The AMD Radeon HD 7970 Review Thread

[Higgy10]

The $486 card i mentioned looks a bit sketchy imo
http://www.directdial.com/GV-R795WF3-3GD.html
900mhz on the core?

Tigerdirect.ca has a visiontek model for $509
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...062&CatId=7387
thats a pretty good deal actually vs the nonexistant 680's that actually cost more here now.

[train2win]

Originally Posted by noko

At higher resolutions the performance of the two converges some what, OCing the 7970 then takes it over the top. Still Nvidia 4x TRSSAA is not the same as 8x SSAA on AMD but they don't note the differences and yet the OC 7970 still using SSAA beats out the stock 680.

That is impressive to say the least. Love the higher end Sapphire cards as I have an HD6850 that allows for some impressive overclocking with the supplied TRIXX software.

[jam2k]

Interesting the Sapphire 7970 OC draws less power than reference 7970:

[jam2k]

Breaking News: AMD HD 7970 Price Drop Incoming

After weeks of dealing with a retail price that put their HD 7970 in a no-win position against the GTX 680, it looks like AMD will finally cut their flagship card’s price.

Last month, we reported that AMD was sticking to their guns by retaining the HD 7970′s SRP at $549 regardless of NVIDIA’s higher performing and lower priced GTX 680. The reasoning behind this seemed to be quite simple: capitalize upon high end sales since NVIDIA’s production was struggling to keep up with demand.

At the time, we surmised that the only thing which would effectively push AMD to lower prices would be either improved GTX 680 availability or the possible release of lower priced Kepler derivatives. It looks like AMD’s bean counters may know something we don’t. If our moles are correct, the HD 7970 and possibly other cards in the HD 7000-series lineup are about to get a price cut.

The whispers we have heard from a number of sources peg the HD 7970′s new price at some point between $470 and $490 within the next few days. In our books, this would put AMD’s Tahiti XT in a favorable position against the GTX 680, particularly when the board partners’ numerous overclocked and custom cooled versions are taken into account.

What this means for the rest of AMD’s cards is anyone’s guess but as we previously discussed, cutting the price on one could very well have a cascade effect upon their whole product stack.
Naturally, as we receive more information it will be posted so stay tuned. It looks like the GPU Wars are just beginning to heat up!

EDIT 11:00AM EST:
We now hear the MSRP will be $479.

EDIT 3:00PM EST:
We have received even more info from our sources. Looks like there will be more price drops. See below.


HD 7950 = $449 -> $399
HD 7870 = Remains same
HD 7850 = Remains same
HD 7770 = $159 –> $139

[Nunz]

Why would dropping the reference price put the "overclocked and custom cooled versions" in a favorable position?

[jam2k]

HardwareCanucks: MSI 7970 Lightning 3GB Review

[tehpikachu]

Originally Posted by jam2k

Interesting the Sapphire 7970 OC draws less power than reference 7970:

That is pretty interesting, might pick up 3 sapphires.

[muzz]

Originally Posted by jam2k

Breaking News: AMD HD 7970 Price Drop Incoming

I hope that's wrong, and they reduce the price of the 7870 as well.

[muzz]

Canada folks rejoice, NCIX has dropped the prices of the stock 7970's to $479- calling it a "Weekly special"
http://ncix.com/search/?categoryid=0&q=radeon+7970

NCIX US still has the cheapest card at $499-Powercolor "Weekly special"

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=701...r&promoid=1259

Go get'm!

[noko]

Originally Posted by jam2k

HardwareCanucks: MSI 7970 Lightning 3GB Review

Looks like for multi-monitor gaming with single card the 7970 series toasts or does better then the 680. Below that only at high resolutions for the most part can the 7970 get close and pass sometimes. The 680 is just a damn good card for gaming for the money. The lighting looks interesting but they could only get 1210mhz out of the OC I am at 1200/1575 without issue so far with my reference design, maybe that A/C unit blowing air on her is helping more then I thought. Well the 7970 prices do need to come down I do believe less then the 680, a 6 month refresh would be nice but I doubt that will happen.

[demo]

Originally Posted by noko

Looks like for multi-monitor gaming with single card the 7970 series toasts or does better then the 680.

Lol wth? again we must be looking at different reviews. 680 wins 6 vs 3 eyefinity tests. Or do you mean a 7970 with 17% oc is enough to slightly pass a stock 680 in most, but not all, eyefinity tests?

[muzz]

Originally Posted by demo

Lol wth? again we must be looking at different reviews. 680 wins 6 vs 3 eyefinity tests. Or do you mean a 7970 with 17% oc is enough to slightly pass a stock 680 in most, but not all, eyefinity tests?

Stop it already, the 680 is claimed to be running at 1006 "Stock" , when the facts are it overclocks itself according to it's environment, 1110 seems to be a fairly common#, I have seen as high as 1137 and 1150.

Your nV homerism knows no bounds, at least Rolo has the guts to admit that he's a nV focus group member!

[demo]

Excuse me?

