AMD Radeon HD 7970

The AMD ATI Radeon HD 7970 measures 27 cm long (10.6 in), the GPU core is clocked at 925MHz, and the GDDR5 memory operates at the same frequency of 1375MHz (5.5GHz DDR). Still, pairing that frequency with a 384-bit memory bus gives the HD 7970 264GB/s of theoretical bandwidth. The HD 7970 carries 2048 SPUs, 128 TAUs and 32 ROPs, up 33% from 1536 SPUs and 96 TAUs, it's also the first PCI Express 3.0-compatible card.
GCN 1.0 (Tahiti XT)
Architecture
High-end
Product Tier
2048
Shader Cores
32
ROPs
128
TMUs
No RT
Ray Tracing
3 GB
Memory
GDDR5
Memory Type
264 GB/s
Bandwidth
250 W
TDP
GPU Snapshot
Release date:Dec 22, 2011Price at Launch:$549
Type:DesktopArchitecture:GCN 1.0 (Tahiti XT)
Generation:Radeon HD 7000 seriesProduct Tier:High-end
VRAM Capacity:3 GBTotal Board Power:250 W
Core Configuration
Shader Cores:2048TMUs:128
ROPs:32L2 Cache:768 KB
Memory
VRAM Capacity:3 GBMemory Type:GDDR5
Memory Speed:5.5 GbpsMemory Bus:384-bit
Bandwidth:264 GB/s
Graphics Processing
Base Clock:0.925 GHzFP32 Throughput:3.79 TFLOPs
Ray Tracing:NoProcess Size:28nm
Process Name:TSMC 28nmDie Size:352 mm²
Power & Connectivity
Total Board Power:250 WPower Connectors:1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Bus Interface:PCIe 3.0 x16HDMI Support:HDMI 1.4a
DisplayPort Support:DP 1.2DSC:No
Max Displays:6
Media & Software Support
DirectX Support:12Shader Model:6.5
Vulkan Version:1.2OpenGL Version:4.6

Reviews and Ratings

86

Average Score

Based on 22 reviews

Reviewers Liked

  • Fastest single-GPU graphics card we've tested to date
  • Significantly faster than Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580, especially at extreme resolutions
  • Improved power savings when idle
  • Support for 4K video and other forward-looking features
  • Brand-new design suited for graphics and compute
  • Fastest single-GPU card around
  • Strong power-draw credentials
  • Best-in-class video performance
  • Native full size HDMI & DisplayPort output
  • Dual BIOS
  • 3 GB of memory
  • Adds support for PCIExpress 3.0 and DirectX 11.1
  • Support for multiple independent audio streams

Reviewers Didn't Like

  • Extremely expensive
  • 4K video content and TVs likely won't be common for a year or more
  • Performance advantage edges off at highest resolutions
  • Requires two PCIe power connectors
  • Blocks a second expansion slot
  • Noisy in 3D
  • CCC Overdrive limits too low
  • PowerTune and ZeroCore may complicate advanced overclocking

For the last 12 months, AMD has had the Radeon HD 6970 be its premier single GPU graphics card, competing head to head with the GeForce GTX 570 and at times challenging the mighty GTX 580. For about $369 today, you can still get one hell of a graphics...

By TechSpot on
80

It has been roughly 18 months since AMD launched its last family of graphics processing units (GPUs) but we now finally have some hot new silicon from the California-based semiconductor company.Codenamed Southern Islands (replacing last season’s...

By PCWorld New Zealand on
80

AMD retakes the crown for single-chip gaming-graphics performance with the Radeon HD 7970. With its high price, however, and the fact that some of its future-looking features are far over the horizon, discerning gamers may want to wait before...

By Computer Shopper on
67

Obviously when testing a set up this extreme the conclusion is pretty academic.No-one in their right mind would run Quadfire. It takes too much power, we needed two Corsair AX1200 PSUs for this test. It produces too much heat. It's stupidly...

By Overclock3D on
90

Loaded with features and new technologies, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is the fastest single-GPU video card you can currently buy.ProsBest-in-class video performance Low all-around power usage ConsExpensive Performance advantage edges off at highest...

By ThinkDigit on
100

AMD has managed to engineer a card with a significant improvement in performance in comparison to the previous generation at the same time as including some innovations that reduce energy consumption significantly. It is nevertheless advisable to wait...

By DigitalVersus on
90

Today AMD release the first card in their 7000 series – the high end HD7970, which is built on the latest 28nm manufacturing process. AMD’s HD6970 was a huge success for the company, so the replacement card is certainly going to get a lot of...

By Kitguru.net on
100

It's expensive, but this is easily the most powerful single-GPU graphics card we've seen...

By Expert Reviews on
70

So here it is, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 and, for the time being, it's the fastest graphics card around. AMD has blinked first and opted to release its brand new graphics card architecture before Nvidia, and just before the new year. It's a brave...

By TechRadar on
67

Fantastic performance, although the sky-high price puts this out of reach for...

By PC Pro on
86

As the first 28nm GPU, the HD 7970 3GB was always going to be exciting; with such a significant step down in transistor size and subsequent increase in stream processors and clock speeds, the GPU was always going to have enormous performance...

By Bit-tech.net on
90

Ho, ho, hoThe AMD Santa has a present to give to all you well-behaved enthusiasts. Christmas is coming early this year as AMD announces its next-generation graphics architecture. Ladies and gentlemen and boys and girls, say hello to the Radeon HD 7970...

By HEXUS.net on