AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Review: Give Me Back That Crown!
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Can you believe the Radeon HD 7970 was introduced six months ago? In those 180 days, we’ve seen AMD claim the single-GPU performance crown, flesh out an entire family of graphics cards based on its capable GCN architecture, and then lose its fastest-in-the-world title to Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 680. I’m working on a script for the movie.
Along the way, though, we’ve wondered about the company’s approach to pricing. Even after Nvidia launched a faster, less expensive card, AMD kept selling its Radeon HD 7970 for $550. It eventually shaved off $70, only to see the competition kick out an even cheaper board (GeForce GTX 670) able to rout the 7970 in most games.
At no point was AMD’s flagship ever a bad card, though. Its dominance was simply contested quickly—and frustratingly—by a competing piece of hardware suffering such poor availability that you had to sign up for notifications just to catch it in stock. Although 680s are in stock now, as recently as a couple of weeks ago they were mostly a threat on paper. But the GeForce GTX 670 has always been a lot more accessible at $400, putting the Radeon HD 7970 under significant pressure. Certain 7970s are even down as low as $450.
To the point, with the maturation of TSMC’s 28 nm manufacturing process, AMD is discovering that a greater number of its Tahiti GPUs are running stably at higher core clock rates. Now, we already knew that the Radeon HD 7900s overclocked well. But rather than leaving extra performance on the table for enthusiasts to exploit on their own time, the company is unveiling a Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition card that purportedly one-ups Nvidia’s GTX 680 and gives AMD a reason to push prices back up.
Meet The Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
Physically, this is the Radeon HD 7970 you already know. Put AMD’s reference GHz Edition card next to the one launched six months ago and you can’t tell them apart.
What few differences there are all materialize under the card’s 11”-long fan shroud.
Most obvious is a higher core clock rate. Officially, AMD lists it at 1000 MHz—a bump up from the original version’s 925 MHz frequency. But it also enables a higher 1050 MHz P-state that the GPU favors when thermal headroom allows. AMD is marketing this combination of clock rates as PowerTune with Boost.
If you’re not already familiar with what PowerTune is or how it works, I break it down in my Radeon HD 6970 and 6950 review. Basically, though, AMD confirmed for us that PowerTune with Boost is the same exact thing, plus the ability to dynamically increase voltage. The company says its 1 GHz clock is fixed, and altering Overdrive’s frequency slider only changes the maximum boost level.
But it seems like you could also describe the 7970 GHz Edition as a 1.05 GHz card that, subjected to a synthetic power load like FurMark, drops 50 MHz and some voltage to not violate its TDP. After all, that’s what PowerTune has done for a year and a half.
The other performance enhancement comes courtesy of faster memory. Back when AMD launched the Radeon HD 7970, it “only” had access to 1375 MHz GDDR5 modules. On a nice, wide 384-bit bus, they were good for 264 GB/s of aggregate bandwidth. Now it’s using 3 GB of 1500 MHz modules on the same bus to push 288 GB/s.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
| Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | Radeon HD 7970 | GeForce GTX 680 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stream processors | 2048 | 2048 | 1536 |
| Texture Units | 128 | 128 | 128 |
| Full Color ROPs | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Graphics Clock | 1000 MHz Base / 1050 MHz Boost | 925 MHz | 1006 MHz |
| Texture Fillrate | 134. 4 Gtex/s |
118.4 Gtex/s | 128.8 Gtex/s |
| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz | 1375 MHz | 1502 MHz |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 288 GB/s | 264 GB/s | 192.3 GB/s |
| Graphics RAM | 3 GB GDDR5 | 3 GB GDDR5 | 2 GB GDDR5 |
| Die Size | 365 mm2 | 365 mm2 | 294 mm2 |
| Transistors (Billion) | 4.31 | 4.31 | 3.54 |
| Process Technology | 28 nm | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Power Connectors | 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin | 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin | 2 x 6-pin |
| Maximum power (TDP) | 250 W | 250 W | 195 W |
| Price | $500 MSRP | $450 Street | ~$520 Street |
AMD acknowledges that the Tahiti GPU itself is exactly the same.
