Gigabyte custom OC 7970 reviewed

[DamoTourettes]

http://hardocp.com/article/2012/02/08/gigabyte_radeon_hd_7970_oc_video_card_review/

Looks like it can hit 1300Mhz on air, which translates to 57fps average in BF3 @ 2560x1600 with everything bar MSAA maxed.

Music to my ears, as this is what I was looking at initially wanting to buy a 7970 exactly for, and is closer to what I (and lots of other people I think) expected it to do at stock.

However it's coming in at $610 which, compared to the supposed $650 of the GTX680 which is *apparently* ~45% faster - it all seems a bit underwhelming.

That said, the Gigabyte card exists, whist the GTX 680 is still en route. Tempted by this card, but am still sitting on the fence - what's to say this 7970 isn't going to die a massive death after 6 months @ 1300Mhz, right?

 

[Ghøst]

Presumably it'll have a minimum 12 month warranty.

 

[Ezyryder]

3 years with Gigabyte I thought.

 

[DamoTourettes]

Yes, but those warranties only cover the card at its' out of box speed - 1000Mhz. Apparently HardOCP got it to 1300Mhz, but that's defo not box clocks...

 

[Ghøst]

^k but how would they ever know....

Deffo sounds more like the required performance for an investment of £500 ish.

 

[Dan2kx]

When will they hit the shops, grrr I want one!!

 

[DamoTourettes]

By the time they're on big release over here Kepler will be out. And at that price, I'm going team green all the way - much as I couldn't care less about who I go with.

 

[TheRealDeal]

By the time they're on big release over here Kepler will be out. And at that price, I'm going team green all the way - much as I couldn't care less about who I go with.

You must have heard something other than big kepler is delayed until q3 this year. Kepler as we speak has no release date and we have no solid facts on it either.

 

[Dan2kx]

You must have heard something other than big kepler is delayed until q3 this year. Kepler as we speak has no release date and we have no solid facts on it either.

There is no Kepler! It's just a big Internet rumour created by nvidia to keep people waiting!!

*RUN AWAY!!!!!!*

 

[DamoTourettes]

You must have heard something other than big kepler is delayed until q3 this year. Kepler as we speak has no release date and we have no solid facts on it either.

Last I heard it was April/May, but who knows, right? Even if I was to go 7970, I'd be going custom PCB/cooling, and this Gigabyte card has *just* come out. Until we've got something from Asus/MSI/Sapphire on the custom front to compare to I'm still not throwing my hat into the ring, and by that point (i.e. in 6-8 weeks time) we're all going to know a lot more about Kepler. I'd be very surprised if Nvidia haven't released a schedule as to when they're going to be available by that stage as well as giving us a firmer idea what to expect from them on the performance front. In lieu of the 7970 being the definitive GTX 580 slayer, which it is not, playing the waiting game at this point is in everyones best interest.

 

[tommybhoy]

By the time they're on big release over here Kepler will be out. And at that price, I'm going team green all the way - much as I couldn't care less about who I go with.

Doesn't sound like you couldn't care less about who you go with, you look as though you have made up your mind based on speculation?

If you didn't care less then it would read more like 'I'm waiting for the 680 to see which card I'm getting'

Nvidia's not got any competition out with the 7970, there is no confirmed release date and all we have is performance speculation along with speculation of a faster 79**(with higher clocks and more shaders) in reply to the 680 'if' it's faster.

Speculation can be anything, it very well may be faster, but, it may very well not be.

My thoughts are more inclined to think along the lines of why is it not here already?

They have both had the same amount of time to make a new gpu.

If you have 3-4+ months extra to make your gpu, it should be faster, I just don't think it's going to be that much faster.

But hey, hats off to Nvidia if it is much faster as they will have brought an absolute belter of a gpu to market as the performance of an oc'ed 7970 is nothing to be laughed at:

(For the diehards add on 10% to the 580 results if you like.)

I imagine nvidia titles will have the sort of performance advantage over the 7970 in the same way Deus Ex has over team green.

In lieu of the 7970 being the definitive GTX 580 slayer, which it is not, playing the waiting game at this point is in everyones best interest.

I'm in agreement that in a heavily overclocked scenario the 7970 is definitively a GTX 580 slayer

Is it or isn't it?

Just teasing mate!

 

[mecca]

http://hardocp.com/article/2012/02/08/gigabyte_radeon_hd_7970_oc_video_card_review/

Looks like it can hit 1300Mhz on air, which translates to 57fps average in BF3 @ 2560x1600 with everything bar MSAA maxed.

Music to my ears, as this is what I was looking at initially wanting to buy a 7970 exactly for, and is closer to what I (and lots of other people I think) expected it to do at stock.

However it's coming in at $610 which, compared to the supposed $650 of the GTX680 which is *apparently* ~45% faster - it all seems a bit underwhelming.

That said, the Gigabyte card exists, whist the GTX 680 is still en route. Tempted by this card, but am still sitting on the fence - what's to say this 7970 isn't going to die a massive death after 6 months @ 1300Mhz, right?

my vtx3d 7970 does 1300 on air, it needs the full 1.3volts though, wouldnt run it like that 24/7, but temps are still only 80 degrees running 3dmark 11 3 times

mine does 1200 on stock volts, these things overclock like crazy, maybe i got a good card, but vtx3d are not exactly asus/MSI/gigabyte are they!!!!

 

[Meaker]

Doesn't sound like you couldn't care less about who you go with, you look as though you have made up your mind based on speculation?

If you didn't care less then it would read more like 'I'm waiting for the 680 to see which card I'm getting'

Nvidia's not got any competition out with the 7970, there is no confirmed release date and all we have is performance speculation along with speculation of a faster 79**(with higher clocks and more shaders) in reply to the 680 'if' it's faster.

Speculation can be anything, it very well may be faster, but, it may very well not be.

My thoughts are more inclined to think along the lines of why is it not here already?

They have both had the same amount of time to make a new gpu.

If you have 3-4+ months extra to make your gpu, it should be faster, I just don't think it's going to be that much faster.

But hey, hats off to Nvidia if it is much faster as they will have brought an absolute belter of a gpu to market as the performance of an oc'ed 7970 is nothing to be laughed at:

(BAC results left out(due to 580 physx fps hit) as imho I don't think it's a fair comparison in regards to this discussion.

For the diehards add on 10% to the 580 results if you like.)

I imagine nvidia titles will have the sort of performance advantage over the 7970 in the same way Deus Ex has over team green.





Is it or isn't it?

Just teasing mate!

They dont have physX on during apples to apples.

 

[tommybhoy]

It's fixed now.