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For this review today we are using the latest beta versions of the Catalyst Drivers from AMD and Forceware drivers from NVIDIA. (ForceWare 314.22 and the latest Catalyst 13.5 Beta from AMD).
We built a very high end liquid cooled Core i7 3960x system and overclocked it to 4.4ghz. We paired it up with 16GB of 2,400mhz memory and an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.
We wanted to use the best graphics cards on the market today, so opted for the Gigabyte GTX690 and Gigabyte GTX Titan. We don't have pairings of these cards unfortunately for SLi tests, but we include the results in single formation.
Test System
Processor: Core i7 3960 X Extreme Edition @ 4.4ghz
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7990 Malta and AMD HD7990 Malta (Catalyst 13.5 beta)
Cooler: Antec 920 H20
Memory: 16GB G.Skill 2,400mhz @ 10-11-10-30
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Power Supply: Enermax Platimax 1250W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li PC-A77FR Aluminium Red Full Tower Case
Boot Drive: Patriot WildFire 120GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB Samsung
Monitors: Dell U3011 and Dell U2410 x 3.
Comparison cards:
Gigabyte GTX 690 (ForceWare 314.22)
Gigabyte GTX Titan (ForceWare 314.22)
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley Benchmark
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
3DMark
Fraps Professional
Steam Client
FurMark
Games:
Tomb Raider
BioShock Infinite
Crysis 3
Sleeping Dogs
Total War: Shogun 2
Dirt Showdown
Max Payne 3
Metro Last Light
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.
well thats a lot of cash for that system lol. Interesting to see the staggering power demands.
my friend still cant buy one HD7990 never mind two, no stock anywhere. any ideas when they might be available?
More positive than the article in January, I read that and thought AMD weren’t supporting quad cf at all. I guess at that stage the HD7990 wasn’t official.
Good information on the power demands, I think a lot of people think every gaming system needs a 1000W PSU.
LOL, I was jockingly expecting the ‘MUST HAVE’ tag and you didn’t disappoint me at all.
@just a passerby. you should look at the more ‘budget’ oriented articles. people who want the fastest system and the most powerful computer would consider this a must have. I want a HD7990 and am saving up for it. due to the power with 3 monitors. Nothing is faster.
These reviews are hardly designed for people who struggle to afford a GTX650.
good review.
@Alex
I think ‘Worth Buying’ tag is more appropriate, not ‘Must Have’ but I was jokingly expecting it.
So internet denizen nowadays can decide what others should read, eh?
As cocky as a person can be, you fit the word perfectly. Maybe you’re born to have that personality.
I don’t need a graphic card as I don’t do gaming but I do fond reading hardware reviews. Also there is no such a thing ‘nothing is faster’, such thinking is a retardation to technology advancement. Well, of course if you had written it as ‘for now, nothing is faster in the market’, I would agree, but never forget engineering sample of next gen do exist (to be fair quadxfire/ quadsli it) and of course even you will struggle to afford it right now :).
You can feel free to give me those HD 7990s, I will gladly take them off your hands,besides I need to upgrade from my 2 Sapphire ATI Radeon 2gb HD4850x2s I have in quad-CrossfireX.
I am a nvdia fan boy and always been using nvidia video card but it seems to me nvidia release so many card and deliver no real difference between them gtx 780 then gtx 790 keep releasing stupid model and all nvidia fan boy keep buying ghem but o well might as well get the this hd 7990 because i know it beats all other-cards….Wow what a good article I just bought a sapphire 7990 will get another one when the price drop so I can cf these bad boys thankyou so much for the great article cf wins sli lose