Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3072MB Review
AMD ended 2011 on a high note, unleashing the market’s fastest single-GPU card and beating its adversary to the next-generation graphics yet again.
The Radeon HD 7970 outpaced the GeForce GTX 580 by over 20% in our tests and that achievement is made even sweeter by the fact that Nvidia’s response is still months away. This lack of competition has granted AMD the confidence to stamp its flagship graphics board with an uncharacteristically high retail price of $549 — territory usually commanded by Nvidia.
Despite offering «only» 42% more performance, the HD 7970’s list price is 60% higher than the 6970’s. What’s more, the new card’s actual retail rate is more like $600, roughly $100 pricier than the GTX 580.
That’s a tough sell in our opinion, and with limited supplies, prices presumably won’t fall until Nvidia reclaims its stomping grounds with Kepler later this year. With that in mind, value-conscious enthusiasts seeking a high-end card will likely find better solutions than the HD 7970.
Conveniently enough, AMD offers a potentially valid alternative with its Radeon HD 7950, which is essentially a lower-specced and lower-priced version of the HD 7970. The HD 7950 is set at $419 for the 1536MB version, while the full 3072MB variant is $449. Although it’s currently possible to find a 3GB model for $449, you can expect to pay closer to $500. For example, the Gigabyte «GV-R795WF3-3GD» card we’re looking at today (also called WindForce 3 in some markets) retails for $490, touting several noteworthy upgrades.
Gigabyte has redesigned the PCB and included an upgraded cooler that is meant to lower temperatures and improve overclocking. Considering the HD 7970’s respectable performance, we expect a solid showing from the HD 7950. Before we hit the benchmarks, let’s pop the hood and have a closer look at Gigabyte’s HD 7950 offering.
Radeon HD 7950 WindForce 3 in Detail
Like its snappier sibling, the Radeon HD 7950 measures a typical length for today’s high-end graphics cards at 27cm (10.
6in). For example, the HD 6950 also measures 27cm long, as does the GeForce GTX 580.
The HD 7950 GPU is fabricated on a 28nm process, making it possible for AMD to squeeze 4313 million transistors into a 352mm2 die.
By default the GPU core runs at 800MHz, 14% lower than the HD 7970, and the GDDR5 memory operates 9% slower at 1250MHz. These are the same core and memory frequencies as the HD 6950. However, Gigabyte’s HD 7950 is overclocked to 900MHz and 1250MHz. The 13% increase in core clock speed should have a positive impact on performance.
Whereas the HD 6950 utilized a 256-bit bus, the HD 7950’s is 384-bit, boosting the available memory bandwidth from 160GB/s to a considerably healthier 240GB/s.
As you’d expect, the HD 7950’s core configuration is cut down from the HD 7970. The speedier card has 2048 SPUs, 128 TAUs and 32 ROPs, while the HD 7950 packs 1792 SPUs, 112 TAUs, and the same 32 ROPs (13% less SPUs and TAUs).
What makes Gigabyte’s iteration unique is its WindForce 3X solution with «Triangle Cool» technology.
The cooler employs three 75mm ultra quiet PWM fans connected to a custom shroud. Under these fans is a massive heatsink consisting of three main parts connected by 8mm copper heatpipes.
At the heart of this setup is the biggest block which has a unique RAM heatsink to cool the GDDR5 modules. This heatsink also features Triangle Cool technology, which uses a series of fins and triangular clip modules to better direct airflow over the heatsink.
Gigabyte says its Triangle Cool technology can reduce temperatures by up to 35% over traditional designs, so we’re keen to see just how cool this HD 7950 runs.
To feed the card enough juice, AMD includes dual 6-pin PCI Express power connectors. This is the same setup used on the HD 6950, 5870, 6870 as well as the GTX 580 and 570 graphics cards.
Naturally, the HD 7950 supports Crossfire, so it has a pair of connectors to bridge two or more cards. The only other ports are on the I/O panel where you’ll find a dual DL-DVI connector, a single HDMI 1.
4a port, and two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 sockets.
All HD 7950s support a max resolution of 2560×1600 on up to three monitors. With a multi-stream hub, using the mini-DisplayPort 1.2 sockets, the card can power up to six screens.
