Conclusions and Final Thoughts
Performance
At the outset of this article there were a handful of key comparisons we wanted you keep an eye on as you went through all the benchmarks we provided. Did you do it? It’s time for that pop quiz you always dreaded in school!
Seriously, I wouldn’t do that to you. The truth is that the new AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB card is faster than the GeForce GTX 580 from NVIDIA even at its default reference clock speeds of 800 MHz and that only will get worse as AMD’s partners release models with speeds of 900 MHz or higher. In Battlefield 3, Skyrim and DiRT 3 the performance of both of these cards were pretty much in line with each other at all the resolutions we tested and you would be hard pressed to tell one is running any better than the other. In Batman: Arkham City we saw an average of a 5% lead for the HD 7950, in Metro 2033 that lead spiked to 16% and in Deus Ex: Human Revolution we saw it as high as 21%. Those numbers are definitely worth nothing and show you the raw power that that Radeon HD 7950 3GB can provide.
Comparing the HD 7950 to its bigger brother, the HD 7970, we found that the more expensive Tahiti GPU performed 10-25% depending on the benchmark. The largest gap was seen in our Battlefield 3 testing where the two cards had as much as a 25% performance difference at the highest resolution and the smallest gap was found in Batman where only 10% separated them. With a 20% difference in DiRT 3, 15% in Metro 2033 and 20% in Deus Ex you can definitely see the performance advantages to move UP to the HD 7970 but only if you are going to be using a 30-in display or going for a triple (or five) panel Eyefinity configuration.
In areas where CrossFire worked as expected (DiRT 3, Metro 2033), adding a second Radeon HD 7950 3GB brought performance improvements as high as 95%! The problem for AMD is that only two of the games we tested worked "correctly" and even if we remove Skyrim from the picture (as it tends to be CPU bound) then we are left with three games it didn’t work right in. Battlefield 3 saw great scaling at 1680×1050 and 1920×1080 but nothing at 2560×1600. Batman: Arkham City doesn’t scale at all and in fact actually decreases performance depending on the resolution you are running at. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has some very obvious "dips" in frame rates that drag down what should be a great performance from CrossFire. These driver issues MUST BE WORKED OUT for AMD to be considered reliable again in the software department. Not only that, but we need to NOT see these kinds of problems in tier-1 gaming titles ever again…
Overclocking performance was a complete success as well as we were able to push the core clock speed on the HD 7950 up to 1050 MHz, a solid 30+% boost. The system was completely stable and we were able to run our full suite of games on the overclocked card without seeing a huge spike in power consumption (it went from 294 watts to 322 watts). And, seeing a jump in BF3 performance by 20% to nearly match the levels of the $100 more expensive Radeon HD 7970 3GB impressed me even further.
Power and Efficiency
What might make the Radeon HD 7950 3GB even more impressive is that it does all of this while using 50 watts less power than the Radeon HD 6970 2GB. Seeing performance increases as large as we did between Cayman and Tahiti, it seems to indicate that the move from the 40nm process to the 28nm process has in fact gone pretty well and, if TSMC can get inventory running, could mean good things for both NVIDIA and AMD going forward.
Also worth noting is the ZeroCore Power Technology (on both the Radeon HD 7970 and the new HD 7950) that brings the power consumption of the GPU to under a single watt when the screens are put into sleep mode. And for users that like to go with multi-GPU setups you will be glad to know that this feature will also turn off (even the fans!) the secondary GPUs when you are simply running in Windows. This should offer noticeable sound and heat dissipation improvements.
Features
There aren’t really a huge amount of new features for the SI architecture – Eyefinity is still the only single-GPU option for running multiple display gaming configurations and in fact this new GPU may actually offer enough performance to push a 5760×1080 configuration on a single card. NVIDIA’s GTX 500-series still requires you to have an SLI configuration to get Surround to function and then you dive into the world of multi-GPU issues that we have noted in several places in this review.
The availability of Eyefinity + HD3D is interesting but isn’t really an HD 7970 exclusive; the 12.1 drivers offer this on Radeon 6000 series cards as well. DDMA (discrete digital multi-point audio) could really change the way users interact with different audio/video sources on their PCs but we are going to have to wait and see implementations of it before making a conclusion there.
Texture filtering has been improved, the new Steady Video 2.0 will be available soon and we have already discussed PowerTune and ZeroCore technologies and what advantages they offer.
