AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3 GB

Introduction

AMD launches its newest graphics processor, the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, in a desperate bid to reclaim the single-GPU performance crown from NVIDIA. The move sparks a sense of déjà vu, taking us back to mid-2009, when AMD created the Radeon HD 4890 to compete against the then cheapened GeForce GTX 260 Core 216. While the HD 4890 used a new, redesigned ASIC, the new HD 7970 GHz Edition sticks to the same one as the HD 7970.

The Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition ships with about 13.5% higher GPU and 9% higher memory clock speeds, it gets its "GHz Edition" brand extension from its ≥1 GHz GPU clock speed. Radeon HD 7870 and Radeon HD 7770 are the other GHz Edition SKUs from AMD. Increased clock speeds aren't the only things new about the HD 7970 GHz Edition; it is also the first high-end AMD GPU to feature PowerTune with Boost, a similar-sounding feature to NVIDIA GPU Boost.



The core of the HD 7970 GHz Edition is clocked as high as 1000 MHz, with a Boost frequency of 1050 MHz; while the memory is upped to 1500 MHz (actual) or 6.00 GHz (GDDR5 effective), resulting in a staggering 288 GB/s bandwidth thanks to the 384-bit wide memory interface. The PowerTune with Boost, on the other hand, is an evolution of AMD's PowerTune technology. Whereas PowerTune provides high maximum clock speeds, PowerTune with Boost uses a new deterministic algorithm that takes into account power-draw and temperatures, to find more opportunities to boost the clock speed. The technology even tunes the voltage, if it is required to support the Boost state, as long as power-draw and temperatures are within acceptable limits.



The card itself doesn't look any different from the reference design Radeon HD 7970, right down to its PCB layout, although we expect the SKU to be mostly sold as non-reference design graphics cards by AMD's contingent of add-in board partners. The move by AMD is to minimize development costs for itself, and its partners. AMD's one point agenda with the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition is retaking the performance crown from NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680. It is also priced on-par with it. In this review we will find out if AMD succeeds at it, and if so, at what 'cost'.

HD 7970 Market Segment Analysis

	GeForce GTX 580	Radeon HD 7950	GeForce GTX 670	Radeon HD 7970	HD 7970 GHz Edition	GeForce GTX 680	Radeon HD 6990	GeForce GTX 590	GeForce GTX 690
Shader Units	512	1792	1344	2048	2048	1536	2x 1536	2x 512	2x 1536
ROPs	48	32	32	32	32	32	2x 32	2x 48	2x 32
Graphics Processor	GF110	Tahiti	GK104	Tahiti	Tahiti	GK104	2x Cayman	2x GF110	2x GK104
Transistors	3000M	4310M	3500M	4310M	4310M	3500M	2x 2640M	2x 3000M	2x 3500M
Memory Size	1536 MB	3072 MB	2048 MB	3072 MB	3072 MB	2048 MB	2x 2048 MB	2x 1536 MB	2x 2048 MB
Memory Bus Width	384 bit	384 bit	256 bit	384 bit	384 bit	256 bit	2x 256 bit	2x 384 bit	2x 256 bit
Core Clock	772 MHz	800 MHz	915 MHz+	925 MHz	1050 MHz	1006 MHz+	830 MHz	607 MHz	915 MHz+
Memory Clock	1002 MHz	1250 MHz	1502 MHz	1375 MHz	1500 MHz	1502 MHz	1250 MHz	855 MHz	1502 MHz
Price	$380	$380	$400	$450	$500	$500	$700	$750	$999