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Gigabyte HD7870 Overclock Review (Windforce 3X)

To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. We measure results while gaming in Crysis Warhead and record the results.

In such an energy aware climate, AMD are making a big deal out of their new ‘ZeroCore Power’ technology. Many solutions today use power gating, clock gating and memory compression to reduce idle power requirements, but ZeroCore power technology can completely power down the core GPU while the rest of the system remains active.

Power consumption hasn't risen, even with three fans and the overclocked configuration.

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12 comments

  1. looks like a great card, three fans, only seen arctic cooling going for a menage et trois 🙂

  2. I dont like the appearance, but it is great, no doubt about it. never bought an MSI or gigabyte GPU before but they seem to be good.

  3. That is a great idea, spinning them slowly but including 3 fans. cant see it for sale yet anywhere.

  4. I like your reviews but question the data based on other reviews posted regarding this card, especially around acoustics. For me, low sound is a big part of a purchase and most of these sophisticated coolers end up louder than the reference design. Guru3D point out that the fans rpm remains constant at idle and load, your review shows a big difference between idle and load indicating an increase in rpm’s. Also Guru3d noted that this version was louder than the reference design and you have indicated that it is quieter. Why the inconsistency?

  5. Hi Greg, I have no idea about other sites reviews. I only test what I am sent. This card is very quiet at all times and barely registered on our meter. It does spin up when loaded although GPUZ won’t record the fan speeds. At all times it was much quieter than the reference design we have here which can spin the single fan quite high under furmark load.

    perhaps the bioses/fan implementation were changed, the card I received came straight from the factory without any box or accessories.

  6. Hmm i don’t know which to buy the Gigabyte 7870 or the Sapphire 7870 both are good. Gigabyte is even more better but i can’t choose. My last Sapphire 5750 was pretty good even overclocked & I was happy. Pls help me

  7. Which is cheaper where you live?