Radeon HD 7950 [in 3 benchmarks]
Radeon HD 7950
Buy
- Interface PCIe 3.0 x16
- Core clock speed 0
- Max video memory 3072 MB
- Memory type GDDR5
- Memory clock speed 1250
- Maximum resolution
Summary
AMD started Radeon HD 7950 sales 31 January 2012 at a recommended price of $449. This is a GCN 1.0 architecture desktop card based on 28 nm manufacturing process and primarily aimed at gamers. 3 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1.25 GHz are supplied, and together with 384 Bit memory interface this creates a bandwidth of 240 GB/s.
Compatibility-wise, this is dual-slot card attached via PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. Its manufacturer default version has a length of 267 mm. Two 6-pin power connectors are required, and power consumption is at 200 Watt.
It provides poor gaming and benchmark performance at
12.13%
of a leader’s which is NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090.
GeForce RTX
4090
Compare
General info
Some basic facts about Radeon HD 7950: architecture, market segment, release date etc.
| Place in performance rating | 301 | |
| Value for money | 2.26 | |
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 (2012−2020) | |
| GPU code name | Tahiti | |
| Market segment | Desktop | |
| Design | reference | |
| Release date | 31 January 2012 (10 years old) |
|
| Launch price (MSRP) | $449 | |
| Current price | $414 (0. 9x MSRP) |
of 49999 (A100 SXM4) |
Value for money
To calculate the index we compare the characteristics of graphics cards against their prices.
- 0
- 50
- 100
Technical specs
Radeon HD 7950’s general performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU base clock, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of Radeon HD 7950’s performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider its benchmark and gaming test results.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 1792 | of 18432 (AD102) |
| Compute units | 28 | |
| Boost clock speed | 1250 MHz | of 3599 (Radeon RX 7990 XTX) |
| Number of transistors | 4,313 million | of 14400 (GeForce GTX 1080 SLI Mobile) |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | of 4 (GeForce RTX 4080 Ti) |
| Thermal design power (TDP) | 200 Watt | of 900 (Tesla S2050) |
| Texture fill rate | 89. 60 |
of 969.9 (h200 SXM5 96 GB) |
| Floating-point performance | 2,867 gflops | of 16384 (Radeon Pro Duo) |
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Information on Radeon HD 7950’s compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it’s interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Bus support | PCIe 3.0 x16 | |
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | |
| Length | 267 mm | |
| Width | 2-slot | |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin |
Memory
Parameters of memory installed on Radeon HD 7950: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth.
Note that GPUs integrated into processors have no dedicated memory and use a shared part of system RAM instead.
| Memory type | GDDR5 | |
| Maximum RAM amount | 3 GB | of 128 (Radeon Instinct MI250X) |
| Memory bus width | 384 Bit | of 8192 (Radeon Instinct MI250X) |
| Memory clock speed | 1250 MHz | of 22400 (GeForce RTX 4080) |
| Memory bandwidth | 240 GB/s | of 14400 (Radeon R7 M260) |
Video outputs and ports
Types and number of video connectors present on Radeon HD 7950. As a rule, this section is relevant only for desktop reference graphics cards, since for notebook ones the availability of certain video outputs depends on the laptop model, while non-reference desktop models can (though not necessarily will) bear a different set of video ports.
| Display Connectors | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 2x mini-DisplayPort | |
| Eyefinity | 1 | |
| Number of Eyefinity displays | 6 | |
| HDMI | + | |
| DisplayPort support | — |
Technologies
Technological solutions and APIs supported by Radeon HD 7950. You’ll probably need this information if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| AppAcceleration | + | |
| CrossFire | 1 | |
| Enduro | — | |
| FreeSync | 1 | |
| HD3D | — | |
| PowerTune | + | |
| TrueAudio | — | |
| ZeroCore | + |
API support
APIs supported by Radeon HD 7950, sometimes including their particular versions.
| DirectX | DirectX® 11 | |
| Shader Model | 5.1 | |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | |
| Mantle | — |
Benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance of Radeon HD 7950. Note that overall benchmark performance is measured in points in 0-100 range.
Overall score
This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
HD 7950
12.13
- Passmark
- 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
- Unigine Heaven 4.0
Passmark
This is probably the most ubiquitous benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite.
