Overclocking
AMD has definitely been promoting the overclocking capabilities of the Radeon HD 7000 series and it has been able to live up to its claims so far. With the new Pitcarin GPU AMD showed us (and you) slides showing the overclocked HD 7870 capable of competing with the GTX 580 and the overclocked HD 7850 beating the GTX 570. We did some overclocking testing to see if it lived up to expectations.
Our reference Radeon HD 7870 2GB card was able to run at 1200 MHz, a solid 20% boost over the reference speed of 1000 MHz.
The result – a 3DMark11 score of 7218, nearly 10% higher than the reference performance result. The GTX 580 stock result was 6831, so indeed, the overclocked HD 7870 was able to beat out the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 by 5%.
Our HD 7850 card that comes with a reference clock of 860 MHz was able to hit a clock speed of 1050 MHz – a boost of 22%!
Performance jumps from 5497 up to 6231, an increase of about 14%. Compare that to the reference GTX 570 result of 6422 and we find that HD 7850 can ALMOST match it.
Obviously, as with all graphics cards, there is performance to be gained for almost free if you are willing to overclock. Our overclocking testing was a simple as it got – set the clock speed via MSI’s Afterburner application and run a loop of 3DMark11 and Battlefield 3 to make sure its stable. Once we start seeing voltage adjustment options we will likely be able to get even more out of Pitcairn.
I think I found my new
I think I found my new upgrade…
I think you will not be
I think you will not be alone.
Definitely, you won’t be
Definitely, you won’t be alone. I was about to build my rig with a GTX 560 Ti to ass another one later. But now, I’ll wait for 7870 wich is very close to GTX 570 but whit much lower power consumption, making it possible to Crossfire on my TX750 PSU.
Definitely, you won’t be
Definitely, you won’t be alone. I was about to build my rig with a GTX 560 Ti to ass another one later. But now, I’ll wait for 7870 wich is very close to GTX 570 but whit much lower power consumption, making it possible to Crossfire on my TX750 PSU.
Thanks for that last page
Thanks for that last page Ryan, I enjoyed seeing the spread of the 7000 series cards and it will really make me think when I do my birthday upgrade. So far it’s either the 7950 or the 7870.
Tough choice.
Yeah, I thought seeing the
Yeah, I thought seeing the data in that way was kind of interesting, even as someone who has tested each of them.
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I liked the last page’s
I liked the last page’s comparison as well. Shows the spread of the 7K family.
I was hoping for a little more out of the 7870 i think. Appears to be about on par with the gtx570 which can be had for $315 after rebate. I can wait for Kepler to drop and competition to bring the 7K series prices down before i make a decision on upgrading.
Confused as to why nearly
Confused as to why nearly everyone including pcper didn’t show relative benchmarks again 7970 and 7950.
Did you skip the last page?
Did you skip the last page? Entire 7K series comparison.
Yeah I did actually.
Thanks
Yeah I did actually.
Thanks for pointing that out, shame on me for thinking pcper would drop the ball like other sites have.
Cheers
What he said. Thanks for
What he said. Thanks for reading!
I’m a little pissed now,
I’m a little pissed now, based on the price/performance aspect. I just bought a 6970 this month!
Those benchmarks made the 560 Ti look like trash…
I like the new office, and the bins of graphics cards.
But the big question is…
But the big question is… how much did you pay for said 6970? While the 7870 is faster overall, it still isn’t available and it will be at least $359 once it hits (and depending on demand, might reach a little higher). If you got a 6970 for $330 or less, then I would say it is still a good buy.
I just got this 6970
I just got this 6970 Lightning, for around 359$. Its is now “Deactivated” on Newegg…
No second card for me it seems….
I’m not too upset since my card came overclocked, and i can clock it higher. It is still a great card.
Though I kinda wish AMD stopped selling these cards so close to release, or dropped the price more.
I got it less than 3 weeks ago, i kinda feel like a jackass now…
Well… that’s still an
Well… that’s still an awesome card. Not a terrible price either for what you end up getting. That thing is a beast…
I’m not disappointed with the
I’m not disappointed with the card, the custom cooler keeps it cool a 60C on full load @ 940MHz. So some more OCing headroom exists. It is a beast.
I still wish AMD stopped selling cards that are under-powered compared to the new versions at stock clocks. (6970 vs 7970 vs 7870) Or at least some hint that these cards are going to be replaced in a big way, not just a incremental update like i7 1st gen vs i7 2nd gen. Where the advantages come from the process change not an entire new architecture. I’m just being bitter, don’t mind me.
Or if you got a 6950 2gb for
Or if you got a 6950 2gb for $250 and unlocked it to 6970 even better deal 🙂
How about a 6950 for $200 and
How about a 6950 for $200 and unlock it to a 6970? New Egg has one for only 2 bills this weekend.
