[citation][nom]Memnarchon[/nom]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...[/citation]
It should be compared to the regular 7970, which is still going to be cheaper than this card. The 7970 is just as good as the GHz edition, because you can get exactly the same performance when overclocked. The thermal limit isn't changed by the sticker on the side.
The same applies to the GTX 770, which overclocks poorly.
So for single-GPU usage, this card is mediocre value. It's great for SLI though.
I'm looking forward to the GTX 760 Ti though, if Nvidia mirrors the 600 series then it should be better value than the GTX 770.