VTX3D VChamp HD7790 and HD7850 Review

1. Introduction2. VTX3D VChamp HD77903. VTX3D VChamp HD7790 (Super High Res Gallery)4. VTX3D VChamp HD78505. VTX3D VChamp HD7850 (Super High Res Gallery)6. Testing Methodology7. Unigine Heaven Benchmark8. Unigine Valley Benchmark9. 3DMark Vantage10. 3DMark 1111. 3DMark12. Alien V Predator13. Sleeping Dogs14. Total War: ROME 215. Dirt ShowDown16. Tomb Raider17. Metro Last Light18. GRID 219. Splinter Cell: Blacklist20. Thermal Dynamics21. Acoustics Performance22. Power Consumption23. Overclocking24. Closing Thoughts25. View All Pages

With AMD's new video cards just around the corner it seems an unusual time to release a new range based on current generation hardware. That said, both VTX3D VChamp HD7790 and HD7850 perform well, and will be ideally suited for the target audience working to a tighter budget.

If you have a limited budget to work with then this card is a an excellent shortlist option. It only demands around 80watts under load and thanks to the excellent Vapor cooling system it runs very cool at all times.

The only negative comment we could make is that this solution runs a little louder than we would expect, thanks to the fan profile which held at around 4,000 rpm constantly, even when idle. The VChamp HD7790 isn't the quietest card, but a gamer who wants the lowest possible temperature is likely to deal with a little extra fan noise. We could think of better options for a media center system build however.

While all cards have different overclocking potential, there is no doubt that the VChamp HD7790 exhibits plenty of headroom – we managed to push the core up to the limits of 1,200mhz and it was still rock solid.

This card is available for £117.97 inc vat from Amazon.

Pros:

• Overclocked out of the box.
• plenty of additional overclocking potential.
• excellent cooling performance.

Cons:

• noisier than some of the competition.
• the new AMD GPU range is just around the corner.

Kitguru says: An excellent value for money solution which should cost around the £100 inc vat mark.

The VTX3D VChamp HD7850 proved to be an excellent solution and capable of driving the latest Direct X 11 titles at 1080p with high image quality settings. If you can stretch your budget above £100, then the HD7850 will deliver a better gaming experience than the HD7790.

The cooler on this card has been tweaked with a less aggressive, adaptive fan profile, and is noticeably quieter than the cooler on the HD7790 model. It performs exceptionally well too, peaking at only 55c under gaming load. It is actually one of the highest performing coolers in this sector.

Again, there is plenty of overclocking potential from this board, and we managed to push the core to 1,150mhz, which placed it on an almost identical performance level as the more expensive VTX3D HD7870 Tahiti LE. This in itself is very impressive.

The only issue with the card right now is the pricing. It is available on Amazon for £154.14 inc vat, which is more expensive than some deals we have seen on custom cooled HD7870's. We hope prices will drop in the coming weeks.

Pros:

• Great cooler design.
• Quiet
• plenty of core headroom for overclocking.

Cons:

• A lot of competition in this sector.
• expensive.
• the new AMD GPU range is just around the corner.

Kitguru says: One of the finest HD7850's we have tested since AMD launched the range.

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