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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 this year which will make for an interesting market comparison.
Main Test System:
Processor: Core i7 970 @ 4.6ghz
Graphics: HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo and IceQ X Turbo X
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:
GTX680
MSI R7970 Lightning Edition
HD7970
MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III 3GD5/OC
HD7950
Sapphire HD7870 Overclock Edition
HD7870
HD7850
HD6990 (880 core)
HD6970
HD6950
HD6870
Sapphire HD7770 1GHZ OC Edition
XFX HD7770 Black Edition S CFx
HD7770 CFx
HD7770
Sapphire HD7750 Ultimate Edition
HD6790
HD6770
HD6670
GTX590 SLi
GTX590
GTX580 SLi
GTX580
GTX570
Monitors: Dell U3011
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Games:
HomeFront
Alien V Predator
Dead Island
Tom Clancy HAWX 2
Resident Evil 5
Far Cry 2
F1 2011
Total War: Shogun 2
Battlefield 3
SkyRim
Mass Effect 3
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.
very nice, a little expensive for my wallet right now however.
The names ARE VERY confusing, turbo, then non turbo, the X versions. They need to work out better names for them all. as I thought OCUk were selling the plain turbo one, but its the non turbo one. The pricing is a little high too. some of the 7950’s are 299.
The turbo version (non X), that cooler is huge. I dont think it would cause a problem in a case, but it seems excessive. Performance is good.
Problem with HIS is availability, even in the UK. only OCUK seem to stock them and they often dont stock them all.
Niether of these are available. only way to get them is the competition you are running now. its not good.
They are like frankenstein coolers. even the nicer looking X version is almost their attempt at jewellery.
They need a new marketing guy who can promote them better to the western audience. even their box art is sh!te.
Nothing wrong with their cards. I bought one of their AMD cards a few years ago and its still working fine. most of them are made in the same factories as the bigger names like XFX etc.
Only issue is their visibility is dire. Only one store I know has them too. All the cool cards you guys review never get sold !
That X version looks great. bit concerned about the pricing, if the model, two down is £270?
This card is under £300 and its the next range up http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards+-+AMD/Radeon+HD+7950/VTX3D+Radeon+HD+7950+3072MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=49716
People wont buy a 7870 when the 7950 is the same price.
DOnt use furmark, its not good. test temperatures with games. its more realistic