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To test today we are using our long standing Core i7 970 system, which is overclocked. We have a variety of hardware benchmarked on this system within the last couple of weeks which will make for an interesting market comparison.
Test System:
Processor: Core i7 970 @ 4.6ghz
Graphics: ASUS HD7970 x2 & AMD HD7970 (x3 way Crossfire)
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Memory: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Comparison Cards:
HD6990 (880 core)
HD6970
HD6950
HD6870
HD6790
HD6770
HD6670
GTX590 SLi
GTX590
GTX580 SLi
GTX580
GTX570
Monitors: Dell U2410 x 3 / LaCie 730
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Games:
Lost Planet 2
F1 2011
Alien V Predator
Far Cry 2
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.
Some game descriptions are edited from Wikipedia.
£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.