Pricing and Availability
One thing that AMD doesn’t really have going for it with this generation is a big price advantage and that has really how the company has been able to keep its name as prevalent with gamers as it has been the last 12 months. With the release of the Radeon HD 7970, rather than undercut NVIDIA, AMD decided to price it based on the current performance and pricing on the GTX 580. The same thing is happening basically with the HD 7950:
- AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB – $449
- AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GB – $549
- AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB – $349
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB – $499
At $100 less than the Radeon HD 7970 3GB, the HD 7950 3GB actually seems like a pretty good buy; you can overclock the performance enough to ALMOST reach the reference performance of the more expensive card. Compared to the GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB average selling price of $499, the HD 7950 again looks like a great card considering it outperforms the NVIDIA option. I can’t shake the feeling that AMD is doing a disservice to itself in the long run by keeping prices this high though I understand WHY they are doing it.
The fact is that AMD is likely still capacity constrained by the 28nm process at TSMC and pricing any of these cards lower might actually HURT the company’s reputation. If the HD 7950 3GB were being released today for $349 I think just about every sane gamer on the planet would want one but if AMD doesn’t have the inventory to cater to that many buyers, what is the point of offering it at that price? It would cause anger and resentment from the very audience they are trying to cater to so instead we see higher prices that allow AMD to make a bit more profit and temper demand as well until capacity might soon catch up.
Final Thoughts
The AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB graphics card based on the same Southern Islands architecture and Tahiti GPU that we first tested with the Radeon HD 7970 3GB looks to be another success. AMD now has two different GPU options available for consumers that are faster than the best single-GPU options from NVIDIA, a feat that AMD hasn’t been able to accomplish in quite a long time. Being first to the 28nm technology might cause some problems with inventory but it seems obvious that they are benefiting in enough ways to make up for it, at least in terms of mindshare, if not marketshare.
If AMD and its partners can get 900 MHz options out there for under the price of the GeForce GTX 580 and just as importantly, keep them in stock, then I think we have another big winner on our hands. The HD 7950 3GB is faster than the GTX 580, uses less power, offers more features, has twice the frame buffer capacity for higher resolutions and multi-display gaming and costs less. That is a conclusion that demands an Editor’s Choice if I ever heard one; we only hope you’ll see these cards in stock to buy for yourself.
Be sure to check out our two videos below, one on the Radeon HD 7950 and the other on HD 7950 CrossFire!
Do want! Price. still. so.
Do want! Price. still. so. high. The paragraph in the conclusion about keeping the costs up due to production issues was good point to bring up. I guess AMD can’t always be pushing the performance/dollar envolope, but hopefully pricing won’t stay that high all year again.
performance is ok…price is
performance is ok…price is no good
What would be the min. power
What would be the min. power supply wattage to run in crossfire? I have:
i7 2600k not overclocked
Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD
Patriot Viper 8gigs @ 1600mhz
Two 1 terabyte hd
NO optical drive
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional
Antec TRUEPOWER NEW 750-WATT
Think I caould run it?
I run 2×6970 with a 650W.
Buy
I run 2×6970 with a 650W.
Buy them, if you can’t, sell your PSU and buy a 900? PSU will be less than 20% of your upgrade cost anyway
Three questions:
1. Any rumor
Three questions:
1. Any rumor of being able to unlock the 7950 to 7970 like the 6950 to 6970?
2. We really should be looking at a comparison of 2×6950 1gb to 1x 7950, because of the price.
Word of advice to everyone out there…Don’t upgrade to a 7950 or 7970 right now. Wait 2 months for NVIDIA’s fire back at AMD. Right now AMD can say whatever price they want because they have no competition. As soon as NVIDIA releases their new cards the price war will rage again and AMD is going to need to bring the 7950 down to the $300 range I think. Also seems a 7950×2 6gb would be pretty awesome.
You have in solid evidence
You have in solid evidence that green will come out with competition to 79xx in 2 months?
Please share with the rest of us.
I have to agree with
I have to agree with AParsh335i,
I’m holding off for now to see how Kepler performs, AMD won’t be releasing anything better for a long time unless you’re wanting a dual GPU card and we already know what that will do performance wise. If Kepler is as good as rumours say it is, AMD will have to significantly reduce the price.. Well that’s if nVidia do the right thing and throw in the RRP at the $600 mark. Let’s hope to god they don’t go batshit crazy and put out a $1000 card.
I think nVidia will be shipping within 3 months that’s somewhat speculation though.
I’m not sure somewhat
I’m not sure somewhat speculation counts as solid evidence. I would say it’s just speculation.
While you have the choice to wait all you like, AParsh335i was giving advice to others based on hand waiving.
For all we know, green could provide a dud. In which case, people who held off may get the short end of the stick. You’ll have to have endured your current setup for however may months till green arrives, and with green being a possible dud, spend the same money for something of older technology.