If you want the skinny on that, feel free to reference back to our Radeon HD 7970 launch coverage. Everyone else, let’s move on to a deeper analysis of PowerTune with Boost.
- 1
Current page:
Is An Overclocked Radeon HD 7970 Greater Than GeForce GTX 680?
Next Page PowerTune With Boost: Is The Accelerator Stuck?
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AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition vs Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X: What is the difference?
44points
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
43points
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
Comparison winner
vs
54 facts in comparison
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
Why is AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition better than Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X?
- 75MHz faster GPU clock speed?
1000MHzvs925MHz - 0.
31 TFLOPS higher floating-point performance?
4.1 TFLOPSvs3.79 TFLOPS - 2.4 GPixel/s higher pixel rate?
32 GPixel/svs29.6 GPixel/s - 125MHz faster memory clock speed?
1500MHzvs1375MHz - 500MHz higher effective memory clock speed?
6000MHzvs5500MHz - 10 GTexels/s higher texture rate?
128 GTexels/svs118 GTexels/s - 24GB/s more memory bandwidth?
288GB/svs264GB/s - 10°C lower load GPU temperature?
62°Cvs72°C
Why is Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X better than AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition?
- 50W lower TDP?
250Wvs300W - 1 more DisplayPort outputs?
1vs0 - 20W lower power consumption while under peak load?
360Wvs380W - 1 more DVI outputs?
2vs1
Which are the most popular comparisons?
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
AMD Radeon Vega 8
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
vs
AMD Radeon R9 290
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
vs
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
AMD Radeon R9 280X
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
vs
Asus HD 7770
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
XFX Double D R9 280X
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
vs
MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming LE 100ME
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
Asus Dual Radeon RX 460
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
AMD Radeon HD 7970
Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
MSI Radeon RX 580 Gaming 8GB
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
AMD Radeon RX 560X
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
vs
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
Price comparison
User reviews
Performance
1.
GPU clock speed
1000MHz
925MHz
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a higher clock speed.
2.GPU turbo
1050MHz
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X)
When the GPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
3.pixel rate
32 GPixel/s
29.6 GPixel/s
The number of pixels that can be rendered to the screen every second.
4.floating-point performance
4.1 TFLOPS
3.79 TFLOPS
Floating-point performance is a measurement of the raw processing power of the GPU.
5.texture rate
128 GTexels/s
118 GTexels/s
The number of textured pixels that can be rendered to the screen every second.
6.GPU memory speed
1500MHz
1375MHz
The memory clock speed is one aspect that determines the memory bandwidth.
7.shading units
Shading units (or stream processors) are small processors within the graphics card that are responsible for processing different aspects of the image.
8.texture mapping units (TMUs)
TMUs take textures and map them to the geometry of a 3D scene. More TMUs will typically mean that texture information is processed faster.
9.render output units (ROPs)
The ROPs are responsible for some of the final steps of the rendering process, writing the final pixel data to memory and carrying out other tasks such as anti-aliasing to improve the look of graphics.
Memory
1.effective memory speed
6000MHz
5500MHz
The effective memory clock speed is calculated from the size and data rate of the memory. Higher clock speeds can give increased performance in games and other apps.
2.
maximum memory bandwidth
288GB/s
264GB/s
This is the maximum rate that data can be read from or stored into memory.
3.VRAM
VRAM (video RAM) is the dedicated memory of a graphics card. More VRAM generally allows you to run games at higher settings, especially for things like texture resolution.
4.memory bus width
384bit
384bit
A wider bus width means that it can carry more data per cycle. It is an important factor of memory performance, and therefore the general performance of the graphics card.
5.version of GDDR memory
Newer versions of GDDR memory offer improvements such as higher transfer rates that give increased performance.
6.Supports ECC memory
✖AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
✖Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption.
