High-End class video cards no longer surprise anyone, because manufacturers realized that for most fans to play demanding computer games of a new generation, the power of a video adapter comes first. That's just the price of the device can stop a potential buyer. To attract attention, intermediate modifications of devices are created that are aimed at the top segment, but their price is much lower than their analogues.
In this article, we will talk about one of these gaming video devices - the HD 7970 graphics card from a well-known brand, which built their solutions on an AMD chip. The primary task of the manufacturer was to reduce the cost of the video adapter, while maintaining decent gaming power.
Worthy competitor
When it comes to affordable Nvidia products, it turns out that the manufacturer simply offers truncated versions of its flagship Geforce Titan, you can verify this by comparing device chips and examining their architecture. AMD could offer cheaper versions of the Radeon R9 chip in the same way, but they did not. The HD 7970 video card received a completely new platform using all modern technologies, due to which it surpassed in performance all the devices offered by a competitor in the same price range (15-20 thousand rubles).
The result is a decent gaming device at an affordable price, you can judge by the abundance of devices built on this chipset. All well-known manufacturers of video cards have taken up the release of products based on AMD Radeon HD 7970. On the market, the buyer can even find several modifications from one manufacturer - this is a worthy indicator for many users.
In factory packaging
An affordable price on the video card market for the device is provided by 28 nm technology with GCN architecture, which has only one graphics core (all top devices have two). Thanks to modern technology, the manufacturer managed to install about 4.3 billion transistors on the HD 7970 chip.
The graphics core operates at a frequency of 925 megahertz, but as the owners claim in their reviews, this is the minimum indicator that easily increases, there would be decent cooling. Installed 128 texture units and 32 ROP. The memory operates at a frequency of 1375 MHz (effective 5500), has a capacity of 3 gigabytes and communicates with a computer via a 384-bit bus. By the way, the board has a wiring for installing additional memory modules, so we should expect new products from manufacturers with 6 gigabytes on board (possibly with a 512-bit bus).
The high performance of the video adapter led to an increase in power consumption - 250 watts at maximum load are very similar to the products of the competitor Nvidia. It’s rather strange to see AMD products with such demanding requests (before the limitations were up to 130 W).
Overclocked option
Following the trends of the video adapter market, the manufacturer decided to create an improved modification of its device for demanding users (Nvidia has long used such a scheme with the creation of modifications "Ti"). The video card HD 7970 GHz Edition went on sale in an overclocked form: the graphics core operates at a frequency of 1050 MHz, and the video memory has 1500 MHz (6000 MHz). It is worth noting that the manufacturer has not made any changes anymore: the expected increase in throughput over 384 bits and an increase in memory up to 6 gigabytes did not happen. Only the price has increased. According to experts in their reviews, the purchase will obviously be irrational, because the competitor’s products prefix “Ti” is unambiguously assigned to devices with increased memory bus bandwidth.
Appearance and cooling
Still, the moment has come when for mounting an AMD gaming device a capacious Tower ATX standard case is required. After all, the adapter is 38 centimeters long, and it occupies two slots in the system unit, clearly laying claim to the third for a decent intake of air for cooling. Elements of the printed circuit board are placed compactly: memory chips are installed around the graphics core, and power elements are not scattered around the entire perimeter of the device, but are neatly soldered into one block.
The video card based on the AMD Radeon HD 7970 chip has a nice-looking cooling system. The aluminum section of the radiator is solid and covers two-thirds of the printed circuit board, its base is made of copper, which provides better heat dissipation from heating elements. A proprietary turbofan is installed in the tail of the video adapter. The entire cooling system is tightly closed by a protective casing, which does not allow heated air to return to the device’s case, but is discharged out through the grille of the mounting block.
Low cost solution
The cheapest HD 7970 video card on the Russian market, reviews of which are only positive, is represented by the famous Taiwanese brand ASUS. For the first time in recent years, the manufacturer did not install its own cooling system, trusting the manufacturer. In general, ASUS greatly surprised its fans, providing the device with decent equipment: all kinds of adapters for monitors, a splitter for power supply, CrossFireX bridge for connecting several video cards.
Externally, the ASUS video adapter differs from the initial AMD product only by the inscription on the radiator cover, so all the user's attention is focused on the technical characteristics of the device. The supplied ASUS GPU Tweak utility put everything in its place: excellent overclocking, demonstrating the high performance of the video adapter, is the main advantage of the manufacturer. The graphics core shows stable operation at a frequency of 1200 MHz, and the memory module practically does not heat up at a frequency of 1635 MHz (6500 MHz).
Icy freshness
The HIS Radeon HD 7970 video adapter, as always, attracts customers to its products with an exclusive appearance and a decent cooling system. The noise level of 15 dB declared by the manufacturer is clearly not a marketing move, because the company's technologists have completely altered the video card's power system by installing a PWM controller of its own production and increasing the number of phases.
