Radeon HD 7950 Reference Design Pictured

[btarunr]

It looks like Radeon HD 7970 and HD 7950 won't share a common design after all, as press-shots of the HD 7950 suggest. The HD 7950 is also said to use a different PCB design from the HD 7970, diminishing any chance of the HD 7950 being "unlockable" to HD 7970 using a BIOS update. The reference design card uses a cost-effective heatsink with internal ventilation using a top-flow fan, and not a fin-canal design the HD 7970 uses, which pushes hot air out of the case.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

is it shorter?

 

[buggalugs]

wow, that is a surprise....

 

[_JP_]

Oh crap...
It's that fan design again...damn it...

 

[phanbuey]

wow...

need a poll too see how many other people think this was a huge letdown. Bad pricing, ugly design, and probably no way to unlock.

 

[TheMailMan78]

wow...

need a poll too see how many other people think this was a huge letdown. Bad pricing, ugly design, and probably no way to unlock.

And don't forget all the envy owners will have to put up with from 580 owners.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

That reminds me.

Whats up with this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127652

And don't forget all the envy owners will have to put up with from some 580 owners.

Fixed. I got my 580 3GB for $430 mofo.

 

[phanbuey]

And don't forget all the envy owners will have to put up with from 580 owners.

Yah... totally...

So envious I didnt get a 580 at $450 back when I had the chance.

 

[entropy13]

And don't forget all the envy owners will have to put up with from 580 owners.

I agree. Who wouldn't be envious of a card that's yet to be released simply because they got theirs 6-8 months ago?

 

[btarunr]

Most HD 7950s sold will be non-reference design (the PCS's, the Toxic's, the VaporX's, the DirectCu's, TwinFrozr's). The card in the news post is ASUS.

 

[dj-electric]

True that^
XFX's also

Im reminding you guys that AMD will use this Fan for more reference design graphics cards in the future

 

[btarunr]

Im reminding you guys that AMD will use this Fan for more reference design graphics cards in the future

Yup, this is HD 7700 posted earlier:

 

[Quantos]

Most HD 7950s sold will be non-reference design (the PCS's, the Toxic's, the VaporX's, the DirectCu's, TwinFrozr's). The card in the news post is ASUS.

I agree. The reference is probably there just to... well, provide a reference. The argument that it's not good because it can't be unlocked is a bit weird to me. I mean... it's not as if you're entitled to buy a $450 product that you can flip a switch on and get $100 more worth of performance. From the benchmarks I've seen, the 7970's pricing fits with its performance.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Dont know why you people are acting like you do.
The HD7950 as it stands is faster then the GTX580 and costs about the same, is that so bad?
Also pricing will of course go down when Nvidias release of new high end products.

 

[Andy77]

Dont know why you people are acting like you do.

Immaturity or greed... flip for it, either way it's bad.

And yes, good point. The performance is good enough to beat nv's current top offering so it's priced right.

 

[EarthDog]

And don't forget all the envy owners will have to put up with from 580 owners.

Thats what you think...

 

[dj-electric]

Kiss mah 1.2Ghz HD7970's mister

I don't think that fan is that bad BTW
Not that i can know anything about it...

 

[alwayssts]

is it shorter?

This question is pertinent given the line-in-the-sand nvidia and amd seemed to have drawn. The fact it does not seem to be shorter should make it a product without a useful home once we see both teams' cards...pun not intended.

Is it a way too big high-end 1080p card (for the small-case/htpc crowd) with too much memory/bandwidth that won't fit in a ton of peoples' cases or is it a greater than 1080p/multi-monitor card (for the full-size/high-end crowd) that doesnt have enough CUs?

It looks good now...but it won't. Hope the 1.5gb version uses six 2gigabit chips and is shorter...that could be cool.

 

[dj-electric]

If you want something for a small case you might get a HD7850-ish card

 

[badmau5]

both shroud and fan look pretty cheap for $400 card if you ask me. Also i was wondering about 7970 - where the f... did backplate go? is it really that expansive to supply $600 card with a sheet of metal to make it look nice in the case?

 

[btarunr]

where the f... did backplate go?

Where GTX 580's backplate went. Backplate heaven.

 

[badmau5]

Where GTX 580's backplate went. Backplate heaven.

Truth, same thing with gtx 570/80 but this topic is about 79xx series. i get your sarcasm though.