Official Radeon 7970 Review and discussion thread

[Maverick123w]

Originally Posted by slaWter

I'd consider that cheap and most Aussies and Kiwis would do as well I guess

All you have to do is look at both of our sigs and realize why we have a different opinion on what is cheap.

[shadow001]

Originally Posted by Rollo

Prices always drop over time, etailers start competing, running sales to stimulate sales. (unless supplies are so limited they can gouge away)

Not really, prices haven't moved much on HD6970's or GTX580's over the past year, and multiple retailers carry them, and some ISV's carry cards from both, like Asus or Gigabyte.

Here, I'll make it easy for you:
Is it more impressive to be:
A. 25% faster than last gen best and 25% slower than current gen best? (7970)
B. 25% faster than current gen second best, 50% faster than last gen best, and current gen best? (kepler)

No "double standard" here, just easy to comprehend facts you're trying to spin away.

I'm guessing your A example refers to the advantage the GTX580 has over the HD6970(25%), and the GTX580 loses by 25% over the HD 7970?


The B example is hard to follow as your automatically making assumptions about keplers performance, and implying that the HD7970 will become second best this generation, as soon as kepler is released?.... You've never heard the expression "don't count your chickens before they hatch" have you?

Personally I'm only recommending people wait till the end of Q1, if NVIDIA hasn't shown their hand by then, buy away. For most people $550+ is a lot of money to make a mistake.

You should tell that to those who waited for the GTX480, bought it anyways despite it not quite being what fermi should have been, and then Nvidia releases the fully functional Fermi 6 months later....I'd be pissed if i were a GTX480 owner

As far as your attempt to FUD goes by mentioning the 480 being late, I actually communicate with NVIDIA staff occasionally. I'll just say I'm comfortable with my recommendation people wait. The first card launched isn't always the one to have.

It was for the 9700 Pro nearly 10 years ago( NV 30 was crap)
It was for the HD4870, wich the GTX280 barely outran it and was more expensive, even Nvidia's CEO was impressed( stated in an interview shortly after), and the prices for the GTX 280 dropped 100$ to make it more competitive.
It was for the HD5870 and the story for the GTX480 speaks for itself.
It was for the HD6970 mainly because if it's price advantage over the GTX580.


Now what were you saying about being first not being a good thing again?...

Your comparisons are meaningless. Different architecture, different die size. You can't predict Kepler OCing in any way with Fermi OCing. There's FUD, and then there's stupid FUD. Your FUD here is the latter.

Quite true, as we know that Nvidia doesn't shy away from making much bigger GPU's, usually exceeding 500mm^, compared to the 4.3 billion in AMD's chip at 365mm^...So it's pretty much a given it'll have a larger transistor budget( might be even close to 6 billion transistors), using more power under load, since both processors come from TSMC and use the same fab process...It's the only thing they have in common really.


Given the extra complexity from that kind of transistor budget, i can really see it overclocking 300mhz + beyond stock speeds with the stock cooler and a mild overvolt...Oh snap, it's never happened with an Nvidia chip before...

I wish the 7970 was 10X faster than the 580, had DVI output 3d that didn't rely on 3rd party drivers from some penny ante company, had physx and had AO, and had driver profiles for games when they launch- I'd buy two.

But they don't. They only give 15-25% more performance and don't have any of that stuff, so to me they're a ripoff at $550 or likely more.

Ripoffs you say?....This coming from Nvidia who has launched single GPU cards for 650$ a piece in past years, like the 7800 GTX 512 MB as an example....

[Rollo]

Blah blah blah
I'm happy with what I've said thus far, stand by that. People wanting to have the best GPU for a month or two should jump on a 7970. People who want the best GPU for the rest of the year should wait.

[bob saget]

wow didn't realize they packing the 3Gigs of memory...

[Roadhog]

Originally Posted by Rollo

Blah blah blah
I'm happy with what I've said thus far, stand by that. People wanting to have the best GPU for a month or two should jump on a 7970. People who want the best GPU for the rest of the year should wait.

Well now that you're done, GTFO.

[shadow001]

Originally Posted by Rollo

Blah blah blah
I'm happy with what I've said thus far, stand by that. People wanting to have the best GPU for a month or two should jump on a 7970. People who want the best GPU for the rest of the year should wait.

I'll be receiving the new displays tomorrow and will put the GTX580's thru some serious pain at 7680*1440, running at many games as possible at the highest quality settings possible while remaining at 60 Fps, and then deciding conclusively depending on how the majority run and if a triple HD 7970 setup is for me.


Either way, i got to wait for water blocks for become available for them, wich usually takes a few weeks, but i won't be playing the waiting game for long, so if Nvidia wants my money they better hurry up...

[Johnny C]

I'd hate to wait till march only to have someone important hold up some plastic and point to the woodscrews saying "This puppy, right here, this is Kepler"

[MUYA]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

Well now that you're done, GTFO.

The same can be said of you. Be nice to other members.

[MUYA]

It is interesting that there is speculations that some GCN units (or whatever the are called) were disabled in 7970? Is this correct?

Maybe ATi are preparing/making headroom for Kepler release. In which a 7980 would surface?

Exciting times!

Or is this rumor just baloney?

[Roadhog]

Originally Posted by MUYA

It is interesting that there is speculations that some GCN units (or whatever the are called) were disabled in 7970? Is this correct?

Maybe ATi are preparing/making headroom for Kepler release. In which a 7980 would surface?

Exciting times!

Or is this rumor just baloney?

It's true, they confirmed that a unit is disabled. No one knows if it can be unlocked or if it's any good.

[Rollo]

Originally Posted by Johnny C

I'd hate to wait till march only to have someone important hold up some plastic and point to the woodscrews saying "This puppy, right here, this is Kepler"

The FUDZilla article says they'll be giving product demos at CES next week.

I saw one of those "closed door demos" for Fermi at CES January 2010. In March 2010 I had Fermis in my computer. If the article is right and they're showing Kepler at CES, the cards will launch soon after is my guess.

[Roadhog]

Originally Posted by Rollo

The FUDZilla article says they'll be giving product demos at CES next week.

I saw one of those "closed door demos" for Fermi at CES January 2010. In March 2010 I had Fermis in my computer. If the article is right and they're showing Kepler at CES, the cards will launch soon after is my guess.

Hey, here is an idea, go make your own Kepler speculation thread and leave the one for discussing 7970's. Or is that beneath you? If you can't troll why post? Right?