GeForce GTX 680 cards are nowhere to be found, and the Radeon HD 7970 recently dropped to a much more attractive price. We thought it was time to round up a handful of Tahiti-based cards to see how board partners are improving upon AMD's original recipe.
After a handful of price drops on AMD's highest-end graphics cards, the Radeon HD 7970 is now more attractive than it was immediately after the introduction of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680. Particularly because Nvidia's flagship card is still very difficult to find more than a month after its launch.

With that in mind, added to the fact that AMD's board partners have had ample time to make their own improvements to the company's top-end model, we have a great opportunity to revisit the Radeon HD 7970. Five different vendors sent models for us to consider, resulting in an impressive round-up of Tahiti GPU-based graphics cards.
| Gigabyte R797OC-3GD | HIS IceQ X2 Turbo (Turbo X) | MSI R7970 Lightning | Sapphire HD 7970 OC (Alt. BIOS) | VisionTek HD 7970 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Clock | 1000 MHz | 1050 MHz (1120 MHz) | 1070 MHz | 950 MHz (1000 MHz) | 925 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 1375 MHz | 1400 MHz | 1400 MHz | 1425 MHz (1450 MHz) | 1375 MHz |
| GDDR5 Memory | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB | 3 GB |
| Cooler | Windforce | IceQ X2 | Twin Frozr IV | Dual-X | Reference |
| Size (PCB & Cooler) | 10.5" x 4.75" x 1.5" | 12" x 5.5" x 1.5" | 11.75" x 5.5" x 1.5" | 11.5" x 5" x 1.75" | 12" x 5.5" x 1.5" |
| Weight | 1 lb 10.6 oz | 2 lb 1.3 oz | 2 lb 7.6 oz | 1 lb 14.1 oz | 2 lb 1.3 oz |
| Connectors | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP | 2 x SL-DVI, 4x mDP | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP | 1 x DL-DVI, 1 x HDMI 2 x mDP |
| Form Factor | Dual-slot | Dual-slot | Dual-slot | More than Dual-slot | Dual-slot |
| GPU Voltage Adjustment | MSI Afterburner | HIS iTurbo | MSI Afterburner | Sapphire TriXX | MSI Afterburner |
| Special Features And Software | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Warranty | 3-Year | 2-Year | 3-Year | 2-Year | Limited Lifetime |
| Price | £399.99 (Dabs) | $499.99 MSRP ($519.99 MSRP) (UK Price Not Available) | £439.99 (Overclockers) | £399.99 (Dabs) | $479.99 (Newegg, UK Price Not Available) |
Note that HIS has two models represented on the chart. We were sent the company's "Turbo X" model for testing, and we believe it has the highest factory core overclock of any Radeon HD 7970 in the world at 1120 MHz. Unfortunately, though, this product is not expected to be available in the U.S. (only in Europe and Asia). Instead, we'll be getting the "Turbo" model, with no X and a 1050 MHz core clock. Thus, we benchmarked the card a second time with HIS' more conservative specification to demonstrate what North America can expect.
In lieu of HIS' Turbo X, MSI's 7970 Lightning sports the highest-clocked core available for sale to our U.S. audience, running at 1070 MHz. Sapphire's HD 7970 OC enjoys the distinction of shipping with the fastest memory compared to all other Radeon HD 7970s. However, its core operates a more modest 1000 MHz.
Operating frequencies aren't the only variables affecting our decision of what Radeon HD 7970 to recommend, though. Software bundles, acoustics, thermals, price tags, support, and overclocking headroom all come into play. Let's break down each model and explore what these five vendors offer.
- AMD's Radeon HD 7970: More Affordable, More Available
- Gigabyte GV-R797OC-3GD
- HIS 7970 IceQ X2 Turbo And Turbo X
- MSI R7970 Lightning
- Sapphire HD 7970 OC
- VisionTek Radeon HD 7970
- Test System Setup And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11 And Crysis 2
- Benchmark Results: AvP And Metro 2033
- Overclocking AMD's Radeon HD 7970
- Power, Temperature, And Noise
- Five Radeon HD 7970s; One Rises To The Top
Great article overall, thanks for all the info! and out of curiosity, does the sapphire card have the same problems with MSI afterburner that the HIS card has? thanks
That's been covered in other articles and I assume they don't anticipate differences between cards using the same GPU.