This generation AMD are first
This generation AMD are first to release the cards but will suffer in the end coz the prices are inflated. Especially, the release of kepler will highlight the point. this gen goes to nvidia and there are no 2 ways abt it. consider the fact that the 7850 is abt 10% faster than gtx 560 ti, a card launched over 14 months b4. Thats not impressive. The price perfrmance thing will be the biggest downer for AMD when kepler comes out. AMD really needs to reduce the prices. and they will wen kepler is released, but those who buy the cards now will be weeping. SO i say better wait for kepler. I am also holding off my nxt rig for kepler and ivy bridge. But those upgrading should wait till april or whenever kepler is released.
I disagree with pretty much
I disagree with pretty much everything you just wrote.
1. Why would AMD suffer in the end because of their current prices? They can adjust the prices down when needed…
2. In regards to comparing cards that just launched etc – Nvidias recent card the GTX 560ti 448core is slower than the 6970 that came out over a year ago also.
3.Price/performance will be a big downer when keplar is released? How do you know? Keplar release date is not even announced and no real reviews are available. How do you know all this?
I’m sorry, but you are speculating way too much.
I’m not sure 7000 series are
I’m not sure 7000 series are giving enough bang for the buck…or Euro to upgrade. AS it stands people are not doing a lot of upgrading.
I am a big ebay fan and no used cards have poped up lately, in any great number. (Still looking for that third 580, at the right price.)
7970/50 Likely to be toppled by Kepler. We just have to hope nvidia don’t put a premium on AMD’s premium price.
7870/50 are being compared to existing nvidia cards so we know this will change, so that’s why I feel they don’t give that performance jump that buyers now will needed.
Prices of 7xxx are high,
Prices of 7xxx are high, because 6xxx cards are still in stock, and AMD does not want to cannibalize their sales – ie. clear stock. It’s common strategy.
Also remember what Ryan said
Also remember what Ryan said in the review. AMD is matching Nvidias performance and pricing all while consuming SIGNIFICANTLY LESS power (IE money in your bank) and putting out less heat. Also remember, you are getting more than 2 monitors with only 1 card if you want.
I like NVidia and i am not an AMD fan boy by any means, but my loyalty lies with the almighty dollar and right now AMD is winning.
Be careful when copying
Be careful when copying marketing graphics. The marketshare slide on the first page doesn’t say “of DirectX 11 graphics cards”, it says “of Enthusiast* DirectX 11 graphics cards”. Where does the asterisk lead?
Interesting thought, I’ll
Interesting thought, I’ll look.
By “enthusiast class” they
By “enthusiast class” they are referring to GPUs with a launch price of $199 or greater.
thanks
thanks
“Eyefinity is still the only
“Eyefinity is still the only single-GPU option for running multiple display gaming configurations and in fact these new GPUs may actually offer enough performance to push a 5760×1080 configuration on a single card.”
Been running 5760×1200 from a single 2GB 5870 for the last two years.
Right, but that is Eyefinity
Right, but that is Eyefinity technology that is NOT found on NVIDIA GPUs yet.
Ryan,
The value and
Ryan,
The value and importance of minimums is not lost on you as it is on so many so called enthusiast sites. Thanks for that. On Anand, for instance, can’t even tell what metric he is using, and can’t be bothered to read so an amateurish review. But he uses acrap for his main box, so he is far from the enthusiast he claims to be.
Great cards, but I got a AMD
Great cards, but I got a AMD 6870 and don;t see much need to upgrade. I’ll probably wait for the next generation in 2013.Great Review as always Ryan. Now we just need Nvidia to come out with theirs so there will be price drops.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Ryan, any expectations from
Ryan, any expectations from crossfire yet?
I would assume very similar
I would assume very similar scaling to the HD 7900 cards, though I am still waiting on the second 7870 and 7850 to arrive.
Awesome, looking forward to
Awesome, looking forward to an update on this review with crossfire 🙂
Say goodbye to 4870×2…for
Say goodbye to 4870×2…for me anyway.
I assume there will be a sweet discussion in this weeks podcast?
You would be correct. And
You would be correct. And yikes, that 4870 X2 is probably a hater this winter!
Thanks for the info, ive got
Thanks for the info, ive got 200 quid burning a hole in my pocket and was torn between a Nvidia 480 as there on offer or a 6950 but i think i’ll wait a few weeks and see what uk price we get on the 7850.
Oh and on your podcasts please try and keep doing the funny little audio clips when it starts before the music of one of you lot saying something weird… It always makes me smile 🙂
I don’t see much difference
I don’t see much difference yet, beside power consumption, between a stock 7850 and a stock 6950, and both are having the same price. Even, I can get a 6950 overclocked for it.
Something Wrong! on
Something Wrong! on Battlefield 3 GTX 570 Detail Grafics FPSAvg:
1680×1050 56 Avg / 33 Min / 92 Max
1920×1080 48 Avg / 29 Min / 81 Max
Correct or Not? Ryan Edit?
Thanks! Nice Review!
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