Even if green isn’t just “we’re not impressed” poo being thrown in desperation, you’ll be down half a franky for the 3+ months you get to use your shinny new 79xx. About the same cost as playing wow.
tldr; Still no evidence of green. I’d pay $50 to use red for 3+ months while waiting for green.
Considering nVidia’s focus on
Considering nVidia’s focus on GPGPU/Tesselation it’s likely we’re going to see something from them that’s absolutely monstrous.
Anywhere I can find this
Anywhere I can find this fact?
I think its more than $50. I
I think its more than $50. I think its at least $100.
As far as evidence goes, i am not able to share any specific I know because I promised I wouldn’t. But there is a lot of speculation that green’s new stuff will be out very soon, and whether you think it’s going to be a dud or not, the prices on AMD’s 79XX is going to have to come down.
$600 for the 600 series high
$600 for the 600 series high end from Nvidia?! I hope they do the sensible thing at make it $499.99. With the current pricing schedule waiting to upgrade just seems like a good bet.
This reminds me of the 8800 GT days. With each new release the price goes up $50. I feel like it’s a game of Texas hold ’em and once the bets get to $600 someone has to call or fold.
Pretty sure AMD have locked
Pretty sure AMD have locked down this architecture a lot better than the early 6950’s.
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just checked newegg most of
just checked newegg most of the 7950’s are already out of stock. AMD has been producing very good video cards of late.
Just checked newegg (u.s.)
Just checked newegg (u.s.) and all 9 out of the 10 seem to be in stock, 800Mhz Asus excluded.
They might have just been updating the quantities for the first time.
Fastest single chip video
Fastest single chip video card.Runs cool and very quiet even at full load, gave me 40-45% extra performance than my 6970 HIS icecool,no crashes after hours of gaming!
Best ever, pricey but you pay for performance I am very happy with my purchase.I had before sapphire 6990 and while performance was better it was little too much heat and noise from that card so I sold it and got one 6970 from his and it was very good but I missed my 6990 performance…not anymore!!!!!Get it you will not regreat your decision.
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-21197-00-40G/dp/B006P88VO8?tag=emjay2d-20
This doesn’t get on my
This doesn’t get on my mindshare until we’re looking at $350. I’m usually a walking encyclopedia of computer parts and what to use at what price, and I stop paying attention to GPUs after ~$350.
arrrg, I caved and got a 7950
arrrg, I caved and got a 7950 xfx black edition. I prefer the aftermarket cooling for looks and performance. I was trying to purchase a 7970 OC but I guess i’ll enjoy the $100 I save (and free dirt3 game).
This website certainly has
This website certainly has all of the info I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who
to ask.
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Why hasn’t anyone on the
Why hasn’t anyone on the Internet tested these in Crossfire against 3GB 580s in SLI at triple monitor resolutions? Everyone keeps testing these against 1.5GB 580s, which isn’t really comparable at high resolutions.
If its too expensive for you,
If its too expensive for you, why even bother commenting.. This is a review of this card and what it can do. People search for reviews so they can see how good the card is to make a decision on if they are going to purchase one. comments like ‘this isn’t my price sweet spot’ or whatever, trolling as far as im concerned. If that’s all you have to say then no one gives a shit about your ability to purchase one or your opinion on the price. You cant afford it, deal with it. shut your boring face. Nobody cares if you don’t have the cash or how much you think it should be priced at – it costs what it costs and that’s it. Trolling losers 🙂
SO back to this card. I got a new 7970 and to be honest I don’t see any real world difference between this and a 7950(forget benchmarks) and considering it costs a good 100 less than the 7970 plus you can easily overclock it to get the same performance as a stock 7970 this card is a no-brainer.
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its interesting to hear amd
its interesting to hear amd wont be releasing a reference card like they did for previous series.
what is even more interesting is that one of my hd 7950,s is a reference card. costme quite a bit for something that supposedly doesnt exist.
Hi,
I’m not very
Hi,
I’m not very knowledgeable with video cards, so I’m hoping someone can help me!
I just ordered a new HP desktop with the AMD 3Gb 7950 video card, and I’m looking to have four monitors… Will this card support four monitors?
Thanks!!
what is the chipset on the
what is the chipset on the xps 8500 motherboard?
I like this web blog very
I like this web blog very much so much excellent information.
question could the AMD 3gb
question could the AMD 3gb 9750 run the Samaritan demo anyone.
I have one of these cards in
I have one of these cards in my Alienware Aurora R4, what type of vga cooling, if any, would you recommend.