AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Review: Give Me Back That Crown!

[EzioAs]

Hey nvidia fan boys? you feel like crying? you should cause your So called "Fastest gpu" the gtx 680 is no more ITS THE 7970 GHZ. even the 7950 beat the 680 is skyrim Go cry nvidia fan boys. its time for the 7970 to shows its better. 3gb vram? 384bit? less heat then 680? yes please. here i come 7970.

Please don't troll or criticize other people here. Just leave that thought in your head

 

[jerm1027]

I always knew the 7970 had a lot of untapped potential. What I want to know is how the 12.7 drivers affect the performance with the 7870.

 

[hannibal]

Any news what happened tahiti XT2? Are they coming later orwhat is this all about?
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/357814-15-wait-tahiti-7970-edition

 

[erunion]

Interesting how different these results are from anandtech's review. Which one is right?

 

[belardo]

Now... if there were only some Console to PC ported games that could actually use these.

 

[DataGrave]

Any news what happened tahiti XT2?

Tahiti XT2 = GHz Edition. AMD...

 

[sbuckler]

[citation][nom]DataGrave[/nom]100% acknowledgeAnd for the gamers: take a look at the new UT4 engine! Without excellent GPGPU performace this will be a disaster for each graphics card. See you, Nvidia.[/citation]

You mean that engine that has in all the previews run real time on a GTX 680?

 

[acerace]

@recon-uk Don't worry my friend, I'm with you. Theres lot of AMD fanboys here

Read the TPU review of this card, damn it sucks even more juice than GTX 480.

 

[uhmyu222]

Without excellent GPGPU performace this will be a disaster for each graphics card. See you, Nvidia.

 

[rdc85]

I'm excited to see what custom cooler/board can do....

 

[refillable]

AMD drivers....

This card to me is not what you guys should get. Probably just because AMD want to put 'the world fastest Single GPU'?. I'd rather get a stock 7970 and OC it to the max AMD Overdrive limit (which should be easy). I have just browsed newegg and I found a dual fan sapphire 7970 for $450. Amazing isn't it? But I still appreciate this card and if this card's boost was 1100 MHz and, it's $475 I will pick up this card.

By the way, AMD still can't beat a 670. Except they make 7970 at $400 :lol:

 

[verbalizer]

looks like the GTX 670 is still the best buy currently available.
this mentality of higher clocks from AMD / HD Radeon is the wrong path for true success.
now if someone will give me one to play with I'd appreciate it.. 😛

I can't afford the GTX 690, putting that in there was a tease. :/

 

[sarinaide]

Drivers are everything, wouldn't be surprised if the vanilla card matches the 680 now, with gaming synthetics showing the greatest improvement, just OC the vanilla card and you get this for cheaper. All in all the major issues are redressed, the 7970-680 match up, and subsequently the 7950-670 match up and so forth.

 

[monsta]

Would be a deecnt review if you guys chose an aftermarket overclocked 670 and 680 to do your comparison as the ghz 7970 is an out of the box overcloked card and should be compared to the equivelant cards from Nvidia.

 

[fausto412]

so powertune with boost is a flop here?

once fixed did AMD say if the next would work with prior gen cards like the 6990?

 

[Reynod]

Sweet card ... we knew these overclocked well so It was only a matter of time before AMD formalised the higher clocks.

And they are in stock ...

The GTX670 looks very good too.

Some nice competition is keeping them at each other.

Would like to see some prices drop a bit more on the mid range stuff though.

 

[verbalizer]

How can you say that the 680 winds in Crysis 2 when the new Ghz edition has higher frames in every chart? Who proofreads this stuff?

I didn't know the 680 produces (winds).... :/
who spell-checks your stuff..?

 

[redemptionse]

Autocorrect is my worst enemy, and I'm not publishing articles online okay mister!

 

[verbalizer]

😉

 

[spookyman]

Both the 7970 and GTX 680 are both very good cards. I am looking forward to see what a 7990 is capable if they release one.

As for the WoW test. Who turns on all the effects in the game anyways? I turn off all the effects because when you raid, it gets in the way.

 

[jaquith]

I've used both nVidia & ATI/AMD -- my primary issue with ATI/AMD is the GPU's lifespan, I've had 5 AMD failures to 1 nVidia failure. Next, I prefer and use 3D Vision and I've setup and used HD3D the 3D Vision offers better game selection and a better + consistent 3D experience. The reason is simple, nVidia is very controlling of the hardware and certification whereas AMD is not.

Now 'IF' AMD can levy higher control over it's manufacturer's (quality control) and peripherals (quality control) then maybe the reality of it's problems will be on par with nVidia then and only then will it be about FPS.

Clearly, OC either the GTX 670 or GTX 680 -- non-reference cards and run (rerun) the comparisons.

Chris - You already tested non-reference GTX 600 series cards, Why DIDN'T you include the data?? Makes me think 'agenda' or blatant oversight. If I'm comparing OC or SOC then I'm going to compare Apples to Apples and not Apples to Bananas. I like your reviews when they're on the up & up...update your charts...you have the data.

Example reference vs non-reference cards:

ref - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-review,3200-2.html

 

[ubercake]

Here's what I don't get about any of these GPU reviews...

In the 'Best Gaming CPUs...' articles each month Tom's tells everyone all you need is a i5-2500k, yet all the GPU reviews are using a 3960X now. Why is this necessary?

Tom's should put their money where their mouth is and use a 2500K for all the reviews or tell us why it is necessary to use a 3960X in order to run appropriate GPU benchmarks.

 

[mayankleoboy1]

^
the articles are named as "best gaming CPU's for the money". clearly 2500k >> 3960x in this regard.

 

[jaquith]

^
then you need the data on the i5-2500K -- otherwise you're 'guessing' which is 'best.'

 

[BSMonitor]

A chart with the FPS improvement and % improvement between 7970 and GHz 7970 would be nice.

However, nothing I have seen (~8-10fps in most scenarios) is worth 9 degrees of heat.

Nice try AMD.