It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.
Benchmark coverage: 25%
HD 7950
4764
3DMark Fire Strike Graphics
Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature seemingly made of lava. Using 1920×1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic enough graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.
Benchmark coverage: 13%
HD 7950
7500
Unigine Heaven 4.0
This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark, a newer version of Unigine 3.0 with relatively small differences. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands.
The benchmark is still sometimes used, despite its significant age, as it was released back in 2013.
Benchmark coverage: 1%
HD 7950
1000
Mining hashrates
Cryptocurrency mining performance of Radeon HD 7950. Usually measured in megahashes per second.
| Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) | 381 Mh/s | |
| Decred / DCR (Decred) | 0.78 Gh/s | |
| Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) | 13.86 Mh/s | |
| Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) | 0.56 kh/s | |
| Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) | 250 Sol/s |
Is Radeon HD 7950 good for gaming?
Let’s see how good Radeon HD 7950 is for gaming.
Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in frames per second. Comparisons with game system requirements are included, but remember that sometimes official requirements may reflect reality inaccurately.
Relative perfomance
Overall Radeon HD 7950 performance compared to nearest competitors among desktop video cards.
AMD Radeon R9 270X
103.54
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630
102.64
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
100.33
AMD Radeon HD 7950
100
AMD Radeon Sky 500
99.42
AMD Radeon R9 370
99.18
AMD Radeon HD 7870
97.61
Radeon HD 7950 NVIDIA equivalent
We believe that the nearest equivalent to Radeon HD 7950 from NVIDIA is GeForce GTX 760, which is nearly equal in speed and higher by 2 positions in our rating.
GeForce GTX
760
Compare
Here are some closest NVIDIA rivals to Radeon HD 7950:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
106.18
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630
102.64
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
100.33
AMD Radeon HD 7950
100
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580
95.05
NVIDIA P104-100
93.4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
91.84
Similar GPUs
Here is our recommendation of several graphics cards that are more or less close in performance to the one reviewed.
Radeon Sky
500
Compare
Radeon HD
7870 XT
Compare
Radeon R9
270
Compare
GeForce GTX
670
Compare
GeForce GTX
760 Ti OEM
Compare
GeForce GTX
660
Compare
Recommended processors
These processors are most commonly used with Radeon HD 7950 according to our statistics.
FX
6300
4.8%
Core i7
3770
3.3%
Core i5
3470
3.1%
FX
8350
2.2%
Core i5
3570K
1.7%
Core i5
3570
1.4%
Core i5
2500K
1.3%
FX
6350
1.
3%
Core i7
2600
1.2%
FX
8320E
1.2%
User rating
Here you can see the user rating of the graphics card, as well as rate it yourself.
Questions and comments
Here you can ask a question about Radeon HD 7950, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition review and testing GECID.com. Page 1
::>Video cards
>2013
> Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition
05-06-2013
Page 1
Page 2
One page
Video card Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition , as you can easily guess from its name, is a version of the AMD Radeon HD 7950, which is designed to work in Apple Mac Pro computers.
This feature is implemented due to the presence of a modified firmware version, which ensures full compatibility of the graphics accelerator with Mac OS. Interestingly, when buying a new Mac Pro, the user has a choice only between the following three modifications of the graphics subsystem:
Such a meager choice among video cards relevant in 2010, as well as, to put it mildly, not the most outstanding technical characteristics of AMD Radeon HD 5770 and AMD Radeon HD 5870, compared to modern solutions, fully justify the release of Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition , which will greatly expand the entertainment possibilities of your Mac Pro.