The 680 uses default frequencies. It can be overclocked by the user to run above the default frequencies too.

[muzz]

Originally Posted by demo

Excuse me?

The 680 uses default frequencies. It can be overclocked by the user to run above the default frequencies too.

"Frequencies"?
Stop it, the folks in forums like this know what is going on, and you're just embarrassing yourself.

[demo]

Yes frequencies, you know, clock speeds. The 680 is using out of the box default clock speeds. It can also be overclocked by the user to use higher than default clock speeds. You are embarrassing yourself.

[Nunz]

Why is everyone crying about the boost speeds.

[muzz]

Originally Posted by Nunz

Why is everyone crying about the boost speeds.

I don't see anyone "crying" about boost speeds, just making sure that it's not thrown out there like it doesn't exist is all.

[demo]

Originally Posted by muzz

I don't see anyone "crying" about boost speeds, just making sure that it's not thrown out there like it doesn't exist is all.

"Just making sure" are you? Thats not all you are doing, your very first response was full of personal attacks.

A stock 680 beat a stock 7970 6 vs 3 in those eyefinity tests, then with a 17% oc on the 7970 it managed to trade blows, and often lead against a stock 680.

[BababooeyHTJ]

Originally Posted by muzz

I don't see anyone "crying" about boost speeds, just making sure that it's not thrown out there like it doesn't exist is all.

Thats how it runs at stock and can be overclocked on top of that as well.

It just doesn't clock as well as a 7970.

[KAC]

Price drop is not incoming. It is already here. Diamond 7970 on Amazon going for 480 cockslaps.

[noko]

Originally Posted by demo

Lol wth? again we must be looking at different reviews. 680 wins 6 vs 3 eyefinity tests. Or do you mean a 7970 with 17% oc is enough to slightly pass a stock 680 in most, but not all, eyefinity tests?

Hey don't be so dense, the link to the review I was referring to hint hint was in the quote . The Lightning did better then the 680 at 1070mhz, look and see for your self, virtually all 7970s will do this and much faster. I am running at 1200/1575 1.22 v without issue .
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...review-18.html

[demo]

I know which review you were talking about, but you said 7970 toasts 680, when infact, the 680 beat it by double in eyefinity. The lightning with its 17% oc manages to trade blows and often beat the 680.

edit: Interestingly, they also did a clone of that review with an EVGA SC http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-review-2.html

[muzz]

Originally Posted by demo

"Just making sure" are you? Thats not all you are doing, your very first response was full of personal attacks.

A stock 680 beat a stock 7970 6 vs 3 in those eyefinity tests, then with a 17% oc on the 7970 it managed to trade blows, and often lead against a stock 680.

Full of personal attacks? REALLY?
Grow a pair Sally, there are alot of us here that grow a little tired of your "nVidia is the greatest thing since sliced bread act", and I believe that you are a focus group member without the sack to admit it.
You don't like it? TFB
Take your nvnews attitude somewhere where it's more appreciated, back to nvnews where you came from.
In case you haven't noticed for about the 50th time, this is a 7970 thread, not a "680 is the greatest, and bests the 7970 in every metric" thread.

HTH

[demo]

Excuse me, I just corrected noko when he said the 7970 "toasts" the 680 in eyefinity, when infact the 680 beat it by double the amount of tests in eyefinity. And I didnt even have to resort to personal insults in the process.

Now do you have any valid numbers, benchmarks or info? or is your posting capability limited to poor attempts at trolling?

[muzz]

I've been a member here for 12 years, and until now I had never used the ignore feature, and that included discussions with the likes of Chris and Rolo, because they didn't act like 12 year olds.

Congratulations.

[demo]

Good, if you cant hold a civil conversation and stay on topic with facts, figures and relevant info, I would rather you put me on ignore.

[Final8ty]

Originally Posted by noko

Hey don't be so dense, the link to the review I was referring to hint hint was in the quote . The Lightning did better then the 680 at 1070mhz, look and see for your self, virtually all 7970s will do this and much faster. I am running at 1200/1575 1.22 v without issue .
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...review-18.html

Also is the 680 doing the half fps on the side monitors as that means its only really doing the equivalent of 2 screens full fps and that the 7970 is doing more work.

[demo]

Originally Posted by Final8ty

Also is the 680 doing the half fps on the side monitors as that means its only really doing the equivalent of 2 screens full fps and that the 7970 is doing more work.

Come again?

[noko]

Originally Posted by demo

Come again?

GAC

[noko]

Originally Posted by demo

I know which review you were talking about, but you said 7970 toasts 680, when infact, the 680 beat it by double in eyefinity. The lightning with its 17% oc manages to trade blows and often beat the 680.

edit: Interestingly, they also did a clone of that review with an EVGA SC http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-review-2.html

Fatman MSI
BF3 680
Crybaby MSI
Dirty 3 MSI
Methro MSI
Shogun MSI
Oldtimer MSI
Wargame MSI
Witcher 680 (by default)

yeap by double yu don't say.