Official Radeon 7970 Review and discussion thread

[shadow001]

Originally Posted by Muppet

It was impressive, but they should have showed some Multiplayer. That is where the FPS will really show up. There's way more going on than in the single player. Still it does perform nicely.

True, but the results aren't repeatable in multiplayer as a lot more variables come into play there, while if someone has the same setup and plays at those same settings as shown in the video, along with the same driver set, the their results should be identical in single player mode....


Now comes to time to decide how to power up a Quad setup given that i'm only using a single PSU, and the answer is i can't since i'm one 6 pin PCI-e power connector short, but there's still one option available as AMD is rumored to launch the dual GPU HD7990 cards on the first half of march, so i could get a pair of those rather than 4 seperate HD7970's, and they'd be water cooled to keep temperatures and noise in check, and at least 400$ cheaper while freeing up another X16 PCI-e slot in the process...


They're rumored to be 850$ a piece, so that's 1700$ for a pair, versus 2200$ for four HD7970's, so i'd get quad crossfire for less and being water cooled, they'd still overclock decently...Probably not as much as four HD7970's, but it is a 500$ cheaper option, so worth considering if the crossfire scaling is there, but we'll know for sure once they're reviewed..


It doesn't leave Nvidia much time to anounce something soon if they want my money basically...

[Roadhog]

quad crossfire is sh1t.

[Muppet]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

quad crossfire is sh1t.

I'm not sure what the issue is, but Quad SLI is the same IMO. 3 GPU's max is the best.

[shadow001]

Well, there is the 3 HD7970 option(1650$), or the cheaper still HD7990 dual GPU + HD7970 single GPU combo(1400$), and the latter solution frees up a PCI-e X16 slot to boot and saves 250$ too, so even if not quite as fast as 3 seperate cards, it does have it's advantages.


Well see by the time retailers actually list them after the 9th of january how long i can hold out before pulling the buying trigger...

[Muppet]

Originally Posted by shadow001

Well, there is the 3 HD7970 option(1650$), or the cheaper still HD7990 dual GPU + HD7970 single GPU combo(1400$), and the latter solution frees up a PCI-e X16 slot to boot and saves 250$ too, so even if not quite as fast as 3 seperate cards, it does have it's advantages.


Well see by the time retailers actually list them after the 9th of january how long i can hold out before pulling the buying trigger...

You better not hold out to long if you want them early. Almost everything I have read points to a limited supply on the 9th.

[shadow001]

Originally Posted by Muppet

You better not hold out to long if you want them early. Almost everything I have read points to a limited supply on the 9th.

No huge rush since i'd only install them once full cover water blocks are available for them, as they're going to be water cooled, so that alone might add a few weeks unless some ISV's, like sapphire, release HD7970's with water blocks already fitted.

[Muppet]

Originally Posted by shadow001

No huge rush since i'd only install them once full cover water blocks are available for them, as they're going to be water cooled, so that alone might add a few weeks unless some ISV's, like sapphire, release HD7970's with water blocks already fitted.

If that's the case, you would be much better holding off. The prices will drop after the initial period, when stock is better and demand isn't so high. Plus as you said, someone may make a factory watercooled version.

[Rollo]

Originally Posted by shadow001

It doesn't leave Nvidia much time to anounce something soon if they want my money basically...

I'm sure the orders went out today for mandatory overtime to ensure they retain the lucrative Shadow001 account.

They probably make a whole $300 or so selling you three cards. In other words, if you want to try out the 7970s, you probably should.

[shadow001]

Originally Posted by Rollo

I'm sure the orders went out today for mandatory overtime to ensure they retain the lucrative Shadow001 account.

They probably make a whole $300 or so selling you three cards. In other words, if you want to try out the 7970s, you probably should.

Money, no matter how small the amount it may seem and in these these tough economic times, is welcomed by any company plus there's the whole halo effect to consider, as i show the setup running to friends, they talk about it to their friends and so on....


It's just little old me to start with basically and as a single individual you're right it doesn't matter in the bigger scheme of things, but it doesn't end there either...

[shadow001]

Originally Posted by Muppet

If that's the case, you would be much better holding off. The prices will drop after the initial period, when stock is better and demand isn't so high. Plus as you said, someone may make a factory watercooled version.

It all really depends on the timing of how things turn out really, as it usually takes about a month after the card is released to retail for companies like EK, swiftech, koolance, heatkiller to get their blocks out, so that's the worst case scenario.


If however AMD supplied some cards to those companies ahead of time so that they could get the blocks done by the time the cards hit retail on january 9th, i'll buy them on the spot.


Or the third and final option is one of the major brands that carry AMD cards releases a water cooled version off the bat...Wichever happends first is the winner basically.

[Roadhog]

Originally Posted by shadow001

It all really depends on the timing of how things turn out really, as it usually takes about a month after the card is released to retail for companies like EK, swiftech, koolance, heatkiller to get their blocks out, so that's the worst case scenario.


If however AMD supplied some cards to those companies ahead of time so that they could get the blocks done by the time the cards hit retail on january 9th, i'll buy them on the spot.


Or the third and final option is one of the major brands that carry AMD cards releases a water cooled version off the bat...Wichever happends first is the winner basically.

You could save yourself a lot of time if you simply researched all your assumptions before. If you did you would see those companies already have blocks designed.

[Rollo]

Originally Posted by shadow001

Money, no matter how small the amount it may seem and in these these tough economic times, is welcomed by any company plus there's the whole halo effect to consider, as i show the setup running to friends, they talk about it to their friends and so on....


It's just little old me to start with basically and as a single individual you're right it doesn't matter in the bigger scheme of things, but it doesn't end there either...

You are one deluded individual.

Companies think in terms of the customer base as a whole, not "Jinkies, I saw some guy needs to build a rig by day X, we'd better get cracking!".

If you want to fantasize, at least make it something good, like interations with Sasha Bonilova perhaps.