HD 7970: technical specifications and reviews

High-End video cards do not surprise anyone, because manufacturers realized that for most fans to play in resource-intensive computer games of the new generation, the video card's power comes first. That's just the price of the device can stop a potential buyer. To attract attention, intermediate modifications of devices are created, which are aimed at the top segment, but their price is much lower than their counterparts.

In this article, we will talk about one of these gaming video devices - a video card HD 7970 from a well-known brand that built their solutions on an AMD chip. The primary goal of the manufacturer was to reduce the cost of the video adapter, while maintaining a decent playing power.

A worthy competitor

When it comes to Nvidia's affordable products, it turns out that the manufacturer simply offers a cut-down version of its Geforce Titan flagship, you can see this by comparing the chips of the devices and examining their architecture. In the company AMD could in the same way offer cheaper modifications of the Radeon R9 chip, but they did not. The HD 7970 video card has got a completely new platform with the use of all modern technologies, thanks to which it surpassed all devices offered by the competitor in the same price niche (15-20 thousand rubles).

The fact that the result is a decent gaming device at an affordable price, you can judge by the abundance of devices built on this chipset. All the known manufacturers of video cards have taken the issue on the basis of AMD Radeon HD 7970. In the market, the buyer can detect even a few modifications from one manufacturer - this is a worthy indicator for many users.

In the original packaging

The affordable price on the video card market is provided by the device with 28 nm technology with GCN architecture, which has only one graphic core (all top-end devices have two). Thanks to modern technologies, the manufacturer managed to install about 4.3 billion transistors on the HD 7970 chip.

The graphics core operates at a frequency of 925 MHz, but as owners in their reviews say, this is the minimum figure that is easily increased, it would be worthy of cooling. 128 textural blocks and 32 ROPs are installed. The memory operates at 1375 MHz (effective 5500), has a capacity of 3 gigabytes and communicates with the computer on a 384-bit bus. By the way, the board has a wiring for installing additional memory modules, so expect new products from manufacturers having 6 gigabytes on board (possibly with a 512-bit bus).

High performance video adapter led to an increase in power consumption - 250 watts at maximum load very much resemble the products of competitor Nvidia. It's rather strange to see AMD products with such resource-intensive requests (before limitations were up to 130 W).

Exaggerated version

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 of "Ti"). The video card HD 7970 GHz Edition went on sale in the 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 did not make any further changes: the expected increase in bandwidth over 384 bits and the increase in memory capacity to 6 gigabytes did not happen. Only the price increased. As experts note in their reviews, the purchase will clearly prove to be irrational, because in the products of the competitor, the prefix "Ti" is uniquely assigned to devices with increased bandwidth of the memory bus.

Appearance and cooling

Still, the time has come when for installation of the gaming device AMD requires a roomy case of the Tower ATX standard. After all, the length of the adapter is 38 centimeters, and it takes two slots in the system unit, clearly claiming the third for a decent intake of air for cooling. The components of the printed circuit board are placed compactly: memory chips are installed around the graphics core, and the power elements are not scattered around the perimeter of the device, but are neatly soldered into one unit.

The video card based on the AMD Radeon HD 7970 chip has a nice cooling system. The aluminum section of the radiator is integral and covers two thirds of the printed circuit board, its base is made of copper, which provides better heat dissipation from the heating elements. At the tail end of the video adapter is installed a proprietary turbofan. The whole cooling system is tightly closed by a protective casing, which does not allow heated air to return to the body of the device, but is led out through the grid of the mounting block.

Inexpensive solution

The cheapest graphics card in the Russian market, HD 7970, whose reviews 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, the company ASUS greatly surprised its fans by providing the device with a worthy bundle: all kinds of adapters for monitors, a power splitter, a CrossFireX bridge for connecting several video cards.

Externally, the ASUS video adapter differs from the initial AMD product only with the inscription on the radiator hood, so the user's attention is focused on the technical characteristics of the device. The supplied utility ASUS GPU Tweak has put everything in its place: the excellent overclocking, demonstrating the high performance of the video adapter, is the main advantage of the manufacturer. The graphics core shows stable operation at 1200 MHz, and the memory module does not heat up at a frequency of 1635 MHz (6500 MHz).

Icy freshness

The video adapter Radeon HD 7970 from HIS, as always, attracts customers to its products with an exclusive appearance and a decent cooling system. Declared by the manufacturer's noise level of 15 dB is clearly not a marketing move, because the company's technology completely changed the power supply system of the video card by installing a PWM controller of its own production and increasing the number of phases.