An aluminum radiator covers the entire surface of the printed circuit board and is penetrated by copper tubes, which as a result are reduced to a core adjacent to the graphic core. A metal protective casing with two huge fans is installed on top, at low speeds it is very efficient to create a powerful air stream that can quickly remove heat from heating elements.
In the factory version, the core frequency of the HD 7970 is 1050 MHz, and the memory runs at 1400 MHz, however, as users note in their reviews, these figures are nothing compared to the overclocking potential: 1125 MHz in the core and 1575 MHz in memory provide excellent performance in games.
Typical model of a famous manufacturer
But the company Sapphire disappointed its fans, because the manufacturer simply took the product AMD HD 7970 and attached its sticker on the device case. Naturally, no additional improvements on the printed circuit board were made. The device on the market attracts attention only with its price (15,000 rubles), which is affordable for many fans of dynamic games.
The standard core overclocking up to 1200 MHz does not surprise anyone, but the memory shows stability at 1785 MHz (effective 7140 MHz). Quite good performance in test applications and games is overshadowed by the cooling system. Apparently, strong heating of the core and memory chips makes the turbofan operate at maximum power.
Emergency rehabilitation
Apparently, realizing its mistakes, Sapphire decided to urgently rehabilitate itself in the video adapter market. Marketers presented two products at once: the Radeon HD 7970 Vapor-X and Toxic Edition video cards, which went on sale in two variations each: with three and six gigabytes of RAM on board. It’s a completely different matter - it’s immediately obvious that there is a serious brand in front of customers.
The whole power system succumbed to modification: 8 + 2 phases were installed, which significantly reduced the power consumption of the video adapter. It is worth noting that the manufacturer installed proprietary power controllers and changed all capacities of the printed circuit board to solid-state drives. Copper in production did not spare: the base of the radiator, sections and tubes for heat dissipation are made of this noble metal.
Decent cooling is the key to the success of any overclocking. The graphics core shows stable operation at a frequency of 1250 MHz, and the memory works fine at 1600 MHz. There is potential for further overclocking, but immediately there is noise in the operation of two small fans.
Silent monster
PowerColor behaves strangely enough in the video adapter market. It sells one series of devices in the factory version, ignores the other in general, and gives the third super powers. Video card HD 7970, a description of which can be found in virtually all computer magazines, deserves special attention of buyers, because we are talking about water cooling. It should be noted right away that the water block is not free, and the buyer will have to pay about 25,000 rubles for the assembled device (almost the same is the flagship on the AMD chip).
According to experts in their reviews, the water cooling system supplied with the video card is very similar to the water block of the famous Zalman brand, and the principle of operation is identical. Accordingly, questions on the efficiency of the system should not arise, as well as with the assembly of the cooling unit. There is an instruction, a set of accessories and even a key.
Naturally, such a monster can easily be overclocked, because the efficiency of water cooling is much higher than air blowing. The graphics core works stably at 1290 MHz, and video memory copes with a frequency of 1750 MHz (7000 effective).
Double punch
The XFX company was pleased with the fans, which presented two modifications of the HD 7970 chipset at once on the market. An overview of an inexpensive device should not even start, because having taken a factory video card, the manufacturer made a signature engraving on the device cover and brought the product to the market. Low price without any modifications - it does not look like a serious brand at all.
But the second XFX device will be interesting to overclockers, because the manufacturer allowed himself to completely replace the power system on the video card's printed circuit board. Proprietary controllers for the power phase control unit, in-house microchips, and many other changes significantly reduced the power consumption of the video card. They did not invent a new bicycle with the cooling system, equipping the device with a cooler, which is placed on the top-end R9 accelerator.
The result of all the innovations was the effective work of the video adapter in acceleration at a frequency of the graphic core of 1200 MHz. The memory shows stability at 1700 MHz. Excellent performance for a device whose temperature is kept within 70 degrees Celsius.
In the race for performance
MSI introduced its product on the market under the name HD 7970 Lightning. The main feature of this video card is a proprietary cooling system. The manufacturer did not begin to finalize the printed circuit board, completely trusting AMD technologists, but spent all his time creating an effective heat removal system.
An aluminum base covers the PCB case on both sides - the solution is rather strange, because there are no power elements on the back of the device. Along the entire perimeter of the video card there is an aluminum radiator with copper tubes, which are reduced to the contact area of the graphic core. In the places where the fans are installed, the aluminum grilles are slightly cut in height, creating small recesses for mounting coolers (vaguely reminiscent of Gainward Phantom). As a result of overclocking, you can achieve the stability of the graphics chip at a frequency of 1190 MHz, and memory - 1650 MHz.
Finally
There are many products on the Russian market created on the HD 7970 core, but their overclocking efficiency is so small that it makes no sense to paint their merits. The review presents devices that will be of interest to buyers who focus on the purchase of either a low cost or a great potential for overclocking a video card. The golden mean has recently gone out of fashion.