Ghz edition 7970 coming very soon! (Softpedia)

[Rvenger]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Ready-to-Release-1-GHz-AMD-Radeon-HD-7970-268085.shtml


Yeah, I know. Hardly an article.


So a 1250mhz 7970? "The manufacturing process has supposedly improved enough that even 1.25 GHz can be attained without much effort."


So better binned chips... I wonder if the power consumption will be lowered since they may have lower leakage than the standard 7970s. I bet these will discontinue the standard 7970 and they will start making Ghz edition 7950s.

 

[Destiny]

You beat me to the post! I saw it on another tech source... but I'm wondering what is the difference between this card and factory overclocks and user overclocks? hardware is still the same?

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

meh, a sapph 7970 Oc Edition set to bios 2 is 1000 Mhz default core, 1450 mem

New card out is not a biggie

 

[Rvenger]

meh, a sapph 7970 Oc Edition set to bios 2 is 1000 Mhz default core, 1450 mem

New card out is not a biggie

Glad you got a good one. I ordered the same card as you and mine was defective with some extreme coil whine.

 

[guskline]

I opted for either an AMD 7970 or Nvidia 680 primarily because of increased Vram coupled with sufficient power for 3 monitors. I'm sure people will jump at 1 g Vram 7970s but that won't help as much in multi moniotr setups. Got the 680. I would not buy a 1G Vram 7970.

 

[blastingcap]

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/too+little,+too+late

 

[Rvenger]

I opted for either an AMD 7970 or Nvidia 680 primarily because of increased Vram coupled with sufficient power for 3 monitors. I'm sure people will jump at 1 g Vram 7970s but that won't help as much in multi moniotr setups. Got the 680. I would not buy a 1G Vram 7970.

There are no 1gb VRam 7970s. We are talking about GPU Clocks.

 

[guskline]

There are no 1gb VRam 7970s. We are talking about GPU Clocks.

Sorry, misread it. 7970s probably were underclocked anyway. Glad to see that they are coming out with "souped up" ones so fast. Keeps the pressure on Nvidia.

 

[lavaheadache]

I just want the sapphire toxic already!!

 

[guskline]

I just want the sapphire toxic already!!

Lavaheadache, do you still own all of those video cards in your sig? it like the high end supermarket of video cards!

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

Glad you got a good one. I ordered the same card as you and mine was defective with some extreme coil whine.

I've read (but cannot verify) that IF a Sapph 7970 OC card is set to bios position 1 and the user oc's beyond 1100 Mhz it CAN whine.

I set mine to position 2 before I plugged the thing in and mine is silent and cools better then I thought possible.

I can't complain.....sorry yours was defective, dude.

 

[blastingcap]

Lavaheadache, do you still own all of those video cards in your sig? it like the high end supermarket of video cards!

What does that make your sig line then?

 

[SickBeast]

Releasing one of these at 1300mhz or whatever is just going to kill the overclocking potential of the card.

It looks like the GTX 680 will hit 1500+ with a bit of voltage if people figure out how to do it.

 

[Kenmitch]

Releasing one of these at 1300mhz or whatever is just going to kill the overclocking potential of the card.

It looks like the GTX 680 will hit 1500+ with a bit of voltage if people figure out how to do it.

Not everybody gets into overclocking. A factory overclocked card with good cooling and a warranty is good enough for alot of people. Insert card install drivers is about as far as alot of users go.

 

[RussianSensation]

Releasing one of these at 1300mhz or whatever is just going to kill the overclocking potential of the card.

I would choose a better binned Tahiti chip that can easily hit 1250-1300mhz HD7970 over a 925mhz 7970 where I have to play the overclocking lottery just to reach 1.25ghz. I think a product is way better if it's pushed the max from the factory rather than me having to overclock it 40% just to reach the same performance that can be purchased from the factory for the same price. For example, if GTX460 shipped at 850mhz it would have been a much better videocard than when it was shipped at just 675mhz but the user could overclock it to 850mhz. Unless there is a large premium attached to pre-overclocked cards, why wouldn't you want a faster clocked card? If Intel sold me 2500K @ 4.5ghz from the factory, I would buy that over the 3.3ghz stock version for $20 more because it's guaranteed. In this case, it even means a better binned 7970 chip.

The whole point of overclocking is to get extra performance for free on top of already great performance, NOT to buy a card that performs lackluster at stock speeds where you have to overclock it 40% just to achieve the desired performance because the product was purposely held back from the factory (see HD7950).

Not everybody gets into overclocking. A factory overclocked card with good cooling and a warranty is good enough for alot of people. Insert card install drivers is about as far as alot of users go.