It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.
Features
1.DirectX version
DirectX is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
2.OpenGL version
OpenGL is used in games, with newer versions supporting better graphics.
3.OpenCL version
Some apps use OpenCL to apply the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for non-graphical computing. Newer versions introduce more functionality and better performance.
4.Supports multi-display technology
✔AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
✔Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
The graphics card supports multi-display technology. This allows you to configure multiple monitors in order to create a more immersive gaming experience, such as having a wider field of view.
5.
load GPU temperature
A lower load temperature means that the card produces less heat and its cooling system performs better.
6.supports ray tracing
✖AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
✖Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
Ray tracing is an advanced light rendering technique that provides more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections in games.
7.Supports 3D
✔AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
✔Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
Allows you to view in 3D (if you have a 3D display and glasses).
8.supports DLSS
✖AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
✖Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is an upscaling technology powered by AI. It allows the graphics card to render games at a lower resolution and upscale them to a higher resolution with near-native visual quality and increased performance. DLSS is only available on select games.
9.PassMark (G3D) result
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition)
This benchmark measures the graphics performance of a video card. Source: PassMark.
Ports
1.has an HDMI output
✔AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
✔Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X
Devices with a HDMI or mini HDMI port can transfer high definition video and audio to a display.
2.HDMI ports
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X)
More HDMI ports mean that you can simultaneously connect numerous devices, such as video game consoles and set-top boxes.
3.HDMI version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X)
Newer versions of HDMI support higher bandwidth, which allows for higher resolutions and frame rates.
4.DisplayPort outputs
Allows you to connect to a display using DisplayPort.
5.DVI outputs
Allows you to connect to a display using DVI.
6.mini DisplayPort outputs
Allows you to connect to a display using mini-DisplayPort.
Price comparison
Cancel
Which are the best graphics cards?
Test and review: Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition with 6 GB of memory
With the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition graphics card, AMD was able to present a serious competitor to NVIDIA’s GTX 680 in terms of performance, even if NVIDIA’s GPU remains the leader in efficiency. The fact that the Radeon HD 7970’s performance potential is not fully unlocked became apparent after its mass market launch earlier this year. Rumors about the GHz Edition have been around for a long time, but in the second half of June, AMD officially introduced this video card (test and review).
Video card Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 79The 70 GHz Edition was also shown to the public more than once, but the company was in no hurry to officially announce it. As it became clear today, Sapphire was just waiting for the GHz Edition chip version, which allowed us to present the video card in the form in which we received it today. We tested the top model with 6 GB of integrated memory. The
Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition is already on sale in Europe for 620 euros, although, to be honest, with the availability of Radeon HD 79 graphics cards70 GHz Edition the situation is not very good. But AMD promises to fix it in the very near future.
Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
We will traditionally start the review with a review of the technical details of the video card, which are shown in the table:
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | |
| Retail price | about 450 euros in Europe | about 620 euros in Europe |
| Manufacturer website | AMD | Sapphire |
| Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| GPU | Tahiti XT2 | Tahiti XT2 |
| Process | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Number of transistors | 4. 3 billion |
4.3 billion |
| GPU clock speed | 1000 MHz (Boost: 1050 MHz) | 1000 MHz (Boost: 1050 MHz) Lethal Boost: 1150 MHz (Boost: 1200 MHz) |
| Clock frequency | 1500 MHz | 1600 MHz |
| Memory type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |
| Memory size | 3072 MB | 6144 MB |
| Memory bus width | 384 bit | 384 bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 288 GB/s | 307.2 GB/s |
| DirectX version | 11.1 | 11.1 |
| Stream Processors | 2048 (1D) | 2048 (1D) |
| Texture blocks | 128 | 128 |
| ROP | 32 | 32 |
| Pixel fill rate | 33.6 Gpixel/s | 38.4 Gpixel/s |
| Minimum power consumption | 2. 6 W |
2.6 W |
| Maximum power consumption | 250 W | 250 W |
| SLI/CrossFire | CrossFire | CrossFire |
The Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition has the same GPU architecture as the «regular» Radeon HD 7970. AMD has made improvements to the 28nm process, allowing the GPU to run at higher clock speeds at lower voltages. However, to operate at high clock speeds in the «PowerTune Boost» mode, a higher voltage is still required. Thus, AMD increased the performance of the GHz Edition by increasing the power consumption.
