Thank you all! Very good information.
Im running both the Gigbyte Radeon HD 7950 and the Sapphire HD 7950. Out of the box the Gigbyte Radeon HD 7950 outperforms the Sapphire and runs cooler.
Gigbyte Radeon HD 7950 - 560 kh/s, 60-70 deg (no OC)
Sapphire HD 7950 - 485 kh/s, 70-80 deg (no OC)
using the same settings in cgminer for both cards (litecoin)
The Sapphire can run very cool (~55 deg) with the fan at 85%, but it sounds like a jet engine
The Gigbyte Radeon HD 7950 runs silently around 65 deg with the 3 cooling fan design
I have the Sapphire currently, even at 65% the thing is loud.
Since this will be mounted in a case, is there a concern with the gigabyte not exhausting enough air..? Like the poster above mentioned. Seeing as some of the air is dispersed into the case, and not forced out the back.
Last question, have you attempted any overclocking? Do you mind posting your cgminer input for your sapphire?