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** Single, Dual & Triple Card 7970 - BATTLEFIELD 3 - HIGH RESOLUTION BENCHMARKS **

Very few reviews (if any) directly compare the 7970 to the 3GB version of the GTX580. It seems that for some reason (AMD NDA?) the professional reviewers neglected to make this most logical comparisson.

Well done OcUK for providing this info. I see that your results are also be commented on within other forums as well.
 
555BUK said:
Very few reviews (if any) directly compare the 7970 to the 3GB version of the GTX580. It seems that for some reason (AMD NDA?) the professional reviewers neglected to make this most logical comparisson.

Well done OcUK for providing this info. I see that your results are also be commented on within other forums as well.
Click to expand...

what other forums?
 
I was just gonna say did you do any CPU overclocking to see if what Nvidia are claiming about CPU being very important in BF3. But I then see your using a Xeon 8 Core which dont have unlocked multi or straps so I guess the answer is no. I have a Xeon 8 core 3.1ghz C0, I am gonna test tri SLI 580 with this CPU vs my 5.125ghz Linx, Prime Stable 3960X and report back. Just to see if CPU power does make a difference.
 
Interesting ... I am catching up with this now and if all we had was the heaven bench then I might already be selling my 6950s and getting a 7970 as I was gonna water cool my two soon anyway ... and the 7970 under water seems a decent option! BF3 on the other hand tells a slightly different story and with the same settings as in the first post, same map with 60+players, and averaging over a couple of runs my 2x6950s get (@ 950/1450):

Min Max Avg
39 75 48

But, it aint as smooth as those numbers might suggest so I drop down to High settings when actually playing the game .. I would probably wc asap if I got the 7970.

CPU is i7 [email protected].

Edit: Just seen this, could be a winner! http://www.guru3d.com/news/radeon-hd-7970-2way-crossfire-performance/
 
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555BUK said:
Very few reviews (if any) directly compare the 7970 to the 3GB version of the GTX580. It seems that for some reason (AMD NDA?) the professional reviewers neglected to make this most logical comparisson.

Well done OcUK for providing this info. I see that your results are also be commented on within other forums as well.
Click to expand...

Hardwarecanucks did a comparison that included the 3GB GTX 580. So it has nothing to do with any NDA or conspiracy from AMD. It is purely down to the fact that most of these sights probably didn't have a 3GB GTX 580 to test. :)

In most of the tests by Hardwarecanucks the 1.5GB GTX 580 is slightly faster than the 3GB version, it is only at higher res (2560 x 1600) that the 3GB starts to come good.

On the conclusion page they show the HD 7970 at an average of 24% faster than a ref GTX 580 and 41% faster than a HD 6970. The GTX 580 is around 15% faster than a HD 6970 or GTX 570 and was up to 50% more expensive. Yet most enthusiasts accepted this as normal, this is known as prestige pricing.

Prestige pricing refers to the practice of setting a high price for a product, right up until it is discontinued or replaced with the next "prestige" product. This is done in order to evoke perceptions of quality and prestige with the product or company. In short, "if you want the best, you have to pay for it". Personally I didn't see any reason to pay such massive prices for a card only 10% faster than my HD 6970 at 2560x1600. Now that the HD 7970 is released and is 40% faster and overclocks much better I would say the HD 7970 could net me a 55%-60% increase in speed. It will rise to an even higher increase as drivers mature for the GCN process.

So for me the HD 7970 is a much better value product than a GTX 580 3GB. For a GTX 580 owner the upgrade is not as substantial and not worth the cost.

Sorry for rambling on there :)

Here is the link for the hardwarecanucks review.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...iews/49646-amd-radeon-hd-7970-3gb-review.html
 
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As a 4870 owner I've been waiting for months (as many others have too) to see what the new HD7000 would bring and I'm starting to realise that what I got with my 4870 in terms of bang-for-buck is probably a thing of the past. I think many people were expecting AMDs top card to be the fastest single GPU but somehow priced half as much as nVidia's top tier - obviously this would be very nice but I think strategiclly for AMD they have to price the card at a value which reflects its performance. Admittedly, early indications are that it might be priced a tad too high but we will have to wait until release to know for sure. As ICDP noted the diminishing returns for our money at the top tiers is something we have come to accept from nVidia and I think with past AMD releases we have come to expect great value for money, however I think sadly we are seeing the end of those times :S I'm still holding out some hope though, as there is always scope for more aggresive pricing but with my budget of £250 I think I will have to look elsewhere than the HD7900s for my new GPU.

BTW sorry if off topic but any recommendations for new GPU for 1920x1200 res around the stated budget of £250, running 800w PSU so sli/xfire possible but prefer single gpu and still running a q6600 ;) looks like HD6950 or new GTX560 448, thoughts?
 
martian_aphid said:
BTW sorry if off topic but any recommendations for new GPU for 1920x1200 res around the stated budget of £250, running 800w PSU so sli/xfire possible but prefer single gpu and still running a q6600 ;) looks like HD6950 or new GTX560 448, thoughts?
Click to expand...

there be,
7970 3gb
7950 3gb/1.5gb
7930/7870?
it be a pack of models in every price segment.

Until march we will see a ton of models.
I would go for a 7870/7850 or whatever it will be called, since it will be 6970 or so in performance and draw less power.
 
yeah, hopefully they come out sooner rather than later - I don't know how much longer I can wait! Although, its worth waiting to at least see how the last gen stuff will be priced.

Am I right in presuming that only HD7900 (tahiti) is the GCN core, and the HD7800 and below will be the old VLIW from the cayman but die shrunk to 28nm? If so, I wonder if they can still integrate the zerocore idle-power saving system which to me looked liked one of the most interesting and useful features of the new cards.
 
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