Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 TOXIC 4GB REview

[Skurge]

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3242/sapphire_radeon_hd_5970_toxic_4gb_video_card/index.html

 

[SolMiester]

This has already been posted, basically the faster GPU clocks are more worth than the extra memory....

 

[MagickMan]

Quick, someone send me $1000. /drool

 

[Skurge]

This has already been posted, basically the faster GPU clocks are more worth than the extra memory....

The last one i posted was a preview.

With 4GB memory, i thinks it's a more balanced card now. 2GB 5970 would choke at some of the more extreme settings like 2560x1600 with 8xAA

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Hey they're using the ASRock X58 Extreme3 in that review! Awesome!

 

[SolMiester]

The last one i posted was a preview.

With 4GB memory, i thinks it's a more balanced card now. 2GB 5970 would choke at some of the more extreme settings like 2560x1600 with 8xAA

Oh, looks the same, however, still no 470SLI comparison?....whats the point of comparing dual GPU against single, unless you dont want to show poor scaling when compared to SLI?

 

[thilanliyan]

Look at the power consumption!! I wish they would show it just for the card to see what it's actually pulling.

 

[blanketyblank]

I'd love to see a review of 2 of these vs 3 x GTX 480.
They'd need to test some 3 screen resolutions with that kind of setup since I'm sure they'd be plenty even maxed metro 2033 on a 30".

 

[MarcVenice]

So yah, the most intensive game tested was Far Cry 2? Where's bad company 2, crysis or perhaps Metro? Hell, Dawn of War II would be more intensive then most games...

And yes, agreed, run that videocard at 5760x1080 at the very least. See if it's extra ram helps there (although I doubt it).

 

[Daedalus685]

Oh, looks the same, however, still no 470SLI comparison?....whats the point of comparing dual GPU against single, unless you dont want to show poor scaling when compared to SLI?

Well, first of all Hardware Canucks has shown that crossfire scales BETTER than SLI in the 470 SLI review...

Second, they compare to what they have on hand... I'm sure they will eventually review 470 SLI and compare it, or you can just find other reviews..

 

[SlowSpyder]

That's a pretty complete bundle they include with it.

Oh, looks the same, however, still no 470SLI comparison?....whats the point of comparing dual GPU against single, unless you dont want to show poor scaling when compared to SLI?

Because you don't buy a GPU, you buy a video card, you look at how the card performs, it's bang for the buck, power/heat if you want, size of the card, how it plays your games, etc. Now obviously dual GPU cards aren't as black and white, you may include a dual GPU card in your search if you are looking at SLI/Crossfire. But, the fact remains that you buy a card, it's performance is what it's performance is regardless of whether there is 1 GPU or 40. Though I do wish they had a dual GTX470 review just to give you a ball park idea.

 

[Skurge]

Some of the benches it was over twice as fast as a 470 and we now SLI doesn't scale 100%

 

[Madcatatlas]

Ok, ..yup thats it, just an ok review.

WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, did they not overclock this card? I mean COME ON.. with that cooler, the thing has got to be able to oc another 5-10%.

Lame review in terms of tests and oc.

 

[Skurge]

Ok, ..yup thats it, just an ok review.

WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, did they not overclock this card? I mean COME ON.. with that cooler, the thing has got to be able to oc another 5-10%.

Lame review in terms of tests and oc.

The reviewer did oc the card to 1GHz core and 5GHz QDR, he got a P30406 in vantage. Im not sure if he will do more benches.

 

[jbh545]

What a crappy review. It should have been compared to GTX 480 sli, which is the same cost. And it also doesn't tell us the max OC potential, which is pretty important since it's already heavily overclocked so may not have as much headroom. It seems silly to score it so highly when there's little doubt that a pair of 480s will destroy it for the same cost at the settings people who spend this much will want to run.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3242/sapphire_radeon_hd_5970_toxic_4gb_video_card/index14.html

Then at the end of the review they say this:

"We're sure there will be limited amounts of this model and if you've got the money to burn and the desire to own something which is so much more than a reference HD 5970 overclocked, you'll love this model. "

Yet the benchmarks don't support the idea that this is all that much better than a stock 5970 OCed. I ran a 5970 for a while and it would gain the same 10-20% performance from an overclock that this card does.

 

[Madcatatlas]

The reviewer did oc the card to 1GHz core and 5GHz QDR, he got a P30406 in vantage. Im not sure if he will do more benches.

damn.. i missed that. was looking for "Overclocking" in the index tab after having scrolled trough some games

my bad then.

 

[tynopik]

not being up on XFire, could you put 3 of these cards (6 GPUs) together?

 

[x3sphere]

This review gives me a good reason to never visit TweakTown again. The benchmarks consisted only of mildly demanding games that do not eclipse the 1GB VRAM ceiling even at 2560x1600 with 8xAA.

Where's GTA IV or Metro 2033? Either this reviewer is new or has been living under a rock judging from their game choices.

And pitting a single GTX480 against a 5970 is laughable..

 

[Skurge]

damn.. i missed that. was looking for "Overclocking" in the index tab after having scrolled trough some games

my bad then.

It wasn't in that review, he did that in his own time. Posted pics on facebook.

 

[3DVagabond]

This is obviously designed for high performance eyefinity 3. Even includes the dongle, which would set you back $100.00 to buy separately. This card is overkill for the tests run. Too bad the review doesn't test it like that. :\

From what they did show us in the review though, overall, really nice card. Runs cooler relative to the other high performance cards. Power draw is less than similar performing xfire or SLI setups. So, on those points, I think it's a better choice. At least if you want a refined, more elegant solution than +600W @ 100C. Just buy one of these and drop it in. It should run fine without any dramas. Power draw is still very high though, but understandable considering the clocks and performance. The fact that it's 3 slots isn't as big a knock as some seem to think it is. Any comparable xfire/SLI setup would be 4 slots

Two places it seems to fall short, IMO. 1, It's noisy. 2, Should have been an eyefinity 6 card. That would have made it a good value at a grand, at least in the current market. As is, a bit too pricey. Unless they can get it down to say $800.00-$850.00, or there about.

The problem with getting a reference model and OCing it is the overheating VRMs with the reference cooler. I didn't see where this review addressed that with this model (might have to wait for Anand to check it out again?). If he did and I missed it, sorry my bad.