But Sapphire decided not to be satisfied with what AMD had achieved and tried to increase the clock speed. Although we recommend that you carefully monitor the voltages. Using the EZ buttons, the video card can be overclocked from 1000 MHz to 1150 MHz, as well as up to 1200 MHz in Boost mode. However, some Radeon HD 7970 video cards have already reached this level without the GHz Edition.
Of course, the benefit of the «Tahiti XT2» GPU is that it draws 0.807V when idle. The regular Radeon HD 7970 used 0.85V, while the Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, we got 0.811 V. Under load, the frequency increased to the promised bar of 1200 MHz, the GPU of the reference video card increased the voltage to 1.201-1.221 V. Recall that the «old» Radeon HD 7970 video card had a voltage of 1.139 V. The Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition voltage increases to 1.273 V.
Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition features 6 GB of internal GDDR5 memory. To be honest, this feature came as a surprise, since we had never received such a volume with consumer-grade video cards before. How the increase in volume will affect the results of practical tests, we will discuss in the corresponding section of the article. Note that Sapphire has increased the memory clock speed from 1500 to 1600 MHz.
Below we will take a closer look at the technical details of the video card, as well as the cooling system.
GPU-Z correctly recognizes all technical data and displays 6144 MB of installed memory.
<>Test & Review: Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition with 6 GB of Memory
Sapphire Toxic Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | Impressions (1)
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
Top specifications and features
- Passmark score
- 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU benchmark score
- 3DMark Vantage Performance test score
- 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark score
- 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics test score
Passmark
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition test score:
5143
Best score:
29325
Performance
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition:
1795
Best score:
Memory
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition:
572
Best score:
General Information
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition:
78
Best score:
Features
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition:
160
Best score:
Description
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition graphics card based on GCN 1.
0 architecture has 4313 million transistors, tech. process 28 nm. The frequency of the graphics core is 1000 MHz. In terms of memory, 3 GB is installed here. DDR5, 1500MHz frequency and 288Gb/s maximum bandwidth. The texture size is 128 GTexels/s. FLOPS is 4.5.
In tests, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition showed itself as follows — according to the Passmark benchmark, the model scored 5143 points. At the same time, the maximum number of points for today is 260261 points. According to the 3DMark benchmark, the video card scored 6725 points out of 49575 possible.
Directx version — 12. OpenGL version — 4.6. Regarding cooling, the heat dissipation requirements here are 300 watts.
In our tests, the video card scores 150688 points.
Why AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition is better than others
No merits
- Passmark score 5143 . This parameter is lower than 32%
- 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU test score 42919 . This parameter is lower than 24%
- 3DMark Vantage Performance score 24262 .
This parameter is lower than 21% - 3DMark 11 Performance GPU 7615 benchmark score. This parameter is lower than 28%
- 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics 6725 test score. This parameter is lower than 29%
- 3DMark Fire Strike Score 5762 . This parameter is lower than 25%
- Unigine Heaven 4.0 test score 965 . This parameter is lower than 7%
- Unigine Heaven 3.0 test score 76 . This parameter is lower than that of 6%
Review AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
Performance
Memory
general information
Functions
Ports
Tests in benchmarks
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Review Highlights
GPU base clock
The graphics processing unit (GPU) has a high clock speed.
1000MHz
max 2457
Average: 938 MHz
2457MHz
GPU memory frequency
This is an important aspect calculating memory bandwidth
1500MHz
max 16000
Average: 1326.
6 MHz
16000MHz
FLOPS
A measure of the processing power of a processor is called FLOPS.
