[quotemsg=10884693,0,578881][citation][nom]EzioAs[/nom]Never expected this card to be getting the Smart Buy award though to be completely honest.[/citation]
Better power consumption than 7970GE.
Less noise than 7970GE.
Runs cooler than 7970GE.
Same FPS as 7970GE.
$50 less cost.
Yeah indeed, why to get the Smart Buy award I wonder...[/quotemsg]
I'll give you the reasons why I don't think the Smart Buy was necessary.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150586
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127732
All of the above cards are running at 1000MHz on the core which makes them somewhat a GHz edition card, yet they still cost $400. They all have custom design cooler which is generally better than pretty much any reference cooler, even the new Nvidia reference cooler. Heck, even this review proves that http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-770-gk104-review,3519-26.html. The cooler use on this review are not 100% similar to the ones on the HD 7970 cards links above but it applies. That disproves your heat and noise performance points.
For power consumption, during Bitmining and under maximum load, yes, the GTX 770 is marginally lower, but under typical gaming load, it's close enough that it doesn't matter much. Anandtech also shows quite similar results. Performance is quite similar indeed, but there's also the extra VRAM and game bundles that comes with HD7970 which doesn't show any sign of slowing down just yet.
To end, I don't think any awards was necessary. In my opinion, THG should probably reserve any recommendations for the monthly buyers guide. Not that I don't like the GTX 770, but prices do change and for new cards especially, those with non-reference design coolers will cost significantly more which probably is the results of manufacturers trying to rip-off uninformed and always-assume-new-is-better buyers.