Overclocking should be a bonus, while excellent stock performance should be there to begin with, especially for premium products. It's far more impressive for a company to launch a 1200mhz card than to gimp it to 925mhz and tell gamers: Here overclock it. Premium products should have premium performance from the factory. If there is extra overclocking headroom, that's great, but it shouldn't be required to achieve.

Also, given that this will be a new stepping, it will also make 7970 OCed more competitive against after market 680s since today 1250mhz is not "easily achieved" with an air cooled 7970. I don't see why it's a bad thing that AMD is releasing a new stepping.

 

[exar333]

I would choose a 1250-1300mhz HD7970 over a 925mhz 7970 where I have to play the overclocking lottery just to reach 1.25ghz. I think a product is way better if it's pushed the max from the factory rather than me having to overclock it 40% just to reach the same performance that can be purchased from the factory for the same price. For example, if GTX460 shipped at 850mhz it would have been a much better videocard than when it was shipped at just 675mhz but the user could overclock it to 850mhz. If Intel sold me 2500K @ 4.5ghz from the factory, I would buy that over the 3.3ghz stock version for $20 more because it's guaranteed.

The whole point of overclocking is to get extra performance for free on top of already great performance, NOT to buy a card that performs lackluster at stock speeds where you have to overclock it 40% just to achieve the desired performance because the product was purposely held back from the factory (see HD7950).

Overclocking should be a bonus, where excellent stock performance should be there to begin with. Also, given that this will be a new stepping, it will also make 7970 OCed more competitive against after market 680s. I don't see why it's a bad thing.

Great post.

If the ghz edition costs 10-15% more for 30%+ more performance, its a definite buy in my book. If it's ~20%+ more, then I would rather try my luck and OC a vanilla model and see where I can get. Unless of course you 'Need' the 1200mhz performance from the start. If thats the case, I would suggest to that person they look at a CF/SLI solution from the start, and not gamble on getting a cherry 7970 in order to get acceptable performance.

 

[Guovssohas]

Yes, that's all very nice and dandy. But at what price?? 600?

 

[lavaheadache]

Lavaheadache, do you still own all of those video cards in your sig? it like the high end supermarket of video cards!

I have lots of broken ones too that I don't bother listing in addition to a couple duplicates. I'm definately a collector. I always sell my current highend cards early to fund the purchase of a new one so I don't take the big depreciation hit.

Picking up the cards second hand a few years later is so cheap and fun!!

 

[blastingcap]

Yes, that's all very nice and dandy. But at what price?? 600?

My guess

$500 - 680
$460 -GHz edition 7970
$440 - old 7970
$400 - 670
$380 - GHz edition 7950
$360 - old 7950
$330 - GHz edition 7950 with only 1.5GB (if they make this card)
$280 - 7870
$240 - 7850

 

[Plimogz]

My guess

$500 - 680
$460 -GHz edition 7970
$440 - old 7970
$400 - 670
$380 - GHz edition 7950
$360 - old 7950
$330 - GHz edition 7950 with only 1.5GB (if they make this card)
$280 - 7870
$240 - 7850

I love your optimism.

I'd figure the GHz Ed for 500$. And north of 400 for the 7950.

 

[3DVagabond]

I just want the sapphire toxic already!!

Would be nice. We're probably going to have to wait for the market to mature and settle down a bit first.

 

[SickBeast]

You guys are basically saying that you're willing to pay someone else to overclock for you. There is no fun in that imo plus it costs more.

 

[3DVagabond]

You guys are basically saying that you're willing to pay someone else to overclock for you. There is no fun in that imo plus it costs more.

source? It doesn't say anywhere in the article prices are going up.

The manufacturing process has supposedly improved enough that even 1.25 GHz can be attained without much effort... ...The new cards will have better overclocking potential too.

According to the article (you should read both the linked article and the source) these new cards will be lower voltage as well for the same clocks. So, they'll improve on the one area where the 680 is the strongest over the 7970, efficiency. Sounds like a win/win. Especially if AMD has sufficient stocks in them. Which seems likely.


They set the clocks too low. nVidia kicked them in the nuts for it. We'll see if Rory learns from his first go around with Jensen.

 

[SickBeast]

source? It doesn't say anywhere in the article prices are going up.

The pre-overclocked cards always cost more. This new uber-7970 will cost more than the vanilla 7970 and you could just overclock the thing yourself, binning aside.

 

[3DVagabond]

The pre-overclocked cards always cost more. This new uber-7970 will cost more than the vanilla 7970 and you could just overclock the thing yourself, binning aside.

this is more than likely the new reference card. It's AMD that's putting it out, not the AIB's.