4.5TFLOPS
max 1142.32
Average: 92.5 TFLOPS
1142.32TFLOPS
Turbo GPU
If the speed of the GPU drops below its limit, it can switch to a high clock speed to improve performance.
Show all
1050MHz
max 2903
Average: 1375.8 MHz
2903MHz
Texture size
A certain number of textured pixels are displayed on the screen every second.
Show all
128 GTexels/s
max 756.8
Average: 145.
4 GTexels/s
756.8 GTexels/s
Architecture name
GCN 1.0
GPU Name
Tahiti
Shared memory
No
Memory bandwidth
This is the speed at which the device stores or reads information.
288GB/s
max 2656
Average: 198.3 GB/s
2656GB/s
Effective memory speed
The effective memory clock speed is calculated from the size and information transfer rate of the memory. The performance of the device in applications depends on the clock frequency. The higher it is, the better.
Show all
6000MHz
max 19500
Average: 6984.5 MHz
19500MHz
RAM
3GB
max 128
Average: 4.
6 GB
128GB
GDDR Memory Versions
Latest GDDR memory versions provide high data transfer rates for improved overall performance
Show all
5
Average: 4.5
6
Memory bus width
A wide memory bus means that it can transfer more information in one cycle. This property affects the performance of the memory as well as the overall performance of the device’s graphics card.
Show all
384bit
max 8192
Average: 290.1bit
8192bit
Heat dissipation (TDP)
Heat dissipation requirement (TDP) — the maximum possible amount of energy dissipated by the cooling system. The lower the TDP, the less power will be consumed.
Show all
300W
Average: 140.4W
2W
Process technology
The small size of the semiconductor means it is a new generation chip.
28 nm
Average: 47.5 nm
4 nm
Number of transistors
4313 million
max 80000
Average: 5043 million
80000 million
PCIe version
Considerable speed of the expansion card used to connect the computer to peripherals is provided. The updated versions have impressive throughput and provide high performance.
Show all
3
Mean: 2.8
5
Width
274mm
max 421.
7
Average: 242.6mm
421.7 mm
Height
120mm
max 180
Average: 119.1mm
180 mm
DirectX
Used in demanding games, providing enhanced graphics
12
max 12.2
Average: 11.1
12.2
OpenCL version
Used by some applications to enable GPU power for non-graphical calculations. The newer the version, the more functional it will be
Show all
1.2
max 4.6
Average: 1.7
4.6
opengl version
Later versions provide better game graphics
4.
6
max 4.6
Average: 4
4.6
Supports FreeSync technology
Yes
Shader model version
5.1
max 6.6
Average: 5.5
6.6
Vulkan version
1.2
Has HDMI output
HDMI output allows you to connect devices with HDMI or mini-HDMI ports. They can transmit video and audio to the display.
Show all
Yes
DVI outputs
Allows connection to a display using DVI
one
Mean: 1.4
3
Number of HDMI connectors
The more there are, the more devices can be connected at the same time (for example, game/TV type consoles)
Show all
one
Average: 1.
1
3
mini-DisplayPort
Allows you to connect to a display using a mini-DisplayPort
2
Average: 2
6
HDMI
Yes
Passmark test score
5143
max 29325
Average: 7628.6
29325
3DMark Cloud Gate GPU Benchmark Score
42919
max 191204
Average: 80042.3
191204
3DMark Fire Strike Score
5762
max 38276
Average: 12463
38276
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics test score
6725
max 49575
Average: 11859.
1
49575
3DMark 11 Performance GPU score
7615
max 57937
Average: 18799.9
57937
3DMark Vantage Performance score
24262
max 97887
Average: 37830.6
97887
Unigine Heaven 3.0 test score
76
max 60072
Average: 2402
60072
Unigine Heaven 4.0 test score
965
max 4818
Average: 1291.1
4818
FAQ
How much RAM does AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition have
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition has 3 GB.