Is the Sapphire 3GB 7970 Vapor-X a " Reference " Design ?

Hey guys.....I am down to getting a video card as my very last piece to the puzzle in finishing my very first computer build. I plan on picking up a Sapphire 7970 3GB Vapor-X ( at least that is what I want anyways )...This card here >>> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

I wanted to be able to pick up a water block for it later down the road. Is this a "Reference design" card....so I'd be able to do it? Actually....the plan is....getting one within a week or two...and then picking up a 2nd one before the end of the year to take advantage of the deal AMD has going on. Eventually putting them both on water along with my CPU.

Just wanted to make 100% sure before I bought it.......and didn't want to find out afterwords that I CAN'T put it on water.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated!

Nope.

This sure is though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161399

DAMN!! Are any of the "Ghz edition" cards reference? What about this one? >>> http://www.newegg.com/Product /Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632

And how can I tell a reference from a non-reference card?

I know this is not the answer to your question my friend, but that is a really great card and with the Vapor-X it will still run cool all day long. By the way just waiting for the prices to tumble then i will buy and up grade too. Best of luck finding your water block?

Ajay57 said:

I know this is not the answer to your question my friend, but that is a really great card and with the Vapor-X it will still run cool all day long. By the way just waiting for the prices to tumble then i will buy and up grade too. Best of luck finding your water block?

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Thanks Ajay! I know it would be a kickass card for sure , but running two in CFX , I don't think it'll let me OC them as well due to the heat......It's why I wanted them on water.

I still don't quite understand the difference between non-reference and reference. I guess either because it has 3GB of Vram instead of 2GB? Or is it the size of the card? From what I've seen from the reference cards all look "thinner" compared to something like the Sapphire and the Asus.

I wonder if any company out there does Non-reference water blocks at all? The Sapphire would definitely be my first choice , but it looks like I may have to go with another brand if I can't find water blocks for them in the future.

Reference cards all use the PCB that AMD created. Non reference cards have a PCB of the manufacturers design so components may not be it the same place making a full cover block for a reference design unusable.

Form what I have seen though I'm far from an expert on this, most non reference full cover blocks are for the highend cards like the MSI lightning and ASUS DCII cards. You can still watercool the cards with universal blocks and heatsinks where needed but usually full cover and non reference don't go together.

jaymz9350 said:

Reference cards all use the PCB that AMD created. Non reference cards have a PCB of the manufacturers design so components may not be it the same place making a full cover block for a reference design unusable.

Form what I have seen though I'm far from an expert on this, most non reference full cover blocks are for the highend cards like the MSI lightning and ASUS DCII cards. You can still watercool the cards with universal blocks and heatsinks where needed but usually full cover and non reference don't go together.

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Thanks Jay. If I can figure out which cards are actually reference cards in the 7970 Ghz Edition line up , that would be cool. Not really sure since they are considered Ghz Edition.....if that some how makes them Non-Reference or not. If that XFX card is Reference , I have no problem getting those .....I was just trying to stick to a couple different brand names that I have heard a lot of good things about. Running Nvidia cards for so long and doing pretty much all my reading and so forth on them.....I don't know very much about the AMD cards. One of the reasons I'm a little lost.

None of the Ghz edition cards are reference.

You need to find a card that was made at the 7970 launch or near it for it to be reference.

Generally if the card has a heatsink like the one on the card I first linked you to, it will be reference. Dual-fans, huge heatsinks, etc. will usually be non-reference at least on the 7970s

clubber_lang said:

Thanks Jay. If I can figure out which cards are actually reference cards in the 7970 Ghz Edition line up , that would be cool. Not really sure since they are considered Ghz Edition.....if that some how makes them Non-Reference or not. If that XFX card is Reference , I have no problem getting those .....I was just trying to stick to a couple different brand names that I have heard a lot of good things about. Running Nvidia cards for so long and doing pretty much all my reading and so forth on them.....I don't know very much about the AMD cards. One of the reasons I'm a little lost.

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Coolingconfigurator.com is a great resource to determine whether specific models are reference or not.

moocow said:

None of the Ghz edition cards are reference.

You need to find a card that was made at the 7970 launch or near it for it to be reference.

Generally if the card has a heatsink like the one on the card I first linked you to, it will be reference. Dual-fans, huge heatsinks, etc. will usually be non-reference at least on the 7970s

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Uhhg! Man....even that XFX card I linked earlier too? It looks like a standard reference design.....but I guess not.

What I want/need is the best damn Overclocking 7970 ( that's reference ) so I can put a water block on it. Perferable a Sapphire , XFX or an Asus. Those are about the only brands I want to deal with to be honest. Unless there is another brand of card which has good customer service I don't know about.

Knufire....I checked out that site , but I'm not a big EK fan. I was thinking more along the lines of Aqua computer , or watercool heat killer. Thanks for the link though.

clubber_lang said:

Uhhg! Man....even that XFX card I linked earlier too? It looks like a standard reference design.....but I guess not.

What I want/need is the best damn Overclocking 7970 ( that's reference ) so I can put a water block on it. Perferable a Sapphire , XFX or an Asus. Those are about the only brands I want to deal with to be honest. Unless there is another brand of card which has good customer service I don't know about.

Knufire....I checked out that site , but I'm not a big EK fan. I was thinking more along the lines of Aqua computer , or watercool heat killer. Thanks for the link though.

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Then you probably want the ASUS DCII cards. While they are not reference they do have full cover blocks available and clock well.

You may have to bend on brands of either the card or waterblock since it's hard to find (with 100% accuracy) references cards much after launch usually and I'm not sure about the blocks but I'm not sure if anyone besides EK makes blocks for the DCII or lighting cards.