Benchmarks
All results were obtained at 5GHz on a normal install of Windows 7 64-bit and WinXP. These are our results, yours may vary so
only use these as a guideline for a similarly configured system.
Clocks
3DMark03
3DMark06
3DMark Vantage
3DMark11
UniGine Heaven Xtreme
MSI R7970 Lightning
1.07/5.6GHz
137822
34457
36051
GPU: 37071
9330
Graphics: 9012
2027.796
MSI R7970 Lightning OC
1.28G/7.2GHz
39979
GPU: 42956
11144
Graphics: 11037
AfterBurner which netted
us an additional 100MHz,
bringing our clock to a nice
and comfortable 1,270MHz.
It may not seem like much,
but consider that we also had
the memory at a scorching
1800MHz (7.2GHz Effective)
and these were game stable
settings. For a single 3DMark
Vantage run we could do
1,290MHz but that was hardly
stable and the increase in
vGPU required for that was not
worth it in the end. Great for
those overclocking sessions
and this is what this card is
essentially built for.
Try as we might we couldn’t
find anything to fault about
the Lightning. We are aware
that despite the binned
GPUs that are used for the
Lightning range, further
binning may be required by
overclockers as we’ve heard
stories of some cards being
unstable at anything lower
than -20’C.Those are far and
few in-between and we’d
think that the odds of coming
across a sample like that
with the reference cards is
significantly higher than it is
for the Lightning. So we’d not
be deterred too much about
such reports.
During our testing we
noticed something peculiar
though and that is our GPUReactor module didn’t help
at all. Be it installed or not
the maximum clock speeds
were identical. This doesn’t’
mean it’s not a worthwhile
attachment as we’ve seen
some other samples show
gains with it installed. We
aren’t entirely sure what was
happening with our sample
or if the limitation was
somewhere else, but once
again, at worst it can’t hurt
your overclocks so you may as
well use it.
MSI once again has managed
to make its graphics card
stand out from the countless
number of Radeon 7970s on
the market. Most customised
7970s are special by virtue of a
factory overclock and a cooler;
however MSI’s card is different
from purpose right through to
execution. There’s no need to
buy a card in the hopes that
the mods for it are online as
you essentially don’t’ need any
and if you do they are simple
enough to follow that virtually
any competent overclocker
can perform them.
40.871
There isn’t anything to dislike
about the R7970 Lightning. It’s
in every way what we hoped it
would be and more. If you’re in
the market for a purpose built
overclocking graphics card
with minimum fuss, this is the
one to buy.
[ The Overclocker ]
Summary
MSI has yet produced
another worthwhile
graphics card for
the Lightning family.
It’s simply the best
Radeon 7970 money
can buy right now. If
you’re serious about
overclocking and
wringing out the best
from the Radeon 7970
look no further than the
R7970 Lightning.
Would you buy it?
Most definitely, this is
the 7970 to own over and
above all others.
The Score
9/10
Issue 20 | 2012 The OverClocker 17