Introduction
Even though the Nvidia 680 GTX is around the corner, let’s have a look at this price to performance ratio king the ATI 7970 made by HIS. Let’s start by looking at the manufacturer specs of the card.
Product Code H797F3G2M
EAN Code 4895139006780
Cooler Fan
GPU 7970
Core Clock 925 MHz
Memory Clock 5500 MHz
Memory Size 3072 MB
Memory Type GDDR5
Memory Interface 384 bit
Interface PCI Express 3.0 x16
Card Dimension 12.6 x 4.2 x 29.3 cm (HxWxD)
Box Dimension 36.5 x 19.6 x 9.9 cm (HxWxD)
The immediate things that grab your attention is the 3 GB memory and the 5500 MHZ DDR5 Memory. These figures alone would get any enthusiast excited as they would know that this card packs a serious punch for a single GPU card.
Some stated facts about the platform by AMD.
Cons -
- Nothing specific really, just that we would want another Mini DP active converter for Eyefinity setup included in the bundle.
We would like to say thanks to Mr Raju of Tirupati Enterprises for providing us the 7970 test unit and Intel for the Ivy bridge Test Unit
Even though the Nvidia 680 GTX is around the corner, let’s have a look at this price to performance ratio king the ATI 7970 made by HIS. Let’s start by looking at the manufacturer specs of the card.
Product Code H797F3G2M
EAN Code 4895139006780
Cooler Fan
GPU 7970
Core Clock 925 MHz
Memory Clock 5500 MHz
Memory Size 3072 MB
Memory Type GDDR5
Memory Interface 384 bit
Interface PCI Express 3.0 x16
Card Dimension 12.6 x 4.2 x 29.3 cm (HxWxD)
Box Dimension 36.5 x 19.6 x 9.9 cm (HxWxD)
The immediate things that grab your attention is the 3 GB memory and the 5500 MHZ DDR5 Memory. These figures alone would get any enthusiast excited as they would know that this card packs a serious punch for a single GPU card.
Some stated facts about the platform by AMD.
- The world’s first 28nm GPU. The revolutionary new GCN Architecture. Ready for DirectX® 11. PCI Express 3.0.[SUP]2[/SUP] The AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 is your personal checklist for ground-breaking technology.
- The next generation of AMD Eyefinity technology is here, featuring all-new support for stereo 3D, universal bezel compensation and brand new display configurations. Face it: the best just got better.
- Armed with the new PCI Express 3.0 standard, multi-GPU configurations with AMD CrossFireâ„¢ technology are just another way to obliterate the competition with the revolutionary AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 7970.
- Leave no performance behind. Get higher clocks and faster gaming with AMD PowerTune technology on AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD 7970 Graphics.
- Fold and mine faster than ever with AMD App Acceleration powered by the unprecedented 28nm GCN Architecture.
- The market isn’t ready for 4k video, but Radeon™ is. With full support for HDMI® (with 4K) and DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 is set for quad HD.
The Package
The Box looks like any other graphic card box. Which have shrunk to a normal size these days as space and cost saving is the new mantra instead of being flamboyant and oversized which was seen a couple of years ago.
In the box you'll find the standard set of accessories Driver CD (which was missing in our case), Crossfire Bridge, Case sticker, DVI to VGA convertor, HDMI to DVI converter, an ACTIVE mini DP to DVI convertors and a unique weight lifter for the card which is an interesting contraption designed to keep the card in place and hold its weight as it is a hefty card, which indeed is a welcome addition in the package as it would reduce the stress on the PCI-e slot considerably. What we would have been looking forward to is an additional Mini DP to DVI active connector or DP to DP connector as that would make the package complete for an Eyefinity setup. Something that all manufacturers to consider as one really has to look hard to find an Active mini DP Connector in India.
If you look closely at the card it looks identical to the reference design with some HIS branding. Removing the cover we can see the same heatsink as it was shown in the reference 7970 cards by AMD. There are two power connectors (6 pin & 8 pin PCI-E power connectors).
On the connectivity part you’ll find two mini DP ports, One DVI port and one HDMI port as this card is Eyefinity ready.
Test Setup
CPU – Intel i7 3770K (Ivy Bridge)
Motherboard – Intel DZ77SL-50
RAM - Gskill Ripjaws F3-1800CL9S (1600 MHZ 8 GB kit)
Storage – Seagate SATA 3 1 TB Constellation Enterprise Series
CPU Cooling – Standard Low profile Intel CPU Cooler
Power Supply - FSP Everest 900 W
OS – Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
Chassis – Antec Twelve Hundred
Since this is a mini review we haven’t gone for a long list of tests, we’ll be looking only at the following.
3DMark Vantage, 3DMark 11 and PC Mark Vantage. Unfortunately our report on SisoftSandra got corrupted so we’ll be able to share limited data from on it on the Ivy Bridge Review.
Lets look at the 3D Mark Vantage results first with everything set to max on Extreme preset.
Looking at the numbers and comparing it with reviews of GTX 580 we can see a clear jump of 15-20% the CPU has obviously helped a bit, however it still shows a clear performance jump when compared to an AMD 6970 or Nvidia GTX 580.
3D Mark 11 Results with everything set to max
Again 3D mark 11 confirms what we saw in 3D mark Vantage a clear 15-20% jump in scores when comparing the card to a 6970 or GTX 580.
