AMD Radeon HD 7990 Reference Board (APRIL FOOLS)

Unfortunately, it looks like we just got hit with this as an April Fool's gag. Good one, TechPowerUp!

In mid-March, we reported that AMD was expected to release its dual-GPU flagship card the Radeon HD 7990 (codenamed "New Zealand") shortly after Nvidia's Kepler release. Today, we are getting our first glimpse of the HD 7990 reference board and more detailed information on the specifications from a GPU-Z screenshot.

Lets start with the reference board...

(Image credit: TechPowerUP)

You see the card is using a single 70 mm fan, instead of the lateral-flow blower seen with the previous generation Radeon HD 6990, which is explained in our original review of the HD 6990. As many users know, the HD 6990 was plagued with complaints for high noise associated with this design. AMD took a page out of Nvidia's book and utilized the ventilation design seen with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 590. This design puts the axial fan in the middle of the two heatsinks. 

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Now, lets take a look to see what the GPU-Z screenshot tells us about the HD 7990...

(Image credit: TechPowerUP)

The card is using an AMD-rebadged PLX PEX8747 PCI-Express 3.0 48-lane bridge chip, which features "broadcast" features that makes it fit for dual-GPU graphics cards. The HD 7990 features 1 GHz core clock speed, with 1250 MHz memory (5 GHz effective). The card has a total of 6 GB GDDR5 memory (3 GB per GPU), with 384-bit (x2) memory bus. It features completely-unlocked 28 nm "Tahiti XT" GPUs, with 2048 stream processors. It will support DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.0 and DirectCompute 5.0. Other items that are known about the HD 7990 is that it draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. Display outputs include one dual-link DVI and four mini-DisplayPort connectors.

The HD 7990 is slated for a "hard-launch" on April 17, AMD's Radeon HD 7990 6 GB "New Zealand" will target a price-point of US $849.

  • classzero
    The HD 7990 is slated for a "hard-launch" on April 17, AMD's Radeon HD 7990 6 GB "New Zealand" will target a price-point of US $849


    This caused soda to shoot out my nose. $849 for a graphics card? Is this an April fools gag delivered late?
    Reply
  • willard
    What's with AMD and their pricing? $849 is outrageous.
    Reply
  • obiown77
    I'm selling my 6990! $749 ..... u know know you want it!!!!
    Reply
  • geekapproved
    Only $849 ,must be a misprint. The 7970 is $530 and this is 2x7970's right?
    Reply
  • geekapproved
    The cores are higher clocked than the 7970? How can that be, usually they dial them down for heat reasons, they seem to have dialed them up.
    Reply
  • goodguy713
    kinda steep .. thats right about what a pair of 7970s will run you.. wonder what the difference will be i guess if it was good on power it would be a better buy.. but i wont hold my breath these high end cards are always power hungry
    Reply
  • Bloob
    classzeroThis caused soda to shoot out my nose. $849 for a graphics card? Is this an April fools gag delivered late?
    Why not. I'm guessing the people who usually buy these things aren't short on cash.
    Reply
  • goodguy713
    i bet these are higher binned gpu parts .. .. wonder how it will compare to gtx 690..
    Reply
  • goodguy713
    bigmack70Please show me where I can buy 2 7970s for $850?
    give it a month or two once supplys go back to normal .. im sure you will find it at those prices .. right now they are milking the cow ..
    Reply
  • dragonsqrrl
    geekapprovedThe cores are higher clocked than the 7970? How can that be, usually they dial them down for heat reasons, they seem to have dialed them up.It's called the GTX680, and the impending launch of the GTX690. AMD is shooting to beat Nvidia's dual gk104 card, and I'm guessing a 1GHz stock clock should help a lot. Although I'm curious about heat and power consumption, something the GTX680 already has an advantage in despite the HD7970's lower clocks.
    Reply