Five Radeon HD 7970 3 GB Cards, Overclocked And Benchmarked
Table of contents
- 1. AMD's Radeon HD 7970: More Affordable, More Available
- 2. Gigabyte GV-R797OC-3GD
- 3. HIS 7970 IceQ X2 Turbo And Turbo X
- 4. MSI R7970 Lightning
- 5. Sapphire HD 7970 OC
- 6. VisionTek Radeon HD 7970
GeForce GTX 680 cards are nowhere to be found, and the Radeon HD 7970 recently dropped to a much more attractive price. We thought it was time to round up a handful of Tahiti-based cards to see how board partners are improving upon AMD's original recipe.
After a handful of price drops on AMD's highest-end graphics cards, the Radeon HD 7970 is now more attractive than it was immediately after the introduction of Nvidia's $500 GeForce GTX 680. Particularly because Nvidia's flagship card is still very difficult to find more than a month after its launch.
With that in mind, added to the fact that AMD's board partners have had ample time to make their own improvements to the company's top-end model, we have a great opportunity to revisit the Radeon HD 7970. Five different vendors sent models for us to consider, resulting in an impressive round-up of Tahiti GPU-based graphics cards.
| Gigabyte R797OC-3GD | HIS IceQ X2 Turbo (Turbo X) | MSI R7970 Lightning | Sapphire HD 7970 OC (Alt. BIOS) | VisionTek HD 7970 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Clock | 1000 MHz | 1050 MHz (1120 MHz) | 1070 MHz | 950 MHz (1000 MHz) | 925 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 1375 MHz | 1400 MHz | 1400 MHz | 1425 MHz (1450 MHz) | 1375 MHz |
| GDDR5 Memory | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB |
| Cooler | Windforce | IceQ X2 | Twin Frozr IV | Dual-X | Reference |
| Size (PCB & Cooler) | 10.5" x 4.75" x 1.5" | 12" x 5.5" x 1.5" | 11.75" x 5.5" x 1.5" | 11.5" x 5" x 1.75" | 12" x 5.5" x 1.5" |
| Weight | 1 lb 10.6 oz | 2 lb 1.3 oz | 2 lb 7.6 oz | 1 lb 14.1 oz | 2 lb 1.3 oz |
| Connectors | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP | 2 x SL-DVI, 4x mDP | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP |
| Form Factor | Dual-slot | Dual-slot | Dual-slot | More than Dual-slot | Dual-slot |
| GPU Voltage Adjustment | MSI Afterburner | HIS iTurbo | MSI Afterburner | Sapphire TriXX | MSI Afterburner |
| Special Features And Software | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Warranty | 3-Year | 2-Year | 3-Year | 2-Year | Limited Lifetime |
| Price | $499.99 (Newegg) | $499.99 (MSRP) ($519.99 MSRP) | $549.99 (Newegg) | $499.99 (Newegg) $579.99 (Updated) | $479.99 (Newegg) |
Note that HIS has two models represented on the chart. We were sent the company's "Turbo X" model for testing, and we believe it has the highest factory core overclock of any Radeon HD 7970 in the world at 1120 MHz. Unfortunately, though, this product is not expected to be available in the U.S. (only in Europe and Asia). Instead, we'll be getting the "Turbo" model, with no X and a 1050 MHz core clock. Thus, we benchmarked the card a second time with HIS' more conservative specification to demonstrate what North America can expect.
In lieu of HIS' Turbo X, MSI's 7970 Lightning sports the highest-clocked core available for sale to our U.S. audience, running at 1070 MHz. Sapphire's HD 7970 OC enjoys the distinction of shipping with the fastest memory compared to all other Radeon HD 7970s. However, its core operates a more modest 1000 MHz.
Operating frequencies aren't the only variables affecting our decision of what Radeon HD 7970 to recommend, though. Software bundles, acoustics, thermals, price tags, support, and overclocking headroom all come into play. Let's break down each model and explore what these five vendors offer.
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I need a new pair of pants. Definitely graphics card eye candy. Specially the Sapphire one IMO. Do I hear giveaway THG?
I need to replace my 5870 HD I bought over 3 years ago. I can still play any game on HIGH at 1080p, but I want ULTRA on BF3 and Max Payne 3.