Time for PC Mark Vantage Scores
PCMark Gaming 1 395.36
Data decompression 2155.552 MB/s
GPU gaming 72.514 FPS
PCMark Gaming 2 810.35
CPU gaming 39632.785 operations/s
Gaming 1 75.23
GPU gaming 75.232 FPS
Gaming 2 16.98
HDD - gaming 16.976 MB/s
Gaming 3 7800.14
CPU gaming 36704.078 operations/s
Data decompression 1657.641 MB/s
Gaming 4 297.83
GPU gaming 44.491 FPS
CPU gaming 36244.781 operations/s
HDD - gaming 16.382 MB/s
Looking at PC Mark we can see that the performance is more than adequate for most of the games with everything set to max.
Conclusion
Though its not an exhaustive review, however we can see that the 7970 was designed with one thing in mind; Dethroning the reigning price to performance king the GTX 580 and it does that job very well and priced below the 20K mark it is within reach of any enthusiast who wishes to either upgrade or build a new killer system.
We do wish however that the golden days of bundled games with GFX cards comes back and inclusion of 2 Active DP to DVI connectors would also be a blessing to anyone who buys an Eyefinity capable card.
Mini review of Ivy Bridge i7 3770K coming soon.
Pros -
- Performance to price ratio.
- Active Mini DP to DVI converter
- Very low fan noise
The Box looks like any other graphic card box. Which have shrunk to a normal size these days as space and cost saving is the new mantra instead of being flamboyant and oversized which was seen a couple of years ago.
In the box you'll find the standard set of accessories Driver CD (which was missing in our case), Crossfire Bridge, Case sticker, DVI to VGA convertor, HDMI to DVI converter, an ACTIVE mini DP to DVI convertors and a unique weight lifter for the card which is an interesting contraption designed to keep the card in place and hold its weight as it is a hefty card, which indeed is a welcome addition in the package as it would reduce the stress on the PCI-e slot considerably. What we would have been looking forward to is an additional Mini DP to DVI active connector or DP to DP connector as that would make the package complete for an Eyefinity setup. Something that all manufacturers to consider as one really has to look hard to find an Active mini DP Connector in India.
If you look closely at the card it looks identical to the reference design with some HIS branding. Removing the cover we can see the same heatsink as it was shown in the reference 7970 cards by AMD. There are two power connectors (6 pin & 8 pin PCI-E power connectors).
On the connectivity part you’ll find two mini DP ports, One DVI port and one HDMI port as this card is Eyefinity ready.
Test Setup
CPU – Intel i7 3770K (Ivy Bridge)
Motherboard – Intel DZ77SL-50
RAM - Gskill Ripjaws F3-1800CL9S (1600 MHZ 8 GB kit)
Storage – Seagate SATA 3 1 TB Constellation Enterprise Series
CPU Cooling – Standard Low profile Intel CPU Cooler
Power Supply - FSP Everest 900 W
OS – Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
Chassis – Antec Twelve Hundred
Since this is a mini review we haven’t gone for a long list of tests, we’ll be looking only at the following.
3DMark Vantage, 3DMark 11 and PC Mark Vantage. Unfortunately our report on SisoftSandra got corrupted so we’ll be able to share limited data from on it on the Ivy Bridge Review.
Lets look at the 3D Mark Vantage results first with everything set to max on Extreme preset.
Looking at the numbers and comparing it with reviews of GTX 580 we can see a clear jump of 15-20% the CPU has obviously helped a bit, however it still shows a clear performance jump when compared to an AMD 6970 or Nvidia GTX 580.
3D Mark 11 Results with everything set to max
Again 3D mark 11 confirms what we saw in 3D mark Vantage a clear 15-20% jump in scores when comparing the card to a 6970 or GTX 580.
Time for PC Mark Vantage Scores
PCMark Gaming 1 395.36
Data decompression 2155.552 MB/s
GPU gaming 72.514 FPS
PCMark Gaming 2 810.35
CPU gaming 39632.785 operations/s
Gaming 1 75.23
GPU gaming 75.232 FPS
Gaming 2 16.98
HDD - gaming 16.976 MB/s
Gaming 3 7800.14
CPU gaming 36704.078 operations/s
Data decompression 1657.641 MB/s
Gaming 4 297.83
GPU gaming 44.491 FPS
CPU gaming 36244.781 operations/s
HDD - gaming 16.382 MB/s
Looking at PC Mark we can see that the performance is more than adequate for most of the games with everything set to max.
Conclusion
Though its not an exhaustive review, however we can see that the 7970 was designed with one thing in mind; Dethroning the reigning price to performance king the GTX 580 and it does that job very well and priced below the 20K mark it is within reach of any enthusiast who wishes to either upgrade or build a new killer system.
We do wish however that the golden days of bundled games with GFX cards comes back and inclusion of 2 Active DP to DVI connectors would also be a blessing to anyone who buys an Eyefinity capable card.
Mini review of Ivy Bridge i7 3770K coming soon.
Pros -
- Performance to price ratio.
- Active Mini DP to DVI converter
- Very low fan noise
Cons -
- Nothing specific really, just that we would want another Mini DP active converter for Eyefinity setup included in the bundle.
We would like to say thanks to Mr Raju of Tirupati Enterprises for providing us the 7970 test unit and Intel for the Ivy bridge Test Unit