Specification:
|
Model |
nine0002 Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition
(Sapphire HD7950 3G GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI/DVI-I/DUAL MINI DP) |
|
Graphics core |
AMD Tahiti PRO |
|
Number of universal shader processors |
1792 |
|
Supported APIs |
DirectX 11. |
|
Graphics core frequency, MHz |
800 |
|
Memory frequency (effective), MHz |
1250 (5000) |
|
Memory size, MB |
3072 |
|
Memory type |
GDDR5 |
| nine0002 Memory bus width, bits |
384 |
|
Tire type |
PCI Express 3.0 x16 |
|
Maximum resolution |
Up to 2560×1600 — DVI Up to 2048×1536 — VGA (via adapter) Up to 4096×2160 — DisplayPort |
|
Display interfaces |
DVI-I HDMI 2 x Mini DisplayPort |
|
Support for HDCP and HD video decoding |
Yes |
|
Mac OS requirements |
Mac OSX (Lion) 10. Mac OSX (Mountain Lion) 10.8.2 or later |
|
Compatible with Windows |
Yes |
|
Dimensions, mm |
280 x 112 |
|
Drivers |
Latest drivers can be downloaded from Sapphire website or GPU manufacturer website |
|
Manufacturer website |
Sapphire |
1 (Shader Model 5.0), OpenGL 4.2 
7.5 and higher As you can see, as a basis for Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition was the version of AMD Radeon HD 7950 without the possibility of dynamic GPU acceleration, respectively, the graphics core of the video card operates at a frequency of 800 MHz recommended for the first version of AMD Radeon HD 7950. The effective memory frequency also remained at AMD’s recommended level of 5000 MHz. For cooling, a «reference» turbine-type cooler with a slightly modified casing is used.
Packaging and contents
Video card Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Editio n comes in a fairly large box, decorated in predominantly white, which clearly echoes the Apple theme. The most important elements on the front side of the package, in addition to the name of the video card and the manufacturer’s company, are the Mac OS logo and an inscription that assures us that the device works in tandem with the Mac Pro. Here you can also note the presence of references to the amount and type of video memory used, as well as the configuration of video outputs on the interface panel of the video card. nine0003
No matter how hard Sapphire designers tried, even on the packaging of an Apple-oriented device, they could not avoid drawing the image of a militant lady, which, one way or another, is present on almost all boxes with the company’s products. However, in our opinion, in this case it looks a little out of place. If we move from lyrics to practice, then on the back of the box you can find a brief marketing description of the advantages of the video card, a lot of logos of various awards received by the company since 2002, as well as a description of the package. nine0003
The Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition graphics card package includes a driver and utility CD, user manual, DVI to VGA and Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapters, and two graphics card power cables. The complete set as a whole is more than sufficient and it is difficult to present any claims to it.
The Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition video card has the following set of interfaces for displaying images:
This configuration of video outputs fully corresponds to the reference video card and, in this case, it will be quite comfortable to use, since you get all the necessary adapters in the kit.
The following resolutions are supported:
-
Digital — up to 4096×2160;
-
Analog — up to 2048×1536.
Appearance and element base
The video card is made on dark brown textolite 270 mm long. Both the dimensions and the location of the main elements are fully consistent with the AMD Radeon HD 79 reference sample. 50, but the element base itself has been finalized.
The power system of the “reference” AMD Radeon HD 7950 video card is made according to a 6-phase scheme, where 4 phases are used to power the graphics core, and one more for video memory and PLL, in the case of the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition, the total number of phases is seven and they are distributed according to the 5 + 1 + 1 scheme for the graphics core, video memory and PLL, respectively.
As PWM controller, standard on most versions of AMD Radeon HD 7950, the CHiL CHL8228G chip is used. This power converter controller supports dynamic phase switching to optimize power consumption.
There are two six-pin connectors on the side of the video card to provide additional power. Separately, we note that it will probably be difficult to come up with a more inconvenient disconnection of power cables than in the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition, since the connectors are located directly under the radiator shroud and getting to the latch and disconnecting the cables without an auxiliary tool is quite problematic. nine0003
Similar to other versions of graphics cards based on the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition GPU, there are two CrossFireX bridge connectors that allow two to four graphics cards based on AMD Radeon HD graphics processors to be combined for joint calculation of graphic effects. Next to the connectors for connecting the CrossFireX bridges is a switch between two microcircuits with BIOS firmware. In the case of the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition, one of the chips is flashed with the BIOS for the video card to work with Mac OS, and the other for Windows, respectively, the heroine of our review may, in theory, be of interest not only to Mac Pro owners, but also to Windows users who prefer video cards white. For example, such a video card is perfect for assembling a system in one of the cases from Thermaltake or Cooler Master, who like to release their products in white. nine0003
With the exception of a few elements of the power system, the reverse side of the board is almost completely devoid of significant components.
