Tahiti LE, Tested: PowerColor's HD7870 PCS+ Myst Edition

[FormatC]

Today, we look at a card between two worlds. Despite a model number that suggests Pitcairn lineage, this board is based on AMD's Tahiti GPU. Does it behave more like its namesake, or the powerful engine actually under its hood? Read on for more!

Tahiti LE, Tested: PowerColor's HD7870 PCS+ Myst Edition : Read more

 

[mayankleoboy1]

Isnt this review quite a bit late ? IIRC, the card came ~1.5 months back...

If it cant CFX with a 78xx, it has no right to be called a 7870+ . Marketing name fail +1.
The chip by itself is fine, though.

 

[EzioAs]

That's quite a short review. It's not anything I haven't looked at other sites. Anyway, at the current price, I really have to agree the 7870XT (Tahiti LE) are excellent cards.

 

[EzioAs]

If it cant CFX with a 78xx, it has no right to be called a 7870+ . Marketing name fail +1.

I agree. AMD has already establish good model naming scheme (X900 for high-end gaming, X800 for mid-range, X700 for low end gaming) after the 6000 series. To be honest, I say it's stupid not to call this chip the HD7930.

 

[Azn Cracker]

Or maybe the 7950 LE since its pretty much the same card just slower.

 

[hero1]

[citation][nom]Azn Cracker[/nom]Or maybe the 7950 LE since its pretty much the same card just slower.[/citation]

I agree with you on this one. Someone need to give these guys a call and tell them how it is. What a load of bs on their naming scheme. I would absolutely call this 7950 SS or LE!

 

[Guest]

where are the frame time benches?

 

[FormatC]

The frametime thing (in some games) was gone (more or less) with the latest drivers and I think that AMD will handle the memory now a little bit better

 

[shikamaru31789]

If only some other manufacturers were making these, Power Color's cooling solution isn't that good, 37.8 decibels while Gaming is not quiet enough for me.

 

[EzioAs]

If only some other manufacturers were making these, Power Color's cooling solution isn't that good, 37.8 decibels while Gaming is not quiet enough for me.

Sapphire has one too, I believe

 

[shikamaru31789]

[citation][nom]EzioAs[/nom]Sapphire has one too, I believe[/citation]
Yeah, I just now noticed it on Newegg. Not sure why I didn't notice it before, based on the reviews it's been on there awhile. Too bad it costs $20 more than Power Color's. Still a good deal even at $260, since this review indicates that it's almost as fast as the much more expensive 7950's.

 

[FormatC]

It makes sense to include the frametimes if I can show something abormal. If the result is as expected in the tested games... The article was written in the begin of December and published in German first and we all knows what AMD answered about the frametime problems. I'm always using the frametime analysis to proof my benchmark results.

BTW:
The Powercolor card was tested a little bit later due the new BIOS. Powercolor has stopped the launch to correct some problems (Club3D and VTX3D were delivered with older BIOSes)

 

[ricardok]

And please, don't forget to add the Catalyst version you guys are using..

This time we are without that info. And please say that you did the test with the newest driver.. I fail to see why you guys kept testing with 12.10..

 

[iam2thecrowe]

should be 7950 Le (light edition). But good card.

 

[The_Trutherizer]

[citation][nom]shikamaru31789[/nom]If only some other manufacturers were making these, Power Color's cooling solution isn't that good, 37.8 decibels while Gaming is not quiet enough for me.[/citation]

I remember about 10-5 years ago 40 decibels was considered whisper quiet.

 

[JJ1217]

[citation][nom]shikamaru31789[/nom]Yeah, I just now noticed it on Newegg. Not sure why I didn't notice it before, based on the reviews it's been on there awhile. Too bad it costs $20 more than Power Color's. Still a good deal even at $260, since this review indicates that it's almost as fast as the much more expensive 7950's.[/citation]

ehh? I grabbed a Asus 7950 for $230 in *Australia* brand new... I think they're trying to get rid of them since it was the faulty model (Which is easily fixable and since been replaced by the V2 version)..

 

[sanilmahambre]

SAPPHIRE should have manufactured these Tahiti LE cards with VaporX cooler

 

[iceclock]

very nice article, at the moment i find the 7870xt edition is one of the best bang for bucks card atm.

since it gives a good performance for lower cost than 7950 or 660ti

 

[Guest]

I don't understand the conclusion's comments: "if you cannot afford a real 660 Ti this is an alternative." Your benchmarks show this card AHEAD of the 660 Ti in average performance and individual performances, so this card is a better deal even if they cost exactly the same!

 

[nokiddingboss]

great card but it should have been named 7950 LE. they sure do know how to confuse customers.

 

[Guest]

Id highly suggest buying this baby on NEWEGG as you get BIOSHOCK/TOMB RAIDER Games BUNDLED or BIOSHOCK/CRYSIS 3 BUNDLED for FREE. I'm also under the impression you get the boxed versions.

Plop these baby's on ebay/amazon and your looking at a 7930-LE $240 for only $140
DAAANNNG. ^_^

 

[Deadboy90]

A sub $250 card that when OC'd beats out an nvidia 670? *throws wallet at screen*

 

[shikamaru31789]

[citation][nom]JJ1217[/nom]ehh? I grabbed a Asus 7950 for $230 in *Australia* brand new... I think they're trying to get rid of them since it was the faulty model (Which is easily fixable and since been replaced by the V2 version)..[/citation]
The 7950's on Newegg are all like $300 or more. Asus's V2 is $340, they don't seem to have any V1's left. But yeah, $260 for Sapphire's and $240 for Power Color's Tahiti LE are excellent deals based on these benchmarks. Heck, Power Color's Tahiti LE is cheaper than some of the 7870's on Newegg yet is as fast as a non-boost 7950. Excellent deal if you can deal with that noisy cooler.

 

[emperor piehead]

Actually the sapphire version is much better in cooling, noise, and power consumption if you look at the Tweaktown. They did all of their testing for it at @1200mhz and the cooling was about 63c under load, about 40DB (tweaktown has all of the graphics card rated high), and power consumption O/C is on par with a gtx 670.
Review- http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5158/sapphire_radeon_hd_7870_xt_tahiti_le_2gb_with_boost_overclocked_video_card_review/index.html

 

[spartanmk2]

C'mon Asus or MSI make some of these babies!