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The Asus HD7970 graphics card adheres to the AMD reference design which was certainly impressive in December last year. Shortly afterwards XFX released their HD7970 Double Dissipation version of the card which featured a custom PCB design and proprietary two fan cooling solution. This pushed the technology boundaries further, even within the space of a few short weeks. The XFX card is such a huge improvement on the reference solution, that returning to the AMD design is more than a little underwhelming today.
There is no doubt that AMD's HD7970 is the new yardstick to measure single GPU performance, however we had hoped that ASUS might release a card with a custom cooling solution. Sadly, it seems this version is still some time away from retail release.
The Asus HD7970 uses the latest AMD reference cooler, which is an improvement over the previous revision, however it is significantly outperformed by the two fan cooler on the XFX card. The low level of noise is unfortunately compounded when adding two more cards to the mix. Dual HD7970 Crossfire can be slightly distracting, but in 3 way, the noise levels are intrusive. I have a feeling that three of the XFX cards in Crossfire would make for a more compelling scenario.
AMD have nailed Tessellation performance with the latest cards, and three of these are more than a match for two GTX 590's. If you can manage to find a GTX590 for sale, they cost around £650, so you would need £1,300 for a Quad SLi configuration. These Asus HD7970's retail for £499.99 each, so three of them would set you back £1,500 …. or £200 more. They are faster than the dual GTX590's, but they also generate significantly more noise, and I honestly wouldn't be willing to live with it.
Not every game reaps noticeable rewards when upgrading from two HD7970's to three HD7970's. There is clearly still some work ahead for AMD on the 3 way CFx driver front, as some game engines don't record benefits from adding a third card.
The Asus HD7970 is without question a fantastic graphics card, but we would wait for ASUS to update their range shortly with a proprietary cooling solution. The custom cards might cost a little extra, but it seems pointless to buy one now with the inferior reference cooler.
Pros:
- HD7970 is the fastest single GPU on the market.
- Crossfire performance is staggeringly good.
Cons:
- Reference cooler.
- Can get noisy in 2 and 3 way configurations.
Kitguru says: A great card, but a more inspired release from Asus is surely just around the corner.
£1,500 just for the graphics cards, lol. Any chance you could offer that system up for a competition? 🙂
Thank you so much for the comprehensive comparison with other cards. You may choose a body part for me to kiss. I love having a lot of references in reviews.
lol, who is this article for, the rich and famous? one card is too much for most people I would imagine
Good article, shows that two is the best performance option really, unless you are chasing synthetic figures like in 3dmark11. thanks.
hard core ! wow
I really would have liked to have seen this trifire setup vs 6970 Trifire and 6990+6970 Trifire since that’s what many of us enthusiasts are rocking and we need to know how much needs to be spent to beat this performance.
I would have loved to have had time to test all that too, but unfortunately not this time.
Good review, I would wait for the custom asus card too, probably be £50 more, but if you are spending £500 its not a big deal. Asus made some great modded GTX580’s. they will do the s ame with the 7970, might be march though.
Great review. I always like reviews from KitGuru, particularly written by Zardon, many aspects and comparisons reviewed in detail.
If possible, please review the Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II (as single card), focus for game resolution 1200p or 1080p, please consider also Civilization V (with latest Catalyst, WHQL and Beta version), also compare performance of DirectCU II vs Accelero Xtreme 7970 (if it can be used on the Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II).
Not nit picking but the XFX DD uses a custom dual fan cooler slapped on a reference PCB, not a custom PCB as you said in the opening of your conclusion. Not saying a custom PCB would be better as some companies make their custom PCBs using cheaper materials (such as Power Color) than in the reference model to cut costs, but readers and potential buyers need to get the full picture.
Absolutely correct. My bad.