As we said above, the video card is based on the Tahiti PRO graphics core, produced according to the 28 nm process technology and having 1792 universal shader pipelines and 32 rasterization units. The frequency of the graphics core is recommended (for the first version of AMD Radeon HD 7950) 800 MHz. Data exchange between the graphics core and memory is carried out via a 384-bit bus. nine0003
The video card memory, the total amount of which is 3 GB, is assembled using 12 256 MB chips manufactured by Elpida, marked W2032BBBG-50-F and, according to the documentation, the nominal operating frequency is 5000 MHz.
Cooling system
The video card with installed cooling system occupies two expansion slots and has a total length of 280 mm. Separately, we note a very stylish appearance of the video card, which, thanks to the efforts of Sapphire designers and engineers, is very close to the style of Apple. nine0003
The cooling system itself, with the exception of the modified casing, completely repeats that of the reference AMD Radeon HD 7950. Accordingly, we have a turbine-type cooler, which consists of a small fan and a radiator with a longitudinal arrangement of plates, which contributes to the release of heated air outside the PC case. The cooler is based on a copper evaporation chamber, which is soldered to the aluminum radiator fins and to the stiffening frame. nine0003
The cooling system contacts the graphics chip through a small layer of thermal paste applied to the copper base. The power elements of the power system and memory chips are also cooled by heat removal through special thermal pads on the stiffening frame.
Let’s proceed directly to testing the cooling system of the video card Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition: at half capacity. With this mode of operation, the noise level emitted by the cooling system can be described as average. nine0003
In the maximum fan speed mode, the GPU temperature drops to 67 degrees, which is a good result, but the noise level in this mode can be described as quite high.
When there is no load, the graphics core and memory frequencies are automatically reduced to reduce the power consumption and heat dissipation of the graphics core. In this mode, the GPU temperature does not exceed 39 degrees, and the cooling system observes complete silence. nine0003
As a result, we note that we had exactly the same claims to the cooling system of the Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 MAC Edition as to the reference cooler, namely, a high noise level at maximum fan speeds. If we do not take this unfortunate fact into account, which is quite understandable and was expected by us, then, in general, the CO does an excellent job with its immediate duties, and also has an undeniable advantage compared to axial COs — heated air is ejected outside the PC case, virtually no effect on the temperature of other components of the system. nine0336
925 MHz
Memory frequency:
5000 MHz
Memory:
3072 MB
Memorial Type:
The number of the occupied slots:
Type of connection:
version PCI Express:
Mod.
Linemark:
Tire of exchange with memory:
RAMDAC:
0002
Number of DVI-I outputs:
2
Mini Display Port Output:
2
Process:
Number of universal processors:
1792
Connectors:
Additional features:
Shader version:
5.0
Number of texture units:
nine0336
112
Number of rasterization blocks:
32
DirectX version:
11
OpenGL version:
4.2
Maximum degree of anisotropic filtering:
16x
Maximum FSAA Grade:
24x
Maximum resolution:
4096×2160
Additional power connector:
8 pin + 6 pin
TDP:
200 W
Cooling system design:
custom
Number of fans:
2
Height:
111 mm
Length:
236 mm
- ‹ Back
- More ›
Graphics cards with similar specifications to the XFX Radeon R9 280X
XFX Radeon R9 280X graphics card (1080MHz, GDDR5 3072MB 6200MHz 384bit)
This board runs at a 1080MHz processor frequency and is manufactured using a 28nm process. Information about the memory of the board: GDDR5, 3072 MB, 6200 MHz, the exchange bus with the memory in the board is 384 bits. Presented video card from XFX runs on the video processor Radeon R9280X from the Radeon model line. The number of monitors for simultaneous image output: 6, and the picture parameters are 4096×2160. The cooling system is represented by the number of fans: 2. The additional parameters of this XFX video card, which has a code name (Tahiti XTL), are: AMD APP (ATI Stream) support, CrossFire X support, HDCP support, SLI/CrossFire support, Additional power supply required. The length of this video board is 295mm. Card height 143 mm.
XFX Radeon HD 79 graphics card70 (925MHz, GDDR5 3072MB 5500MHz 384bit)
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XFX Radeon R9 280X Graphics Card (850MHz, GDDR5 3072MB 6000MHz 384bit)
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