Lets hope the 680 GTX becomes available to see what price these AMD cards end up at. I like AMD and how they don't rebrand their cards like nVidia, but $20 cheaper than 680 GTX is not cheap enough to sway me that way.
why a reference card(visiontek 7970) with non reference competitors?
i am impressed with HIS IceQ X2 Turbo X but still MSi lightning is my favorite.they have beefier VRMs,great cooling and are overclocking beasts.
Nice write up! Really helps when trying to peg down a card. Will be revisiting alot!
The gigabyte card pcb was BLUE, not BLACK
visiontek for "Particularly at its modest $279 price."
$379 or $479??
visiontek for "Particularly at its modest $279 price." $379 or $479??
$479.99 (USD) is more or less the cheapest price point for any Radeon 7970.
Cool review. It'd be nice if SI units were included in the weights and lengths though. Guess I'll have to do a little math. It's very nice to know that the non-reference coolers are much quieter (excluding Gigabyte's) than the original design.
Let's see some typos:
In the 'Test System Setup And Benchmarks' page in the Operating System row it is written as Microsoft Windows 7 x6. I assume it's supposed to be x64.
In the first paragraph of the 'Sapphire HD 7970 OC' page the card is described as "HD 7970 PC".
Good review Don.
I agree with your first and second choices ... well thought out.
Fixed the typos; thanks weatherdude and nekromobo.
I'm surprised the Asus DirectCUII didn't make it on here. Still, the MSI Lightning seems to be the best of the bunch in terms of performance, wattage, cooling, and noise, but at $50 more than the other cards, it's not very appealing.
Nice review.
I hope you guys do another one like this later on the Radeon 7870 since imo, that is the best 7000 series card in terms of price to performance. It's just a shame that there are no new nvidia cards to push the price of the 7800 series lower. Please include the MSI 7870 hawk and the asus direct cu card as well if you do make the review
I have to admit the 7970 really has quite a big OC headroom. I mean compared to the GTX 680 it really can catch up. hahahaha
I'm wondering why HIS do not sells IceQ X2 Turbo in NA......
Is the shiping + tax will drove the price to high, or the market is too small and HIS brand not strong enough in NA?
The 12.4 Catalysts raise the overdrive OC limits and have been available for over a week now, why weren't they used?
The first Gigabyte card certainly doesn't look like it has a black PCB...are my eyes messed up?
A few thoughts:
-Pretty sure that the Gigabyte and Sapphire cards used in this roundup are reference, not custom, PCBs.
-The Lightning has been unavailable in the USA for almost a month, though its price was $520 a few days ago on newegg. I just imported one from the UK (for $580) to get a second one for crossfire, because it's completely MIA. It's not even like the 680, where it's unavailable at MSRP but available on sites like ebay if you're willing to get price gouged.
If it were in stock, I think the Lightning is the best card here, because it's the most durable and it remains quiet when overclocked. If you want to run an overclocked card for a few years and not worry about blowing up a VRM, it's the way to go and you pay a premium for the peace of mind. Aside from the noise, you are paying for intangibles with this card, but I think it's worth it.
My thoughts: If you are overclocking and don't need a dual link DVI connector, get the Lightning. If you are overclocking and DO need a DL-DVI connection, get the Sapphire. If you're not really gonna overclock the card, get a reference board and save $50 (or, better yet, wait till you can get a 680 for $500... it's the better card by far for non overclockers).
I like AMD and how they don't rebrand their cards like nVidia, but $20 cheaper than 680 GTX is not cheap enough to sway me that way.
is that the only thing you like about AMD? Sad.
Nice Article & Thanks!
From lead-in
It would have been nice to toss-in a some GTX 680 benchmarks for comparison sake. Just reuse some of Chris's benchmarks -> http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3161.html or run your own.
Otherwise this is only a reference vs non-reverence HD 7970 article. You 'should' have been able to OC theses cards all the same and the difference should be within margin of error. No doubt effective cooling & Noise is a critical part, but I'm a little confused here -- I assume both Temps & Noise data is based on Factory (OC if applicable) settings which is fine BUT what about your OC Temps & Noise data?? To me this is critically important, what's the use in OC benchmarks if you need Jet rated earmuffs and temps that (exaggerating) to melt lead? Duh, I misread the data.
The HIS IceQ X2 Turbo (Turbo X) & MSI R7970 Lightning are the standouts with noise and temps with OC. Since I know how both noise & temps can change in a snap of a finger, both are fine. -- Thanks for that data!