All results were obtained at 4.8GHz on a normal install of Windows 7 64-bit. These are our results, yours may vary so
only use these as a guideline for a similarly configured system
GPU
Clocks
3DMark03
3DMark
Vantage
3DMark11
Unigine Heaven
Xtreme
Sniper Elite
Max Detail
GIGABYTE HD7970 GHz Cat
12.11 b11
1.1GHz/6GHz
145294
39974
10919
2258.969
94.9
GPU Score:
42226
Graphics:
10674
39168
9367
2161.014
81.5
GPU Score:
41657
Graphics:
9022
GIGABYTE HD7970 GHZ Cat
11.12
1.1GHz/6GHz
in 3DMark11. AMD obviously
concerned with the dominance
of NVIDIA graphics cards
in tessellation heavy tests
performed miracles here and
for the most part managed to
close the gap significantly.
The same can’t be said for
Unigine’s Heaven benchmark,
but we figure that this
benchmark is not as heavily
contested as Futuremark’s
3DMark11 and that’s why the
gains there are minimal.
For the games, AMD made
some massive strides in game
performance, Sniper Elite
gaining over 12fps, moving
from 81.5 to almost 95fps.
Impressive margins for sure,
enough to allow one to turn
up the eye candy even more
where possible. These are but
a few benchmarks and titles we
tested and represented here.
Some of the other games had
visual anomalies with the early
driver so a direct comparison
was not possible. Suffice to
say in games like Hard Reset
and our favourite Just Cause
2, the performance gains
145203
were noticeable, but since the
numbers were well above the
140fps mark they just aren’t
worth the bother.
It’s astounding that AMD
has managed to breathe
new life into a graphics card
which would have, without
these enhancements, become
obsolete and irrelevant for
most users. AMD has not
only managed to improve
performance, but in some
places image quality and
compatibility. We’re aware
of the 3DMark11 tessellation
issue on HWBOT, but for
overclockers this has made this
benchmark interesting once
again, as not everyone could
find a useful GTX680 to use.
Ultimately the 7970GHz
edition and more over the
GIGABYTE version represents
some of the best value we’ve
ever seen in a high end
graphics card. If you were
set on an HD7970, you may
as well pick this one up as
you’re unlikely to find them any
cheaper or faster.
[ TheOverclocker ]
Summary
It’s $449 for what is
arguably the fastest
graphics card on the
market. Sure enough
the GTX680 contests
that heavily, but with
the latest graphics
card drivers, the GHZ
edition Radeon 7970
takes the edge and with
the additional overclock
from GIGABYTE it
cements that lead.
Would you buy it?
Sure, you’re unlikely to
find a faster card for less
than what the GIGABYTE
card retails for.
The Score
9/10
Issue 22 | 2012 The OverClocker 33