be near them.

avoid everything else unless you're planning on watercooling.

This is the kind of stuff you can't learn from a spreadsheet hardware comparison.. thanks.

Was it mostly disappointing hash rates that disqualified the other cards?

Pretty much that and some of the cards seem very touchy about clock or voltage changes. Having everything locked down to the point where you can't even slow the memory down annoys me. =P

[atariguy]

I simply picked whatever card was cheapest at the time I bought, and ended up with one Sapphire from Amazon and one MSI from New Egg. Combined, they average about 1.033 GH/s doing BTC. The PC case is laying on its side, open, and the 2nd card is on a riser and not even in the case. Temps on both are in the mid 70s (C). They're in my basement, so the noise is not noticed by my family, and the ambient temperature is in the 60s (F).