The aluminum radiator covers the entire surface of the printed circuit board and is pierced by copper tubes, which result in a core that is adjacent to the graphic core. On top is a metal protective cover with two huge fans, at low rpm very efficiently creating a powerful airflow that can quickly remove heat from the heating elements.

In the factory version, the frequency of the HD 7970 core is 1050 MHz, and the memory operates at 1400 MHz, however, as users note in their reviews, these figures are nothing compared to the overclocking potential: 1125 MHz for the core and 1575 MHz for memory provide excellent performance In games.

A typical model of a well-known manufacturer

But the company Sapphire disappointed its fans, because the manufacturer simply took the product AMD HD 7970 and attached the sticker to the device casing. Naturally, no additional modifications were made to the PCB. The device attracts attention on the market only at its price (15,000 rubles), which can afford many fans of dynamic games.

The standard overclocking of the core up to 1200 MHz does not surprise anybody, but the memory shows stability at 1785 MHz (effective 7140 MHz). Quite good indicators in test applications and games are clouded by the operation of the cooling system. Apparently, a strong heating of the core and memory chips causes the turbofan to operate at maximum power.

Urgent rehabilitation

Apparently, having realized their mistakes, the company Sapphire decided to urgently rehabilitate itself in the market of video adapters. 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. Quite another matter - it is immediately evident that the buyers are a serious brand.

The whole power system succumbed to the 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 the capacities of the printed circuit board to solid-state drives. Copper in production did not regret: the base of the radiator, sections and pipes for heat removal 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 perfectly at 1600 MHz. The potential for further overclocking is, but immediately there is a noise in the work of two small fans.

Silent monster

The PowerColor company behaves strangely in the video adapter market. One series of devices she sells in the factory execution, the other - ignores in general, and the third endows with superabilities. The HD 7970, a description of which can be found literally in all computer magazines, deserves special attention of customers, because we are talking about water cooling. Immediately it is worth noting that the water block is not free, and for the device in the collection, the buyer will have to pay about 25,000 rubles (almost the same is the flagship on the AMD chip).

As experts note in their reviews, the water cooling system supplied with the video card is very similar to the water block of the well-known brand Zalman, and the principle of operation is identical. Accordingly, there should be no questions on the system's efficiency, as with the assembly of the cooling unit. There is an instruction manual, a set of accessories and even a key.

Naturally, such a monster will easily succumb to overclocking, because the efficiency of water cooling is much higher than air blasting. The graphics core works stably at 1290 MHz, and video memory copes with a frequency of 1750 MHz (7,000 effective).

Double punch

Happy fans and the company XFX, introduced the market immediately two versions of the chipset HD 7970. Overview of an inexpensive device should not even begin, because after taking the factory video card, the manufacturer made a branded engraving on the casing of the device and brought the product to the market. Low price without any improvements - does not look like a serious brand.

But the second device XFX will be interesting to overclockers, because the manufacturer has allowed himself to completely replace the power supply system on the printed circuit board of the video adapter. Branded controllers of the power phase control unit, microchips of its own production and many other changes significantly reduced the power consumption of the video card. With the cooling system, the new bicycle was not reinvented by equipping the device with a cooler, which is put on the top accelerator R9.

The result of all innovations was the effective work of the video adapter in overclocking at the frequency of the graphics 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 Company introduced its product under the name HD 7970 Lightning. The main feature of this video card is the proprietary cooling system. The manufacturer did not engage in the development of the printed circuit board, trusting completely the AMD technology, but spent all of its time on creating an efficient heat removal system.

The aluminum base covers the PCB from 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 is an aluminum radiator with copper tubes, which boil down to the contact pad of the graphics core. In places where fans are installed, aluminum gratings are slightly cut off in height, creating small holes for mounting coolers (reminiscent of Gainward Phantom). As a result of overclocking, you can achieve stability of the graphics chip at a frequency of 1190 MHz, and memory - 1650 MHz.

Finally

In the Russian market there are a lot of products created on the HD 7970 core, but their overclocking efficiency is so small that it makes no sense to paint their dignity. The review presents devices that will be of interest to buyers who are oriented at purchase or at low cost, or on a large potential for overclocking a video card. The golden mean has recently gone out of fashion.